LETRS program proves successful as NC outshines national averages in K-3 literacy

Thanks to the LETRS program, North Carolina K-3 students outperformed national averages in literacy for the third straight year.

North Carolina’s kindergarten through third grade students have outperformed the national average in end-of-year literacy assessments for the third consecutive year, according to data presented to the State Board of Education. The DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment results show significant improvements among the state’s students from the beginning to the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Key findings

According to a press release from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, here are some of the key findings from the data:

• The number of students who met or exceeded the DIBELS 8 benchmark grew by 81,616 from the start to the end of the school year.
• 53,808 fewer students scored well below the benchmark.
• At every grade level tested, a higher percentage of North Carolina students were “on track” compared to the national average.
• K-2 students demonstrated greater improvement from the beginning- to end-of-year assessments.
• Third graders showed similar rates of improvement as their national peers.

LETRS program impact

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt attributes this success to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)’s statewide implementation of the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS®) program. Key points include:

• The two-year professional development initiative for K-3 teachers was introduced in the 2021-22 academic year.
• The final cohort completed their training in June 2024.
• LETRS equips educators with instructional tools based on extensive research into the science of reading.

Grade-level performance

Here’s a breakdown of grade-level performance in literacy assessments:

• The most significant gains were seen in kindergarten, where the percentage of students on track in reading grew by 40 percent during the 2023-24 school year, compared to an average of 25 percent in other states.

• Amy Rhyne, senior director of NCDPI’s Office of Early Learning, explained that the differences in achievement between grade levels are due to the foundational nature of reading skills.
• This year’s third graders were already in first grade when the LETRS training began, whereas K-2 students were exposed to the science of reading methods earlier.

Future outlook

Rhyne expressed optimism for future achievements as all students will now enter kindergarten with teachers who have completed LETRS training. The continued implementation of these evidence-based teaching methods is expected to further improve literacy rates across all early grade levels in North Carolina.

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This article may have been created with the assistance of AI.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

This story was generated in part by AI and edited by Cardinal & Pine staff.