Report: Indiana’s Education System Improved Year After Year

The state of Indiana’s school children is slightly better than previous years but still lagging in some areas compared to national standards. That’s according to the annual KIDS Count report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The report found the following about Indiana’s education system:

• 61 percent of children do not attend preschool, a number consistent with the findings in the 2007-09 report. The national average is 54 percent.
• 62 percent of fourth graders are not proficient in reading, better than the national average of 66 percent.
• 62 percent of eighth graders are not proficient in math, up from the last report when the state was at 65 percent. It’s also lower than the national average of 66 percent.
• 20 percent of high school students are not graduating on time, a significant decrease from the last report, when 26 percent of students were not graduating on time, but slightly higher than the national average of 19 percent.

Brandon Smith of Indiana Public Broadcasting writes that overall, the state ranks 32nd in well-being, which factors in data from categories including health, economic well-being and family and community – last year the state ranked 27th:

But Indiana Youth Institute interim CEO Glenn Augustine says that’s more a case of other states, such as Missouri and New York, improving just a little more than Indiana.

“In three-quarters of the categories the Casey Foundation looks at, Indiana either held its own or improved,” Augustine says.

The KIDS Count report is released every year.