Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education released the latest scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card.” Indiana’s scores are disappointing and mirror the state’s recently released ILEARN results. In 2019, only 37 percent of Indiana 8th graders demonstrated proficiency in reading and math on NAEP. In 4th grade, 37 percent of students achieved proficiency in reading, while 47 percent were proficient in math. Average scores in reading declined and average scores in math held relatively steady since the test was last administered in 2017. While average scores in […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. A well-educated population is critical to the vitality of Indianapolis and the continued competitiveness of our state. Unfortunately, too many students graduate from high school unprepared for college or careers. For example, according to the latest report from Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education, 18 percent of students who graduated from high school in Marion County required remediation in math and/or English/language arts upon enrollment in a public college. To help address this challenge, in November 2015 the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation established new funding priorities, one of which is to improve academic outcomes for Indianapolis students. Being […]