{"id":2779,"date":"2026-06-24T19:06:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2026-06-24T19:06:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:06:58","slug":"why-different-literacy-measures-for-utah-kids-tell-different-literacy-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2779","title":{"rendered":"Why different literacy measures for Utah kids tell different literacy stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Gardner Policy Institute releases education brief on measuring early literacy progress in Utah.<\/li>\n<li>Report affirms a sizable number of Utah third graders are not reading at proficient levels.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s value in utilizing several measurements to fully understand early literacy progress in Utah schools.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>\u201cLearning to Read \u2014 Reading to Learn.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the oft-repeated adage Utah educators and policymakers use when discussing third graders and early literacy.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2777\">Opinion: New trends and old rules revealed in the primary election<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For early elementary students \u2014 kindergarten through third grade \u2014 literacy instruction is primarily focused on building reading proficiency. <\/p>\n<p>Then, from fourth grade on, students are expected to draw upon that foundational literacy to learn essential skills and lessons in, say, English, math and science.<\/p>\n<p>But for Utah youngsters finishing third grade without proficient reading skills, research warns that academic troubles await. And the consequences stretch beyond poor marks on report cards. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents who read proficiently by third grade will more likely succeed academically, graduate from high school, and experience long-term economic and civic outcomes,\u201d noted <\/p>\n<p>Utah lawmakers have taken action. <\/p>\n<p>In 2022, the Utah Legislature established a goal of 70% of the state\u2019s kids reading at grade level by the end of third grade by 2027. And an education bill passed earlier this year lifted the statewide proficiency level goal for third graders to 80% by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>But how to best measure literacy progress? How is proficiency determined?<\/p>\n<h3>Different literacy measures = different literacy stories<\/h3>\n<p>No single assessment fully captures literary outcomes, asserted the Gardner report. <\/p>\n<p>The brief examined a trio of literacy progress measures being used in Utah to evaluate student reading performance \u2014 Acadience Reading, RISE assessments and the National Assessment of Educational Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.<\/p>\n<p>But each assessment is a bit unique from the others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferent measures tell different parts of the story,\u201d said Gardner Institute\u2019s education analyst Andrea Brandley in a news release. \u201cLooking across multiple measures provides a broader understanding of literacy progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Acadience Reading<\/b>, according to the brief, measures fundamental reading skills, identifies K-3 students who may need additional support \u2014 and then monitors progress over time.<\/li>\n<li><b>RISE<\/b> measures student proficiency in grades 3-8 relative to Utah\u2019s academic standards.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, <b>NAEP<\/b> Reading assesses a representative sample of students while providing independent measures of long-term reading trends that allow for comparisons across states over a long period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While no single measure fully captures literacy outcomes, educators can be confident identifying trends when benchmark assessments, state assessments and national assessments point in the same direction, the brief said.<\/p>\n<h3>So what does \u2018reading on grade level\u2019 mean?<\/h3>\n<p>Utah utilizes Acadience Reading benchmark categories to determine if a child is reading at proficient grade levels.<\/p>\n<p>Each student is placed in one of four benchmarks designations: Well Below Benchmark, Below Benchmark, At Benchmark and Above Benchmark.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to this year, the state defined reading on grade level as scoring \u201cAbove Benchmark\u201d on the Acadience assessment. But that was updated this year during the 2026 Utah legislative session. Now \u201creading on grade level\u201d includes students scoring \u201cat or above benchmark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe updated definition increased the share of third-grade students classified as reading on grade level from 50.3% to 70.5% in 2025, though student performance remained unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Acadience data revealed reading proficiency for Utah kindergarten students increased substantially over the past several years. That\u2019s likely a result of the expansion of full-day kindergarten in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2775\">How the World Cup is being protected against drone threats<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But grades 1 through 3 recorded much smaller gains, the brief noted. \u201cThird grade proficiency remained essentially unchanged between 2023 and 2025, holding at approximately 70% under the current definition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough students recovered some pandemic-era losses, progress slowed in recent years and challenges remain.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>What do RISE and NAEP assessments reveal about Utah\u2019s students?<\/h3>\n<p>The Utah RISE data offers mixed results.<\/p>\n<p>Third grade RISE proficiency nearly recovered from pandemic-era declines, but did not exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent results closely resemble those observed five years ago, suggesting little sustained improvement over time,\u201d according to the brief.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, NAEP \u2014 aka \u201cthe Nation\u2019s Report Card\u201d \u2014 indicates Utah students generally score above the national average in fourth grade reading. But both the Beehive State and the nation have experienced declining performance over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUtah\u2019s reading achievement peaked around 2015 and then generally moved downward,\u201d according to the Gardner Institute brief. \u201cThese trends suggest that many of Utah\u2019s literacy challenges emerged before the pandemic and reflect broader long-term concerns about reading achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line: Utah\u2019s primary early literacy assessment measures suggest uneven progress and persistent early literacy challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile some indicators show gains \u2014 particularly in kindergarten literacy \u2014 others point to stagnation or long-term declines,\u201d the brief noted. \u201cViewed collectively, the results suggest that Utah continues to face literacy challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The brief emphasized that statewide averages don\u2019t capture achievement variations across Utah students, schools and communities.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in 2025, approximately 70% of Utah third graders scored at or above benchmark on their end-of-year Acadience assessment. But students with limited English proficiency, students with disabilities, Hispanic\/Latino students and economically disadvantaged students showed \u201cconsiderably lower\u201d proficiency rates.<\/p>\n<h3>So how will educators, parents know if Utah students are improving?<\/h3>\n<p>The Gardner Institute brief concluded that the state has articulated a goal of 80% of third grade students scoring at or above reading benchmarks in their Acadience reading assessments.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s value in also examining the other literacy measures to fully understand progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether, these measures help illuminate where challenges persist and whether Utah students are developing the reading skills needed to succeed in school and beyond,\u201d according to the brief.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2773\">This Utah summer concert series just added another show \u2014\u00a0and it\u2019s a really big one<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Report:  Educators &#038; policymakers should utilize several reading assessments to best understand young Utah students&#8217; literacy progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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