ACS Reading Scores Get Notice

For the second year in a row, the state is praising Alexander County teachers and staff for the district’s superior performance with young readers. State school superintendent Catherine Truitt told the State Board of Education on August 1st that Alexander County has some of the highest scores in the state for kindergartners through third graders.

According to DIBELS, seventy-nine percent of Alexander County kindergarteners are at or above grade level. DIBELS is the mandatory state test, also called MClass. It stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. The DIBELS assessments are completed one on one with the teacher and student and are intended to measure foundational skills for reading. 

In first-grade, 72% of Alexander students ended the year on or above grade level according to the test. In second grade, it was 67% and third 63%. The numbers show Alexander students outpacing their peers statewide by as much as six percent.

Truitt wrote in an email to district superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin, “Your DIBELS 8 data is fantastic and I can’t wait to tell everyone!”

DIBELS is given three times a year to all kindergarten through third-grade students. At the beginning of the year, only 25% of Alexander County five-year-olds were considered to be at or above benchmark on DIBELS. Over the course of the year, teachers worked to help that number grow to 79%. Alexander’s growth is impressive because ACS kindergartners come in lower at the beginning of the year than the other students across the state.

Sugarloaf teacher Leanne Stocks has worked in kindergarten for nine years and was pleased to hear Truitt’s words.

“That makes my heart so happy. We work so hard in kindergarten to get them to where they need to be. And to have that recognition, it’s amazing,” said Stocks. 

Three years ago, elementary teachers across the state were mandated to complete state training to help improve reading across North Carolina.  Over 44,000 elementary teachers state-wide have completed the coursework.

“I’ve taught for 25 years, put a lot of time and energy into what I do, you know, you want to do the right thing and help the kids, so that LETRS training really made a big difference in what I’m doing in my classroom,” says veteran Bridget Horn.

Horn has taught first grade Bethlehem Elementary for nearly her whole career. She says the new way of looking at instruction through LETRS, also called the Science of Reading, is having an impact.

“I can tell a difference as the kindergarteners are coming to my first grade classroom. I can see a very big difference in where they’re starting and what they did before we had these programs in place. So I kind of just know by what’s happening in my classroom,” says Horn.

Truitt told the state board of education that North Carolina students are growing more than a year’s worth--based on DIBELS--compared to students around the country. She particularly touted the benefits of this style of test to measure performance. This is the third year for DIBELS in North Carolina.

“This data is crucial for teachers because it allows teachers to see where students are not gaining the knowledge they need and skills to become proficient readers. It allows our teachers to adjust their instruction for individual students,” said Truitt.

Truitt particularly praised eight North Carolina districts who performed well, including Alexander.

“I think it’s a good thing for our county to get recognized because they’ve spent a lot of time and energy and effort into finding some good, solid research-based programs and I think all of that energy is paying off now,” said Horn.

Both Horn and Stocks say partnering with parents helps. They say families should encourage talking, conversation, and nursery rhymes, for example, to help students as beginning readers. Ultimately, the state recognition brings fresh energy as the new school year nears.

"This just excites me. This is great, great news! But you know, we don’t work for the scores. We do this because we love the kids and we want to see them grow but this is a great thing to hear,” says Stocks.

The state will release the End-of-Grade results, a different test for reading, later this year. 

ACS    
Kindergarten    79%    At or above grade level at end of year
First                 72%    At or above grade level at end of year
Second            67%    At or above grade level at end of year
Third                63%     At or above grade level at end of year