After switching its elementary reading curriculum to one aligned with the science of reading, Denver Public Schools is celebrating an increase in the percentage of kindergarten through third grade students who ended the school year reading on grade level.
But the test scores are still below pre-pandemic levels — a vexing outcome the district is acknowledging by adopting a new intervention program to help the most struggling learners. Studies show that students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are less likely to graduate.
The lower test scores show the long tail of pandemic learning loss. They indicate that the pandemic not only affected children who were in school when the virus hit in early 2020, but also those who were too young to be enrolled. This past year’s third graders were preschool age when COVID shuttered school buildings across the country. This past year’s kindergarteners were babies.
In a press release, DPS reported that 61% of kindergarten through third graders this past spring were reading at grade level or above. That’s up from 58% in the spring of 2023.
Read more at chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues. For more, visit chalkbeat.org/co.
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