It’s not just Buffalo where students are struggling to read and write.
Only 39% of third through fifth-graders in Western New York’s 99 school districts scored at grade level on recent English Language Arts tests.
What’s more, 31% of students lack even basic reading and writing skills. In some districts, including Buffalo and Niagara Falls, that figure approaches or exceeds 50%.
The problems extend from the city to the countryside, urban neighborhoods to suburban cul de sacs, according to an Investigative Post analysis of New York State Education Department data.
Poverty plays a big role. Reading curriculum is important and school environment also impacts scores, educators say.
“Similar to a lot of other areas in the country, we do have a reading crisis in the area,” said Ken Settles, WNY Education Alliance’s director. “I don’t think parents are aware of the struggles their own children oftentimes are having in schools.”
Investigative Post analyzed the results of standardized ELA tests of students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades conducted last spring. The analysis covered 99 public school districts in the eight counties of Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming.
Key findings
• More than half of students read at grade level in only 19 districts.
• Students from wealthier families are more than twice as likely as those from poorer ones to attain grade level — 54% vs. 26%.
• Economically disadvantaged students are also more likely than wealthier students — 42% versus 17% — to score at the lowest range on tests, indicating they lack the basic skills needed to read and write at grade level.
• Districts reporting the highest percentage of students reading at grade level include some of the wealthiest: Williamsville (72%), Clarence (68%) and Orchard Park (62%).
• Larger districts with the lowest percentage of students reading at grade level include some of the region’s poorest urban communities: Lackawanna (14%), Niagara Falls (19%), Dunkirk (23%) and Buffalo (25%).
Some of the smallest, rural districts with fewer than 500 students, have the lowest percent of pupils scoring at grade level: Andover in Allegany County (12.5%), Pine Valley in Chautauqua County (12.5%) and West Valley in Cattaraugus County (23%).
The problem isn’t limited to Western New York. For example, 32 percent of fourth graders nationwide are reading at grade level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Statewide, 46 percent of third through fifth graders read at grade level.
“It’s all of Western New York and beyond,” Settles said.
Changing the curriculum
The state’s ELA assessment is administered every year to determine reading and writing skills.
Students scoring at levels three and four are deemed proficient or better. Level two students display skills “partial but insufficient for the expectations” of their grade.
Those scoring at level one display “insufficient” and “limited” knowledge, skills, and practices expected of them.
Nationally, there’s been a push in recent years to address low reading scores by turning to the “science of reading,” an evidence-based, phonics-centered style of instruction rooted in how the brain learns to read.
Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed the movement earlier this year, when she proposed “Back to Basics” legislation supporting the curriculum for New York schools. Hochul said she would include $10 million in the 2025 state budget to train teachers in science of reading instructional best practices.
Many educators and advocates welcome the governor’s plan, saying it could help students who struggle the most.
The curriculum is already used in New York City schools and is taking hold in a growing number of Western New York districts. Those using the “science of reading” approach — either in part or in whole — include Clarence, Cleveland Hill in Cheektowaga, Orchard Park, Lockport and North Collins, as well as Buffalo.
According to educational experts, a third of students will learn to read with almost any type of instruction. But without the structured approach of phonics-based instruction, those experts say the remainder of students will be left behind.
“Reading is the foundation of our education system, but New York State is currently not meeting basic reading proficiency levels,” Hochul said when announcing her “Back to Basics” plan. “We cannot continue to allow our kids to fall further behind.”
In Niagara Falls, superintendent Mark Laurrie says he, too, sees the effects of poverty in the classroom.
With 74% of his students deemed economically disadvantaged, 19% of Niagara Falls’ third through fifth-graders were reading at grade level last year.
The most recent Niagara Falls reading scores are 2 percentage points higher than the previous year.
Each day is building the bridge to education, one piece at a time, Laurrie said.
“At other places, that bridge is built and you can just walk right across,” Laurrie said, referring to other wealthier school districts.
In fact, “The No. 1 indicator of a child’s outcome is income,” said Annahita Ball, who studies educational justice as an associate professor in the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work.
“It’s not about how many hours the kids study, it’s not about if their parents make them do their homework before or after they watch TV. It’s about your income and the resources that you have,” Ball said.
For more on this story, visit www.investigativepost.org.