A Paideia School Leads the Way: Ernie Pyle's Remarkable Literacy Gains
When Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) released its 2025–26 IREAD results this month, one number stood out above the rest. Ernie Pyle School 90 posted a 30.6 percentage point jump, the largest gain of any school in the district and more than double the next-highest improvement, lifting the school to 90.6% proficiency.
Ernie Pyle serves one of the district's most diverse, high-need student populations, and we couldn't be prouder to call it one of our Paideia schools.
Why This Matters to Us
Ernie Pyle, an Exploratory School within IPS, has been working with the National Paideia Center as part of an ongoing professional development partnership. IREAD measures a narrow slice of classroom work: decoding, fluency, foundational reading skills. But the Paideia approach is built on a broader premise, that students who are regularly asked to think, question, and articulate their ideas, whether through Seminar or the coaching and didactic instruction that surround it, become stronger readers and stronger thinkers.
Seminar isn't a replacement for direct literacy instruction. It's a complement to it. When students spend part of their week defending an interpretation, listening to a classmate's counterpoint, and revising their own thinking out loud, they're practicing exactly the kind of close reading and comprehension that shows up on assessments like IREAD. A result like Ernie Pyle's doesn't happen from a single initiative. It reflects sustained investment from teachers, coaches, and school leadership working in the same direction.
A Model for What's Possible
For us, Ernie Pyle's growth is a data point worth celebrating, but it's also an invitation. If your school or district is looking for a way to deepen reading comprehension while building the discussion and critical thinking skills that carry students well beyond a single test, Paideia offers a proven framework, and results like these show what's possible when it's implemented with fidelity.
Want to learn more about bringing Paideia Seminar to your school? Join us at the National Paideia Center's Fall Institute, September 28–29 in Raleigh, to see the methodology in action and connect with educators doing this work every day.
Source: Indianapolis Public Schools, "IPS Third-Grade Literacy Gains Outpace State for Second Consecutive Year," August 11, 2026.