For another year, state testing results show that students in most Wayne County school districts are struggling with academic performance in English and math, although there were some gains.
While many performed close to Indiana’s statewide proficiency percentages, students in most local districts demonstrated well below 50% proficiency in both subjects. Only approximately 16.2% of students in the county’s largest school district are considered proficient in both.
Indiana Department of Education shared the spring’s ILEARN test results July 16 with the public through its website.
While school leaders see some positives from the spring Indiana Learning Evaluation and Readiness Network, or ILEARN, tests for grades 3-8, they’re also analyzing the results for ways to improve as the 2025-2026 school year nears.
Reactions
Nettle Creek Superintendent Emily Schaeffer said district leaders are “extremely excited and proud” of their teachers and students for leading the county’s public schools in two subjects and coming in second in the other two.
“Our ILEARN scores reflect the results of our strategic investment in instruction and the incredible dedication of our teachers, who consistently apply weekly professional development to deliver exceptional learning experiences for our students,” Schaeffer said.
Over the past four years, Nettle Creek’s partnership with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching has provided a district-wide common language and instructional framework.
“Our teachers have embraced and implemented these practices in every classroom — and it’s paying off for our students,” Schaeffer said. “We’re excited to see this growth in our school data and are determined to build on this momentum to achieve even greater gains next year.”
Northeastern Wayne Superintendent Matthew Hicks said ILEARN results show district staff there are some areas of strength and some areas where they can continue to grow.
“Northeastern remains competitive in the county across all disciplines,” Hicks said. “The hard work our teachers are doing can be seen across the disciplines.”
Hicks would like the community to know that test scores are “only one slice of the pie of school.”
“Our students are having tremendous success across the entire metaphorical pie,” Hicks said.
Alice Johnson, Western Wayne’s interim superintendent, said the scores show there’s “certainly a lot of room to grow” but also questioned the usefulness of the test itself.
Johnson, who previously taught at Centerville-Abington, is an associate clinical professor for Purdue University’s College of Education and serves as its program director for PK-12 Educational Leadership & Policy Studies.
“In my professional opinion, the scores not only for Western Wayne but across the state are unacceptable and give pause to the fidelity of the testing instrument,” Johnson said. She favors more investigation to figure out a path forward.
Centerville-Abington Community Schools Superintendent Mike McCoy said staff will dig through the individual results when they return from their summer break and see what’s working and what isn’t.
Analyzing the data will help teachers and administrators see where the district’s strengths and weaknesses are, McCoy said.
RCS officials didn’t respond to WWN’s request for comment before press time.
Scores at a glance
Statewide, ILEARN showed 40.6% of students at or above proficiency standards in English/language arts, and 42.1% of students at or above proficiency standards in math. Those are up 0.1% and 5.2% respectively since 2021.
State officials said results don’t include data from I AM, which is the accountability assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Participation is capped at 1% of students.
Among Wayne County’s public school districts, Nettle Creek again led in ELA with 47.7%, followed by Northeastern Wayne (41.3%), Centerville-Abington (40.8%) and Western Wayne (36.3%).
Most results were similar to 2024-25, with a few districts making gains. Previous scores included Nettle Creek (44.7%), Northeastern (44.2%), Centerville-Abington (41.5%), Western Wayne (38.5%) and Richmond Community Schools (24.9%).
Overall, Richmond Community Schools’ ELA proficiency was 24.7%, but when individual public schools are reviewed, its Charles Elementary led the county’s public elementary schools with 51.7%.
On additional spreadsheets, state officials also analyze ILEARN data based on factors such as students’ socioeconomic level and whether they’re in special education or are learning English.
For instance, 71.9% of Charles students from higher-income families were proficient in ELA. When considering Charles’ students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, 28.6% were proficient.
Hagerstown Jr.-Sr. High had the highest ELA passage rate for the county’s older students (52.4%).
This year, Community Christian had the highest ELA percentage of the county’s private schools, with 46 of 77 students showing proficiency (59.7%).
Total proficiency isn’t guaranteed, even for suburban Indianapolis districts that have strong reputations. For instance, combined ELA and math proficiency results were 63.6% for Carmel Clay, 62.9% for Brownsburg, 53.9% for Hamilton Southeastern, 52.8% for Westfield-Washington, 46.8% for Noblesville and 46.4% for Avon Community.
Wayne County’s public district leader in math proficiency continues to be Centerville-Abington (46.2%), followed by Nettle Creek (44.9%), Northeastern (38.4%), Western Wayne (31.8%) and RCS (23%).
Charles Elementary again led the county’s individual public schools in math with 65.8%. Community Christian led private schools (44.2%).
Two RCS schools, which serve older ILEARN participants, still had the county’s lowest scores in math and combined ELA/math, but one had improved from 2024-25.
Of Dennis Middle School’s seventh and eighth graders, 13.2% were proficient in math, and 10.6% were proficient in both subjects. Last year, those numbers were 10% and 8.7%, respectively.
Test Middle School, which teaches fifth and sixth grades, scored slightly higher than Dennis with 18.1% proficiency in math and 12.8% in math/ELA. However, its percentages decreased from last year, when Test was at 21.4% for math and 15.9% combined.
One factor that might have impacted RCS’ 2024-25 performance is that the state’s list does not show its Community Youth Services having its own scores. CYS, in the former Baxter Elementary, serves students needing a more restrictive or alternative type of educational setting.
Another nearby school district has been in the news recently for its battle to stay open despite state lawmakers’ efforts to close it as they cite poor academic achievement.
When evaluating its in-person students, Union (Modoc) Elementary showed 23.6% ELA proficiency and Union Jr. Sr. High School showed 17.6%. Proficiency percentages were 12.6% for its online Indiana Digital Elementary and 19.1% for its Indiana Digital Jr. and High School.
Union’s elementary math percentage was 27%, but its junior/senior high had 4.3% proficiency in math. The digital elementary was 6.1% and digital junior-senior high was 4.1%.
Science, social studies
Although all students in grades 3-8 take ILEARN math and ELA tests, some grades are tested in science or social studies.
Grades 4-6 show their science knowledge. Nettle Creek led the county with 65.8% science proficiency, followed by Northeastern (53.7%), Centerville (48.9%), WWS (39.4%) and RCS (32.7%).
Fifth graders are tested on social studies. Centerville led that exam with 45% proficiency, followed by Nettle Creek (40%), Western Wayne (39.2%), Northeastern (33.3%) and RCS (22.4%).
What’s next
All Indiana schools will participate in redesigned ILEARN testing in 2025-2026. Students will have three checkpoints during the year plus a shorter end-of-year test.
Indiana Department of Education officials say the checkpoints will provide improved real-time student data to better continuously support learning, rather than waiting until the end of the year to learn results.
Checkpoints aren’t punitive, the release said. They are used to guide student learning, so if a student doesn’t master a particular standard, additional intervention and instruction will be provided before a retest option.
For more information and data from this year’s test, visit in.gov/doe/it/data-center-and-reports/.
A version of this article appeared in the July 23 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.