Indianapolis school saw huge gains when it changed how it taught reading
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Jessi Carnes leading her third graders in a literacy exercise at Ernie Pyle School 90. Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
The first half of the day for Ernie Pyle School 90's third graders is all about one thing. Reading.
Why it matters: A new approach to reading instruction adopted last year resulted in a 30-point improvement on the state's IREAD exam — the biggest single-year gain in Indianapolis Public Schools.
The big picture: IREAD measures students' proficiency in foundational reading skills, with the goal of ensuring students have those skills before progressing to later grades with more advanced concepts.
- Test performance has taken on greater importance post-pandemic, as the state began investing heavily in literacy to make up for COVID-era learning losses.
- K-12 school districts were required to adopt a curriculum aligned with what's commonly called the "science of reading," based on research about how brains actually learn to read.
State of play: Indiana also created a "literacy cadre" providing additional professional development and coaching.
- Ernie Pyle is part of the cadre, giving the school access to a literacy coach and allowing principal Jessica Barnes to hire additional interventionists to pull students aside for small group work or one-on-one instruction.
- Barnes, her assistant principal and other building staff also help, leading small groups.
- "It's all hands on deck," Barnes tells Axios. She took over the school halfway through the 2024-25 school year and began digging into the data. The next fall, she came ready with a plan.
How it works: At the start of the year, each student is screened to identify their ability in various skill areas and then grouped so they get individualized instruction.
- Then comes targeted instruction, one reading skill at a time. Educators assess students' growth every two weeks.
- Once they've mastered one skill, the process repeats with another.
- It's working, Barnes says, thanks to the hard work of all involved.
What they're saying: "I think that one of the things this school does best is that we have very high expectations of everybody," Jessi Carnes, one of Ernie Pyle's two third-grade teachers, tells Axios.
- "My kiddos who don't know their vowel sounds yet, I am totally confident that they will be reading by the end of the year. I know that they can do that, and we treat them like that from the very beginning."
- She saw her students, many of whom were still learning English, make that leap last year.
By the numbers: More than 90% of Ernie Pyle's third-grade students passed the IREAD exam last school year.
- The school's 30-point jump from the previous year moved it from the bottom half of IPS elementary schools to the top five.
What's next: The goal for this school year is a 95% pass rate, "which is ambitious," Barnes says.
- "While I would love to have all of them pass, I don't want to make that the end all, be all. I want the kids to focus on, 'I learned something. I grew. I am capable.'"