Black Elementary Recognized as a National ‘Bright Spot’ for Reading Achievement
Black Elementary has been recognized as a Bright Spot by The 74, a nonprofit education newsroom, for beating the odds in third-grade reading.
The national Bright Spots project analyzed reading results from nearly 42,000 schools across the country to find schools where third-grade students are achieving at levels that stand out when compared with statistical trends for schools serving similar student populations.
The recognition is not based on which schools have the highest overall reading proficiency rates. Instead, The 74 identified schools whose students performed significantly above the proficiency rate projected through its analysis.
Black’s third-grade students earned a 61% reading proficiency rate, exceeding The 74’s statistical projection by 24 percentage points. That difference placed Black among the top 5% of schools in Texas identified through the analysis.
The 74 used publicly available third-grade reading results and socioeconomic data to conduct its analysis. The analysis identified more than 2,000 schools across the country as Bright Spots.
While more work is still needed to ensure every student is a strong reader, the Bright Spot recognition celebrates results at Black schools that stood out nationally by exceeding expectations and highlights the work happening in their classrooms.