The latest snapshot from Eau Claire schools is not a good one.
The city’s school district said this week that reading scores on the latest state tests are down dramatically from four years ago. In 2016, about half of elementary and middle school kids were reading at grade level. Last year, that number fell to just 38 percent.
It’s a similar drop for kids in the first two years of high school. Eau Claire’s ACT reading grades fell a bit as well, but not quite as sharply. Just 48 percent of juniors in Eau Claire schools are reading and writing at grade level. Eau Claire’s director of assessments says the numbers show that what teachers are doing, is not working well right now.