Aleksandra Appleton
Reporter, Chalkbeat Indiana
Aleksandra Appleton is a Reporter for Chalkbeat Indiana. She previously reported on schools in Las Vegas and Fresno, California, where she grew up. Aleks is a graduate of UC San Diego and the Columbia School of Journalism.
Republican leaders have said they expect to increase funding for K-12 schools while also expanding school choice.
House Republicans want to reinvent high school to let students receive credit for working.
This election season saw several newcomer candidates challenge incumbents who had supported Indiana’s curriculum restrictions bill.
Indiana reported an 8.5 percentage point drop in reading scores on state tests among third graders learning English.
Teachers don’t have enough time to teach the long list of current standards, proponents have argued, meaning students miss critical knowledge.
New tutoring programs also aim to be more accessible by covering the costs.
Some candidates motivated to run by the unsuccessful curriculum bill worry it will make a comeback next year.
Lawmakers this year expanded a ban on offering an incentive to enroll at schools in Indiana.
Funding for schools with fewer students who live in poverty has increased faster than funding for schools with more such students, one group said.
The new tutoring grant is available to fourth and fifth graders who qualify for federally subsidized meals and scored below proficiency on state tests.
A big issue for board members will be overseeing a $154 million referendum that pays for teachers and STEM programming.
A district of around 6,700 students in southwest Marion County, Decatur reported some staffing challenges earlier this year.
The solution isn’t necessarily to get rid of Praxis and similar tests, the study’s author said.
Seniors strove to serve their community and take on leadership roles while enduring COVID’s impact on learning.
A similar model has already landed another Indiana virtual school in hot water with legislators.
Elkhart and Muncie schools say they want to become more attractive to qualified teachers to cover open staff positions.
Like many other states, Indiana is leaning on tutoring to help students recover from the effects of the COVID quarantines and school closures.
Up to $60 million is for the state Department of Education to increase the number of instructional coaches who specialize in phonics-based literacy in elementary schools.
Indiana juniors took the SAT as part of graduation requirements for the first time in 2022.
Students of color showed mostly modest improvement on the IREAD exam, while white students’ scores remained flat from 2021 to 2022.
Adjuncts receive permits directly from a school district rather than the state Department of Education, which has raised questions about consistent teacher quality.
Advocates believe Indiana can create more thorough sex education and still emphasize abstinence as the best option for teenagers while providing them with medically accurate information about sex in order to seek family planning and health services as adults.
The district calculates an on-track rate in order to get a sense of students’ ability to graduate before they reach the critical final years of high school.
The law strengthens previous restrictions, but so far the state does not seem to be enforcing it.
Additional data indicates that groups like English language learners need more intense help to catch up.
The during-school virtual tutoring will focus on K-2 literacy at the district’s low-performing schools emerging schools, but could expand to other grade levels.
One caveat to the gains: There was relatively low attendance, especially on the final day of the pilot.
Amid budget and enrollment challenges, Indianapolis Public Schools officials have a five-point plan for major changes.
Indianapolis has committed COVID aid to retaining staff, academic supports, and infrastructure.
Preschool enrollment in the district rose this year, but other factors will influence its long-term fate