Indiana

		REPORT CARD
		NAEP exams		% Scoring proficient
		1996 8th grade math		24%
		1996 4th grade math		24%
		1996 8th grade science		30%
		1994 4th grade reading		33%
		QUALITY COUNTS 1999 grades
		Standards and assessments		B-
		Efforts to raise teacher quality		B
		School climate		D+
		Resources (funding):
			Adequacy	B+
			Equity	C
			Allocation	C

I ndiana's high school students now have a number of incentives to get more serious about academics. Sophomores took a new test last year that they will have to pass in order to graduate from high school. The state also did away with lower-level courses in math and science. And districts can now pass along to students the $800 they receive for every young person who earns an "academic honors" diploma. The state also has rewards and consequences for schools based on their performance, but blunts its expectations by having lower standards for schools with a large proportion of students who are poor or have lower "cognitive ability."

* NOTE: The equity grade is based on 1994-95 data, the most recent available.

© 1999 Editorial Projects in Education

Vol. 18, number 17, page 144