Elementary reading test shows statewide improvement
Elementary schools in Kootenai County fared better than others around Idaho in the state reading test, according to scores released Thursday by the state Department of Education.
Ninety-two percent of kindergartners in the Lakeland and Post Falls school districts and 89 percent in the Coeur d’Alene School District are reading at grade level, compared with 82 percent statewide.
Idaho children in kindergarten through third grade started taking the 10-minute Idaho Reading Initiative standardized test in 2001 as part of a statewide effort to improve early reading skills. It’s administered annually at the beginning of the school year and again in January and April.
Among the Coeur d’Alene elementary schools that didn’t reach their targets were Borah and Bryan, which missed the goal of 70 percent of first-graders reading at grade level. Dalton Gardens and Hayden Meadows schools did not have at least 80 percent of their second-graders reading at grade level, and Sorensen school failed to meet the third-grade goal of 85 percent of students reading at grade level.
The Lakeland School District saw a drop in the number of second-graders meeting grade-level standards, from 82 percent to 78 percent.
Post Falls saw the largest single grade level gain of the three districts, with 82 percent of second-graders reading at grade level this spring compared with 73 percent last year.
Coeur d’Alene improved slightly with kindergarten and first-grade scores and dropped slightly with second- and third-grade scores.
Scores continued to improve statewide, but for the first time since the test started being administered, second- and third-graders failed to meet state benchmarks.
Eighty-three percent of kindergarten students were reading at grade level this spring, far above the Legislature’s goal of 60 percent. First-graders beat the state goal of 70 percent, with 74 percent of those tested reading at grade level. But only 72 percent of second-graders read at their grade level during the spring, missing the state goal of 80 percent. Just 67 percent of third-graders met grade level standard, falling short of the state’s goal of 85 percent.
The targets for each grade level increased by 5 percentage points this year, as it has every year, so second- and third-graders still improved, just not enough to beat the rise in state targets.
“The work of those schools missing goals should not be diminished, because we set a very high standard for grade-level performance,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Marilyn Howard said in a news release.
Idaho gives schools more than $100 for each student who fails to meet grade-level standards in reading, said Allison Westfall, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. Schools use the money for additional reading classes and other programs aimed at increasing literacy, she said.