New state standardized test results show some Johnson County schools are slightly above the state average for 2024 testing, while others lag.
New ILEARN scores show 41% of Indiana students who were tested earlier this spring were at or above proficiency standards in English and Language Arts, or ELA, according to data released by the Indiana Department of Education last week. That score is slightly above the 2023 state average of 40.7% of students proficient in ELA.
All but two Johnson County school districts were above the state average in ELA.
As for math, the state percentage of students at or above proficiency standards in math saw a slight decrease from 40.9% in 2023 to 40.7% in 2024. All of Johnson County’s districts are above the state average except for Franklin and Edinburgh schools.
ELA
Clark-Pleasant Community School Corp. saw a 0.4% increase from last year’s ELA score with 49.9% in 2024. Center Grove Community School Corp.’s score also increased slightly with a proficiency score of 58.4% in 2024 compared to 58.3%.
While above the state average, Franklin and Greenwood saw decreases in the percentage of students at or above proficiency standard in ELA. Franklin Community School Corp. also saw a slight decrease from last year’s ELA ILEARN scores with 44.8% of students at or above proficiency standards. Greenwood Community School Corp. saw a 1.5% decrease from last year’s scores with 47% of students proficient in ELA in 2024.
Edinburgh and Indian Creek schools were the only two below the 2024 state average with scores of 24.2% and 39.6%.
Edinburgh also saw a decrease in the percentage of students at or above proficiency standard in ELA, the largest among local districts with a 3.7% decrease in ELA proficiency scores. A total of 24.2% of students at Edinburgh are proficient in ELA, according to state data.
Math
Clark-Pleasant increased its scores from last year by 2% with a score of 45.6%. Center Grove schools slightly increased its math proficiency scores from last year with a score of 60.7%.
Franklin schools and Indian Creek schools saw the biggest decrease in scores from the 2023 ILEARN assessment with scores dropping nearly 3% for both schools in math. The percentage of students at or above proficiency standards in math at Franklin schools is 40%, while Indian Creek schools scores are 44.3%. These scores were still above state proficiency standards.
Edinburgh saw a slight increase from last year’s math proficiency scores, but is still well below the state average. Edinburgh schools increased its percentage of students at or above proficiency by 1.5% with a score of 27.3% in 2024, state data shows.
ELA & Math
Statewide, more students were at or above proficiency standards in the combined math and English sections of ILEARN than last year. Scores decreased slightly from 40.9% in 2023 to 40.7% in 2024.
All of Johnson County’s districts, except Edinburgh, are above the state average in ELA & Math proficiency.
Clark-Pleasant and Center Grove schools saw increases in the percentage of students at or above proficiency standards in ELA & Math. Clark-Pleasant schools increased from 35.2% in 2023 to 36.9% in 2024. Center Grove schools increased from 48.8% in 2023 to 49.7% in 2024.
Franklin schools saw the largest decrease in ELA & Math proficiency scores, with 31.2%, dropping from 33.4% in 2023. Greenwood schools had a slightly lower decrease, dropping from 36.2% in 2023 to 34.6% in 2024.
Indian Creek schools had a slight decrease of 0.1% in 2024 with a score of 31.3% for ELA & Math proficiency.
Behind the numbers
The data shows schools where students are and what they can work toward in the coming year with the hope of continually improving outcomes.
While Clark-Pleasant schools have shown growth, the goal is to constantly increase proficiency, said Cassandra Shipp, assistant superintendent. Clark-Pleasant school district would like to see ILEARN scores closer to 95%, she said.
“The goal is to continue to get our students to proficiency,” Shipp said. “You can see that the data is above state average, but it’s nowhere near where we want it to be.”
For Center Grove, being a professional learning community has helped “provide an exceptional educational experience,” said Shannon Carroll-Frey, the district’s director of secondary teaching & learning. Teachers have time reserved during the work week to get together and look at student performance, and make changes in their instructional practice based on student needs, Carroll-Frey said. The goal is to always get better, she said.
“We’re always striving to do a better job of making sure that our kids know how to learn what they need to learn and that they find success in their time with us,” Carroll-Frey said.
Edinburgh schools are meeting in the next couple of weeks to discuss strategies to bring ILEARN scores up, said James Halik, interim superintendent.
Due to instruction changes spurred by COVID-19, state officials used the 2021 ILEARN results to represent the current state baseline.
Specific student populations are seeing improved growth. Since the 2021 baseline, math proficiency rates are higher for all student populations. Black students had the highest percentage point increase in ELA. Since 2021, Black students have seen a 3.5% increase in ELA and a 5.4% increase in math.
Students in special education and students receiving free or reduced-price meals also had modest gains in both ELA and math from 2023 to 2024, according to IDOE Data.
Indiana has been working since January 2022 to redesign the ILEARN ELA and Math assessments, with pilot programs rolling out this year. Over 70% of schools in the state opted in to participate in the pilot during the 2024-2025 school year.
Schools such as Clark-Pleasant hope that participating in the pilot program will help increase scores in the future and help provide feedback to the state, Shipp said.
The new assessment will have three checkpoints and a shortened summative assessment at the end of the school year, rather than waiting until the end of the year for results, according to IDOE. The full rollout will begin in the 2025-2026 school year.
