By John Rohlf
The Message assistant editor
The Diocese of Evansville Catholic Schools achieved top-10 scores in the state of Indiana in English Language Arts, math and social studies on the 2024 ILEARN assessments.
The Indiana Department of Education presented results in July from the spring 2024 administration of the Indiana Learning Evaluation and Readiness Network (ILEARN), which assesses proficiency in content standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and math in grades three through eight and social studies in fifth grade.
The Diocese of Evansville finished third in the state in English Language Arts (ELA), sixth in the state in social studies and eighth in the state in mathematics. They had the top score among all diocesan schools in the state in all three subjects.
“A special thank you to our school principals, teachers and parents for helping prepare our students for this year's assessments,” Diocese of Evansville Associate Superintendent Kari Ford said. “Our Diocesan overall scores were well above the state averages. This reflects the collective efforts of our entire Diocesan community and I am so proud of the student's hard work.”
Diocese of Evansville Superintendent Michelle Priar said ensuring student academic achievement is a team effort in the diocese.
“Our diocese is blessed with hard working students, supportive parents, dedicated teachers and mission driven administrators,” Priar said. “I’m very proud of how our students compare academically to others across the state with regard to ILEARN.”
Several diocesan schools scored in the top-10 in the state in at least one subject on the assessments. St. Wendel School placed ninth or better in all three categories. They finished tied for first in social studies, tied for fourth in math and ninth in ELA. Holy Cross placed third in ELA. Sts. Peter and Paul School finished tied for fourth in math and fourth in social studies. St. James placed ninth in social studies.
Priar said in addition to looking at the school and diocesan scores, they also look closely at individual student growth scores.
“Teachers are intentional about meeting students where they are, challenging and encouraging students to reach their full potential,” Priar said. “Equally important, we provide a faith based environment which ensures an education centered in Christ and rooted in our Catholic faith.”
Statewide, 41 percent of Indiana’s students are at or above proficiency standards in ELA and 40.7 percent of students are at or above proficiency standards in math. The Diocese of Evansville was over 68 percent proficient in ELA and over 66 percent proficient in math.
In order to provide more actionable data throughout the year for students, parents, families and teachers, the state of Indiana has been working since January 2022 to redesign the ILEARN ELA and math assessments, which will roll out as a pilot this upcoming year. The new checkpoints will provide improved real time student data that can be used to better support student learning throughout the year, rather than waiting until the end of the year for results. The checkpoints are not punitive and will be used to guide student learning. If a student does not master a particular standard, the student will receive additional intervention and instruction prior to having a retest option. Over 70 percent of schools opted in to participate in the ILEARN checkpoints during the 2024-2025 school year. The full rollout will begin in the 2025-2026 school year and will include all schools.