REACHING 80% COLLEGE AND CAREER READY BY THIRD GRADE
New insights shape strategy to reach community goal
Change is wit
KEY LEVERAGE POINTS IN EARLY LITERACY JOURNEY
Our community’s goal of 80% of third graders scoring at College and Career Ready (CCR) on the state reading assessment is within reach. In fact, we’ve come closer to that goal than many might realize.
In 2017, 70% of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students were on level for reading at the end of first grade. Two years later, though, in 2019, only 46% of those students scored at CCR on their third-grade state reading assessment.
70% 46%
There are two key takeaways from these data points:
1 2
Getting 80% of third graders to CCR is both attainable and closer than we might think.
The post-first grade drop in reading scores is an important piece of the puzzle of improving reading proficiency. It’s clear that the end of first grade is a key leverage point in the early literacy journey.
Development of Reading for Low- and High-income Neighborhoods (kindergarten to 3rd grade (MAP RIT)) 166 155 209 198 End of Third Grade End of Kindergarten Beginning of Kindergarten 141 135 Similiar trends are seen when looking at race/ethnicity
We also know school entry is an important leverage point. Harvard Professor James Kim analyzed two cohorts of CMS students from kindergarten through third grade. These analyses were for students who finished third grade in 2018 and 2019.
Using MAP test scores, Professor Kim found that the entire third grade reading gap (by race and income) was present by the end of kindergarten. We need to work hard to close early gaps at school entry and the initial years of elementary school.
All of this informs the work ahead and shows where we, as a community, can lean in to help move toward our goal. 1
The total third grade literacy gap (11 points) is present by the end of kindergarten.
within our reach
New research reveals four ingredients critical to reaching goal
ORAL LANGUAGE (vocabulary and grammar)
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
WORLD KNOWLEDGE PHONICS, DECODING, AND WORD RECOGNITION
A 10-year initiative called Reading for Understanding identified oral language, listening comprehension, world knowledge, and decoding/word recognition as key ingredients for reading comprehension.
Once a child learns to decode words, low language skills and gaps in world knowledge (especially science and social studies) impede further progress in reading comprehension. In fact, listening comprehension becomes the leading predictor of reading comprehension.
Development of oral language, listening comprehension, and world knowledge begins early in life, well before children start school. This points to the importance of building early literacy skills starting at birth.
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PEARSON, P. D., PALINCSAR, A. S., BIANCAROSA, G., & BERMAN, A. I. (EDS.). (2020). REAPING THE REWARDS OF THE READING FOR UNDERSTANDING INITIATIVE. WASHINGTON, DC: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION.
Significant milestones in our community
Our community has made major strides in systems change in recent years, creating a stronger early literacy ecosystem and bringing us closer to realizing our goal.
CMS adopted a high-quality literacy curriculum (EL Education) districtwide in fall 2019.
CMS is in the first cohort of North Carolina school districts whose teachers receive LETRS literacy professional development, starting in 2021.
More than 5,900 children are attending public Pre-K in Mecklenburg County.
Doctors are prescribing language and books during well-child visits for more than 35,600 children in Mecklenburg County through Reach Out and Read.
More than 30,000 Mecklenburg County children between the ages of 0 and 5 are receiving monthly books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
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What this means for Read Charlotte
Read Charlotte remains focused on creating enduring systems change that leads to more children reading at College and Career Ready by third grade. Given the impact of the pandemic, we’ve extended our organizational timeline from 2025 to 2030. We’ve also moved from a single goal to four staggered goals and deadlines.
GOAL 1
Increase the percentage of children who start kindergarten at grade-level expectations for reading from 33% in fall 2021 to 65% by fall 2026.
About 3,300 incoming CMS kindergartners (33%) in fall 2021 were on-level in reading. We need to increase up to about 3,200 more annually to be on-level to reach our 2026 target of 65%.
GOAL 2
Increase the percentage of children who finish first grade at grade-level expectations for reading from 60% in spring 2022 to 80% by spring 2028.*
About 6,000 CMS first graders (60%) in spring 2022 finished the year on-level in reading. We need to increase up to about 2,000 more annually to be on-level to reach our 2028 target of 80%.
GOAL 3
Increase the percentage of children who finish third grade at College and Career Ready on the state reading assessment from 25% in spring 2022 to 80% by spring 2030.
About 2,700 CMS third graders (25%) in spring 2022 met CCR on the EOG. We need to increase up to about 5,900 more annually to be on-level to reach our 2030 target of 80%.
GOAL 4
Increase the percentage of CMS fourth grade students who score Proficient on the NAEP** from 33% in 2022 to at least 65% by 2030.
About 3,500 CMS fourth graders (33%) in spring 2022 were proficient on the NAEP. We need to increase to about 3,400 more annually to be proficient to reach our 2030 target of 65%.
We must accomplish goals 1 and 2 first in order to accomplish goals 3 and 4.
**The
*Professor Kim found that 70% of first graders met grade-level expectations in 2018 and 2019. This gives us even greater confidence we can reach 80%.
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standards for Proficient on the NAEP are currently higher than the standards for CCR for the state of North Carolina.
Aligning efforts across the county
Aligning efforts at key points will move us closer to achieving our goal. So, how do we know if children are on track to be College and Career Ready in reading?
We worked with CMS, community partners, and national experts to develop community indicators for reading at three key points: school entry, end of first grade, and end of third grade. These indicators are informed by state standards, state reading assessments, and high-quality research studies. The goal is to make it easier to coordinate and align community actions with grade-level expectations in the classroom and ensure more children reach College and Career Ready in reading achievement by third grade.
BY SCHOOL ENTRY BY END OF GRADE 1 BY END OF GRADE 3
The Big Five
• Knows letter names
• Knows letter sounds
• Can recognize the first sound in words
• Can write own name
• Responds to and uses a growing vocabulary (from conversations and shared reading)
Comprehension Skills
• Can read for increasingly sustained periods of time
• Can ask and answer questions with evidence from informational & narrative text
Foundational Skills
• Can recognize and read all 100 of the most frequent words
• Is equipped to decode 300+ words (including one-syllable words containing common consonant digraphs, common long and short vowel representations, and common irregularly spelled words)
• Can use common spelling patterns to spell words as they sound
• Can read at least 39 words correct per minute (reading fluency)
Language Skills
• Has an age-appropriate vocabulary (especially “Tier 2” academic words)
Comprehension Skills
• Can read stories and informational text for increasingly sustained periods of time
• Can answer explicit and implicit questions about both stories and informational texts using evidence from the texts
Foundational Skills
• Can automatically read all 100 most frequent words
• Is equipped to decode 500+ words (including multi-syllabic words; words with inconsistent but common sound-spelling correspondences)
• Can understand the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes
• Can read at least 120 words per minute (reading fluency)
Language Skills
• Has an age-appropriate vocabulary (especially "Tier 2 & 3" academic words)
• Can interpret the meaning of unknown words using word parts and context
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Why continued investment in early literacy matters
A recent Read Charlotte-commissioned study by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill examined the relationship between early literacy and a range of later social outcomes. Researchers used a national dataset to find that early literacy provides protective factors across a range of social outcomes in the teens and early twenties. Improving early literacy – even controlling for individual and family differences – increases outcomes for college application, college graduation, household income, and employment. In short, getting children to reading proficiency in elementary school is a “super strategy” for increasing economic and social mobility and their chances for a happy and healthy life. This study was underwritten by a grant from The Duke Endowment.
KEY FINDINGS 6
Have 25% less household income in their early-to-mid twenties.
Compared to their peers with above average reading ability, students who have below average reading ability in Grades 3 and 4:
Are almost two times as likely to not attend college.
Are almost 50% more likely to experience unemployment in their early-to-mid twenties.
Are one-third more likely to report feeling depressed in their early-to-mid twenties.
Are more than two times as likely to not apply to college.
Are 25% more likely to report substance abuse in their early-to-mid twenties.
We think the difference in above average and below average reading ability in these data loosely translates to the difference between College and Career Ready and Not Proficient on state reading tests.
Data are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 - it includes data from 11,545 children born between 1970 and 2006 to women in the original NLSY79 sample. Data were collected through surveys conducted every 2 years from 1996 to 2016. Literacy was measured before Kindergarten and in late elementary (3rd and 4th grade) and outcomes were measured in teens and 20s. The analysis controlled for differences in individual and family background, including sex, race, birth order, family income, books in the home, etc.
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Here’s what it will take:
Our community using evidence-based insights from experimental studies on teaching reading – what works, what doesn’t, for whom, and by how much.
Our community working together to improve outcomes at two key leverage points –reading skills at school entry and the end of first grade –that greatly affect the odds of success in third grade. We also must work together to stop summer reading loss.
Our community focusing on both sides of the “science of reading” – the science of learning to read and the science of teaching reading.
Our community creating system change: shared ownership of goals, awareness and urgency to improve early literacy, cross-sector partnerships, aligned resources, and shared commitment to continuous improvement.
We believe 80% (or more) of our third graders can reach College and Career Ready in reading.
