Setting Goals for School Improvement: A Guide for Principals
April 22, 2025
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Concerning trends have emerged from the recent fourth grade reading scores from NAEP testing. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many students are still struggling with learning loss. Many of them have failed to meet the expected reading proficiency levels. As educators seek how to improve reading skills, evidence-supported methods emerge as effective school solutions.
Movement-based strategies engage students in active learning while providing opportunities to increase reading skills in fun and dynamic ways. In this blog, we’ll explore the test results and how integrating movement into classroom instruction can help boost reading proficiency and offer a new path toward improving fourth grade reading outcomes.
Boost Reading Proficiency with Movement
Bring evidence-based kinesthetic teaching methods to your school with the tools in our Literacy Kits. Enter your email to receive quotes for our K-2 Kit and our 3-5 Kit.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP test), or The Nation’s Report Card, is a federal exam administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is part of the US Department of Education.
The NAEP tests students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in various subjects. The exam measures national student achievement and compares it across states and jurisdictions over time.
Between January and March 2024, over 117,000 fourth grade students in 6,100 schools took the NAEP reading and math assessments. In this article, we’ll explore the NAEP reading scores.
The 2024 NAEP testing results for fourth grade reading indicated that national standardized test scores and reading proficiency are dropping. The percentage of fourth graders with “below basic” reading skills was the largest it has been in 20 years. According to NAEP’s standards, 40% of fourth graders scored at a “below basic” level, compared to 27% in 2022 and 34% in 2019.
Source: Nation’s Report Card
The average reading score for fourth grade testing was two points lower than in 2022 and five points lower than in 2019. Scores at the 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles were lower than in 2022. Zero states or jurisdictions had higher scores than in 2022 – 5 scored lower, and 47 had no significant change in scores.
According to the Nation’s Report Card, the NAEP 4th-grade testing reading assessment included “literary and informational texts to assess students’ reading comprehension skills.”
The results indicate that two-fifths of US fourth graders cannot:
31% of fourth graders performed at or above a “proficient” reading level, which was 2% lower than in 2022 and 4% lower than in 2019.
These low reading scores indicate that elementary students have not recovered from learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures. Reading scores of US students were declining before 2019, and learning loss during the pandemic exacerbated the drop.
Source: Nation’s Report Card
Students in fourth grade in early 2024 would have been in kindergarten in 2020 when schools shifted to remote learning. As a result, these students missed out on valuable in-person lessons on early reading skills. Some of the literacy concepts covered in kindergarten and first grade include:
The 2024 NAEP testing reading scores for eighth grade students are even more alarming. 33% of eighth graders scored at a “below basic” level – the largest percentage ever recorded since the exam’s introduction 32 years ago.
The students who were in eighth grade in early 2024 would have been in 4th grade in early 2020 at the onset of remote learning. This percentage suggests that older students have not been able to recover from learning loss either.
As mentioned, the most apparent causes for the decline in national reading scores are disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth grade students did not show much improvement in math either.
Socioeconomic challenges are also believed to play a role in the decline. Students from low-income families face additional challenges and limited access to educational resources, contributing to lower reading proficiency. Specifically, these students may lack reliable transportation to school or have no reading materials or support outside of school.
Furthermore, debates continue over effective reading instruction methods. Some argue that there has not been enough emphasis on phonics and early decoding skills in recent reading instruction.
Others point to increased screen time. Spending more time using digital devices leaves less time for traditional reading. Additionally, excessive screen time can impact attention spans and reduce engagement with traditional reading materials, lowering reading proficiency.
At this point, effective school solutions are needed to know how to improve reading skills and stop the downward trend.
Fortunately, we can look to one state for some guidance on how to improve reading comprehension skills in students through effective school solutions.
Louisiana was the only state to surpass pre-pandemic reading levels in the 2024 NAEP assessment. The average score for fourth grade reading was 216 – six points higher than the average score in 2019. Louisiana’s score is also just over the national average score of 214.
The state has adopted and embraced the science of reading in its legislation. The science of reading is a comprehensive, research-driven approach to teaching reading that considers what happens in the brain when it’s learning how to read. The approach emphasizes phonics and systematic instruction in decoding words.
In 2021, the state passed a law requiring teachers and school leaders of K-3 students to complete a professional development course on the science of reading. This requirement equips educators with a unified, research-backed strategy to increase reading skills.
Additionally, the state implemented “literacy screenings” to assess K-3 students’ progress throughout the school year. With this, educators can identify performance gaps early, notify parents, and address instructional needs quickly.
Most recently, a law went into effect that requires third graders who are significantly behind in reading to repeat the grade level. Louisiana has also invested in literacy coaching to help teachers and school leaders implement effective teaching strategies.
“We have a comprehensive literacy plan as a state and there has been a lot of momentum around this literacy work,” said Dr. Jenna Chiasson, the Assistant State Superintendent of the Louisiana Board of Education. “Educators and policymakers have come together to make these improvements in classrooms.”
How can other states and school districts follow in Louisiana’s footsteps when developing their own learning loss recovery plans?
Louisiana turned to evidence-based instructional strategies to figure out how to improve reading skills. Educators can enhance literacy instruction by aligning teaching methods with what science says about learning. Science supports kinesthetic methods in the classroom as an effective school solution and learning strategy.
Kinesthetic teaching methods, or movement-based teaching methods, use physical activity to teach students new concepts. It’s a hands-on approach in which information is understood by moving the body.
Young students learning to read often do not like sitting still with a book or worksheet for long periods. Allowing students to move around during literacy lessons is beneficial instead of struggling to keep them at their desks.
Physical activity increases oxygen levels in the blood and blood flow to the brain. As a result, the brain receives more oxygen and can function at optimal levels for learning. Additionally, while the body is moving around, the brain produces a protein called BDNF, which improves the function of neurons and promotes their growth.
Furthermore, exercise promotes the development of the hippocampus – the portion of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
In other words, when a person is physically active, their brain is ready to comprehend and retain new information, making movement-based learning an effective school solution.
Adding movement to lessons could be a key to knowing how to improve reading skills and increase standardized test scores and student proficiency post-pandemic.
Math & Movement harnesses a child’s natural inclination for activity and turns it into enthusiasm for learning new math and literacy skills. Our program allows students to move during classes in a productive manner that will enable them to learn effectively.
We create kinesthetic educational products, including heavy-duty floor mats for hopping on, that can be used to teach elementary literacy skills. Our multi-sensory approach to learning combines visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements to engage all types of learners.
Educators can incorporate activities from our online database into their lessons while using the materials. Reading can become an active and energetic subject rather than a sedentary and static one.
Math & Movement creates materials for students in elementary school. So whether you’re trying to help your younger students develop foundational skills or helping your older students catch up, our active learning approach can help.
According to the NAEP testing, at a fourth grade proficient reading level, students should be able to:
Next, we’ll share how materials in our K-2 Literacy Kit and 3-5 Literacy Kit can help students in elementary school develop and practice these skills.
The Spell-A-Word Hop allows students to spell words up to eight letters long. The vinyl mat comes with 48 letter cards with which to create words.
For this activity, students will stand in a line in front of the letter cards and the mat. The teacher will say a word aloud. Taking turns, students will place a letter on the mat to spell the word.
After all the letters are placed, one student will look up the word in the dictionary to check the spelling. If the students get the spelling correct, they get a point. If they do not get it right, the dictionary gets a point.
Add to this activity by asking students what the word’s definition is before reading it from the dictionary. Make the activity more challenging by choosing words with multiple meanings. Have students use the word in sentences – one for each definition.
The Advanced 100 Word Hop features 100 sight words in a colorful 10 x 10 grid. The words are suitable for a third through fifth-grade literacy level. Activities on this mat allow students to apply phonics, reading fluency, and vocabulary knowledge.
Complete the “Word Search” activity using a book your students read. Call out a word that is both on the mat and in your students’ book. Let a student who thinks they found the word jump to it on the mat. If they are correct, have them spell the word aloud.
Ask them how the word relates to their reading or the story in their book. This activity helps students recall, discuss, and understand what they read.
Our program encompasses various strategies to improve reading scores. Using the interactive materials in Math and Movement’s literacy kits, students can develop their letter recognition, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing skills while engaging in play-based learning. These strategies are so crucial as educators strive to help their students overcome the COVID-19 learning loss. With early intervention, we can work to increase standardized test scores for elementary students, giving them a supportive learning environment.
Boost Reading Proficiency with Movement
Bring evidence-based kinesthetic teaching methods to your school with the tools in our Literacy Kits. Enter your email to receive quotes for our K-2 Kit and our 3-5 Kit.
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