Alabama reading assessments show 4,800 third graders could be held back

A small child pulling children's books off a bookshelf. (Getty Images)

Nine percent of Alabama’s third graders could be held back after testing below grade level for reading, State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey said in a Thursday afternoon press call with reporters.

Preliminary data from reading assessments, the first under the state’s 2019 Literacy Act, show 4,800 students scored below grade level. Under the law, the students at risk of repeating a grade could still be promoted after completing a summer reading camp and second assessment, or turning in a good cause exemption.

“Just in looking at preliminary data with districts, the general trend is what you would expect,” Mackey said. “Districts that have high poverty also have more students who are below grade level,” said Mackey. “Not nearly what it was four years ago, so even those districts have already made remarkable gains, but, again, the districts that have high poverty are tending to lag behind our more affluent districts.”

Good cause exemptions include an evaluation of a reading portfolio for a student who has an individualized education plan. Mackey said that students who receive good cause exemptions would likely still benefit from attending summer reading camps.

Students at risk of retention will be notified over the next week. Mackey said that if a parent received a notification about their being below grade level, they shouldn’t panic. He also said that they should believe the results because education officials have put every measure in place to identify students. 

“Get your child in summer reading camp and talk to your principal or your reading coach about strategies to help at home because the whole point here, as said before, it is not about retention, it’s about prevention and intervention,” he said.

Mackey said that the scores were better than expected after last year’s test, which showed 17% of third graders – those currently finishing fourth grade – were reading below grade level. Last year’s test was the first time students were tested on the current score to be on grade level. The 17% reflects the current cut score that was adopted by the State Board of Education last fall.

The  Literacy Act was fully implemented this year after years of delays, stemming in part from the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The law, which aims to have all students reading on grade level by the end of third grade, created a number of specialists aimed at helping struggling schools and provide assistance to struggling students. The act also created a Literacy Task Force and established summer reading camps.

Mackey said that students will continue to struggle into middle school unless they have the reading skills at the end of third grade.

The new test components are “phonological awareness/ phonemic awareness,” phonics, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension.

“We had an old set of standards when I became state superintendent,” he said. “As the Alabama Literacy Act passed, those old standards in early grades were not aligned to the best practices in what we call the Science of Reading.”

The Science of Reading is a multidisciplinary body of research that includes studies on learning to read. The State Board of Education recently adopted new literacy coursework for higher education teacher preparation.

About 17% of second graders – this upcoming school year’s third graders – tested this year read below grade level, but Mackey said that the second grade test is more rigorous.

“We want to make sure that we almost over identify students in second grade so that we make sure we don’t have students that show they’re on grade level in second grade, and then they drop below grade level in third grade,” he said.

Last year, second graders – this year’s third graders – were 25% below grade level. The superintendent said that there will be more of a focus on first and second grade skills in the future.

Mackey said that this year was the first year teachers had a practice test that was developed by people who made a test that could be administered and scored the same way.

He also credited the higher scores with LETRS, a teacher development program, and strong coaching training for teachers.

“I was asked, ‘Well, do you think people took it seriously when the retention wasn’t in place?’” he said. “Well, I think people take their children learning to read seriously. But there’s no question that there’s a little more pressure maybe on parents this year, to make sure that they’re following through with things teachers are sending home and requests and so forth. So that may have had some impact too.”

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