BOISE, Idaho — Reading scores are out for Idaho's youngest students and the drop-off was not as bad as many feared.
Just over 65% of Idaho's kindergartners through 3rd graders read at grade level this spring. That's only down 5% from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI) also found overall growth of about 15% from fall to spring. Education leaders tout that as a success as students and teachers navigated a year of hybrid learning and quarantines.
The state is now using federal COVID-19 relief dollars on summer reading and catch-up programs for students who need the extra boost.
"Well, now we have a better sense of where some of these learning gaps are in terms of early reading," said Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News. "So now the question is how are these summer programs working and what results are we seeing off those summer reading programs."
If you want to review how your school or district performed on the IRI, click here.
