38%. That is how many Minnesota fourth graders test as proficient in reading in a nationally normed test. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) given every two years to students in 4th and 8th grade give a picture of how the nation’s students are performing in reading, math, writing and science.
Of interest to us is the reading score. The NAEP measures reading comprehension – the ultimate benchmark of any good reader.
Nationally, 35% of fourth grade students are proficient in reading. In Minnesota, our figure was 38%. Would it surprise you to know that since 1992 that number has only been above 40% once (in 2013)? In classrooms all around Minnesota, more than half of our students are not learning to read in the general education classroom. Many of those students are dyslexic but many others are struggling to learn from teachers who have not been given the tools to teach their students to read well.
Like most of the rest of the nation, Minnesota’s reading scores have remained flat for decades – despite teachers working harder and districts spending tax dollars on professional development.
Do you know which state did see their scores rise? Mississippi. Bucking the national trend, scores have been on the rise in Mississippi since 2013. Between 1992 and 2017 Mississippi did not have a fourth grade reading proficiency score above 30%. This year, it was 31.5% - still low, but more than 10 percentage points higher than 2011. Why?
In 2013, Mississippi invested state money in training its K-3 teachers in structured literacy. Specifically teachers were trained in the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (also known as the LETRS program). This teacher professional development program was written by Dr. Louisa Moats, a top researcher in the field of structured literacy/Orton-Gillingham and dyslexia. The journalist Emily Hanford has reported on LETRS and the positive results it yields in classrooms as well.
The Minnesota Department of Education is taking a small group of teachers from around the state through the LETRS program this school year. This is a good first step. It would be wonderful if all teachers in Minnesota could be given these tools.
Training teachers in structured literacy –such as the proven Orton-Gillingham approach, is what we have been doing for almost 70 years. If you want to learn more about our training in structured literacy/Orton-Gillingham, reach out to The Reading Center. You can be the one to help a struggling student learn to read.
- Sarah Carlson-Wallrath, Development Director
Scores by state: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=&sfj=NP&st=MN&year=2019R3
Cites:
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading