Let’s get right to it. What percentage of students in your class can read proficiency at grade level? If it is under 95% then you need to keep reading.
You may have seen the statistic that 95% of students can learn to read proficiently at grade level, in elementary school. This percentage, for some, may seem impossible to reach. With so many students across the US struggling with reading, I did some digging to see where this statistic came from and exactly what it means.
Before we get started, I can say confidently that 95% is COMPLETELY REALISTIC.
AND
If you have less than 95% reading proficiency (at the end of the school year) in your class, your grade level, and/or your school it is a Tier 1 Great First Instruction problem and/or a Tier 2/Tier 3 Intervention problem - and it ALL begins in KINDERGARTEN!
AND
Science-based instruction strategies are NOT a PENDULUM SWING. They’ve been researched, published, and used for almost 100 years. The reason the science of reading is just now coming to light to the masses is because the systems that many school districts adopted and implemented for the last 30 + years are NOT WORKING. We took a working system and broke it. NOW it is time we fixed it.
First, let me begin by saying that in Chapter 4 of the How to Teach Elementary School series, I provide my school’s reading proficiency rates from the last 4 years. We were already considered an “above average performing school” prior to 2019, but with full implementation of a PLC (Professional Learning Community) and MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) we are now at 92% reading proficiency K-5 for Foundational Reading Skills.
⭐Last May, we sent 96% of our 5th graders off to middle school reading at grade level or above. Woot! Woot!
⭐BONUS: We have 86% of students grades 3-5 at or above grade level on the California CAASPP standardized assessment.
SO, while I’m no expert researcher with a doctorate in education, I can tell you what we learned from the experts and implemented to reach that 95% goal.
According to multiple sources (referenced below) it has been determined that…
⭐30% of students will learn to read using any instructional method (Whole Language, Balanced Literacy, Structured Phonics).
⭐50% of students will learn to read with evidence-based, explicit and direct instruction of reading foundational skills.
That’s 80% of students that will read proficiently with the qualifier that “Instruction MUST BE research based, structured, explicit, and direct.”
⭐15% of students will learn to read but need quality Tier 2 and/or Tier 3 interventions with repeated exposure and practice in a small group format.
⭐5% of students will likely continue to struggle based on cognitive disabilities.
Reading Proficiency: THE PROBLEM
I will not go into the history of reading instruction and why there was a HUGE shift in traditional instructional strategies sometime in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. While this ultimately IS the problem, we need to focus on the NOW.
For decades, teachers have been given curriculum and attended professional training on how to teach reading using strategies that do not meet the needs of MOST readers. Based on the statistic above, 30% of students will learn to read regardless of the program or strategies used. Another 50% will learn to read with quality Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. Some of those 50% are struggling to read, but don’t need to.
The problem with achieving 95% proficiency levels is that, often, student reading challenges do not present themselves in the primary grades (Kindergarten and Grade 1). We tend to see the effects of poor reading instruction once students are presented with increasingly complex text, typically by 2nd grade. Once we realize these students are struggling, if they do not receive proper interventions (to compensate for not getting proper instruction to begin with), many students will never fully catch up.
My school district has historically used a phonics-based curriculum with balanced literacy components mixed in. For many years, my kindergarten teachers ended each school year with 90% or more of their students at “kindergarten reading proficiency”. By the time they were in 2nd or 3rd grade, some of those very same students were struggling to read (and spell).
They had HOLES AND GAPS that made it difficult for them to access complex text and to read and spell multisyllabic words. We didn’t know how to fix it.
Reading Proficiency: THE SOLUTION
It is possible to teach the majority of students how to read, but we must start early and follow the scientific research showing which practices are most effective. It is important to know that NO SINGLE teacher can do it alone.
“A students’ reading success is a shared responsibility. From preparation programs to standards and assessments to curricula and professional development, the policies and systems currently impacting how reading is taught need to improve—dramatically and rapidly. Teaching reading is rocket science. But it is also established science, with clear, specific, practical instructional strategies that all teachers should be taught and supported in using.” Louisa C. Moats
FIRST - Successfully teaching reading is a collective effort that involves the use of science-based teaching strategies beginning in kindergarten. ALL kindergarten teachers at a school site must be trained in the use of science-based teaching strategies for reading. They must implement those strategies with fidelity.
NEXT - First and second grade teachers must also be trained in science-based teaching methods. These grade levels are ESSENTIAL to ensuring that the quality instruction happening in kindergarten is continued.
THEN - Upper grade teachers 3rd-5th should be trained in science-based teaching methods to know how to maintain student reading proficiency and to help students access complex text and develop critical thinking skills. In addition, these teachers must meet the needs of readers who transfer in from other schools that are not implementing structured, explicit reading instruction.
Along the way, teachers are working collaboratively together as Professional Learning Communities to analyze student data and improve teaching practices. For students who are not reading proficiently despite Great First Instruction, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support are used to meet their individual needs.
THIS. This is how my school increased reading proficiency levels to 92%.
READ Chapter 4: School Support Systems PLC, MTSS, PBIS
How to Teach Elementary School: So that ALL Students Achieve!
Supporting information for this blog came from:
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