US Continues to Face Inequalities in Basic Literacy Skills
The mid-year assessment of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) in the USA indicates that only 50% of K-2 students are meeting the expected reading progress. Furthermore, the assessment highlights that almost 30% of students are significantly behind in their reading skills.
Amplify, a curriculum and assessment company, asserts the paramount importance of educational programmes that prioritize language development and basic skills for all students. This assertion is based on data from the analysis of assessment results from 300,000 students in 1,400 schools across 43 states. The company recommends that students who are significantly behind should receive additional support.
In the past two years, significant progress has been made in narrowing the inequality gaps between Black and Hispanic students and their Asian and White peers in reading. For instance, midway through the 2023-24 school year, Black students made 55% progress and Hispanic students made 47% progress. These results demonstrate a clear improvement compared to previous years, although there is still work to be done to fully address the disparity. Asian students have returned to their pre-pandemic performance levels in the assessment, while Black, White, and Hispanic students are still performing lower than they were before the pandemic.
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