Good morning, School Leaders,

This week's IASP Advocacy Podcast recaps important takeaways from the September 9th State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting. Here are some highlights:

📊 School Accountability Timeline

• Draft 1 of the new accountability rule is complete.

• Draft 2 will be released in October, followed by another 30-day comment period.

• SBOE is on track to vote in December, with first school letter grades issued in Fall 2026.

💰 Federal Flexibility Waiver

• Indiana is preparing to send a waiver to the U.S. Department of Education this month.

• Goal: maximize flexibility and allow educators to focus on reading, STEM access, and high school opportunities—rather than just compliance.

🚍 Chronic Absenteeism

• Absenteeism has improved since its peak (21.1% in 2022).

• Still, nearly 1 in 3 seniors are chronically absent.

• Data shows significant gaps in proficiency for chronically absent students:

  • ELA: 23.5% proficiency vs. 43% for regular attenders.

  • Math: 19.5% proficiency vs. 45.3%.

📚 Teacher Preparation & Literacy

• Education prep programs reviewed for alignment with the Science of Reading.

• Results: 70% of Cohort 1 programs rated Good or Strong; others must improve within one year or risk losing accreditation.

• Next step: review of secondary literacy programs.

📖 Adolescent Literacy Focus

• New urgency around grades 6–8, where 42% of students are not reading at grade level.

• IDOE will pilot outcomes-based contracts with vetted vendors, ensuring schools only pay for interventions that deliver results.

• Supports include: ILEARN checkpoints, Lexile data, curricular advisory lists, summer learning labs, and Indiana Learning Lab resources.