While the state of Indiana struggled when it comes to I-Read3 results, as it was announced Wednesday, Putnam County students fared very well on the statewide test for third graders.
According to data released by the Indiana Department of Education Wednesday, one in five Indiana students are unable to read at the conclusion of the third grade.
Students in the third grade saw their results improve .3 percentage points across the state, improving from 81.6 percent proficient in reading in 2022 to 81.9 percent proficient last year.
IREEAD-3 is given each spring to students in the third grade to measure their reading ability, and there is an increased focus on reading across the Hoosier State as education officials and lawmakers have set a goal of having 95 percent of third grade students reading proficiently by 2027.
In order to get there, the state has invested over $100 million to boost literacy efforts, as the state looks to the science of reading program, which will teach literacy based on phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
The science of reading will show up in classrooms beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
While students around the state struggled with proficiency, Putnam County schools fared well for the most part.
In South Putnam, the district saw 87.2 percent of students test proficient.
At Central Elementary School, 87.5 percent of those tested were proficient, while Fillmore Elementary saw a huge jump in students testing proficient. In 2023, 86.4 percent tested proficient, which is a 15.8 percent increase from 2022.
Cloverdale saw 90.5 percent of its students across the district test proficient. At Cloverdale Distance Learning Academy, 90.1 percent tested proficient, while 91.2 percent of students at Cloverdale Elementary were proficient.
At North Putnam, 85.4 percent of students across the district tested proficient. At Roachdale Elementary, 94.3 percent of students tested proficient, while Bainbridge Elementary saw 80.9 percent test proficient.
Greencastle saw 82.3 percent of its students test proficient. At Tzouanakis Intermediate School, there was an 8.3 percent drop in proficiency from the previous year, as 82.3 percent were proficient.
For Greencastle superintendent Jeff Gibboney, the results show there is room for improvement.
"We have changed our reading curriculum to Amplified Reading as the state moves towards the science of Reading. Our new curriculum meets and provides literacy foundational skills. We will have a lot of training with our faculty. We are not performing at a level we expect or are capable of," Gibboney told The Putnam County Post.
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