THIRD GRADE LITERACY CONTINUES GRADUAL GAINS
Research shows that children who are not proficient readers by the end of third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers, and more likely to engage in criminal activity.[1] This indicator measures third grade proficiency for English language arts and literacy (ELA/literacy) using the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress assessment (CAASPP) results. The CAASPP assessment is a computer-adaptive, end-of-year academic performance test that is aligned with California’s Common Core State Standards.
TREND
In 2023/24, 36% of third graders in the county met or exceeded standards for ELA/literacy, an increase of one percentage point from 2022/23 (35%). San Bernardino County’s third grade performance in 2023/24 is lower than the statewide average (43% of students met or exceeded ELA/literacy standards). It is also lower than all counties compared including Orange (53%) and San Diego (49%), Los Angeles (45%) and Riverside (38%).
THIRD GRADE LITERACY PERFORMANCE SHOWS INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
Percentage of Third Graders Meeting or Exceeding ELA/Literacy Standards in San Bernardino County and California, 2014/15-2023/24
RACE/ETHNICITY DETAIL
In 2023/24, 61% of student meeting or exceeding the third-grade ELA assessment identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 17% identified as White. In the accompanying chart, the race and ethnic distribution of all San Bernardino County third grade students who took the ELA/Literacy assessment is provided for context.
PERCENT OF STUDENTS MEETING OR EXCEEDING ELA STANDARDS VARIES FROM UNDERLYING STUDENT POPULATION
Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Third Graders Meeting or Exceeding ELA/Literacy Standards Compared to Distribution of All Third Graders Taking the English Language Arts Assessment in San Bernardino County, 2023/24
SOCIOECONOMIC DETAIL
Almost three quarters (74%) of third grade students are identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged, and these students are less likely to meet or exceed ELA standards. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students include students eligible for the free and reduced-priced meal program, foster youth, homeless students, migrant students, and/or students for whom neither parent is a high school graduate. Less than one-third (29.7%) of socioeconomically disadvantaged students met or exceeded ELA/literacy standards, compared to 53.5% of students who were not socioeconomically disadvantaged. For children whose parents were not high school graduates, 19.7% met or exceeded standards. Fifteen percent (15%) of children classified as English Learners met or exceeded ELA/literacy standards.
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND PARENT EDUCATION CORRELATE WITH ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Percentage of Third Graders Meeting or Exceeding ELA/Literacy Standards by Socioeconomic Characteristics in San Bernardino County, 2023/24
Introduction to “Distance From Standard” Performance Data
In addition to measuring students who have met or exceeded subject standards, educators are increasingly assessing students’ Difference From Standard (DFS) as a means of tracking progress. The California School Dashboard (Dashboard) is an online tool designed to communicate student progress using the DFS methodology. This method calculates the distance between student performance on standardized statewide assessments and the lowest expected standard of achievement, averaged across all students assessed at the school. For example, a third-grade student receives an ELA score of 2420. The student has a DFS of -12 because their score is 12 points below the lowest possible score for Standard Met level (Level 3), which is 2432. The average DFS for a school or district is calculated using all students’ DFS values. This information is compared between the current year and the prior year to determine if a school or district made improvement. One of five performance levels is determined for each school or district: Blue (highest performance), Green, Yellow, Orange, or Red (lowest performance). More information about local school and district DFS results can be found here: https://caschooldashboard.org/
[1] Hernandez DJ. “Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation.” The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2012).