Reading levels on the rise in St. John schools

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 24, 1999

ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / November 24, 1999

RESERVE – Assistant Superintendent Herbert Smith had some good news for the St. John Parish School Board Thursday.”We have made a significant increase in reading levels since the same time last year,” said Smith. “There is a 30 to 40 percent increase inreading skills.”As mandated by the Louisiana Legislature, the school system has to make a report of the reading levels of students in grades 1-3 at the beginning of each school year. The report, known as the Developmental ReadingAssessment, gave the St. John public schools a very high grade in readinglevels.

Breaking it down by grades, 74 percent of first-graders are reading at or above their grade level as compared to 57 percent in fall of 1998. Secondgraders improved their reading skills by 19 percent and the number of third-graders who read at or above third-grade level increased by 17 percent.

Of the entire 1,574 students assessed, 66 percent are reading at or above their grade level. Thirty-four percent of the students are reading belowlevel, 38 percent are reading on grade level, and 28 percent are reading above grade level.

Smith credits a $100,000 grant from the state in helping teachers create a reading program that was geared to grades 1-3.

Even though board member C. J. Watkins was pleased with the results ofthe assessment, he said he is disturbed by another trend in the study.

Watkins wanted to know why there was a smaller increase of improvement as one went from first to third grades.

Smith said he was puzzled by that trend also and is analyzing the data further to try and come up with an answer.

Board President Richard DeLong said, however, “It is always good to have such good reports on our students.”

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