The leader of the Indiana Department of Education said she is “optimistic and hopeful” about the future of schools in the Hoosier state.
While speaking Monday to Rotary Club of Fort Wayne, State Secretary of Education Katie Jenner gave a status update on education in Indiana.
Jenner, first appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2021, was retained by Gov. Mike Braun last year and was given broader responsibilities. She went from overseeing Indiana’s K-12 education system to also overseeing postsecondary education, the state charter school board, the Indiana School for the Deaf, the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Indiana State Library, among other responsibilities.
“I have a learning curve in some of these areas, and I have a really good team around me that help support (me),” Jenner said.
She covered four topics: learner-centered, future-focused education; ensuring students can read; increasing access to high-quality STEM instruction; and the future of the Indiana diploma.
“Since January 2021, we have worked to transform K-12 education in Indiana,” Jenner said.
A historic $170 million literacy investment allowed the state department to “deploy a number of comprehensive, strategic solutions aimed at helping more students learn to read,” Jenner said.
“Illiteracy is one of the most solvable issues of our time,” she said. “We have to research. I know the practice. Really, making sure that every child reads by the end of third grade matters.”
Third-grade illiteracy impacts graduation and beyond, Jenner said.
She touted a program she admittedly “almost killed.” The On-Track Indicator tests reading skills of second-graders to ensure they are on the right path for reading efficiency after third grade.
“If we’re testing kids on their reading in the third grade, can we not test them in the second grade and provide an on-track indicator?” Jenner said. “On-track indicators (are) for parents and families, for teachers to say, ‘is my child on track?’”
Jenner said she initially was skeptical of the program because she did not want to give students another test to take, but she was convinced to keep it because of its potential to get kids on the best literacy level.
Students who pass IREAD in second grade do not have to retest in third grade. More than 1,000 second graders passed IREAD last year. That was a 179% increase from 2022, when 385 second graders passed.
Jenner’s department rolled out the Learning Lab, which she called “a one-stop shop providing administrators, educators and families with instruction resources, literacy, assessment and parent hubs and other best practices.”
“It’s been more popular than I could imagine, Jenner said. “It started as just a resource for teachers 24/7. Then, we started hearing from parents and families, ‘We’d like some resources too. Can you help us?’ ”
It had 6,000 users in 2021 and has now been accessed by nearly 83,000.
Jenner also stressed areas where Indiana needs to improve like chronic absenteeism and teaching students how to disagree.
“We have to show our students that there are ways to disagree better,” she said.
Jenner said students must be shown the value of a good education because most chronically absent students said they don’t go to school because “they don’t see the value in it,” Jenner said.
Her presentation ended with time for Rotary Club members to ask questions. One asked about homeschooling students and another asked about the competition between public and charter schools.
“Our goal is to make sure that every school type in Indiana is excellent,” Jenner said. “Our kids are our greatest asset.”
Rotary Fort Wayne President Justin Clupper said with public school leaders there, he was happy with Jenner’s presentation.
“The Rotary Club of Fort Wayne has included leadership from Fort Wayne Community Schools for a long time, as well as other education leaders and superintendents,” Clupper said. “The topics today, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. … What I most appreciated today was that Dr. Jenner came back and really focused on the innovative things that are happening in our districts here in Allen County.”
Jenner was not available for questions from reporters. Her office did not respond to a request for comment on federal education funding.
