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EdNews: TCAP Reading Results Reveal Trends

A student at work in Sheridan's Fort Logan Elementary, where Wednesday's results show third-grade reading scores are on the rise.
Education News Colorado
A student at work in Sheridan's Fort Logan Elementary, where Wednesday's results show third-grade reading scores are on the rise.

Nearly three-fourths of Colorado third-graders are reading at grade level, a slight increase that matches the highest proficiency mark achieved in the past ten years, according to results released Wednesday.

Results of the first administration of the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, which is replacing the Colorado Student Assessment Program as the state shifts to new academic standards, show 73.9 percent of third-graders scored proficient or advanced.

Proficiency rates have hovered between 70 and 74 percent since at least 2003.

That leaves 25 percent of the state’s third-graders – more than 16,000 mostly 9-year-olds – struggling to master basic literacy skills.

More boys than girls need literacy help as third-grade tests provide the first look at a reading gender gap that persists through high school. A seven-point gap separates girls from boys on the 2012 third-grade exam; the most recent tenth-grade exams revealed a 13-point divide.

Gaps are similarly revealed by income and ethnicity on the third-grade reading tests, with 26 points separating students eligible for federal lunch aid and their more affluent peers. And 25-point gaps divide Hispanic and black students from their white classmates.

With the release of the TCAP results you can lookup your school's scores or read more about trends and reform efforts in the full article at Education News Colorado. [source: Nancy Mitchell, TCAP Reading Results Reveal Trends]

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