Efforts to boost early reading in Iowa show promise, state says

DES MOINES — Young students in Iowa struggling to read are making progress, thanks in part to an early warning system developed by the state, education officials said Thursday.

Nearly 9,000 kindergartners through third-graders who were struggling to meet reading benchmarks in fall 2015 either met or exceeded benchmarks by spring 2016, according to data from the Iowa Department of Education.

That was a statewide average increase of 4.2 percentage points, but some individual districts saw increases of roughly 20 to 30 percentage points, officials said.

'We're seeing great progress in these efforts statewide,' education department Director Ryan Wise said Thursday at a news conference.

In the Corridor, the Iowa City district saw a 9.6 point increase, from 62.6 percent of students who took the test in 2015 meeting or exceeding benchmarks to 72.2 percent by 2016. But the Cedar Rapids district stayed flat, at about 64 percent each time.

Waterloo schools saw one of the state's biggest increases — nearly 15 points. That was the largest increase among the state's biggest schools, state officials said.

'We're now better equipped than at any point in time to identify which students are on track and which students aren't,' Waterloo Superintendent Jane Lindaman said at the news conference. 'Knowledge is power, and when we know what students need, we're much more able to provide the right interventions.'

Under the early warning system, students in kindergarten through third grade are screened three times a year to identify struggling readers. Those students are then given extra help.

The program was implemented in a collaborative effort with the education department, school districts and area education agencies.

Of the 398 public and private school districts that use the program, more than 60 percent saw an increase in the percentage of young students at or above the benchmark in the 2015-2016 school year, the state said. Of those, 53 districts saw double-digit increases from the fall to the spring.

'These results are meaningful, and they are sustainable,' said Amy Williamson with the education department.

Williamson and Lindaman said early data from the 2016-17 school year suggests the trend of more students reaching early reading benchmarks will continue, though both said there is much work to be done.

'We shouldn't be satisfied, but we should be encouraged that we're actually making this growth,' Williamson said. 'There is no way that this kind of growth won't directly translate into growth on outcome assessments. What we're doing is making a difference. It's going to take a while, though, because it's a big change in the system.