Indiana’s New School Accountability System – A Critical Look

About This Episide

The Indiana Department of Education has released a second draft of a new school accountability system, and they’re asking for public feedback. But here’s something that should concern every Hoosier: the first draft received input from only 1,169 Indiana residents. That’s less than 1% of our state’s adult population weighing in on the foundation of our society.

The education system shapes our future. We need more voices at this table. And we need to be asking some hard questions about this proposal.

The Work Ethic and Collaboration Dilemma

One of the key components of this new accountability model is measuring students on work ethic and communication and collaboration skills. While these competencies are undeniably important, we need to pause and consider some practical realities:

Is This the School’s Job?

Work ethic is something many of us learned at home. Communication and collaboration patterns are often modeled by parents. Any educator who has met a challenging student’s parents has experienced that “aha” moment where everything suddenly makes sense.

Schools can certainly help foster these skills, but can they really be held accountable for teaching what should begin in the home?

The Measurement Problem

How do we measure work ethic and communication skills without creating an enormous burden that steals time from actual instruction? The proposal suggests evaluating work ethic through attendance, but anyone who works in education knows that work ethic encompasses far more than just showing up.

And then what? When students score low in these areas, will interventions be required? What will those interventions look like? How will already-stretched educators implement them?

The Resource Gap That Will Sink This Ship

Here’s where good intentions meet harsh reality: this plan will fail without adequate funding and staffing.

The focus of the new accountability model sounds wonderful. Meeting individual student needs? Absolutely, that’s what we should be doing. But you cannot ask educators to personalize instruction for every student when:

• Classrooms are overcrowded
• Support staff are overwhelmed
• Teachers are already doing the work of two or three people
• Professional development is inadequate

Good intentions don’t teach students. People do. And people need support, training, and reasonable workloads to be effective.

The Testing Paradox

Let’s talk about ILEARN science and social studies assessments at the elementary level. Here’s an uncomfortable truth: we don’t actually use this data to inform instruction.

Elementary schools focus on reading, writing, and math—building the foundational skills students need to access science and social studies content later. So why are we administering tests that add a third week of testing at the end of the school year for data that sits unused?

That’s a third week of:

• Lost instructional time
• Increased student stress
• Teacher time spent on test prep and administration
• Resources allocated to assessments that don’t drive improvement

Are these tests truly necessary? It’s a question worth asking.

The Real Problem: We Keep Changing the Standard Instead of the System

Here’s the pattern we need to break: We set a standard. We fail to meet it. So we change the standard. Then we fail to meet that one. So we change it again.

But changing the standard doesn’t fix the underlying problem.

The Twinkie Factory Analogy

Imagine you run a Twinkie factory. Your production line makes perfect Twinkies every single day. Now imagine you tell your staff, “Starting tomorrow, we’re making Doritos.” But you:

• Keep all the same equipment
• Keep all the same ingredients
• Provide no training for the new product

Of course they’re going to fail. They don’t have the knowledge or resources to meet the new standard.

This is exactly what we’re doing in education. We’re asking educators to produce students who can think critically, reason effectively, collaborate successfully, and contribute positively to society—but we’re using the same basic educational model and teaching strategies that have been in place since 1907.

You can manipulate standards and outcome measures all you want, but until you change the production process, you’ll continue getting the same results.

118 Years of the Same Failed Experiment

The progressive school model, based on the Gary Plan enacted right here in Indiana in 1907, has been the foundation of American education for 118 years. That’s over a century of the same basic structure.

And what do we have to show for it?

• Students who struggle to show up to work and work hard
• Graduates who can’t think independently on the job
• Young workers who constantly need to be told what to do
• A society that, by most measures, is not getting smarter or more capable

If you’ve employed members of the current working generation, you know this frustration. And it won’t improve until we fundamentally change our education system.

There’s a Proven Alternative (But We’re Ignoring It)

Before the progressive model, American education used the Classical Christian Education model—a system that produced citizens who could think, reason, collaborate, and contribute positively to society.

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what this new accountability system says it wants to create.

The progressive model has had 118 years to prove itself. The results speak for themselves. We need a different production line—and that production line has already been tried and proven to work. We just need to be brave enough to make the switch.

For the sake of our children and their future, I believe it’s worth the change. Because right now, that future looks pretty bleak.

Your Voice Matters—Here’s How to Use It

The Indiana Department of Education is accepting feedback on this second draft until November 17th.

We cannot let another major education policy decision be made with input from less than 1% of affected stakeholders. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, business owner, or concerned citizen—your perspective matters.

Review the Proposal and Submit Feedback:

📄 Official Register Notice:
https://iar.iga.in.gov/register/20251015-IR-511250370SNA

📊 State Board of Education Presentation:
https://www.in.gov/sboe/files/10.15.25-October-SBOE_Accountability-1.pdf

📋 Stakeholder Feedback Summary:
https://www.in.gov/doe/files/Stakeholder-Feedback-Helps-Refine-Second-Draft-of-Indianas-Future-Accountability-Model.pdf

✍️ Submit Your Feedback (Deadline: November 17th):
https://idoe.jotform.com/252463734430959

The Bottom Line

Indiana can and should be a leader in education in America. But we’ll only get there if we’re willing to:

1. Have honest conversations about what’s working and what isn’t
2. Stop tweaking a broken system and consider fundamental transformation
3. Provide adequate resources to match our expectations
4. Learn from educational models that have actually produced the outcomes we claim to want
5. Demand accountability from ourselves as a society, not just from our schools

The education system is the foundation of our society. Let’s demand the best for our kids. Let’s keep coming to the table. And let’s take bold steps—not incremental adjustments—to improve education for our students.

The deadline is November 17th. Make your voice heard.

Listen to the full podcast episode for a deeper dive into these issues and more. Subscribe to Educational Awareness wherever you get your podcasts.

Share Your Thoughts

What do you think about Indiana’s proposed accountability system? Have you submitted feedback? Share your perspective in the comments below or tag us on social media with #EducationalAwareness #IndianaEducation