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Indiana’s plan for schools to exit improvement status is a potential model for other states.
Indiana’s exit criteria are quite rigorous, requiring that comprehensive and targeted support schools reach at least a C grade for the entire school or the low-performing subgroup, respectively, for two consecutive years before they are eligible to exit improvement status. This is likely to represent significant improvement, and maintaining that level for two years should help avoid the risk of backsliding after only one year of improvement.
Additionally, the state says the school must “demonstrate a strong plan for sustainability.” This is a good idea, but the state could strengthen its plan by further defining how it would monitor what constitutes a “strong plan for sustainability.”