Reps. Jordan, Teshka commend historic increase in Indiana's third grade literacy rates

State Representatives Jack Jordan (R-Bremen) and Jake Teshka (R-North Liberty) are commending a historic increase in third-grade literacy rates for Hoosier students following results from the 2024-2025 Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment.

Jordan said third-grade reading scores improved by nearly five percentage points, which is the largest single-year increase since Indiana launched IREAD in 2013. More than 87% of Hoosier third graders demonstrated proficiency in reading, putting Indiana's literacy rate at this grade level back to pre-pandemic levels. 

The lawmakers thanked Indiana's education leaders, schools, teachers, and families for their dedication to helping Indiana students achieve these results.

"Hoosier students have really turned around our literacy rates through hard work and determination," Jordan said. "This is a total team effort from parents and teachers, and it's great to know that we are helping more students prepare for a successful future."

Teshka, a member of the House Education Committee, noted that literacy rates for all student populations also improved.

"This unprecedented increase is exciting news for our students and state," Teshka said. "I worked on two pieces of legislation to improve literacy rates, and it's encouraging to see these efforts contribute to positive results in the classroom. Thank you to our dedicated teachers, school staff, and parents for putting in the time to support our kids."

These IREAD results follow Indiana, placing sixth in the country for fourth and eighth-grade reading in the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) rankings.

To improve Indiana's literacy rates, the General Assembly passed a law in 2023, authored by Teshka, implementing the science of reading standards. These standards are evidence-based instruction that increases students' reading competency through phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency, oral language skills, and comprehension. A law passed in 2024 that Teshka sponsored added screenings for students at risk of falling behind on reading proficiency and providing earlier intervention.