More Than a Test Score: Understanding Indiana’s New School Accountability Model

For years, Indiana’s A to F school grading system told a narrow story. A single score, heavily driven by one exam, had the power to define an entire school. The approach was simple, but that simplicity came at a cost. It erased nuance, overlooked progress, and left many students, families, and educators feeling disconnected from the real work of learning.

That story is now beginning to change for the first time in over a decade. In June 2025, Indiana’s State Board of Education released the first draft of a new school accountability model. This version aims to elevate student readiness, growth, and opportunity as core indicators of success (Indiana Capital Chronicle, 2025). Rather than serving as just a compliance exercise, the release signals that Indiana is ready to rethink what matters most in education.

This blog will explore what’s subject to change, how the new direction connects with other major efforts such as the Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard and the new diploma seals, and why this evolving model holds promise for better reflecting the learning journeys of every Hoosier student.

Why Indiana Is Overhauling Accountability

Indiana’s shift toward a new school accountability model didn’t happen spontaneously. It emerged in response to years of growing concern that the state’s previous approach was no longer effective.

For more than a decade, Indiana relied on an A to F letter grade system to rate schools, with performance tied largely to standardized test scores. Although initially seen as a tool for transparency, the system gradually became misaligned with how educators, families, and policymakers defined meaningful learning. By 2018, a combination of testing changes and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic led to a pause in issuing official grades, leaving the state in an accountability vacuum.

In 2023, Indiana lawmakers passed House Enrolled Act 1498, which requires the State Board of Education to adopt a new school performance model by December 2025. The law reflects a bipartisan recognition that the former system oversimplified school performance and failed to capture the broader picture of student success (Indiana Capital Chronicle, 2025).

Calling for an approach that balances rigor with relevance, Governor Mike Braun and state education leaders have underscored the need for a more meaningful model. From their perspective, accountability should measure more than proficiency and should reflect whether students are being prepared for life after high school. That vision has helped drive a broader movement to align accountability with readiness, growth, and opportunity.

The draft model does not simply exchange one grading system for another. Instead, it redefines what a grade is meant to represent. The goal goes beyond evaluating schools. It has the potential to highlight what matters most by focusing on helping every student succeed on their chosen path, which the old system failed to do.

A Broader, More Personalized Accountability Framework

Indiana’s proposed accountability model represents a clear shift away from the era of single-score judgment. Instead of focusing solely on whether a student passed a test, the new model encourages a broader question: Is the student on track for success?

The draft design shifts readiness assessment earlier, introducing four key checkpoints at approximately Grade 3, Grades 4 through 8, Grade 10, and Grade 12. At each of these stages, academic achievement is combined with other meaningful indicators of progress. While foundational skills in reading and math still matter, so do school attendance, participation in advanced coursework, and completion of experiences that prepare students for college, careers, or military service (Indiana Department of Education, 2025).

What stands out most is the model’s new approach to student growth. In today’s system, a student who falls just short of a proficiency cut score may receive a value of zero, which effectively erases the gains they’ve made. By contrast, the proposed model allows that same student to contribute positively to a school’s rating through other forms of progress. A student might demonstrate they’re on track through strong attendance, reading proficiency, or early college coursework, even if a single test score fails to capture the full picture (WFYI, 2025).

By recognizing multiple pathways to success, this broader and more personalized approach reframes how student achievement is understood. It creates space for educators to support growth over time, not just on a single testing day. The model aims to prioritize what genuinely matters in learning rather than what happens to be the easiest to measure.

Connecting the Dots: Accountability, Diplomas, and GPS

Changes to Indiana’s accountability model are unfolding as part of a broader, more strategic redesign of how the state prepares and supports students from kindergarten through graduation. These shifts are most visible in two major initiatives: the Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard and Indiana’s newly adopted high school diploma structure.

What connects all three efforts is a shared vision. Readiness is no longer treated as a single destination, but as a combination of academic mastery, essential skills, and real-world experiences. The GPS framework outlines five characteristics that Hoosiers have identified as critical to long-term success (Indiana Department of Education, 2025):

• Academic Mastery

• Career and Postsecondary Readiness

• Communication and Collaboration

• Work Ethic

• Civic, Financial, and Digital Literacy

These same qualities are now embedded in how schools will be evaluated under the new accountability model.

The redesigned high school diploma builds on that vision. Beginning with the Class of 2029, students will earn a single standard diploma, which they can personalize through pathways and seals aligned to their postsecondary goals. A student preparing for college, the workforce, or military service will have the opportunity to earn an Enrollment, Employment, or Enlistment seal. Each of these seals also offers two levels of distinction: a standard Honors seal for students who meet key readiness benchmarks, and an Honors Plus seal for those who exceed expectations through more rigorous coursework or advanced achievement (NASBE, 2025). These seals provide meaningful recognition of student accomplishments and signal preparation for life beyond high school.

One of the most important changes lies in how the accountability model recognizes these experiences. Schools will now receive credit when students complete work-based learning, earn college credit, or obtain a credential of value before graduation. These elements are no longer optional; they are integrated into the system that shapes how school performance is measured (Indiana Capital Chronicle, 2025).

In short, Indiana is working toward a more coherent structure. The GPS dashboard defines what matters. The diploma provides students with a framework for pursuing those priorities. The accountability model ensures that schools are recognized for supporting them. Together, these three components form a coordinated system focused on preparing students for success after graduation.

A Step Forward: Broad Agreement That Change Is Needed

Indiana’s new accountability model draft has sparked early momentum. While many details remain unsettled, the direction itself has already gained meaningful traction across the education community.

Early responses from education leaders reflect cautious optimism. Many see promise in the broader framework, particularly in how it moves beyond narrow measures to acknowledge the full range of student experiences. What has drawn the most attention is the model’s potential to provide a more meaningful view of school performance, one that accounts for academic growth as well as preparation for life beyond graduation.

Decisions around the model’s technical structure are still ahead. Point values, performance weights, and key definitions remain under review. The way those elements come together, shaped by public input and thoughtful design, will determine whether the final version fulfills its promise to be a genuine driver of excellence for all students.

Looking Ahead: The Opportunity for Meaningful Dialogue

As Indiana works to finalize its new accountability system by the end of 2025, this moment calls for thoughtful public input. The draft framework offers a strong foundation, yet how it evolves will depend on the quality and focus of the conversations we engage in over the coming months.

These are not questions rooted in resistance. Rather, they are invitations to improve and a chance to shape a model that works for all schools and all students.

Here are a few key questions I hope this work considers:

• What would it take to ensure that every school, regardless of size, location, or resources, can offer the types of experiences that will “count” in the new system? Dual-credit coursework, readiness seals, and career credentials hold value, but delivering them depends on access and infrastructure that vary widely across districts.

• How might the A to F letter grade format influence school transfer patterns? If higher grades attract more families while Ds & Fs drive enrollment declines, what supports will exist for schools that serve students with the most complex needs?

• Can the model offer clarity for families without flattening the story of student learning? A single letter may carry power. However, without a narrative to support it, that same letter can obscure more than it reveals.

• Beyond identifying schools in need of improvement, how will the state help them grow? Support could take many forms, including targeted resources, professional development, and strategic partnerships.

• As Indiana continues refining the point model, what balance will be struck between fairness and ambition? The way indicators are weighted will shape more than final scores; it will influence the daily decisions schools make for years to come.

These questions are meant to spark honest, constructive dialogue. The current draft moves in a more thoughtful direction than systems of the past. What matters now is how we shape its next phase, through intention, care, and a shared commitment to ensuring that every student in Indiana is counted, supported, and recognized.

Conclusion – A Model in Motion

Indiana’s draft accountability model represents more than a technical change. It reflects a broader shift in how success is defined and in what we expect schools to help students achieve. Rather than simply adjusting a scoring system, this work invites a deeper conversation that focuses on opportunity, readiness, and what genuinely matters in a student’s learning journey.

That conversation is just beginning.

As the rulemaking process moves forward, the real challenge will be staying focused on what matters most. This is not only a question of policy design, but also of whether the final model can reflect the complexity of student experiences and the shared goals of educators, families, and communities.

The current draft is unfinished, and that offers a chance to get it right. With careful input and clear intent, the model can become more than a collection of metrics. It can function as a system that informs decisions, supports improvement, and reflects values that matter across Indiana.

Upcoming entries this week will examine that potential more closely. Our next blog will focus on how the evolving model could affect schools, including their priorities, decisions, and daily work. That will be followed with another entry that will turn to the perspectives of students, families, and community members, exploring how accountability can better represent their experiences and expectations.

This is a rare opportunity to create something more thoughtful and more useful than what came before. It deserves our full attention.

References:

Indiana Capital Chronicle. (2025, June 5). Indiana unveils first draft of overhauled school accountability system to replace A-F grades. https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/06/05/indiana-unveils-first-draft-of-overhauled-school-accountability-system-to-replace-a-f-grades/

Indiana Department of Education. (2025). Accountability model overview.  https://www.in.gov/doe/accountability/

Indiana Department of Education. (2025). Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard. https://gps.doe.in.gov/

NASBE. (2025, March 26). With new diploma, Indiana takes step toward remaking high school. National Association of State Boards of Education. https://www.nasbe.org/with-new-diploma-indiana-takes-step-toward-remaking-high-school/

WFYI. (2025, June 5). Indiana proposes new A to F school grades, but fate of failing schools is undecided. https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-proposes-new-a-to-f-school-grades-but-fate-of-failing-schools-is-undecided