California school districts rated on student reading performance. See where yours stands

More than half of the state’s students are reading below grade level, including students in many Sacramento-area schools, according to a survey that assessed third-grade reading performance in nearly 300 school districts

The California Reading Coalition released its report card earlier this month, revealing that Galt Joint Union Elementary — at No. 70 — ranked the highest among the Sacramento region’s school districts. Elk Grove Unified ranked 115, Washington Unified ranked 233 and Sacramento City Unified ranked 246.

Only three local school districts — Galt Joint Union Elementary, Elk Grove Unified and Roseville City Elementary, which ranked 127 — were above the statewide median.

“Reading by third grade is a crucial milestone for student success,” said Todd Collins, one of CA Reads’ organizers. “Over half of California’s third grade students are below grade level, and California ranks near the bottom on national tests. But some districts are beating the odds and delivering on one of the main goals of public education - that every student reads.”

Not all of the state’s 1,000 school districts were included in the report. The report, which used data from the California Assessment of Students Performance and Progress third grade English Language Arts test, focused on school districts that served more than 100 socio-economically disadvantaged Latino third graders. Low-income Latino students represent about 43% of the K-12 student population in California.

“These kids, more than any other kids, are dependent on school to learn to read,” Collins told The Sacramento Bee. Collecting data from a sub-group of students who may not seek outside resources to supplement reading skills helped identify just how effective reading programs and curriculum in schools can be on their own.

“When you find students not doing well, that means none of them are doing well from their school (resources),” Collins said.

The results indicated that oftentimes, demographics, like wealth and race, do not determine student achievement. In fact, eight of the top 30 school districts served populations where more than 80% of students were high-need. And school districts in wealthier communities, like the San Francisco Bay Area, were the state’s worst performing.

Collins attributed those surprising results to the degree of work and data-driven strategies top performing districts in counties like Los Angeles and Fresno use for student achievement.

“The report card truly shows that any district can succeed,” said Collins. “There are no silver bullets (for) sparking innovation; nor do student mix or funding determine the outcome. The difference between leaders and the rest is a strong focus on student achievement, which drives curriculum choices and management approaches that result in student success.”

Independent of the the report, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced his plan on Tuesday to launch a statewide literacy campaign to help all third grade students read by the year 2026.

Once a student learns to read, a student can read to learn anything,” said Thurmond, who added that reaching literacy by third grade has long been a goal of California schools and a key benchmark in measuring and predicting student success.

“We must take bold action to help students meet this important milestone and to put them on a path for lifelong learning as opposed to a path that increases the likelihood that they will drop out of school or end up in the criminal justice system.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 2:54 PM.