The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Indiana schools

In Indiana, 22.3% of Black students are proficient in reading at the typical school — against 44.1% of White students. Within Fort Wayne Community Schools alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 63 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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32.2%
All students
21.8%
Black
26.6%
Hispanic
44.9%
White
54.8%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical Indiana school. Groups are shown wherever Indiana reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from ILEARN 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 145 districts, 576 Indiana schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Indiana school the picture is black students at 21.8%, hispanic students at 26.6%, white students at 44.9% and asian students at 54.8%. That is a 33-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Indiana data shows

Landscape
0

Indiana schools earn an A for Black students

An A means 80% or more of Black students are proficient. Of 527 schools with at least 25 Black student results, none reach that bar. The highest in the state is Brown Elementary in Brownsburg at 70.0%.

Disparity
62.6 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Fort Wayne Community Schools

Fred H Croninger Elementary reaches 65.2%. Study Elementary, in the same district, sits at 2.6%. Across 35 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Opportunity
9

schools where 60%+ of Black students are proficient

Brownsburg Community Schools holds three of them, led by Crossroads Elementary at 65.4% across 182 Black student results. These schools are proof the ceiling is not fixed.

Where Black students are doing best in Indiana

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Monon Trail Elementary SchoolWestfield-Washington Schools 71.7% 73.3% 52.5% 79.1% 72.5%
Brown Elementary SchoolBrownsburg Community School Corp 78.9% 70% 77.3% 83.1%
Crossroads Elementary SchoolBrownsburg Community School Corp 71.5% 65.4% 58.3% 75.9%
Fred H Croninger Elementary SchoolFort Wayne Community Schools Magnet 83.3% 65.2% 75% 88.9%
Discovery Middle SchoolPenn-Harris-Madison School Corp 72.7% 64.3% 68.5% 71.8% 85.3%
Lincoln Elementary SchoolBrownsburg Community School Corp 74.2% 63.8% 46.4% 81.9%
White Lick Elementary SchoolBrownsburg Community School Corp 75.6% 63.3% 79.7%
Protsman Elementary SchoolLake Central School Corporation 65.2% 60.7% 56.8% 69.7%
Delaware Trail Elementary SchoolBrownsburg Community School Corp 79.4% 60.6% 80% 85.5%
River Birch Elementary SchoolAvon Community School Corp 62.9% 59.8% 50% 67%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Washington IntermediateWashington Community Schools 18.5% 0% 11.8% 24%
Taylor Elementary SchoolTaylor Community School Corp 22.9% 0% 26.2%
Mary Daly Elementary SchoolElkhart Community Schools 10.6% 0% 10.8% 17.9%
Anderson Elementary SchoolAnderson Community School Corp 7.7% 0% 11% 8.8%
Coquillard Elementary SchoolSouth Bend Community School Corp 3.7% 0.6%
Sarah Scott Middle SchoolVigo County School Corp 13.8% 1.8% 18.8%
Logansport Junior High SchoolLogansport Community Sch Corp 17.9% 2.1% 10.8% 28.4% 40.9%
Christian Park School 82Indianapolis Public Schools 12.9% 2.4% 14.6% 17.4%
Study Elementary SchoolFort Wayne Community Schools 8.1% 2.6% 12.2% 20.8%
Arlington Community Middle SchoolIndianapolis Public Schools 3.3% 2.7% 3.8%

One district, two outcomes

In Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fred H Croninger Elementary School reports 65.2% of Black students meeting the standard. Study Elementary School, in the same district, reports 2.6%. That is a 62.6-point spread across 35 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Indiana districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Fort Wayne Community Schools — 35 schools, 16.1% average
Indianapolis Public Schools — 35 schools, 13.8% average
South Bend Community School Corp — 20 schools, 11.9% average
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp — 19 schools, 12.2% average
Hamilton Southeastern Schools — 14 schools, 42.5% average
MSD Lawrence Township — 13 schools, 22.3% average
MSD Warren Township — 13 schools, 17.2% average
MSD Pike Township — 12 schools, 21.4% average
MSD Wayne Township — 12 schools, 17.4% average
Perry Township Schools — 12 schools, 17.7% average
Elkhart Community Schools — 11 schools, 12.5% average
MSD Washington Township — 11 schools, 24.4% average
Avon Community School Corp — 10 schools, 48% average
Brownsburg Community School Corp — 10 schools, 59.8% average
School City of Hammond — 10 schools, 11% average
Lafayette School Corporation — 9 schools, 20.8% average
Michigan City Area Schools — 9 schools, 18.5% average
Anderson Community School Corp — 8 schools, 10.8% average
Greater Clark County Schools — 8 schools, 20.2% average
Tippecanoe School Corp — 8 schools, 23.2% average
Franklin Township Com Sch Corp — 7 schools, 29.8% average
Gary Community School Corp — 7 schools, 8.6% average
Kokomo School Corporation — 7 schools, 9.8% average
Merrillville Community School Corp — 7 schools, 28.4% average
Muncie Community Schools — 7 schools, 19.1% average
Lake Central School Corporation — 6 schools, 39.6% average
MSD Decatur Township — 6 schools, 21.3% average
New Albany-Floyd Co Con Sch — 6 schools, 26.1% average
Portage Township Schools — 6 schools, 15.7% average
East Allen County Schools — 5 schools, 13.6% average
Monroe County Community Sch Corp — 5 schools, 13.4% average
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp — 5 schools, 35.8% average
School City of East Chicago — 5 schools, 11.5% average
Center Grove Community School Corp — 4 schools, 34.5% average
MSD Southwest Allen County Schls — 4 schools, 23.6% average
Mt Vernon Community School Corp — 4 schools, 24.8% average
Plainfield Community School Corp — 4 schools, 37.7% average
School City of Mishawaka — 4 schools, 13.5% average
Beech Grove City Schools — 3 schools, 10.2% average
Carmel Clay Schools — 3 schools, 38.9% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Indiana schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure ILEARN 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Indiana suppresses results for groups with too few students tested. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 576 of Indiana's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Indiana's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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