Hack
Over 89% of BCSC third-graders passed the IREAD-3 assessment last school year, yet another sign that the district is continuing to made strides in fostering the skills of young readers.
BCSC school board members took a deep-dive into more details about the third consecutive year of improvement on Monday.
Of the 841 third-graders tested last year, 751, or 89.3% of students passed IREAD. That’s up four points from 2023-24 and nearly 10 points up from the 2022-23 school year.
The 89.3% figure for 2024-25 is two points higher than the stage average of 87.3%, reflecting the second year in a row BCSC third-graders have eclipsed the state average.
Laura Hack, director of elementary education, pointed out that 85 third-graders qualified for a good-cause exemption, such as being in the United States less than two years or having an IEP.
The state still includes those students in the final score. Hack said administrators hoped the state would adjust the scores because of that, but it did not.
“But if they did, we would have a 99% passing rate,” Hack said, calling the improvements year-over-year “a good picture of the upper trajectory of our students in BCSC.”
“This important work doesn’t happen on its own— it happens because of the commitment and passion of staff, who work and learn with our students every day,” Hack went on.
Elementary Curriculum Specialist Jeannie Long observed that not only is the district making overall improvements, impressive gains are also evident within certain student sub-categories.
Over the last three years, students receiving free and reduced lunch have increased their scores 14.6%, for example.
English language learners are up 17 points in that period, and earned over 10% improvements between 2023-24 and 2024-25. Students with special needs have seen their scores go up more than 15% from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
State legislation requires schools to administer IREAD in second grade and direct targeted support for at-risk students struggling to reach reading proficiency.
Of the 798 second-graders tested last year, 472 passed, good for a 59% passing rate. That’s up 12 percentage points from the previous group of second-graders. In addition, there are 125 fewer second-graders considered at-risk of not passing the assessment as third-graders compared to the previous year.
Also of note is that 100% of third-graders who participated in Book Buddies passed IREAD last school year.
Long credited a number of strategies the district used as part of the reason for the continued increases, including continuous progress monitoring, teachers undergoing professional development regarding the science of reading and quarterly meetings where teachers and other BCSC officials comb through data.
Going forward, BCSC has implemented a new mentor program for new teachers K-3, as well as the use of a diagnostic tool to specifically identify where skill gaps are for students.
“This will enable our teachers to deliver even more targeted and effective instruction,” Long said.
Students will also take part in three separate ILEARN Checkpoints, meant to get an idea of where students’ foundational reading skills are at at a given time and how they’re progressing.
Those interested can watch the IREAD results presentation on BCSC’s livestream of Monday’s meeting, beginning at 30:33.
