In ever-important third grade, most Sacramento-area students miss reading standard on new test
She moves swiftly through lessons and assignments in an orderly manner at the Folsom school, but sometimes feels like she can’t get to everything she wants each day.
“We have so much to cover and so much to teach the kids,” she said.
While students focus on reading and writing the minute they set foot in kindergarten, the stakes are particularly high in third grade. Three decades of research have shown that students who can’t read at grade level by that point are more likely to drop out of high school than their reading-proficient peers. In impoverished communities, students have an even slimmer chance of catching up.
Local teachers are redoubling their efforts after a new statewide test administered last year showed that 60 percent of third-graders in the Sacramento region performed below the state standard in English. The region includes Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties.
The state’s new Smarter Balanced Assessment System incorporates new Common Core standards that emphasize analytical thinking, problem solving and communications skills. Students often must combine several skills to correctly answer questions, and memorization is less valuable. Students, regardless of income level, fared worse than under the previous testing system, but low-income schools suffered the steepest performance declines.
“The new level of expectation far exceeds what we were expecting 15 years ago,” said Anne Zeman, executive director of elementary education for Twin Rivers Unified School District, which serves the North Sacramento area. “By the end of kindergarten 15 years ago we were thrilled if a child could read ‘The cat sat on a mat.’ Now it is much more sophisticated.”
Third grade is a predictor of future academic success because it is typically when students begin reading more complex texts, said Susan Neuman, an education professor at the University of Michigan and former assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education.
“They are now reading books on science, social studies and math,” she said. “All that content-related reading is dependent on their ability to read fluently.”
A Bee review of state data shows the majority of Sacramento area schools that performed well on Smarter Balanced third-grade reading tests are located in wealthier areas – mostly in Placer and El Dorado counties – while the lowest performing schools were in poorest neighborhoods in Sacramento.
Seventy-six percent of the region’s poorest kids could not meet standards on the English test, compared to 42 percent of wealthier kids.
At Empire Oaks Elementary School in Folsom, only 2 percent of students are eligible for subsidized meals based on family income. More than three-quarters of the school’s third-graders read at or above grade level.
Despite advantages at home and having a teacher with a doctorate in education, a few students in Sandfort’s class still struggle with reading. A bin of books reflects the range of abilities in the room, with titles suited for readers at first- to seventh-grade levels.
Sandfort tries to address the needs of students at different levels by incorporating individual and small-group instruction into class time while other students read with a partner or listen to stories on a laptop. Sandfort also tries to read to her students every day, but sometimes runs out of time.
As research indicated that third-grade reading ability was an important determinant in future academic success, states began requiring more tests in early grades, as well as more intervention when young students struggle. Some states require that schools hold back third-In ever-important third grade, most Sacramento-area students miss reading standard on new test | The Sacramento Bee: