How long will it take for 70% of Fort Worth ISD students to read at grade level?
The answer depends on proficiency growth each year, but it could take anywhere from 4 to more than 102 years, according to data calculated by the Fort Worth Report based on the state’s Texas Academic Performance Reports.
Alfred Tatum, president-elect at Literacy Research Association, noticed the range when he was preparing for a training session with Fort Worth ISD teachers. To improve the number of students reading at grade level, the conversations should emphasize exponential growth, he said.
“Proficiency in our nation should be the floor — it has become the ceiling,” Tatum said.
In the 2021-22 academic year, 38% of students read at grade level — an 8 percentage point increase from the previous year. If the district continues to grow at the same rate annually, it will reach 70% in 4 years.
However, data shows the district saw only a 1.25 percentage point increase on average in the past four years. At that rate of improvement, it will take Fort Worth ISD more than 25 years for students to reach 70% grade level proficiency.
What if the district increases an average of 1.25 percentage points every four years, as it did between 2017 and 2022? The district may have to wait around 102 years to have 70% of students read at grade level.
Tatum praised the district’s 8 percentage point increase in one year. Without overanalyzing what caused the increase — coming back from the pandemic or other reasons — he said Fort Worth ISD should figure out ways to maintain the increase rate every year.
“This is a silver lining for the district here,” he said.
What are Fort Worth ISD’s current teaching methods for reading?
- Developing a literacy framework emphasizing oral fluency, comprehension, word work and writing — all taught with research-based instructional strategies.
- Investing in instructional materials that align with state reading standards and the state’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
- Working with teachers during and after school to discuss using mentioned resources.
- Looking at data after teaching to adjust and reteach to help those not reading at grade level.
- Holding districtwide initiatives where students can discuss what they read across all subjects.
- Source: Stefanie Garcia, the district’s K-12 Literacy and Humanities coordinator
Tatum’s analysis highlights the urgency of what Fort Worth ISD has to do moving forward, said Stefanie Garcia, the district’s K-12 Literacy and Humanities coordinator. The district owns the data and commits to developing new systems and professional learning around the science of reading for its students.
“While the data does tell us about our past, it doesn’t tell us about our future and the hard work we have been doing to meet the post-COVID challenges I think all schools are currently facing,” Garcia said.
Fort Worth ISD is in its second year of using Amplify, a state-approved reading curriculum that focuses on the science of reading, which teaches students how to read by focusing on phonics, word recognition, fluency, and text and vocabulary comprehension.
Districts should ask curriculum developers to provide evidence of the average rate of growth for their materials, Tatum said.
“No one talks about this growth rate,” he said.
Fort Worth ISD’s four-year average growth is similar to districts in Mississippi and Colorado, where Tatum also compiled data for training sessions, he said.
Nationwide, districts usually accept and celebrate slow-growing literacy rates, Tatum said. It also goes for Fort Worth ISD. An example of slow-growth would be a target of having 45% students to read fluently.
“45% means you still have 55% of kids who are not reading proficiently,” Tatum said.
Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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