North Carolina Read to Achieve

What is Read to Achieve?

Read To Achieve is a part of the Excellent Schools Act passed into NC law in July 2012 and applies to all schools beginning 2013-2014 school year. Read To Achieve focuses on preparing students to be proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade. North Carolina state law now requires that first, second, and third graders who are not reading at a proficient level on the end-of-grade test be given extra attention. The law has changed from the original version adopted in July 2012. Changes to the Read to Achieve Law were signed by the Governor on June 10, 2014.

The best resource for parents in understanding the law is to visit the NC Department of Public Instruction Read to Achieve Repository.

NCDPI- Read to Achieve

Assessment

mClass is the current assessment tool for reading in North Carolina.

Third Grade Portfolio

The purpose of the portfolio is to:

Provide formative assessment information to teachers
Opportunity for students to demonstrate 3rd grade reading standards other than one-day test
Equitable and uniform process within the district and across the state

The Read to Achieve Legislation went into effect in 2013-2014. Developing student portfolios is one of the strategies outlined in Read to Achieve. All 3rd grade students in Rockingham County Schools eligible to take the End of Grade Test for Reading may participate in the portfolio process. However, it is not appropriate for all students. The portfolio consists of the 3 parts. Parts 1 and 2 are determined by the teacher. Students must must complete Part 3 for a student to be eligible for a Good Cause Exemption.

Part 1- Teachers will implement mClass assessments and print benchmarking and progress monitoring data from mClass to be included in the portfolio.

Part 2 - Teachers will create, implement, and print the Personal Education Plan (PEP) for students who met the school district's requirements for a PEP to be included in the portfolio.

Part 3 - All eligible students must take the 3rd grade End of Grade test. However, if students do not pass the End of Grade test for 3rd Grade Reading, they may be considered for a Good Cause Exemption to retention if they have a completed portfolio or other approved alternative assessment. Reading passages are the main component of Part 3 of the portfolio option. Third grade students may be asked to complete reading passages and questions to see if they are able to apply the 3rd grade English Language Arts standards. Part 3 of a completed portfolio will include 3 reading passages for 12 English Language Arts 3rd grade standards and answer at least 70% proficiency across the school year. This is a total of 36 completed passages. Students must complete these passages in their classroom without help from an adult. Students will have as much time as they need to complete the passage when it is assigned. Teachers will use this data to address student needs.

Read to Achieve Reporting Results

2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 Read to Achieve Results

Read to Achieve legislation requires “each local board of education to publish annually on a Web site maintained by that local school administrative unit and to report in writing to the State Board of Education (SBE) by September 1 of each year the following information on the prior school year:”