NC has spent over $100 million on the science of teaching reading. Is it paying off?
North Carolina leaders say the state’s $114 million investment in retraining teachers is paying off through improved literacy scores for the youngest readers.
New results presented this week show more students in kindergarten through third grade are starting the school year on track in reading and fewer are leaving third-grade not proficient in reading.
The gains were credited to the LETRS science of reading training that all elementary schools have been required to receive since 2021.
“Our teachers are doing a great job as they’re learning to apply the professional knowledge that they’ve gained to continue to improve foundational reading skills,” said Amy Rhyne, director of the state Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Early Learning.
LETRS, which stands for “Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling,” stresses phonics when teaching students how to read. The state’s 44,000 elementary teachers have to complete the 160 hours of training by next year.
“The fact that we continually see a steady increase in reading proficiency before the LETRS initiative is even fully implemented is astounding,” State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in a news release. “This shows that when we invest in research-based professional development for North Carolina teachers, they produce results.”
NC seeing gains above national average
Elementary school teachers across the state use DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) to assess the reading skills of K-3 students during the school year.
In the past two years, North Carolina’s first-, second- and third-graders have made gains that are more than double those seen on the national level on the DIBELS beginning-of-year assessment.
For instance, there’s been a 14 percentage point increase in the past two years in the number of North Carolina first-graders who scored as “on track” for reading at the beginning of the year compared to a 5 percentage point increase nationally.
Other data points include:
▪ The percentage of North Carolina students in grades 1-3 who are scored “on track” for reading at the beginning of the school year is now above the national average in all three grades.
▪ Compared to the start of the 2021-22 school year, 43,398 fewer K-3 students scored “below benchmark” this school year.
▪ Compared to the start of the 2021-22 school year, 48,571 more K-3 students scored “on track” for reading this school year.
▪ Compared to the 2021-22 school year, 9,308 fewer students were labeled as “reading retained.” That label means a student is not proficient in reading by the end of third grade.
“We have much to celebrate,” Rhyne told the State Board of Education on Wednesday. “Our investment is paying off, but we also have lots of work to do because we’re not there yet.
“We’re just getting started and we’re thankful for the time that we had so far to get started in North Carolina and already see some early wins.”
Even though the last group of teachers will finish LETRS training next year, state board member Jill Camnitz said the state’s work isn’t done yet.
“We are just beginning this journey of getting our students’ reading proficiency to where it needs to be,” Camnitz said.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
