LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Across the board, family members have said Kean Bauman's 4th grade daughter, Madison, is a good reader, but a recent report card indicated something was different.
"When the first report card came out, there was a big F in reading, and I was like, 'Wow! what's going on there?'" Bauman said.
He thought maybe she would just freeze up during the test, so he talked with her teacher and learned there was a bigger problem...
... a problem far beyond Madison. Find out here.
"That particular class was really behind in reading, and of course that's the class that spent their entire kindergarten year under COVID," Bauman said.
According to state data from the SBAC ELA, 3rd-8th graders in the state dropped 7% points in reading proficiency from the 2018-2019 school year to the 2020-2021 school year.
Other than a slight bump in 2021-2022, it has remained that way.
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For Madison's class specifically, data from the same assessment show's the group's proficiency rate was 40.8% when they were in 3rd grade, the first and most recent time they took the test.
That means 60% of current 4th graders in the state are not proficient in reading.
State Superintendent for Public Instruction Jhone Ebert — and now the newly named Clark County School District superintendent — broke it down even more.
"In the Clark County School District, our 4th grade students are about half a year behind in reading," Superintendent Ebert said.
That indicates five years after the Las Vegas Strip went dark and became a virtual ghost town after many resorts closed because of the pandemic, the education gaps have yet to close.
We shared some of those stats with Bauman.
▶ Looking Back New study reveals math and reading levels severely behind due to COVID-19 learning gaps
"I think the data is starting to back up what I'm hearing anecdotally. I'm hoping the district goes into, 'Let's work on this as quickly as possible,'" he said.
According to the Nevada Department of Education, the law indicates "intensive instruction and intervention must be provided for students in grades 4 and 5 who do not demonstrate proficiency, or a Level 3, on the Smarter Balanced ELA assessment."
Some of that work has already been done, and Bauman says Madison's teachers are doing a great job working with her.
Combined with what he's doing at home, her reading grade has already improved.
He's hoping gaps across the board will be closed, so we asked Ebert before she was named CCSD superintendent what she plans to do to improve reading proficiency.
"We need to extend the school year. We also need to make sure we're very intentional with the resources that we have, that the students receive specific after school tutoring resources as well as beefing up the research that we know that works," she said.
Before that can happen, Bauman and other parents will get an idea if what has already been done is working with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium taking place in April.
The Nevada Department of Education usually posts the results in September.
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