BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's kindergarten through third-grade students have improved their reading scores by 10 percentage points, the state's Department of Education said Tuesday.

The percentage of students reading on grade level during the 2023-2024 school year jumped from 44.6% on the beginning-of-year screener to 54.6% on the end-of-year screener. State education officials said that the new data establishes a baseline that can be used to measure progress in future years.

Around 27% more kindergarten students and 14% more first-grade students were reading on grade level from the beginning of the year, data from the inaugural literary screening test shows. 

All public school students in kindergarten through third grade are required to complete literacy screeners.

"This marked the first year of full implementation for key literacy policies," Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jenna Chiasson said. "Not only are we poised for additional reading progress, but similar math policy shifts have been made to accelerate student outcomes."

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the results from the literacy screener will be included in school performance scores, education officials added.