Over the past year, the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana State Board of Education have been working to create a new system to grade schools that embodies and communicates to the public how a school performs in the many areas essential to student success.
Gov. Braun recently signed off on the final A-F grade model, which will formally come into effect during the 2026-27 school year. This comes after the State Board of Education unanimously approved the grading system.
This new system was created thanks to a law I cosponsored last year that directed IDOE to develop a new letter grade system for school accountability. This update was needed because our old system did not reflect Indiana’s new high school diploma seals or our updated ILEARN test.
After researching, receiving feedback from educators, parents and community leaders, and revising the proposal, the State Board of Education created a system that not only considers student test scores but also school attendance, work-based learning opportunities and participation in advanced coursework.
Indiana’s old school accountability system put too much emphasis on test passing rates, but the new system allows schools to be recognized for helping students succeed using multiple metrics. I believe this method gives the public a better understanding of a school's academic success and how schools prepare students for life after their K-12 education, whether that be college or another post-secondary opportunity, or joining the military or workforce.
IDOE will release the letter grades for the 2025-26 school year as part of a transition period from the old system to the new one. These grades are meant to show where schools fall in the new model and where they need to improve for students.
I believe this system is a strong step forward for education in Indiana and will make our schools better for students and parents.
As always, I encourage constituents to reach out to me with any questions or concerns by filling out a "Contact Me" form on the IndianaSenateRepublicans.com/Raatz website or by calling my office at 800-382-9467.
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State Sen. Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) represents Senate District 27, which includes
Henry, Union and Wayne counties, and portions of Franklin County.
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