Utah has set a high bar for reading proficiency. It wants 70% of third grade students reading at grade level by 2027. But there’s still a big gap to close.
As of the 2023-2024 school year, only 48.1% of third-graders met that mark, according to Utah State Board of Education Literacy and Early Learning Coordinator Julie Clark. That’s about the same as it was the year before.
“Our first graders moved a little bit. Our second and our third graders stayed very stagnant; it was about exactly the same as where we were the year before. We've kind of hit a plateau,” Clark said.
“Obviously I would love to see it jump more, but at the same time, we do know that change takes time,” Clark said.
The Legislature set the 70% goal in 2022. The state spent millions to train teachers on the science of reading, invest in literacy coaches and make sure districts were using high-quality instructional materials.
At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the first full school year after the law passed, the state saw some positive growth in all K-3 grades. The number of third graders reading at grade level moved from 46% to 48%. At the time, state leaders were most excited about the gains in kindergarten, where they saw the largest percentage of kindergarten students ever move to reading benchmark status during a school year.
Since then, Clark said the board has tweaked its definition of “reading on grade level” because of confusion among districts and state leaders after that first year. Now, third grade students must get a score of 405 or be “above benchmark” on the end of the year standardized Acadience Reading assessment. If they hit that, Clark said their chances of staying at or above benchmark in future grades is high.
Clark is also in talks with school district leaders about what can be done to improve reading instruction in the second and third grade. This includes how much time kids spend reading in the classroom.
“We're doing a lot of instruction, and the teachers are doing a lot of talking, but what are our students doing in the classroom? Are they getting time where they can practice those skills that they're learning and reading in text?” Clark said. “If you're in a classroom and they're reading less than five minutes each day, that's not enough.”
The state is also focused on making sure administrators are holding teachers accountable for implementing training they’ve received on the science of reading in their classrooms, Clark said.
While there is still a ways to go, she is encouraged by the progress being made in kindergarten, which she said was aided by the expansion of full-day kindergarten statewide. Utah has seen a 16% increase in those students achieving above benchmark reading levels since the end of the pandemic, according to the state board.
“Although I think that our goal is very lofty, I think that we can reach it,” Clark said.
The students who were in kindergarten last school year are the cohort to watch, she said. They will be in third grade during the 2026-2027 school year, when the state hopes to reach its goal.
Jennifer Throndsen runs the education consulting company Impactful Learning Designs and is the former director of teaching and learning at the state board, where she oversaw a lot of the work toward Utah’s literacy goal. She said they weren’t expecting to see huge jumps the first few years, but they hoped for better results than what they’ve seen at this point.
“What we're missing is implementation. So we've got knowledge,” Throndsen said.
In order to reach the 2027 goal, Throndsen said there needs to be ongoing teacher professional development as well as coaching and support for educators. She also said school and district leaders need to be monitoring teachers’ instructional practices and holding them accountable.
“At this time, what we need to focus on is holding our teachers accountable and giving them the support they need to implement their new knowledge.”
And it can’t just be educators. Throndsen also said there needs to be family and community engagement in this effort.
