With the help of Read to Achieve, nearly 80 percent of North Carolina third graders met reading proficiency standards last year, but Rowan-Salisbury and Kannapolis City schools fell behind with only 72 percent and 73.2 percent reaching proficiency, respectively.
Lawmakers implemented Read to Achieve last school year, which allowed additional avenues for third graders to prove reading proficiency if they didn’t achieve a passing score on their end-of-grade test.
These additional avenues included retaking the end-of-grade test, alternative assessments, such as Reading 3D, a Read to Achieve reading portfolio and a reading summer camp. If, after completing these options, a student still did not reach proficiency, they were held back.
A total of 51.8 percent of Rowan-Salisbury third graders met proficiency standards using only the end-of-grade test or retest. That number was 48.6 percent for Kannapolis City Schools third graders and 60.4 percent of students across the state.

Check Saturday’s Salisbury Post for a full story.