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Process & Considerations for Issuing a Good Cause Exemption
(Updated September 2024)
Indiana is committed to supporting long-term success for all students by ensuring that by 2027,
95% of grade three students attain reading proficiency. Goals delineated in Indiana’s
Priorities for Early Literacy outline the importance of student proficiency in reading by the end of
grade three in order to advance and excel in other curricular areas.
Indiana Code (IC) 20-32-8.5-2 now defines specific GCEs to exempt students from being
retained as a result of not passing IREAD. GCEs no longer exempt an eligible student from
future IREAD testing. Exceptions to this new retention policy are outlined below. This guidance is
intended to support school staff in verifying GCEs for eligible students and defining instructional
next steps beginning with the 2024-2025 IREAD test administrations.
Instructions for Schools
1. Schools must review IREAD student results after each administration. Instructional next steps
should be considered for all students with an emphasis on grade two students who achieve “At
Risk” or “On Track” and grade three students who achieve “Do No Pass.”
2. Identify grade three students who “Did Not Pass” and may qualify for a GCE. This occurs after
the grade three summer retest administration.
3. Notify parents that their child did not pass IREAD and is not exhibiting foundational reading
skills.
a. The parent letter template (English | Spanish) may be modified to support conversations
with families about IREAD results, retest opportunities, planned interventions and
supports, and possible exemptions from retention.
b. Communication must occur in a language parents understand.
c. Communication should occur in a timely manner.
d. Schools should maintain local documentation and monitor progress of students who are
receiving interventions to ensure they are receiving the support required under IC
20-32-8.5-2.
4. Use the guidance below to determine GCE eligibility and next steps based on student
data (e.g., academic performance, special education or EL status, enrollment history).
GCE Consideration Next Steps
GCE Criteria 1:
The student was subject to retention and has
been retained in grade three for one school
year.
Review and verify retention data of the student’s
enrollment history.
The student may be promoted to grade four. The student
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Process & Considerations for Issuing a Good Cause Exemption Updated September 2024
should continue to receive intensive interventions and
progress monitoring aligned with the science of reading.
The student will continue to participate in the IREAD
retest until they pass or are promoted to grade seven.
GCE Criteria 2:
The student has an intellectual disability or
the student's Individualized Education
Program (IEP) specifies that retention is not
appropriate, and the student's case
conference committee (CCC) has
determined that promotion to another grade
is appropriate.
Convene a CCC with staff and parents. Review student’s
IEP for disability and any previous notes regarding
interventions and retention.
If the student has an intellectual disability, the CCC may
determine that promotion to grade four is appropriate.
If the student’s IEP contains previous notes regarding
retention and states that retention is not appropriate, the
student may be promoted to grade four if determined
appropriate by the CCC.
Whether the student is retained or promoted, the student
must continue to receive intensive interventions and
progress monitoring for reading aligned with science of
reading. The student will continue to participate in the
IREAD retest until they pass or are promoted to grade
seven.
GCE Criteria 3:
The student is an EL who has received
services for fewer than two years and a
committee consisting of:
● the student's parent;
● a building level administrator or
designee;
● a classroom teacher of service;
● an EL teacher of record, if one
exists; and
● an EL district administrator, if one
exists;
determines that promotion is appropriate
based on the implementation of
research-based instructional practices
outlined in the student's ILP.
Convene the ILP committee with required attendees.
Verify the student has received services in Indiana for
fewer than two years.
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Review the supports, accommodations, and services in
the student’s ILP and their impact on literacy growth (e.g.,
WIDA ACCESS, local formative assessments).
If the ILP committee verifies services (length and
instructional practices), the student may be promoted to
grade four if the committee determines this is most
appropriate.
The student must continue to receive intensive
interventions and progress monitoring aligned with the
science of reading.The student will continue to participate
in the IREAD retest until they pass or are promoted to
grade seven.
GCE Criteria 4:
The student received a score of “At
Proficiency” or “Above Proficiency” on the
Review and verify ILEARN assessment data.
The student may be promoted to grade four. The student
1 Two-year calculation is defined in the IREAD Frequently Asked Questions, available on IDOE’s IREAD
webpage.
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Process & Considerations for Issuing a Good Cause Exemption Updated September 2024
grade three ILEARN Mathematics
assessment.
should continue to receive intensive interventions and
progress monitoring for reading aligned with science of
reading. The student will continue to participate in the
IREAD retest until they pass or are promoted to grade
seven.
GCE Criteria 5:
The student has received intensive
intervention
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in reading for two or more
years; and was retained more than once
throughout kindergarten, grade one, or grade
two.
Review and verify intervention documentation (e.g.,
multi-tiered systems of support records, Title I plans,
progress monitoring data).
Review retention records for the student.
If data records verify the student has received intensive
interventions for two or more years and the student was
retained for two or more years in kindergarten through
grade two, the student may be promoted to grade four.
The student should continue to receive intensive
interventions and progress monitoring aligned with
science of reading. The student will continue to
participate in the IREAD retest until they pass or are
promoted to grade seven.
5. Complete GCE documentation in Data Exchange (DEX) for any eligible student(s).
Specific DEX guidance and accommodation codes will be provided spring 2025.
6. Review guidance and collectively determine appropriate reading interventions for
continued support of GCE and other students who have not achieved reading proficiency.
NOTE: A student who is not subject to the retention requirement as provided under IC
20-32-8.5-2 (c) must be provided with additional reading instruction aligned with science
of reading practices until they achieve a passing score on the IREAD assessment.
7. IC 20-32-8.5-2 requires schools to document interventions and monitor student progress
for all students who did not pass IREAD, which includes:
a. The use of curricular materials and supplemental materials aligned to science of
reading that are designed to address deficiencies in reading;
b. A requirement that schools notify a student's parent of the following: (A) The
student's assessment results regarding skill level in: (i) phonemic awareness; (ii)
phonics; (iii) fluency; (iv) vocabulary; and (v) comprehension;
c. Reading instruction that includes a core reading program aligned with science of
reading to all students in kindergarten through grade eight; and
d. A requirement to administer ILEARN Checkpoints and other local formative
assessments to monitor student progress and growth.
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Intervention is defined in the IREAD Frequently Asked Questions, available on IDOE’s IREAD webpage.
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