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Last week, the Alabama Department of Education released reading scores for third graders for the 2021-2022 school year.

This is the first time the state has released school-level reading scores since the Literacy Act was passed in 2019. The Literacy Act was created in an effort to help improve reading in Alabama’s public schools to ensure that students are reading on grade level by the end of third grade. Third graders not showing proficiency will be held back but in early 2022, the Alabama Senate put a hold on that part of the law until the 2023-2024 school year. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey approved the delay, as well.

State officials published a school-by-school and district-by-district view of reading scores from across the state. According to the reports, 78 percent of third grade students state-wide were identified as proficient in reading.

According to the release, 69.67 percent of Troy Elementary School third graders were on or above grade level reading, while 30.33 percent of students had a below grade level reading proficiency.

Pike County Schools, as a whole, has an 82.31 percent on or above grade level reading proficiency, while Banks Elementary School boasts 91.89 percent of its students on or above grade level. At Goshen Elementary, 71.43 percent of its students have an on or above grade level reading proficiency and 89.36 percent of Pike County Elementary third graders are on or above grade level reading proficiency.

Coffee County Schools boasts an 85.13 percent reading proficiency as a whole, while 83.61 percent of Zion Chapel’s third grade readers are on or above grade level. Also, 81.25 percent of New Brockton Elementary third grade readers and 97.37 percent of Kinston School’s third grade readers are on or above grade level reading proficiency.

According to the release, four elementary schools across the state boast a 100 percent reading proficiency for its third graders. Of those schools only one of them has more than 17 third grade students, however. Eichold-Mertz School of Math and Science in Mobile County has 83 third graders and it boasts a 100 percent reading proficiency. Both Banks Elementary and Kinston School are among the few schools across the state with a reading score of more than 90 percent. The lowest reading scores in the state come from DC Wolfe School in Macon County with just 31.58 percent of its 19 third graders at or above grade level.

The full table of reading scores can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/h9n2d4hp.