Indiana’s new school accountability system is officially on the books, pending a few final signatures.

The State Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to formally adopt the new statewide model, locking in a redesigned A-F grading system that state officials said better reflects student progress, literacy and post-graduation readiness.

“This has been something that has been a long time coming,” said Katie Jenner, Indiana’s secretary of education. “Many, many stakeholders around Indiana weighed in.”

The multiyear effort was ordered by lawmakers after Indiana dismantled its previous accountability framework and rewrote high school graduation requirements. Schools have been without a grading system in the interim while the replacement model was in development.

[caption id="attachment_127845" align="alignright" width="270"] Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner speaks on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)[/caption]

The rule now heads to state Attorney General Todd Rokita, who has 45 days to sign off, and then to Gov. Mike Braun for final approval.

“This model values academic outcomes as well as skills and experiences. It’s so much more than just creating a robot who can memorize things,” said Paul Ketcham, assistant secretary of education. “It is a very granular model. Every student will have the opportunity to grow, and it’s our responsibility to grow them.”

“In 49 other states, it’s an accountability rule,” Ketcham said. “In Indiana, it’s a roadmap for schools and students and families to be successful.”

A familiar framework — with a rebuild

Indiana schools will continue to receive single-letter grades — A, B, C, D or F — under the new system, but those grades will now be calculated in a fundamentally different way.

Rather than relying primarily on schoolwide averages and standardized test scores, the new framework assigns points student by student. Jenner and other education officials have described it as a model in which schools earn credit for each individual student based on a combination of academic proficiency, growth and additional “success indicators” that vary by grade span.

Those student-level scores are averaged within separate grade bands — elementary, middle and high school — and combined into one overall A-F grade for each school.

The model was intentionally designed to move beyond an “all-or-nothing” approach and incorporate multiple measures while keeping academic mastery central, particularly reading and math in the early grades, according to a state regulatory analysis.

“No longer does an indicator encourage schools to dismiss certain students that might be way behind,” said Ron Sandlin, senior director of school performance and transformation for the Indiana Department of Education. “We fundamentally flipped the paradigm. Every student in a school generates points.”

At the high school level, the model more directly ties accountability to Indiana’s newly redesigned diplomas and diploma seals.

Graduation rate and SAT performance each make up 10% of a school’s grade-12 score, alongside measures tied to coursework, credentials, work-based learning and student engagement.

“What we’ve tried to do is understand the student in their entirety,” Jenner said. “So that they don’t get washed in simple numerator-denominator math that we’ve been doing for so long.”

Multiple education groups and other board members additionally voiced support during Wednesday’s meeting.

“This framework gives teachers the tools to celebrate and support success beyond a single test score,” said Rachel Hathaway, Indiana executive director at Teach Plus, a national nonprofit focused on education policy. “Accountability should not be about labeling schools. It should be about improving them.”

Todd Bess with the Indiana Association of School Principals emphasized that the new model “prioritizes student growth alongside proficiency.”

“It recognizes the progress schools make every day with students at all starting points. Moving up those that are below (proficiency). Those that are just about there — and then obviously, those that are still wildly proficient — keep moving them, too, and finding those success indicators,” Bess said. “Families and communities can better understand school performance … and what I like is we can say we’re going to add these things up. Every kid matters, and here’s the greatest outcome.”

A transition year before grades ‘count’

The new accountability system will roll out through a transition period Sandlin tagged “Year Zero,” which applies to the 2025-26 school year.

Letter grades for the current academic year will be calculated and publicly released under the new model, but they will be informational only and will not trigger any timelines or consequences tied to Indiana’s accountability laws.

Sandlin said that the goal is to give schools and communities time to understand the new calculations and respond before the grades formally carry weight. Year Zero, he said, is intended to “set a clear baseline” and provide families and schools with transparent information about where performance stands under the new system.

IDOE plans to begin sharing detailed performance data with schools later this year, followed by the public release of Year Zero grades.

“This is different than any past A-F years,” Sandlin said.

As part of the transition, the grading scale will also be temporarily adjusted. For Year Zero, an A grade will span 85 to 100, rather than the traditional 90 to 100 range.

Starting with the 2026-27 school year, letter grades will once again count for accountability purposes. At that point, the cutoff for an A will gradually increase over time, rising by 2.5 points in any year when at least 25% of schools earn an A, until it reaches a final target of 90 to 100.

State officials said the approach is intended to allow an initial transition period while steadily increasing rigor as schools improve under the new model.

Wednesday’s vote followed months of revisions and public feedback led by IDOE, as well as parallel negotiations with federal education officials over Indiana’s accountability obligations.

Jenner said the state hit pause on its pending federal waiver — which would give Indiana added flexibility in how it aligns accountability and funding — to avoid locking in a model that was still being revised.

The waiver seeks permission from the federal government to overhaul how Indiana spends and tracks billions of dollars in education aid — a request that Hoosier officials said would align the state’s accountability system with federal law and allow more freedom in how schools use their funds.

Hoosiers officials specifically requested exemptions from multiple provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA, the federal law governing K-12 education, plus permission to combine funding from more than 15 federal education programs into a single “strategic block grant.”

The U.S. Department of Education has 120 days to review and respond to waiver applications once they’re received. Indiana’s was submitted in October, but the pause extends that timeline.

“We intentionally paused our federal waiver process as we were working through the final touches in our accountability model ….  in order to get this at the best place,” Jenner said. “We will unpause our waiver timeline shortly.”

“The fact that we’re doing this accountability work simultaneously as we’re working on our waiver has been a huge advantage to Indiana,” she said. “In addition to stakeholders in Indiana pushing us on some things, (federal officials) have also pushed us on some things. … A lot of people think policy work is threading the needle. We’ve had, like, multiple pieces of yarn.”

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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To participating families, nondenominational LifeWise Academy programs supplement religious instruction. But critics in Indiana worry the programs spend public school resources on religion, proselytize to students of other faiths and remove children from class in a state already struggling with literacy.

LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton told The Associated Press that many parents want religious instruction to be part of their children’s education.

“Values of faith and the Bible are absolutely central to many families,” Penton said. “And so they want to demonstrate to their children that it is central to their lives.”

Public schools cannot promote any religion under the First Amendment, but a 1952 Supreme Court ruling centered on New York schools cleared the way for programs like LifeWise. Individual places of worship often work with schools to host programs off campus, and they are not regulated in some states.

LifeWise officials addressed the Oklahoma and Ohio legislatures in support of laws that would require schools to cooperate with off-site religious programs, Penton said, and Oklahoma’s Republican governor signed one such bill into law Wednesday.

Similar bills have been introduced in Ohio, Nebraska, Georgia and Mississippi this year, according to an AP analysis of Plural, a legislative tracking database.

LifeWise programs will be available at over 520 locations in 23 states next school year, up from 331 in 13 states this year, and about 31,000 students attend LifeWise programs in the U.S., Penton said.

Penton wants LifeWise to be available to “50 million public school students nationwide,” he said.

In Indiana, Republican state Rep. Kendell Culp introduced the legislation requiring principals to allow students to attend release-time religious education after a rural school stopped cooperating with LifeWise. The bill was signed into law in March and subsequently 45 Indiana schools will work with the company this fall, triple the number from last year.

LifeWise Academy, based in Hilliard, Ohio, is funded by donors, including more than $13 million in contributions from July 2022 to June 2023, according to its latest federal report.

The curriculum was developed in conjunction with the Gospel Project, a Bible study plan produced by an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, Penton said. Instructors are provided with guidance on how to respond to difficult questions, including about the afterlife and sex. LifeWise opposes same-sex marriage, as well as transgender and gender-fluid identities.

“Our guide helps classroom educators address these questions with compassion, humility and respect,” Penton said in a statement.

Chris Paulsen, CEO of LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group Indiana Youth Group, voiced concern that children can receive Christian religious instruction during the school day “yet no one can talk about queer families.” Indiana bans “human sexuality” instruction in schools through third grade.

LifeWise staff and volunteers either bus or drive students from school to the program sites, or use spaces near schools and supervise children walking there.

Indiana law and the 1952 Supreme Court ruling say no public funds can be spent on supplemental religious education, but critics worry schools expend public resources on scheduling and getting children to and from the programs.

“It just puts another burden on the teachers,” said Michelle Carrera, a high school English teacher in Culp’s district.

Democratic lawmakers derided the new law when literacy scores and attendance are down and said it violates the separation of church and state guaranteed in the First Amendment.

“Saying that a religious organization can mandate scheduling at a school strikes me as a fundamental violation of that important American principle,” said Indiana House Education Committee member Ed DeLaney, a Democrat.

Jennifer Matthias, on Fort Wayne Community Schools’ board of trustees, opposes a new program in her district, especially because recent Republican-led legislation establishes stronger literacy requirements for elementary students.

“How can removing students from the academic day benefit them?” she said.

Backers argue the LifeWise model allows low-income students who cannot afford after-school programs to receive supplemental religious instruction. Culp said the Indiana law gives parents a greater say in their children’s education.

“This is really more about parental rights,” he said.

Christa Sullinger, 46, began sending her 10-year-old son to LifeWise in Garrett, Indiana, last year. With baseball activities on Sundays, the family sometimes misses church and LifeWise fills in the gaps.

“What a great way to solidify our faith,” Sullinger said.

LifeWise says it does not teach programs during classes such as math or reading, but rather during lunch, recess or electives including library, art or gym. Children can attend for up to two hours a week under Indiana law.

The West Central School Corporation in rural Pulaski County, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis, said 64% of its 345 elementary school students attended LifeWise during library this past school year.

West Central School Corporation Superintendent Cathy Rowe said there may be students who feel left out if they don’t attend LifeWise, but that is up to the parents.

“It’s been very well supported in our community,” she said.

The district was often at the center of discussion during the passage of Indiana’s bill. Opponents said if only a handful of children are left at school, they may feel pressure to join or alienated if they are not religiously affiliated or practice another faith.

Some children promote the program to their classmates of their own volition, Penton said.

“We’re grateful when students find joy in our program and spread the word,” he said.

Demrie Alonzo, a tutor of English as a second language in Fredericktown, Ohio, said she saw one LifeWise representative tell one of her third-grade students, who is Hindu, that they could teach her about Jesus. An investigation ensued, resulting in school superintendent Gary Chapman reminding Fredericktown Local School District and LifeWise officials to refrain from soliciting student participation during school hours.

Children from “a diverse array of backgrounds” participate, Penton said.

“I felt it was extremely inappropriate,” Alonzo said.

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WARSAW — As we get near the end of this year’s basketball season, the annual angst and outrage builds and builds.

People are angry and frustrated, and the cries for action wafting up to those in charge of Indiana high school sports are growing.

They are tired of seeing private schools winning and going deep into the state tournaments.

Here’s what they are talking about.

At this year’s football state finals, for example, half of the six state champions were private schools.

Now, if you actually go to the IHSAA website and look at the year-by-year state championships for each sport, the 2022-23 school year doesn’t fit that argument.

But, especially in the smallest classes, if you go back 20 years, you’ll find that the ratio of private school state champions to the number of sports the IHSAA offers and the number of private schools compared to public schools is disproportionate.

The numbers just don’t add up.

These people, in the name of fairness to the small public schools of the Hoosier State, want action and their patience is waning.

Ah, but the solution is always the obstacle.

Let’s assume the IHSAA want to do something about it. Their foundational responsibility is to be the caretakers of high school sports in Indiana, and to connect athletics to the classroom, the life-long lessons that athletics teaches and sportsmanship.

Fairness is their objective.

What those championing this effort have concluded is that private schools should be treated differently than public schools.

Most of them offer two options as potential solutions. The first is to make all private and charter schools play in the largest class in each sport. The other is that private schools should have their own class.

The thinking is that private schools have an advantage because they don’t operate within corporation boundaries. Their athletes can come from anywhere. Their families traditionally come from more affluent homes who can afford the best training, equipment and transportation.

And there was a time when my voice joined with these folks in calling for change, and change has come—but not the change everyone was hoping for.

It used to be that even if you packed up your family and physically moved from one school district to another, the school you were leaving could raise a red flag with the IHSAA and would start an investigation into the transfer.

What they would be looking for was evidence that the transfer was for “athletic purposes.” That violates the spirit of “education-based athletics.”

But those challenges are becoming fewer and fewer. Why? Well, that’s another article for another day.

I have no statistical data to back this up, but I am willing to bet that (counting girls and boys teams) over a third of the public school teams I saw this winter had a player who didn’t live in their school district. One school I saw play had three players in their starting lineup who I have confirmed do not live within that school’s district.

Oh, and don’t think I am chastising that school for it — not at all! They are simply “playing the game” like everyone else.

If you are a fan of a public school team and you are outraged by the success of private and charter schools and you sight the unfair disadvantage they have as your reason why, grab the roster from your girls and boys basketball teams over the last five years and I am quite certain you’ll find a player that either didn’t/doesn’t live in your district or didn’t start attending your school until their freshman year.

Heck, you’ll find kids playing at one school and their siblings played at a completely different school … and they don’t actually live in either one!

Please don’t misunderstand … I don’t like it any more than you do. It’s not the way it should be.

But it follows everything else in today’s society, doesn’t it? You don’t like the situation you’re in, you transfer.

The IHSAA rejects your transfer; you take it to court. You get mad because you got replaced in the starting lineup; you go somewhere else. You get mad at the boss; you start looking for a new job. Your wife burns dinner; the lady in the cubical across from you starts looking mighty attractive.

But again, that’s a column coming your way this summer.

Back to the original question: “What do we do about private and charter schools?”

The answer is: “encourage your school to do everything it can to be as attractive as possible to lure kids into your school system. And that’s not just an athletics thing. Schools should be doing that anyway because of the way our state government has set up the system to let money follow students rather than fix the schools we already have.

Again, that’s for another column in another section of the newspaper.

It may not be obvious to you, but the playing field for private and public schools has never been more level thab it is right now.

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