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Reading progress among the nation’s youngest students has stalled for the first time since the Covid pandemic, according to new test data from education company Amplify.
Amplify used data from its mCLASS Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, or DIBELS tests, to assess about 350,000 students across 1,800 schools in 43 states.
The 2025-2026 school year results found that two-thirds of kindergarten through second grade students met reading benchmarks, while about a third scored below grade-level expectations. Although kindergarten performance remained steady, first and second graders showed declines in reading proficiency. Students’ oral reading fluency also trailed composite benchmark results.
“As year-over-year literacy gains pause, it’s a call to look deeper into the mechanics of student growth and understanding,” said Susan Lambert, chief academic officer at Amplify, in a June 30 statement.
The company recommended that districts use a multi-tiered support system that includes instruction, intervention, progress monitoring and teacher professional development, as well as incorporating the science of reading-based teaching in classrooms.
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Previously published on EdSource
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Photo Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
