Preliminary IREAD Scores Show Slightly Lower Passing Rate

A lower percentage of students passed Indiana’s required third grade reading test on their first try.

The Department of Education released preliminary results from this year’s IREAD-3 exam, which show 83.8 percent of third graders passed on their first try. Last year, the percentage was 84.2.

IREAD-3 is a standardized test assessing third graders’ reading ability, and it is separate from ISTEP+.

More students took the test this year, 1,575, which may have had an impact on the passing rate. And the rate could go up, as students can retake the test in the summer. After unsuccessful  students had the chance to take last year’s test a second time, that passing rate jumped to 87.4 percent.

(Read more about the history of the IREAD-3 assessment.)

If a third grader doesn’t pass the IREAD reading test the second time, they will have to retake third grade versions of the ISTEP and IREAD exams the following school year. State officials say these students will probably also be held back from entering fourth grade.

Final passage results will be available at the end of the summer.