Hamilton Southeastern Schools students scored more than 24 percentage points above Indiana’s statewide proficiency rates in math and English/language arts on the 2025-26 ILEARN assessment, according to results released by the district.

For students in grades 3-8, HSE reported a math proficiency rate of 68.1%, compared with 42.7% statewide. In English/language arts, the district reported 66.4%, compared with Indiana’s 42.0%.

Those figures put HSE ahead of the state by 25.4 percentage points in math and 24.4 percentage points in English/language arts. The district said differences across individual grade levels and subjects ranged from 21 to 30 percentage points.

The results come with an important qualification: Indiana redesigned the assessment, so the scores cannot be used to determine whether performance improved or declined from previous years. The Indiana Department of Education says changes to academic standards and test design make the 2026 results a new baseline for future comparisons.

“We are proud of our students as well as the teachers and staff who support them every day,” HSE Superintendent Matt Kegley said in the district’s release. “These results show a high level of learning happening in classrooms across HSE Schools. They also give us important information about where our students are doing well and where we can continue to grow.”

The redesigned math and English/language arts assessments use a “through-year” model. Students in grades 3-8 complete three checkpoints during the school year before taking a shortened final assessment in the spring.

The checkpoints give teachers information they can use to adjust instruction and identify students who need additional help. The spring assessment measures students’ mastery of state standards and is used in school accountability, according to the Indiana Department of Education’s ILEARN overview.

HSE said an overview of the district’s results will be presented at the Oct. 14 school board meeting.