NC report shows how reading skills of young students ‘took a hard hit’ during pandemic
More than 30% of North Carolina third-grade students failed to meet state promotion standards at the end of last school year due to their poor reading scores.
A new report presented at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting shows that only 43.7% of third-grade students demonstrated reading proficiency, even after getting a second chance at a summer reading camp. As a result, 31% of third-grade students were retained at the end of the 2020-21 school year, double the rate before the coronavirus pandemic.
The “retained” label means 34,862 students are either repeating third-grade, were placed in a 4th-grade accelerated class or a transitional 3rd-grade/4th-grade class. Their records list them as being “retained” until they can show they’ve met reading standards.
The numbers also weren’t promising for younger readers, with only 38.5% of first-grade students and 43.1% of second-grade students demonstrating reading comprehension at the end of the school year. Both percentages are also much lower than what they were before the pandemic.
“It goes without saying our earliest learners took a hard hit during this pandemic, and now more than ever we have to ensure there’s a solid plan in place to support the gaps that have been created during this time,” said Amy Rhyne, director of the state Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Early Learning and Read to Achieve. “It’s not easy work.”
Academic achievement down statewide
The new Read To Achieve report dovetails with test results released in September showing that the majority of North Carolina public school students failed state exams during last year’s COVID-plagued school year.
Only 45.4% of K-12 students passed state reading, math and science exams given during the 2020-21 school year.
North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students received only limited amounts of in-person instruction last school year due to the pandemic. A state report about learning loss is scheduled to be presented to the state board in March.
“The data validates to me, here again after years and years and years, nothing replaces a qualified teacher face-to-face with a group of students on a daily basis if we’re going to impact positive achievement for our kids,” said state board member J. Wendell Hall.
Passing rates down post-pandemic
The state’s Read To Achieve program was created in 2012 to try to get more students proficient in reading by the end of third grade. But state scores are lower for third-grade students than they were in the 2013-14 school year.
As part of the program, DPI must report annually on the reading performance of students in first through third grades.
This year’s 31% retention rate for third-grade students is much higher than the 15.5% rate at the end of the 2017-18 school year and the 17.7% rate at the end of the 2018-19 school year. No state exams were given at the end of the 2019-20 school year, so school districts were encouraged not to retain students unless they had planned to do so before the pandemic.
The proficiency rates are also much lower for younger students compared to the 71.1% of first-grade students and 78.1% of second-grade students demonstrating reading comprehension at the end of the 2018-19 school year. Rhyne cautioned against comparing this year to prior years because different tests were used for first- and second-grade students.
“These numbers are really hard to hear, and I have no doubt that you all feel the same,” said State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
Mark Johnson, who was state superintendent at the time, had publicly charged in early 2020 that thousands of third-grade students were being improperly promoted. School leaders responded that they were following the Read To Achieve law while taking advantage of the flexibility given to principals to handle promotion decisions.
New literacy training for teachers
Due to concerns about reading scores, state lawmakers approved legislation in April requiring PreK-5 teachers to receive training on using the “science of reading,” a method of literacy instruction that stresses phonics. Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill into law.
The new law required the state to hire Dallas-based Voyager Sopris Learning to train teachers across North Carolina on the science of reading. In August, the state board approved a three-year, $49.7 million contract with Voyager.
The literacy training adds work on the plate for teachers, but Truitt said it’s a must if they’re going to get more third-grade students reading at grade level.
“The shift from whole language and balanced literacy to the science of reading, or a phonics based approach to early literacy instruction, was coming down the pike pre-pandemic, thank God,” Truitt said. “So what we’re asking teachers to do isn’t fair, and we realize that. But it has to be done.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 2:09 PM with the headline "NC report shows how reading skills of young students ‘took a hard hit’ during pandemic."
