Louisiana Kindergarten through third grade students are again showing improvement in reading proficiency. The Louisiana Department of Education released the fall results from the beginning of year literacy screener today showing 50% of K-3 students at grade level or higher. 56% met the proficiency benchmark. Deputy Superintendent of Education, Jenna Chaisson says this shows that the young students are ready to learn.
“So, as we see these students matriculate through the grade levels, we’ll just see increasing outcomes in student achievement and education in our state, because students are entering that grade level ready to learn in reading,” Chaisson said.
Third graders showed the most growth, improving by five points. Second grade increased by four points, first grade by 2 and kindergarten by 1 point. Chaisson says this is the third year the Department of Education has administered a statewide literacy screener.
“In each year that we’ve administered this beginning-of-year screener, we’ve seen some increases in students entering the next grade level, with more of them reading at that grade level,” Chaisson noted.
Chaisson is pleased with the steady progress of young students over the last five to six years. She credits policy shifts and dedicated educators.
“The credit goes to our dedicated teaching staff across the state of Louisiana. I cannot say enough about teachers embracing these new policies, and the shifts that they’ve made in classrooms to ensure that each and every student is able to read on grade levels,” Chaisson said.
