Third Grade Reading Proficiency

• The percentages of 3rd graders in Washington and Chisago Counties meeting or exceeding the reading standard was higher than the state average.
• Despite Washington and Chisago Counties’ stronger performance, almost half of 3rd graders in both counties still did not meet the reading standard.
• Because Minnesota and Wisconsin measure 3rd grade reading proficiency in different ways, results from the two states cannot be compared.
• Except for Burnett County, the other St. Croix River Valley counties in Wisconsin exceeded the state average of 3rd graders rated as proficient or advanced in reading.
• The amount by which Pierce and St. Croix Counties exceeded the state average for this variable was substantial.
• Less than half of students in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties were rated as “proficient” or better, with that proportion falling to three in ten (30%) in Burnett County.

Because Wisconsin and Minnesota measure 3rd grade reading proficiency in different ways, results from the two states cannot be compared.

• Over time, both Chisago and Washington Counties have tended to exceed the state average with respect to the percentage of third graders rated as meeting or exceeding the reading standard.
• The proportion of students meeting or exceeding the 3rd grade reading standard has been falling over time in Minnesota as a whole and in Washington and Chisago Counties.

• Higher proportions of Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix 3rd graders have been rated as proficient or advanced than the state average over the 2015/16 to 2022-23 time period.
• Burnett County, which had been slightly below the state in terms of the percentage of its students rated as proficient or advanced in reading, surpassed the state average for the first time in 2018-19, but has had a much lower percentage compared to the rest of Wisconsin since 2021-22.
• Although 3rd grade reading proficiency rates have rebounded in Wisconsin and in St. Croix River Valley counties in 2022-23 compared to the previous two years the exam was implemented, proficiency rates still have not reached pre-pandemic levels.
• The Forward and DLM exams were not administered during the 2019-20 school year due to COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures.

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