Evan Eagleson is a Legislative Director for ExcelinEd in Action. In this role, he aids the advancement of student-centered legislation in the Great Lakes region.
During Indiana’s 2026 legislative session, Hoosier lawmakers delivered key education policy wins from strengthening literacy and math foundations to a first-in-the-nation college and career pathways policy that will be one to watch in the coming years.
Here is a breakdown of key outcomes from Indiana’s 2026 legislative session impacting more than 1.1 million students statewide.
Following several years of sustained work to improve student foundations in literacy and math, Indiana lawmakers once again used the 2026 legislative session to pass laws designed to close achievement gaps evident in 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores.
2024 scores show 34% of Indiana 4th grade students at or above NAEP Proficient in reading and 43% of students at or above NAEP Proficient in math, indicating that Indiana must remain focused on high-quality literacy and math instruction and strong student supports.
Sen. Jeff Raatz and Sen. Linda Rogers’ SB 199 expands the number of schools eligible for reading-focused professional development. Under the new eligibility standard, an additional 53 schools will now qualify for targeted professional development, ultimately ensuring thousands more Hoosier students will receive evidence-based literacy instruction from trained educators.
Indiana legislators this session also set their sights on skills like gathering and organizing information, identifying patterns and making evidence-based decisions, which are essential in today’s workforce. These skills are all taught in data science, which combines math, statistics and coding to solve real-world problems. To further advance statewide math policy in support of the workforce and strengthening student foundations, Rep. Bob Behning’s HB 1266 directs the Department of Education to develop:
In addition, Sen. Rogers’ SB 239 moves the state toward a comprehensive math strategy by requiring schools to notify parents within 15 days of making the determination that their child is at risk of not achieving grade-level proficiency in math. The notification should include information regarding the student’s performance, classroom interventions the student will receive and a list of recommended at-home resources to support their academic growth.
As Indiana moves toward a comprehensive math strategy to work hand-in-hand with its established early literacy policies, these new laws further lay the groundwork for students to build foundational knowledge and skills that will lead to sustained gains and a narrowed achievement gap.
Indiana has a comprehensive approach to college and career pathways with reimagined high school diploma requirements that ensure nearly 80,000 Hoosier students graduate each year with clear routes to career advancement, continued study and military enlistment.
To further support quality education-to-workforce pathways during the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers prioritized strengthening diploma incentives, higher education accountability and access to work-based learning.
These college and career policies will ensure Hoosier students can access work-based learning opportunities, make informed decisions about the college degrees they might want to pursue and easily identify local industries looking for high school graduates who earned credentials as part of the state’s new Employment Honors Plus diploma.
Students benefit when the systems around them are stronger and more responsive. SB 199 requires the Department of Education to study and make recommendations for paid family leave. A stable and supported teacher workforce helps ensure continuity in the classroom, where consistent, high-quality instruction is critical to student growth. A study in Indiana found that 47% of educators took a break from teaching due to pregnancy, contributing to high teacher turnover.
By further studying the effects of a paid family leave policy, Indiana can incentivize teachers to stay in the profession, recruit more candidates to the workforce and ensure more classrooms are led by excellent teachers.
Improving facilities access for charter schools and creating new models for sharing resources across school types expands the number of high-quality learning environments available to students.
Sen. Rogers’ SB 239 expands the requirements for school districts to make underutilized buildings available to charter schools, improving facilities access. Rep. Behning’s HB 1423 creates a new agency responsible for establishing a unified student transportation system, and a school property and school performance system for all public schools within the geographic boundaries of Indianapolis Public Schools.
This first-in-the-nation policy will ensure a more coordinated approach that gives students greater access to schools that best meet their needs.
Students today face unprecedented exposure to algorithm-driven content, addictive features and online risks that can undermine their safety, mental health and ability to focus on learning. Indiana lawmakers took decisive action to strengthen safeguards for students both inside and outside the classroom.
Sen. Raatz and Sen. Greg Goode’s SB 78 strengthened the existing law requiring schools to adopt instructional time policies for cell phones. SB 78 now requires bell-to-bell phone- and wireless communication device-free policies in all public schools statewide.
Rep. Behning’s HB 1408 restricts youth social media use by requiring parental consent for users age 16 and under and prohibiting addictive platform features for accounts held by minors in this age group.
Together, these new laws aim to lessen distractions both in classrooms and at home, increase educator satisfaction and safeguard students from exposure to addictive content.
Indiana’s 2026 legislative session marked meaningful progress across literacy, math, career pathways and teacher policy, setting a clear foundation for continued work ahead.
As the state turns to the 2027 budget session, lawmakers are well positioned to build on this momentum with deeper investments in K-12 literacy, expanded math supports with individualized math plans, math coaches, high-quality instructional materials and 60 minutes of required daily instruction and stronger alignment between education and workforce demands.
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