“There are many opportunities for celebration in tonight’s report, and I am happy to share those with you.” That’s how Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Deputy Superintendent Matt Kegley opened his presentation on academics in the HSE School District Wednesday evening. Although he emphasized there is always room for improvement, overall, these numbers are good news.
Dr. Kegley pointed to 5 elementary schools that had reached the state goal of 95% of 3rd-grade students passing the I-READ3 reading exam. There were comparisons with scores for the past 3 years, including 2024. There were also charts comparing HSE scores with those of school districts by which HSE is often compared.
Demographic groups of students within the HSE system were compared in the report, with Hispanic students having the most difficulty academically, based on the test results.
Individual buildings needing improvement have a school improvement plan aimed at helping struggling students. Dr. Kegley said the teachers and administrators at the building level know best what the students need.
New state requirements mandate 3rd-grade students failing the I-READ test to take 3rd grade again, unless the student goes to summer school and passes the I-READ test there.
You can review the entire, detailed report with plenty of numbers at this link.
Thanks for the information, Larry. HSE had a lot of good news in this update. Contrary to what Fishers One has repeatedly said, HSE was never a failing district and this data confirms that.
It was interesting at the meeting that with scores of teachers present, Superintendent Mapes chose not to address them or utter a word of thanks for their hard work. It was nice to see many board members express their gratitude, however.
With a toxic work environment claim made against one of Mapes’ hires by the teachers’ union, he doesn’t seem to be at all interested in showing that he supports them. His silence made a definite statement and I hope board members are taking note of it.
HSE will continue to lose more teachers due to this lack of support and what I believe will be contentious negotiations since Mapes has alluded to vague money issues despite our community passing a referendum so our teachers can make salaries competitive with other districts.
It’s also worth noting that he can take no credit for any of these academic successes since he just began three months prior to the last school year ending.
I’d still like to know what happened at HPE. That’s not a drop, that’s a plummet! Both of my kids went there K through 4th with last year being our last year there since my youngest is now in 5th grade. 2 years ago it was one of the best elementary schools. I’d be very curious what their plan is to turn that school around but hopefully they can and quickly.
As a retired school administrator, I would always look at longitudinal data of student test scores to determine whether students are growing academically. I personally find that we are doing schools a disservice by comparing students’ achievement scores to other students in prior years or in different schools. There are too many variables that impact test scores in these types of random comparisons. What do these comparisons truly show if schools are not focusing on individual student growth? Finally, if teachers can continue to help students achieve above 90% or higher, then it is quite obvious that the curriculum, instruction and supports are working effectively. Hats off to the teachers and students who are putting in the hard work that shows our community that HSE is a high quality school district.