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All seven area school districts performed higher than the state average on the 2025-26 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment taken by third-graders.
In 2026, Wa-Nee Schools had 96.6% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Wa-Nee Community Schools had 94.8% show literacy proficiency.
In 2026, Wawasee had 92.7% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Wawasee Community School Corporation had 93.8% of its students taking the test show literacy proficiency.
In 2026, Warsaw Community Schools had 89.4% show proficiency. In 2025, Warsaw Community School Corporation had 86.7% of its students show literacy proficiency.
In 2026, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation had 95.1% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation had 95% of its students show proficiency.
In 2026, Whitko Community Schools had 96.5% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Whitko Community School Corporation had 87.1% of its third-graders achieve proficiency.
In 2026, Triton School Corporation had 95.8% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Triton School Corporation had 88.4% of its students show literacy proficiency.
In 2026, Manchester Schools had 91.3% of its students achieve proficiency. In 2025, Manchester Community Schools had 90.8% of its students show literacy proficiency.
For the fifth consecutive year, Hoosier students continued to achieve gains on the IREAD assessment, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Education. Following a historic jump last year, scores once again increased in 2026 — climbing 7.5 percentage points since 2021. With nearly 89% of students now reading by the end of third grade, Indiana’s literacy rates have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the release stated.
“Our reading scores haven’t just recovered from the pandemic — they’ve surged,” said Gov. Mike Braun. “Five consecutive years of literacy gains show what’s possible when we stay focused on getting every Hoosier child on the path to success. We’ve surpassed where we were before the pandemic, and we’re not stopping here. Every Indiana student deserves the opportunity to read, learn and succeed, and we will keep pushing to make that a reality.”
Statewide, results show that 88.7% of Indiana’s third-grade students demonstrated proficient reading skills on the IREAD assessment. This is an improvement of nearly 1.5 percentage points over results for the 2024-25 school year, the second-largest single-year increase since the assessment began.
“After historic gains last year, seeing these results increase again for the fifth consecutive year is truly remarkable,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana secretary of education. “Our educators, parents and students should be extremely proud of the results they’ve accomplished together. As more students master reading by the end of third grade, we’re thinking very intentionally about how we deploy supports — that means understanding what works and focusing those proven strategies on the students who need them most, including students in special education and adolescent learners who are still working to master reading. This targeted approach will be key to ensuring every student has strong literacy skills that set them up for future success. In Indiana, our foot will remain on the gas pedal when it comes to continuously improving for students.”
Prior to 2021, Indiana’s literacy rates declined every year, except one. The pandemic exacerbated this literacy crisis, resulting in the state’s lowest literacy rates on record. Indiana continues to make historic investments aimed at helping more students learn to read, leading to five straight years of improvement, the release states.
