2024 SAT: Indianapolis charter high schools lead college-readiness rates locally and statewide
The Indiana Department of Education recently released results for the 2024 SAT, giving our community a window into Hoosier students’ reading and math college-readiness. This is the third year that the SAT is the required high school assessment for juniors in Indiana.
Statewide: Slight increase in reading college-readiness, decrease in math
In 2024, the SAT was changed to an adaptive assessment, which means the difficulty of the questions changes depending on how well a test-taker did on previous questions. As a result, SAT math scores dropped across the country. In Indiana, all student groups saw decreases in math college-ready scores.
These drops make it difficult to compare performance over time on the math section. On the more stable evidenced-based reading and writing (EBRW) portion of the test, Indiana students have still only increased their EBRW college-readiness rate by 1.3 points since 2022.
In Indianapolis: Innovation charter high schools outperform peers locally and statewide
Students in innovation charter schools continue to surpass statewide college-readiness rates, both overall and for Black, Latino, and low-income students. Within IPS boundaries, innovation charter schools continue to lead in college-readiness rates.
- Overall, the top five public high schools within IPS boundaries are charter and innovation schools. This is also true for Black students.
- Four of the top five high schools within IPS boundaries for Latino students are charter and innovation schools.
- Students attending innovation charter schools are 5x more likely to be college-ready on both sections of the SAT than their peers in district-run IPS schools. These trends are similar for low-income, Latino, and Black students.
Innovation charter schools are also some of the highest performing high schools in Marion County and statewide.
- Black students in innovation charter schools have college-readiness rates that surpass those of every township district.
- In Indianapolis, students in township districts have increased EBRW college-readiness rates by 0.8% since 2022 while students in innovation charter schools saw an increase of 4.4%.
- On the EBRW section of the SAT, Black students attending innovation charter schools have higher college-readiness rates than all 11 Marion County districts.
- On the math section of the SAT, Latino students attending innovation charter schools have higher college-readiness rates than all but one Marion County district.
- On the EBRW section of the SAT, five Indianapolis charter and innovation schools rank in the top 5% of all Indiana public schools for Black student college-readiness rates.
A few innovation and charter high schools are leaders in SAT college-readiness rates in Marion County and statewide:
- Out of all public high schools in Marion County, Herron High School had the highest college-ready rate for all students, and for Latino and low-income students.
- Out of all public high schools in Marion County, Indiana Math and Science Academy (IMSA) North had the highest college-ready rate for Black students.
- Out of all public schools in the state, IMSA North had the sixth highest college-ready rate for Black students. BELIEVE Circle City had the 14th highest and Herron High School had the 15th highest.
While we are proud to celebrate bright spots, the significant decreases on the math section of the SAT deserve our community’s attention. Our team will continue to work closely with local educators and invest in proven strategies that can drive math and reading success for all K-12 students.
The Mind Trust is grateful to the continued dedication of educators, community organizations, and families across the state who are working to create better outcomes for all Hoosier students. We believe together we can create stronger educational opportunities for every student in Indianapolis and beyond.
More education news: Read The Mind Trust’s analysis of 2024 ILEARN data.