Idaho Reading Indicator test
Percent of Blaine County Students at grade level
|
Grade
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
|
Kindergarten
|
41%
|
56%
|
67%
|
62%
|
58%
|
|
First
|
24%
|
56%
|
52%
|
55%
|
53%
|
|
Second
|
27%
|
63%
|
65%
|
66%
|
60%
|
|
Third
|
34%
|
56%
|
60%
|
62%
|
56%
|
At first glance, the Idaho Reading Indicator test scores for Blaine County students recently released by the State Department of Education could send a red flag to parents. For the first time in the last five years, the year-to-year growth results for Blaine County students in kindergarten through third grades lapsed from the prior year.
"We think part of what happened this year was that we tested early in the testing window," Jerry Hutchins, Blaine County School's director of technology, testing and data base management, said.
Throughout Idaho, students in kindergarten through third grade took the Idaho Reading Indicator—known as the IRI—in April and May. Blaine County schools administered the test April 27 and 28, early in the testing period.
"Students a couple of weeks later had really gone over a hurdle," Hutchins said.
He explained that testing later in the school year might provide more time for students to gain and apply reading skills to the test.
Launched in 1999, the spring IRI is one of three progressively more difficult reading tests given each year to students in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades as part of a state reading initiative.
The spring 2005 results indicate the largest percent of Idaho students reached the highest standard—at grade level—on the IRI than the previous four years. In Blaine County, the IRI results indicate otherwise.
Blaine County students in kindergarten to third-grades showed a decrease in the percentage of students reading at grade level, when compared to spring scores since 2001.
"There are no state controls over how the test is administered," Hutchins said.
Hutchins said the Blaine County School District utilizes trained reading specialists to administer the test, who conduct the tests in a "specialized and controlled" environment. Specialists also test each student individually. The careful testing procedure allows the district to identify students in need of remedial reading instruction.
Due to constraints, other districts do not have the same luxury when testing.
"Because of that burden, many districts rely on volunteers, mainly parents. Our feeling is that they do not have the same quality controls," Hutchins said.
Hutchins pointed to evidence from the Idaho Standards Achievement Test
"When we look at how the second and third graders perform on the state ISAT they do better," Hutchins said.
The year-to-year growth results of the Idaho Standards Achievement Test indicate that Blaine County students, on average, were furthest ahead of other Idaho students in the subject of reading. Blaine County students in third to 10th grades exceeded the state reading average by the largest percentage, nearly 4-percent.
Hutchins said the Idaho Standards Achievement Test utilizes a controlled testing structure, contrary to the Idaho Reading Indicator test.
