Results for Indiana's ILEARN exam are typically released in July. However, this year they're delayed by a month.
ILEARN measures English, math, science and social studies skills for students in grades three through eight.
The delay comes because the Indiana State Board of Education has to approve new cut scores — the minimum score a student needs to reach a proficiency level — after the exam has undergone changes in the last few years.
The 2025-26 school year was the first time schools across the state were required to give the new "checkpoint" version of the ILEARN exam — three tests spread through the year, plus a shorter summative exam at the end. Previously, the exam was only given once at the end of the school year.
Those changes were also a result of the state's academic standards being changed in 2023, when the board approved new "streamlined" K-12 academic standards in an effort to clarify the essential areas that need to be taught.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner told WFYI that she heard from many parents who were asking for a change in how the ILEARN is administered.
"I totally agree with the parent feedback we got," Jenner said. "It'd be a lot more helpful if we could get beginning-of-the-year, middle of the year, end of the year state assessment data to really understand where children are throughout the year, so that we can provide interventions, provide support to that student."
Jenner said she expects this year's ILEARN results and results from the elementary literacy test IREAD to be released at the Aug. 11 State Board of Education meeting.
Last year's results saw overall math scores tick up by one percentage point for a state average of 42% passing, while English language arts scores essentially stayed flat at 40.6%.
The state's average ILEARN scores have remained below 50% proficiency since 2018 when the test was first administered to students. Only about 33 percent of all students passed both ELA and math portions of the exam in 2025.
This year's ILEARN results will also be pivotal for school districts since they will be used to start handing out A-to-F grades for schools later this year after the state paused handing out the grades for five years.
The new grading model is meant to emphasize what students accomplish rather than penalizing schools for what they don't.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org.
