Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools sees improvement in third grade reading proficiency

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools saw slight gains in reading proficiency last year, after a dip coinciding with the pandemic. 

According to end-of-grade testing data released by the North Carolina State Board of Education, nearly 45% of third grade students in the district were reading on grade level. That’s a slight increase from 40% the year before. 

But at a school board meeting on Tuesday, WS/FCS Chief Accountability Officer Andrew Kraft explained that proficiency varied widely by race. 

“We need all of our students, all of our subgroups, to perform at a high level if we're going to accomplish our goals," Kraft said. "And so what you see here is that we need to make sure we find the strategies that will successfully raise achievement for African American and Hispanic students. But while saying that we need all of our students to increase because no subgroup is at 90% yet.”

The testing data shows that last year, about 70% of white students were proficient in reading, compared to 32% of Black students and 28% of Hispanic students. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.