Reading scores for Alabama’s second and third graders have dipped slightly, according to new results released Thursday by the Alabama State Department of Education.

Of students tested in spring 2023,

• 76% of third graders are reading on grade level, a decrease of two percentage points from last year’s results.
• 79% of second graders are reading on grade level, a decrease of one percentage point from last year.

School and district-level results will be released later today. Mackey said school-level results include schools at 96% but also at 50%.

And that means thousands of second graders who tested below grade level – those who are headed to the third grade in 2023-24 – are at risk of being retained if they are not reading on grade level before the start of the 2024-25 school year.

“Obviously it’s not going in the direction we want because last year we felt really good,” State Superintendent Mackey said.

Last year, school-level results showed ranges between 32% and 100%.

Mackey said the reading test students take is more rigorous than those in other states, which is why Alabama may have lower numbers of students on grade level. These test results are also based on reading standards adopted in 2021, which are more rigorous than previous standards from 2016.

State education officials are looking at how timing of textbook adoption may have impacted this year’s test scores. Since textbooks changed at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, some students didn’t have access to new textbooks – that the tests were based on – until after the school year started.

Mackey also noted that many students tested began school during the pandemic.

“These are the third graders that did not finish their kindergarten year because we didn’t have school the last two months. And many of them their first grade year was chaos.”

“This is a true accounting of where we are,” Mackey said. “But we want it to be a lot better.”

Nationally, test scores show that the pandemic put many children behind on reading skills and comprehension. Alabama fourth graders actually improved in reading and math compared to national peers, according to 2022 NAEP results.

Students not reading on grade level or otherwise identified with a reading deficiency in kindergarten through third grade can attend summer reading camp, but attendance is voluntary.

Parents should expect to be asked for help in getting children reading on grade level, with teachers prepared to craft individual reading plans for students with the most severe deficiencies.

Students in kindergarten through third grade are tested three times during the year to track progress. Students also take the annual reading test.

See more Education Lab coverage of reading, literacy:

How this small Alabama school battled COVID reading woes through teacher support, training.

Alabama schools aren’t last place in national NAEP reading and math scores anymore.

See how your Alabama school system compares to national reading rankings.

U.S. students strugged to read even before the pandemic. What happened?