Essential Questions for Early Grade Reading: Early Grade Reading Progress

Percentage of eligible students enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs of the total number of 3- and 4-year-olds using the data sets at schoolfinancedata.org (National Education Association).

Percentage of eligible students enrolled in state-funded Early Head Start (National Education Association).

Percentage of infants and toddlers (birth to age 3) in poverty who are enrolled in Early Head Start (Project Thrive, NCCP).

Percentage of children without access to Early Head Start (Prenatal to 3 Policy Impact Center).

Average length of enrollment for children from focal populations. ​In the STEP Forward with Data Framework by Child Trends, “focal populations” refer to specific groups of children, families, and workforce members within the preschool system who are the focus of equity efforts (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Percentage of families from focal populations who report no barriers to enrolling children in the program of their choice (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Number of 3- and 4-year-olds receiving special education in schools/centers in the state (NIEER).

Share of children enrolled in nursery school or preschool. Quality preschool helps families prepare their children to start school ready to learn, with the cognitive and social skills required to succeed in academic settings and beyond (Urban Institute).

Percentage of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in public pre-K (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Percentage of child care providers not participating in the state’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) (Prenatal to 3 Policy Impact Center).

Percentage of program sites that offer at least two types of supportive enrollment resources to families, especially families from focal populations, to support enrollment in the programs families want to attend (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Availability of preschool openings for the number of children who want to attend preschool, especially those from focal populations (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Expand access to high quality child care, Early/Head Start and full day pre-K in a variety of settings (i.e., homes, centers, and schools). (Alliance for Early Success)

Provision of high-quality resources, networks, services, supports, and programming to help children develop on track between birth and third grade (Alliance for Early Success).

Universal access to, and greater use of, high-quality programs for child care, early learning, school readiness, pre-school, K-3, after-school, and summer learning experiences (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Early Head Start: Federally-funded early preschool program for children aged 3 or younger (Results for America and Rhode Island Kids Count).

Head Start: Federally-funded preschool program with significant flexibility in service design (Results for America).

State subsidizes Early Head Start and Head Start (National Education Association).

High-quality, universal pre-kindergarten programs for 3- and 4-year old children (New America).

Increase access and funding for 3-year-old children (NIEER).

Raise income eligibility threshold for high-quality child care and preschool to include more families as eligible (Center for American Progress).

Reimburse providers based on enrollment instead of attendance (Center for American Progress).

Percentage of eligible students in full-day, five-day-per-week kindergarten (National Education Association).

Child participates in a transitional kindergarten program (California Department of Education & WestEd, Cradle-to-Career Data System Public Data Definitions; Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Percentage of entering first graders who previously attended full-day kindergarten (Birth to Grade 3 Indicator Framework).

Percentage of schools and districts offering kindergarten programs that are six hours per day for five days per week (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Percent of schools and/or districts offering full-day kindergarten (Birth to Grade 3 Indicator Framework).

Support families to access high quality full-day kindergarten and grades 1-3 (Alliance for Early Success).

Districts provide full-day, five-day-per-week kindergarten (National Education Association).

Full-day kindergarten: Formal, school-based education for children ages 4 to 6 (Results for America).

State funds full-day kindergarten, at minimum, at the same level as grades 1 to 12 (National Education Association).

State requires mandatory attendance for all eligible students (National Education Association).

State requires that districts provide full-day, five-day-per-week kindergarten (National Education Association).

Children who are developmentally ready (cognitively, socially, physically, and emotionally) to succeed in school at the time of school entry. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)

Children ready in all five domains of development as measured by kindergarten surveys/assessments (Project Thrive, NCCP): Language and Literacy Development, Cognition and General Knowledge, Approaches towards Learning, Physical Well-Being and Motor Development, Social Emotional Development and Executive Functioning.

Number and percent of children in kindergarten who demonstrate at the beginning of the program or school year age‐appropriate functioning across multiple domains of early learning as determined using developmentally‐appropriate early learning measures (Promise Neighborhoods; The Urban Institute, prepared for U.S. Department Of Education).

Percentage of students demonstrating readiness at kindergarten entry (National Education Association).

Participation in a transitional kindergarten program (California Department of Education & WestEd, Cradle-to-Career Data System Public Data Definitions).

Results from kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) (Birth to Grade 3 Indicator Framework).

Percentage of children from focal populations meeting benchmarks across all developmental domains (language/literacy, cognition, social emotional development, approaches to learning and physical development) (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Percentage of families from focal populations who report that their program offers transition supports that meet their needs (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Percentage of children meeting benchmarks on a teacher-reported kindergarten readiness assessment, such as: Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) Language and Literacy Development domain; Ready 4 Kindergarten Early Learning Assessment (R4K ELA) Language and Literacy domain; Teaching Strategies GOLD (TS GOLD) Language and Literacy subscales. (EW Framework)

Percentage of children meeting benchmarks on direct child assessments administered by trained assessors, such as: Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognition and Academic Development (ECAD) LetterWord and Writing subtests; Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) Early Literacy assessment (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Percentage of kindergarten teachers surveyed indicating alignment between early learning programs and kindergarten (National Education Association).

Percentage of parents surveyed who received transition information from their district (National Education Association).

School readiness assessment is administered to all students at kindergarten entry (Rhode Island Kids Count).

Percentage of schools with formal working transition plans between early childhood settings and kindergarten (Rhode Island Kids Count).

Transition to kindergarten (Rhode Island Kids Count).

Percentage of programs that minimize the number of transitions when supporting children with learning accommodations (STEP Forward with Data Framework).

Districts conduct transition activities for pre-K students and their families (National Education Association).

Districts provide joint professional learning activities for child care providers as well as pre-K and kindergarten teachers (National Education Association).

Districts provide transition information to pre-K students and their families (National Education Association).

Local organizations (a trusted source), districts and/or states educate parents on the skills needed to be kindergarten ready (Chattanooga 2.0).

State and/or district adopts and requires a common kindergarten readiness assessment.

State has a policy outlining transition from early learning programs to elementary schools (National Education Association).

State provides funding for transition activities (National Education Association).

State-funded pre-K programs implement early childhood curricula aligned with state pre-K through third grade early learning standards (National Education Association).

State-subsidized early learning programs are required to implement early childhood curricula that are aligned with state pre-K through third grade early learning standards (National Education Association).

State-subsidized early learning programs receive funds for joint professional learning activities for child care providers as well as pre-K and kindergarten teachers (National Education Association).

Percentage of students in grades 1 and 2 meeting grade-level math and reading benchmarks, with an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher, and no in- or out-of-school suspensions or expulsions (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Children who are prepared to succeed in fourth grade and beyond by reading proficiently by the end of third grade (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Percentage of students proficient in core academic subjects (Promise Neighborhoods; The Urban Institute, prepared for U.S. Department Of Education).

Children ages 6 to 17 who repeated one or more grades since starting kindergarten. (Data source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, “The National Survey of Children’s Health.”) (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Schools and early childhood centers develop consistent, aligned expectations for children’s healthy development from birth through third grade that link early childhood, child care, preschool, and K-3 education. This would include a focus on children’s healthy social-emotional development, as well as cognitive development (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Schools and early childhood centers develop seamless transitions between each stage on the child development and education continuum so that experiences at each stage (age birth to 3, birth to 5, pre-kindergarten, and K-3) build on the previous one and lay essential groundwork for the one to come (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Develop a coherent system of early care and education that aligns, integrates, and coordinates what happens from birth through third grade so children are ready to take on the learning tasks associated with fourth grade and beyond (Annie E. Casey Foundation).

Align curriculum, standards, and assessments starting in pre-K through grade three (Alliance for Early Success).

Promote transition planning from early care, to preschool, to K-12 learning environments (Alliance for Early Success).

Teach foundational reading skills early — in kindergarten or the first grade.  Teaching these skills has been shown to be more effective than other approaches in helping to prevent reading difficulties, especially among low-income students, students with learning disabilities (particularly dyslexia), and other children who lack access to a high-quality early literacy environment. These skills are especially helpful for word recognition skills, which contribute to strong reading comprehension (Bellwether).

State and / or district allocates funding to programs to ensure positive achievement outcomes for all students, including strategies to reduce opportunity and learning gaps (National Education Association).

Phonemic awareness: Students learn to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in words. For example, a kindergartener can identify the three sounds in the word cat: /k/ /a/ /t/. She can also identify how the word changes if the /k/ sound is replaced with /m/ (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonological awareness: Students learn to hear, identify, and manipulate units of oral language, including words, syllables, and other word parts. For example, a second grader can clap twice to show he can accurately identify the number of syllables he hears in the word “sister”: sis-ter. He can tap three times to count the syllables in “artichoke”: ar-ti-choke. (SCORE Tennessee)

Phonemic awareness can be taught. Children learn to hear, think about, and work with the sounds they hear in words (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonemic awareness helps children learn to spell. Students learn to connect sounds to letters in predictable patterns (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonemic awareness is required for reading. It enables children to read words rapidly and accurately, freeing up brain space for comprehension (SCORE Tennessee).

The results of the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis clearly showed that phonemic awareness instruction is effective in teaching children to attend to and manipulate speech sounds in words. Findings of the meta-analysis revealed not only that phonemic awareness can be taught but also that phonemic awareness instruction is effective under a variety of teaching conditions with a variety of learners (National Reading Panel).

Results of the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis showed that teaching children to manipulate the sounds in language helps them learn to read. Effects of phonemic awareness training on reading lasted well beyond the end of training (National Reading Panel).

Phonemic awareness instruction produced positive effects on both word reading and pseudoword reading, indicating that it helps children decode novel words as well as remember how to read familiar words. Phonemic awareness training was effective in boosting reading comprehension, although the effect size was smaller than for word reading (National Reading Panel).

Phonemic awareness instruction helped all types of children improve their reading, including normally developing readers, children at risk for future reading problems, disabled readers, preschoolers, kindergartners, 1st graders, children in 2nd through 6th grades (most of whom were disabled readers), children across various SES levels, and children learning to read in English as well as in other languages (National Reading Panel).

Teaching phonemic awareness was found to help children learn to spell, and its effect lasted well beyond the end of training. Some but not all types of students benefited from phonemic awareness instruction. It helped kindergartners and 1st graders learn to spell. Phonemic awareness instruction also benefited children at risk for future reading problems and normally developing readers and was effective in boosting spelling skills in low SES as well as mid-to-high SES children. It helped children learn to spell in English as well as children learning in other languages. However, phonemic awareness instruction was not effective for improving spelling in disabled readers. This is consistent with other research indicating that disabled readers have a difficult time learning to spell (National Reading Panel).

The National Reading Panel findings indicate that phonemic awareness instruction may be most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters, when the instruction is explicitly focused on one or two types of phoneme manipulations rather than multiple types, and when children are taught in small groups. Of course, instruction must be suited to students’ level of development, with easier phonemic awareness tasks appropriate for younger children (National Reading Panel).

Phonemic awareness instruction does not need to consume long periods of time to be effective. In these analyses, programs lasting less than 20 hours were more effective than longer programs. Single sessions lasted 25 minutes on average. Classroom teachers as well as computers can teach phonemic awareness effectively (National Reading Panel).

Teachers should recognize that acquiring phonemic awareness is a means rather than an end. Phonemic awareness is not acquired for its own sake but rather for its value in helping learners understand and use the alphabetic system to read and write. This is why it is important to include letters when teaching children to manipulate phonemes and why it is important to teach children explicitly how to apply phonemic awareness skills in reading and writing tasks (National Reading Panel).

Phonics: Readers learn the predictable relationships between sounds (phonemes) and the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language. With phonics, students have a system for remembering how to read and write words (SCORE Tennessee).

Effective phonics instruction is explicit: the teacher provides precise and direct instruction (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonics instruction can be differentiated for student needs and is best done in flexible groups to match students’ needs and the pace of learning (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonics not only supports decoding and fluency skills; it also boosts reading comprehension, because reading words accurately and automatically allows readers to focus on the meaning of text (SCORE Tennessee).

Classrooms support systematic Tier 1 phonics instruction to all students produces overall strong readers, ensuring that students are not left with gaps in their letter-sound knowledge (SCORE Tennessee).

Teachers leverage strategies to teach phonemic awareness, including blending phonemes with letters helps them decode, teaching children phonemic segmentation, letter shapes, names, and sounds so that they can use letters to acquire phonemic awareness (National Reading Panel).

Systematic phonics instruction has the greatest benefits when it begins in kindergarten or first grade (SCORE Tennessee).

The most effective phonics instruction is systemic; it teaches a clearly defined sequence of the major sound-spelling relationships of consonants and vowels (SCORE Tennessee).

Lessons provide ample time to practice decoding skills (SCORE Tennessee).

Phonics instruction must be embedded in a comprehensive language-rich framework of foundational skills and reading comprehension; in addition to phonics, students should be exposed to oral reading, opportunities to build knowledge and comprehension, and writing (Bellwether).

The National Reading Panel’s findings support the conclusion that systematic phonics instruction is effective when delivered through tutoring, through small groups, and through teaching classes of students (National Reading Panel).

Phonics instruction produces the biggest impact on growth in reading when it begins in kindergarten or 1st grade before children have learned to read independently. Phonics instruction taught early proved much more effective than phonics instruction introduced after first grade (National Reading Panel).

The conclusion drawn from these findings is that systematic phonics instruction is significantly more effective than non-phonics instruction in helping to prevent reading difficulties among at-risk students and in helping to remediate reading difficulties in disabled readers (National Reading Panel).

Growth in word-reading skills is strongly enhanced by systematic phonics instruction when compared to non-phonics instruction for kindergartners and 1st graders as well as for older struggling readers. Growth in reading comprehension is also boosted by systematic phonics instruction for younger students and reading disabled students. These findings should dispel any belief that teaching phonics systematically to young children interferes with their ability to read and comprehend text (National Reading Panel).

Fluency: Readers learn to read text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression to show they understand emphasis and tone. Fluency is the link between decoding and comprehension (SCORE Tennessee).

The analysis of guided oral reading procedures (i.e. repeated reading, neurological impress, paired reading, shared reading, and assisted reading) led to the conclusion that repeated oral reading procedures had a consistent, and positive impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension as measured by a variety of test instruments and at a range of grade levels (National Reading Panel).

Repeated reading procedures have a clear impact on the reading ability of non-impaired readers through at least grade 4, as well as on students with various kinds of reading problems throughout high school (National Reading Panel).

Repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance leads to meaningful improvements in reading expertise for students — for good readers as well as those who are experiencing difficulties (National Reading Panel).

Teachers need to know that word recognition accuracy is not the end point of reading instruction. Fluency represents a level of expertise beyond word recognition accuracy, and reading comprehension may be aided by fluency. Skilled readers read words accurately, rapidly and efficiently. Children who do not develop reading fluency, no matter how bright they are, will continue to read slowly and with great effort (National Reading Panel).

The National Reading Panel found that a range of well-described instructional approaches to encouraging repeated oral reading result in increased reading proficiency. In contrast, the NRP did not find evidence supporting the effectiveness of encouraging independent silent reading as a means of improving reading achievement (National Reading Panel).

Teachers assess fluency regularly using formative and summative assessments to gauge oral reading accuracy, rate and comprehension (National Reading Panel).

Vocabulary: Readers have vast knowledge of words and their meanings. (SCORE Tennessee)

For students to develop deep content knowledge and expertise that sticks, vocabulary and knowledge must be taught intentionally and systematically by spending extended classroom time reading, listening to, and discussing multiple texts on the same topic (SCORE Tennessee).

Reading comprehension skills: Readers learn to unlock the meaning of text because they can decode the words on the page and simultaneously understand the meaning of those words (SCORE Tennessee).

Access to grade-appropriate texts in and outside the classroom.

Teaching strategies for reading comprehension leads to increased awareness and use of the strategies, improved performance on commonly used comprehension measures, and, sometimes, higher scores on standardized tests of reading (National Reading Panel).

Background knowledge: Readers accumulate knowledge of the world, facts, and skills to build their background knowledge. They use this background knowledge to make sense of the information they come across through reading (SCORE Tennessee).

For students to develop deep content knowledge and expertise that sticks, vocabulary and knowledge must be taught intentionally and systematically by spending extended classroom time reading, listening to, and discussing multiple texts on the same topic. (SCORE Tennessee)

Knowledge-based competencies are rooted in overall language comprehension and help students create meaning from text. They are dynamic and are developed over a reader’s lifetime, starting at birth (SCORE Tennessee).

Lessons match grade-level standards and are from a systematic scope and sequence, which is outlined in a research-based, high-quality curriculum that builds skills coherently from grade-level to grade-level (SCORE Tennessee).

Read-alouds are essential in the early grades to develop students’ listening comprehension, build their knowledge of the world, and boost their academic vocabulary. Teachers should read aloud content-rich texts that are two-three grade levels above their current grade to help students grow their knowledge, vocabulary, and oral language skills. Research shows that from birth to about age 13, children’s oral language abilities exceed their reading comprehension abilities, meaning children learn more from listening to texts than they do when reading on their own (SCORE Tennessee).

Students learn grade-level skills in the foundational skills portion of their literacy block. (SCORE Tennessee)

The texts must offer a rich diet of facts, ideas, and vocabulary words, and not be “trivial literature” or reading selections on fragmented topics (SCORE Tennessee).

While research strongly supports phonics instruction as a key early reading practice to build decoding and word-recognition skills, phonics alone will not support students to be strong, fluent readers. Even at an early age, when language skills are still developing, students benefit from instruction that builds knowledge and comprehension, exposure to a wide variety of texts, and knowledge building opportunities (Bellwether).

Reading comprehension strategies are best taught through integration with content so that students will be better able to understand, analyze, and retain the content as they learn to read (Bellwether).

Intentionally sequenced in-depth exposure to complex texts via reading, writing, and discussion builds students’ base of knowledge and capacity to understand a wide variety of reading material — which will be imperative as they move through school and into adulthood (Bellwether).

Fostering a “love of reading” in children through engaging, culturally relevant texts supports their motivation to read widely, and reading widely supports their development of critical language skills, including vocabulary, spelling, writing style, and the ability to use and understand complex texts (Bellwether).

Approach to Texts, Knowledge Building, and Comprehension: Science of Reading is based on the belief that children need to acquire knowledge of the world beginning in the early years to enable reading comprehension. It begins comprehension-building instruction simultaneously with the development of word recognition. Science of Reading integrates literacy instruction into other subjects, leveraging high-quality, knowledge-rich instructional materials to deepen students’ understanding of various topics like science, math, social studies, history, art, etc., via engaging, culturally relevant texts. (Bellwether).

Oral language skills: Students develop command over word form, sentence structure, and discourse. They can make meaning from spoken language using their background knowledge, vocabulary, and understanding of how language is structured (SCORE Tennessee).

Students learn the correct way to pronounce sounds and words. The teacher’s instruction is accurate and clear (SCORE Tennessee).

Students practice hearing, saying, reading, and writing their new skills. Lessons provide ample time to practice decoding skills (SCORE Tennessee).

Concepts of print: Readers learn how to approach a text and can read left to right and top to bottom on a page (SCORE Tennessee).

Spelling: Students use their knowledge of phonics to accurately write the letters to represent the sounds they hear in words (SCORE Tennessee).

Children should develop familiarity with the complex syntax of written language (Bellwether).

Quick learners can go fast and those who need more time get more practice (SCORE Tennessee).

Students have fun while they learn. Instruction is engaging, child-friendly and age-appropriate (SCORE Tennessee).

Cognitive science shows that we understand and remember the things we pay attention to and think about deeply. When students write about what they have learned from texts, using specific information and vocabulary, they better understand and retain the new content (SCORE Tennessee).

Literacy blocks must give time and attention to both sets of competencies — those that build decoding skills and those that build knowledge — in grades K-2. Primary grades must systematically and explicitly teach students the decoding skills required to crack the code of the English language. Early readers need exposure to important background knowledge that they will continue to build upon in later grades and throughout life (SCORE Tennessee).

Students will develop as skilled readers only when given the chance to grow their reading muscles (i.e. the “Matthew Effect”). A high volume of reading increases children’s decoding ability, word knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. Additionally, as children become more skilled readers, they enjoy reading more and are more motivated to read, which in turn continues to hone their skills (SCORE Tennessee).

The handful of strategies that have the most positive impact on comprehension are those that unlock the meaning of the text at hand, such as making connections to prior knowledge, asking questions of the text, summarizing as one reads, and monitoring one’s own comprehension. (SCORE Tennessee)

The Tennessee Academic Standards are designed to create equitable learning experiences for all students. The standards require that students have rich experiences within the text: building knowledge through reading, using evidence in their writing that can only be found in the text, and learning academic vocabulary found in those very texts. By grounding discussion and writing tasks in the text itself, all students are given equal opportunities to learn and engage. Reading and writing become a shared experience in learning about any topic. (SCORE Tennessee)

Defining reading: Developing effective literacy policy requires reaching agreement on the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary for learning to read and becoming a confident reader (Shanker Institute).

In SB 1572, Arizona defines the essential components of reading instruction as “explicit and systematic instruction in the following: (a) phonological awareness, including phonemic awareness, (b) phonics encoding and decoding, (c) vocabulary development, (d) reading fluency as demonstrated by automatic reading of text, (e) reading comprehension of written text, (f) written and oral expression, including spelling and handwriting.” (Shanker Institute).

Grounding reading policy on the five pillars identified by the National Reading Panel:  phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension (Shanker Institute).

These five pillars, however, should be a starting point. Oral language and writing take a back seat in the legislation but are as essential as the other five. Lawmakers should ensure that they receive the same degree of attention (Model state: Kentucky) (Shanker Institute).

Background knowledge receives very limited attention in the law. It is crucial that legislators recognize its importance and ensure that it has a prominent role in reading instruction (Knowledge Matters Campaign).

States craft legislation that espouses a holistic view of reading, including its socio-affective aspects like motivation, engagement, preferences etc. (Model state: Arizona) (Shanker Institute).

Require districts and public charter schools to provide students in grades K-5 with foundational literacy skills instruction as their primary method for teaching ELAs (SCORE Tennessee Policy Pillars).

Legislators should become knowledgeable about reading science and understand common misconceptions. (Resource: American Educator) (Shanker Institute).

As lawmakers attend to reading science, they should also consider education science more broadly to guide reading policy — prioritizing evidence-based interventions, such as tutoring, and phasing out policies with mixed evidence, such as grade retention. (Model state: Michigan) (Shanker Institute).

Tennessee’s legislature passed the Tennessee Literacy Success Act in 2021. Among its provisions was one requiring school districts and public charter schools to use a phonics-based approach for early reading instruction (Bellwether).

Arizona provides an example of legislation that supports writing, oral language, background knowledge and motivation as important components of literacy. In SB 1572, Arizona mentions the importance of “sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension and the development and maintenance of a motivation to read.” The legislation stipulates that adopted curricula and teacher training must incorporate all these essential components. The law also requires that screening and reading assessments measure progress toward the six components. Additionally, SB 1572 also mentions using a specific assessment tool to measure a student’s motivation to read in kindergarten through 3rd grade (Bellwether).

Kentucky provides an example of state legislation that supports writing instruction as a component of literacy In SB 129, Kentucky defines writing as “the purposeful act of thinking and expression that uses language to explore ideas and communicate meaning to others.” It recognizes that writing is a complex, multifaceted act of communication that has an important role in educational improvement. The law requires an on-demand assessment to be administered annually to elementary, middle and high school students. Students are required to take a yearly assessment on the mechanics of writing, using multiple-choice and constructed response questions at each grade level. The Kentucky Department of Education will provide guidelines to all schools for including an effective writing program within the curriculum. Within each school, “a committee appointed by the principal shall adopt policies that determine the writing program for its school and submit it to the Department of Education for review and comment.” It should include a variety of language resources; technological tools; and multiple opportunities for students to develop complex communication skills for a variety of purposes (Shanker Institute).

Percentage of students in grade 3 who meet grade-level standards in reading / English Language Arts and math as measured by state standardized tests (Education-to-Workforce).

Percentage of third graders scoring proficient or higher on the state (and/or district) reading assessment. If third-grade scores are unavailable, we suggest using scores from fourth and then fifth grades (StriveTogether).

Percentage of third graders scoring proficient or higher on the state (and/or district) reading assessment, disaggregated by each major racial and ethnic group, gender, economically disadvantaged status, disability status, English learner status, homeless enrolled status, and foster care status. (StriveTogether).

Percent of students at the beginning of fourth grade who scored proficient or above as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test. (Data source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics.) (Annie E. Casey Foundation).