Indiana brings back A-F grades, but exactly how schools will be measured undecided

Indianapolis Star

14-05-2025

Schools across Indiana will start seeing A-F letter grades again in 2026, thanks to a law signed by Gov. Mike Braun after the practice was suspended for seven years.
House Bill 1498 requires the state board of education to approve a new methodology for school performance by the end of this year and then assign schools A-F grades based on that new methodology.
The final vote on the bill in the House fell mostly along party lines with a 65-25 vote.
The bill also includes some specifics that the methodology must be based upon metrics listed in the Indiana Department of Education's Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard, including proficiency rates for IREAD and ILEARN and the attainment of diploma seals.
However, the bill also allows the state board of education to include whatever other factors they deem necessary in the methodology.
The state must hand out letter grades for all schools across the state, including private schools, no later than Dec. 31, 2026. Schools would not get a letter grade for the 2024-25 year.
Indiana stopped handing out letter grades in 2018 as the state was attempting to revamp the grading methodology to accommodate the new ILEARN test. Then, grades were delayed even further due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said during the House Education committee hearing on HB 1498 that previously she had advocated moving away from a single letter grade for schools, but admitted parents had come to her asking for an easier way to understand how schools are doing.
More School news: ACLU sues Gov. Mike Braun after law eliminates Indiana University trustee elections
She said parents found the many metrics listed on the Indiana GPS dashboard to be confusing and wanted an easier way to gauge a school's success.
The bill also allows the IDOE to consider eliminating high school diploma waivers altogether, which allow qualifying students to be exempt from certain graduation requirements under the state's 'graduation pathways.'
Jenner said that since the state's overall waiver usage has been going down steadily in recent years, she doesn't see the need to make drastic changes to that right now.
'Our data is going in the right direction there, and I think we have to ensure we're working with schools, parents and families so we're never pulling the rug out too early,' Jenner said during the House Education Committee meeting in January.
Some Democratic lawmakers said during committee hearings on the bill that they think using a single letter grade is too simplistic for something as complex as how a school is working for its students.
Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, suggested that rather than a letter grade, schools instead be shown as either needing state intervention or not. His amendment to include that failed to pass.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said during the Senate committee hearing on the bill that he hopes the metrics for grading include more than just testing scores, which could unfairly punish predominantly low-income schools compared to wealthier schools.
Erin Geddes, who sends her three kids to Warren Township schools, told IndyStar she's worried the letter grades will just further divide wealthy districts from the lower-income ones.
More changes coming: Once a school board member, Gov. Braun signs law making school board elections partisan
'These grades do nothing to highlight excellent teachers and administrative staff who are doing everything they can with what resources, support, or home life their students come from,' Geddes said.
Instead, Geddes thinks the state should be asking families how they would grade their schools.
'Ask us parents because we're the experts on our own kids, and that way it isn't a collective punishment on our own schools, which we chose for our kids,' Geddes said.
Other parents like Jennifer Goetz, who has three children at Avon Community schools and was a former teacher at a Chicago public school, believe the letter grades will reinforce the wrong things.
She's worried the grades will further pressure schools to only teach students how to pass tests, instead of making sure they learn the skills they need to be strong in reading and math in the future.
'That's what I saw when I was teaching in Chicago, just the pressure to meet the grades and not necessarily ensure authentic learning was happening,' Goetz told IndyStar.
However, getting back to delivering a letter grade for every public and private school in Indiana is something that lawmakers and the state department have been wanting since the state's newest standardized test, ILEARN, was implemented.
Republican lawmakers supporting the bill said letter grades are an important aspect of holding schools responsible for student success.
"School accountability is really important and this is a giant step in that direction," said Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, during floor discussion on the bill.
During the January state board of education meeting, Jenner gave a presentation on a tentative framework of what the state's accountability model for grade schools could be based on.
During that meeting, she explained that the current grading model for grades 3-8 is primarily focused on state assessments and academic growth. For high school grades, it was based on state assessments and other indicators like college and career readiness and graduation rates.
Keep up with school news: Sign up for Study Hall, IndyStar's free weekly education newsletter.
Some of the changes Jenner then proposed for grading third grade included literacy rates, something already required under HB 1498, but also student attendance improvements.
For grades 4-8, Jenner proposed attendance metrics as well as growth in ILEARN math and ELA, as well as advanced coursework.
For the high school grades, Jenner suggested that attendance metrics, advanced coursework, attainment of diploma seals, work-based learning and earning credentials of value be included in the grading metrics.