State writing rubrics
Indiana Grades 3–8 0 official rubrics

Indiana ILEARN writing rubrics, coming soon.

Indiana's Learning Evaluation and Readiness Network (ILEARN) is the statewide summative assessment for grades 3 through 8 and uses Indiana-specific writing rubrics aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. ILEARN is not a Smarter Balanced consortium assessment. Indiana-specific rubric content is being sourced and will be published once verified against the official Indiana Department of Education scoring guides.

Verified against in.gov/doe Last updated May 2026
01 About ILEARN

Indiana's state writing assessment, rubric by rubric

ILEARN (Indiana's Learning Evaluation and Readiness Network) is Indiana's annual summative assessment for grades 3 through 8. The English Language Arts portion includes a writing component scored with Indiana-specific analytic rubrics aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards.

Indiana was an original Smarter Balanced consortium state but withdrew from the consortium in 2014. ILEARN, which replaced ISTEP+ starting in the 2018-19 school year, is administered by the Indiana Department of Education and is NOT a Smarter Balanced assessment. The writing rubrics used by ILEARN are Indiana-specific and may differ from the SBAC Performance Task rubrics in trait structure, score points, and descriptor language.

Per-rubric pages will be published here once the official Indiana Department of Education ILEARN writing rubrics have been sourced and the descriptor language extracted verbatim from the IDOE scoring guides. Until then, this page serves as an overview of the assessment.

02 The rubrics

Indiana ILEARN writing rubrics

ILEARN writing tasks are scored using Indiana-specific analytic rubrics published by the Indiana Department of Education. The per-rubric descriptor language, score points, and traits are not identical to the Smarter Balanced rubrics used by other states. Verified rubric pages will be linked here once the official Indiana scoring guides are sourced.

03 Scoring

How ILEARN scores writing

ILEARN writing tasks are scored using Indiana-specific analytic rubrics published by the Indiana Department of Education. The trait structure and score scales are determined by the IDOE and are aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards rather than the Common Core or the Smarter Balanced consortium. Detailed per-trait scoring guidance will be published here once the official Indiana scoring guides have been sourced.

01
Indiana-specific rubric structure

ILEARN writing rubrics are published by the Indiana Department of Education and aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. The exact trait count, score points, and descriptor language are Indiana-specific and not interchangeable with the Smarter Balanced Performance Task rubrics used by other states.

02
Pending verification

EnlightenAI does not publish rubric descriptor content unless we can extract it verbatim from the official source document. The ILEARN writing rubric pages are pending verification against the official Indiana Department of Education scoring guides. Per-genre and per-grade rubric pages will be added once that sourcing is complete.

03
Not a Smarter Balanced rubric

Although Indiana was an original SBAC consortium state, Indiana withdrew from the consortium in 2014. ILEARN is administered solely by Indiana and uses Indiana's own writing rubrics. Do not assume ILEARN scoring matches SBAC scoring in California, Washington, Oregon, or other consortium states.

Scale Indiana-specific rubrics
Total possible Indiana-specific scoring
Type Analytic
04 FAQ

Common questions about Indiana ILEARN writing

What writing rubric does Indiana ILEARN use?
ILEARN uses Indiana-specific analytic writing rubrics published by the Indiana Department of Education and aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. ILEARN is NOT a Smarter Balanced assessment and does not use the SBAC Performance Task rubrics. Per-rubric pages with verbatim descriptor language will be added once the official IDOE scoring guides have been sourced.
Is ILEARN a Smarter Balanced (SBAC) assessment?
No. Indiana was an original Smarter Balanced consortium state but withdrew in 2014. ILEARN, introduced in the 2018-19 school year as a replacement for ISTEP+, is administered solely by the Indiana Department of Education and uses Indiana-specific rubrics. Schools and districts should not assume ILEARN writing scoring is interchangeable with SBAC scoring used by California, Washington, Oregon, and other consortium states.
When was ILEARN introduced?
ILEARN replaced the previous ISTEP+ assessment starting in the 2018-19 school year. The Indiana Department of Education administers ILEARN to all students in grades 3 through 8 in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science (grades 4 and 6), and Social Studies (grade 5).
Why are the per-rubric pages not yet published?
EnlightenAI's rubric library publishes descriptor content only when we can extract the language verbatim from the official source document. The Indiana ILEARN writing rubrics are in the queue for sourcing against the official Indiana Department of Education scoring guides. Once verified, each grade-band and genre rubric will be published with a verbatim descriptor for every score point.
Where can I find the official ILEARN documentation?
Indiana assessment information, including ILEARN test design documents and scoring guides, is published at in.gov/doe. Look for the ILEARN section under the Assessment landing page.
Does EnlightenAI auto-score ILEARN writing?
EnlightenAI can score writing against any rubric a teacher loads, including Indiana-specific ILEARN rubrics. The ILEARN rubric pages on this site will be published once the official IDOE source documents have been verified and the descriptor language extracted verbatim. Teachers can use EnlightenAI today by loading their school's or district's copy of the Indiana writing rubric directly.

Score Indiana ILEARN writing in EnlightenAI

Load any Indiana-specific writing rubric into EnlightenAI and start scoring student writing, with consistent per-trait feedback, in a single class period. Indiana ILEARN rubric content is being sourced and will be published once verified.