CSF is making steady progress in early literacy by putting strong systems in place and maintaining a clear focus on reading foundations. For the past four years, CSF has built a framework in grades K-2 that emphasizes phonics and phonological awareness. These skills create a solid base for students as they move into third grade. That focus is showing results. Last year, the district saw a 10% increase in second-grade IREAD pass rates and reached a 90% pass rate for third graders. Green Meadows Elementary in particular recorded a 94% pass rate, the highest in school history. “This came due to the extensive focus and work of our teachers to provide small group instruction based on student-specific needs,” said Lesley Miller, CSF Director of Student Achievement. “Extended learning opportunities gave students additional practice to ensure they had the time they needed to grow and achieve.”
Literacy is a key part of the CSF Pillars of Excellence model. We know that the success we have seen in our early foundation goal (80% of students in grades K-2 will meet or exceed the reading foundations in phonics and phonological awareness) has driven the success we are seeing in third grade. By tying instruction to our belief in the shared responsibility for student success, we have made literacy a district-wide effort. We have set clear goals to guide this work, and data shows progress toward these benchmarks. NWEA scores reflect steady growth in multiple grade levels, and IREAD results confirm that more students than ever are leaving third grade with strong reading foundations. We are moving the needle in a noticeable way: “Compared to districts our size with a cohort of Multilingual Learner students as significant as ours, we outperformed them in percentage pass rate,” noted Miller.
The district is now working toward a new target: a 95% pass rate on the upcoming round of IREAD testing in the spring of 2026. We will reach this by continuing proven practices and providing students with the support they need. “I’ve said this before and this data shows it. Our teachers do amazing things for our students,” Miller said. “It takes special people to provide the high quality support our teachers give each day for our unique population of students. Proud to be a Hot Dog!” Our early literacy results represent the strength of our commitment to our students and community. As we look ahead, literacy will remain at the center of preparing every Hot Dog for long-term success.
