Monday numbers: A closer look at Read to Achieve and early childhood literacy

The State Board of Education holds its first meeting of 2019 this week. Members will discuss the findings of a new statewide report on North Carolina’s Read to Achieve program. The initiative passed by the General Assembly in 2012 was designed to insure students could read at grade-level by third grade.

However a study by researchers at N.C. State University last fall found that Read to Achieve has done little to boost early childhood literacy rates, despite a $150 million tab.

Education experts believe that the ability to read proficiently by 3rd grade is essential for graduating high school on time, and can often be a predictor of how well an individual will do later in the workforce and in life.

The following numbers offer a snapshot of the findings from the report: Read to Achieve Data – State Level Summary

68,397 – number of 3rd grade students statewide who demonstrated reading proficiency for the 2017-2018 school year [on the Beginning-of-Grade 3 ELA/Reading Assessment, End-of-Grade (EOG), or the EOG Retest (scoring Level 3 or higher)]

56.3 – percentage of 3rd grade students tested who demonstrated reading proficiency

53,170 – number of 3rd grade students statewide who did not demonstrate reading proficiency for the 2017-2018 school year (on the Beginning-of-Grade 3 ELA/Reading Assessment, End-of-Grade (EOG), or the EOG Retest)

43.7 – percentage of 3rd grade students tested statewide who did not demonstrate reading proficiency

18,901 – number of students retained for not demonstrating reading proficiency on 3rd grade standards for the 2017-2018 school year

15.5 – percentage of students retained statewide for not demonstrating reading proficiency on 3rd grade standards

Here’s how a few of our school districts performed:

43.2 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Durham Public Schools that demonstrated reading proficiency

56.8 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Durham Public Schools that did not demonstrate reading proficiency

65.1 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Wake County Schools that demonstrated reading proficiency

34.9 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Wake County Schools that did not demonstrate reading proficiency

57.8 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools that demonstrated reading proficiency

42.2 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools that did not demonstrate reading proficiency

51.3 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Guilford County Schools that demonstrated reading proficiency

48.7 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Guilford County Schools that did not demonstrate reading proficiency

41.4 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Nash-Rocky Mount Schools that demonstrated reading proficiency

58.6 – percentage of 3rd grade students in Nash-Rocky Mount Schools that did not demonstrate reading proficiency

3 – age at which a child’s vocabulary can already predict third grade reading achievement (Source: Campaign for Grade-Level Reading)

80-plus – percentage of  low-income children are not reading proficiently at the end of third grade (Ibid)

To see how your school district or charter school fared check out Read to Achieve Data – State Level Summary.

The NC State Board of Education meets Wednesday and Thursday in Raleigh. Policy Watch reporter Greg Childress will provide full coverage.