Third Grade Reading Scores Should Spur Reform

Nearly one in three 3rd graders reading below grade level

Oklahoma City (May 15, 2015) – State Chamber of Oklahoma Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Jonathan Buxton released the statement below following today’s release of third grade reading scores:

“This report should prompt a discussion not about outrage over retaining students, but instead the disgrace that approximately one out of three Oklahoma third graders is not reading on grade level. There are 15,292 Oklahoma 3rd graders who are reading at a 2nd grade level or below*. We can blame the test, or a lack of parental involvement, or funding or any number of other causes, but blame does nothing to solve this problem. Oklahoma students deserve better and we as a state should expect more.
 
This isn’t about punishment or blame. Reading is a foundational skill that is needed as course work becomes more rigorous in the upper grades. Without a strong reading foundation, we are setting our students up for academic and professional failure. We must change the discussion away from ways to avoid retaining students to ways to better teach our children how to read.
 
As legislative changes are considered to our state’s Reading Sufficiency Act in the waning days of this legislative session, our lawmakers must consider solutions that will help capture those students in both the limited knowledge and unsatisfactory levels and get them the extra help they need as early as possible so we do not continue to face these same statistics year after year. We need a strong reading test that measures academic progress and helps teachers better inform instruction to fit the unique circumstances of each child. We must all work toward better results.”

*According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, students scoring in the unsatisfactory category are reading at 1st grade level or below and those in the limited knowledge category are reading at approximately a 2nd grade level.
 
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