About 58% — or nearly 52,000 — of Idaho’s K-3 students are reading at grade level, according to results from a statewide fall reading exam. 

It’s a slight improvement from last fall when about 57% were reading at grade level, continuing the trend of scores steadily increasing since the height of the pandemic.

On top of that, this year’s second and third-graders demonstrated major leaps in their reading ability since kindergarten (of about 18 and 19 percentage points respectively).

About the IRI The results from the fall Idaho Reading Indicator — which measures reading ability and progress — were released Wednesday. 
—Each spring and fall, Idaho students in kindergarten through third grade take the IRI as required by Idaho Code.
—This assessment helps Idaho educators better understand the needs of early learners in the areas of phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension.
—Fall results are used to identify students who may need additional instruction and interventions to support their learning throughout the school year.

The progress comes amid multi-million dollar investments in early literacy, a rise in all-day kindergarten, and in efforts to embrace the science of reading. Gov. Brad Little has championed early literacy from the time he took office in 2019, and since then $169 million in taxpayer dollars have been directed to help young readers.

But there’s a flip-side to the data: Nearly 38,000, or 42%, of K-3 students are behind when it comes to reading. 

Second and third graders still haven’t caught up to pre-pandemic reading scores.

And 38% of third-graders, or nearly 9,000, are behind. 

That number matters because by third grade, all students should be reading at grade level — as has been a longtime State Board of Education goal. Recently, Board President Linda Clark penned a column establishing K-3 literacy as a major priority. 

“Numerous studies show that unless these students are reading at grade level by the third grade, they almost never catch up,” Clark wrote. “This puts those students at greater risk of not graduating or pursuing postsecondary education or training.”

But kindergarteners are “arriving to the classroom with increasing levels of proficiency,” Ryan Cantrell, Idaho’s chief deputy superintendent, said, calling attention to bright spots in the data in a Wednesday press release. 

“We’re (also) seeing consistent improvements as those students move through their first three years of instruction,” Cantrell said. “This tells us that the instruction Idaho teachers are delivering is working, and that kids are retaining more of what they learn over the summer.”

Standardized tests in Idaho make quite the alphabet soup: There’s ISAT, IRI, AP, SAT, PSAT and NAEP exams.
Check out our explanatory guide to help make sense of it all.

He also touted that Idaho “students are outperforming national averages in early literacy.” The Idaho Department of Education made the same claim about its spring IRI results — which EdNews fact checked and found was questionable at best, due to faulty comparisons. 

For a more detailed look at the fall reading scores statewide, and their implications, read on.

Since the pandemic, fall reading scores have been mixed

As a whole, K-3 students statewide have been steadily improving their reading scores since the height of the pandemic. 

“This steady increase in proficiency indicates that Idaho’s investment in delivering rigorous, high-quality early literacy instruction is helping students learn,” Cantrell said.

Kindergarteners and first graders have made the biggest leaps in reading ability since 2019, improving from 43% and 49% reading at grade level at the start of the school year, to 53% and 57%, respectively. (Keep in mind that this is a new group of students each year, not the same group improving over time).   

But second and third-graders still haven’t caught up to pre-pandemic reading levels. 

Two student cohorts’ reading scores have shot up since kindergarten

On the other hand, tracking this year’s second and third-graders’ reading scores over the years shows notable academic growth from one school year to the next — even though both cohorts started school when pandemic-era policies, like hybrid or remote learning, may have been in place. 

This year’s third-graders, for example, have improved reading scores by nearly 19 percentage points from kindergarten, when less than half were reading at grade level.

This year’s second graders have shown similar gains, improving their reading scores by about 18 percentage points since kindergarten. 

Data shows overall growth, with summer declines

Another way to parse the data is by bringing in spring scores (students take the IRI twice a year). Those comparisons offer insight into growth over the school year, and potential learning loss over the summer. 

This year’s third graders, for example, have improved from fall to spring each year, but declined over the summer. 

It’s a two-steps forward, one-step back pattern that’s common, and holds true for this year’s second graders as well:

Follow EdNews in coming days for more follow-ups on the IRI results, include results at the district and school level.

Further reading on spring IRI results:

• State says test results are mixed; but data shows mostly losses
• Top 10 Lists: Statewide, IRI scores are down. But here’s where they’re the best
• Achievement gaps and the pandemic are still stifling learning, test results reveal 
• Fact Check: Are Idaho kids outperforming peers in early literacy? It’s questionable

Idaho Education News data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.