Noon Edition airs on Fridays at noon on WFIU.
Results for Indiana’s third grade reading competency test, also known as IREAD-3, are near the lowest this decade. The results showed 1-in-5 students failed to pass lacking skills such as reading comprehension and phonics.
Overall, Indiana had 81.9 percent of third graders at private and public schools pass the IREAD-3. About 15,000 of the 82,000 students did not pass.
Read More: 3rd grade reading scores are flat as Indiana preps for literacy instruction overhaul
A potential cause for these low scores is the COVID-19 pandemic, as many test takers experienced virtual classrooms, unfamiliar learning environments, and abnormal lesson plans as students in 2020.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has addressed literacy issues, setting a goal of 95 percent reading proficiency by 2027. To help achieve this goal, Indiana schools have been required to adopt a new reading curriculum called the science of reading.
Read More: Will teaching reading science pull Indiana children out of a literacy decline?
This Friday on Noon Edition, we will talk with guests about the results and the plans to improve.
You can follow us on Twitter at @NoonEdition or join us on the air by calling 812-855-0811 or toll-free at 1-877-285-9348. You can also send questions for the show to news@indianapublicmedia.org.
Guests
Jason Bearce - Vice President for Education & Workforce Development at Indiana Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Dorothea Irwin - Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education for MCCSC
Blaine Garman-McClaine - Director of Special Education for MCCSC