One to One: Practicing Reading with Students

Learn more about reading and reading tests

Why is reading so important?

By the time an American child reaches high school, nearly 85 percent of what he or she learns is taught through the written word. By middle school, a child must be able to read well, understanding he or she has read in a variety of subject areas, from science and mathematics to music and literature.

In adult life, reading skills can mean the difference between a steady paycheck and an uncertain economic future.

Educators already know that learning to read is vital to a child's success. Over the last decade, this message has reached adults in other walks of life from policymakers and businesspeople to parents and other citizens. They have joined in an effort to help children read, particularly in the early grades.

In Kentucky that effort has taken the form of statewide testing in several areas including reading, special help for students who struggle with reading, and volunteer tutoring programs.

The Partnership for Successful Schools working as a bridge between business and schools understands the need for hands-on involvement of employers and employees if all Kentucky children are to read well and achieve more in their education.

What reading tests are used in Kentucky public schools?

The scores that follow come from two tests given to public school students in Kentucky each spring: the Core Content Tests and the CTBS/5.

As part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS), students in grades 4, 7, and 10 are tested for reading achievement as part of the reading section of the Core Content Tests. In addition, CATS uses another test, called the CTBS/5, to assess basic skills in reading for children exiting primary (or in grade 3), and in grades 6 and 9.

The CATS scores are graded on eight achievement levels: non-performance; medium and high novice; low, medium, and high apprentice; proficient, and distinguished. A proficient score means a student has met Kentucky's standards in reading, and a distinguished means a student has exceeded those standards. An apprentice score means a student has made important progress toward the state standards, while novices are still far below what is expected.

The CTBS/5 is a norm-referenced test, meaning that it compares each student taking the test to a norm or group of similarly aged students. (These students are given the test and "set the norm" for other students.) Third grade students taking the CTBS/5 fill out an answer sheet with pencil; the test is scored by a machine that counts the answers and produces "percentile scores." A percentile score tells you what percent of all students in the norm group would have scored below that particular student.

People who follow education news in the state closely may have heard that in 2001, Kentucky adopted new scoring standards for the CATS test. This process is sometimes spoken of as a recalibration. All the numbers for all years on this Web site use the new standards, so they can properly be compared from year to year.

How can I find the test data for schools in my community?

We have arranged the reading test scores so that you can look at them for all the elementary schools in a given district and then for an individual school. The districts appear in alphabetical order. All the schools within the district you choose will be displayed on five charts. The charts will tell you:

The percentage and number of students reading at and below grade level;
The percentage and number of students reading at and below state standard level;
The relationship between students in the free and reduced price lunch program and how students are doing in terms of reading at third grade;
The relationship between students in the free and reduced price lunch program and how students are doing in terms of reading at fourth grade;
How students overall are doing in terms of achieving the state goal of proficiency by the year 2014.

Go to the list of districts

How can I find the test data for an individual school in my district?

After looking at test scores for all the elementary schools in your district, you can then click on any school name in any of the five charts, and get test scores for an individual school. Also appearing on the school page are two graphs, which will tell you:

Reading scores over the last three years, to get an idea whether reading at grade level is improving, declining, or remaining the same at your school.
Reading scores over the last three years, to get an idea whether reading at state standard is improving, declining, or remaining the same at your school.

Go to the list of districts