INDIANA—A new state law requiring third-grade promotion to be tied to reading proficiency has led to a significant increase in the number of students repeating the grade across Indiana. Data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) showed 3,040 children—3.6% of the 84,000 third graders who took the statewide IREAD exam—were retained in third grade.
This figure is more than seven times the 412 students held back two years ago, marking the first enforcement of the stricter reading proficiency requirement approved by the Legislature in 2024.
Record Proficiency Gains Buffer Retention Numbers
Despite the sharp rise in retentions, state education officials expressed relief that the final number was lower than original projections. Education Secretary Katie Jenner credited improved student performance on the IREAD exam for keeping the retention figure below a worst-case scenario.
“The numbers that were being thrown out is that it would be 7,000 to 10,000 that this law would trigger retention,” Jenner told the State Board of Education. “But, in fact, a huge shout out to our teachers and our people, we have thousands of kids who are now readers.”
The retention data follows a positive announcement in August that 87.3% of third graders, or about 73,500 students, demonstrated proficient reading skills in the 2024-25 school year. This represents a nearly five percentage point improvement from the previous year, the most significant year-to-year jump since IREAD testing began in 2013.
Exemptions Provided for Thousands of Students
Of the roughly 10,600 children who did not meet the reading standard, almost 7,000 were granted a “good cause exemption” to avoid retention.
- Nearly 75% of those exempted were students with special education needs.
- Approximately 24% were English learners who had received less than two years of targeted literacy services.
IDOE’s Chief Academic Officer, Anna Shults, stated the new requirement is having its intended effect of ensuring students are prepared for fourth grade.
“We are now ensuring that students that are promoted on to grade four are doing so with an ability to read and show mastery of key foundational reading skills,” Shults said.
The IDOE is planning to release an online public dashboard with breakdowns of the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment results by individual school district.
North Lawrence Community Schools and Local Data
The North Lawrence Community School System, based in Bedford, serves approximately 3,517 students in grades PK-12. While the statewide data provides a clear picture of the new law’s impact, local retention figures for the North Lawrence Community Schools were not immediately available with the release of the statewide data.
📖 IREAD-3 Proficiency Data for North Lawrence Community Schools
| School Corporation | IREAD Pass Rate (2024-2025) | Retention Impact |
| Statewide | 87.3% | 3,040 students were retained (3.6% of test-takers) |
| North Lawrence Community Schools (NLCS) | 79.4% (Approximate 2024-2025 rate mentioned in initial news context) | 412 students were retained statewide under the old law. |
| NLCS 2024 (Prior Year) | 84.7% (Based on recent school-level data) | 412 students were retained statewide under the old law. |
Recent data from the IDOE for the North Lawrence Community Schools indicates a third-grade literacy proficiency rate of 79.4% in 2024-2025. This figure, which is below the statewide average of 87.3%, suggests that local educators and families are closely monitoring the retention outcomes as they are finalized and released through the state’s new public data dashboard. The IDOE noted that about 670 children who did not meet the standard were not enrolled this year, likely due to moving out of state or switching to homeschooling. A determination would be needed for these students should they return to an Indiana public school.
