In Massachusetts K-3 screening data, roughly one quarter to one third of students are significantly below benchmark at any given period and 16 to 19 percent are below benchmark in all three periods, rates consistent over three years¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2030: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? About one quarter to one third of K-3 students were identified as significantly below benchmark at any given time period, and 16 to 19 percent were significantly below benchmark in all three periods, with rates consistent over 3 years of analysis. → Lemke 2025
Evidence¶
Lemke 2025¶
Lemke, M., Faulkner-Bond, M., LeBeau, B., Soo Ping Chow, A., & Quesen, S. (2025). Early literacy performance in Massachusetts: Results of ongoing analysis of literacy screening assessments (2023/24 data). WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED677571
q2 · i? · associational · r2
Report's key findings summary of 2023/24 screening benchmark analysis covering 388,204 records from 137,159 students. It reports that "between 16 and 19 percent were significantly below benchmark in all three time periods" and that these rates have been consistent over 3 years of analysis.
"About one quarter to one third of students were identified as significantly below benchmark at any given time period (beginning, middle, or end of year), and between 16 and 19 percent were significantly below benchmark in all three time periods. These rates have been consistent over 3 years of analysis."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Most students identified as significantly below benchmark on early literacy screeners remain significantly below benchmark 1 and 2 years later — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
- Across beginning, middle, and end of year time periods, 52 percent of Massachusetts K–3 grantees' students were ever classified as at any level of reading risk, about 27 percent at the highest risk levels, and 12 to 18 percent as potentially at risk of dyslexia — related
- About one third of Massachusetts K–3 students were identified as significantly below benchmark at least once in 2023/24, with 19 percent identified in all three periods — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
- The percentage of Massachusetts K–3 students identified as significantly below benchmark decreased from 36 percent at BOY to 29 percent at EOY in 2022/23 — related
- Risk status tends to persist: 75 percent of students significantly below benchmark at BOY remained so at EOY, and earlier grades showed lower year-to-year persistence — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
massachusetts-k3-persistent-significant-risk-rates |
title |
In Massachusetts K-3 screening data, roughly one quarter to one third of students are significantly below benchmark at any given period and 16 to 19 percent are below benchmark in all three periods, rates consistent over three years |
description |
In Massachusetts K-3 screening data, roughly one quarter to one third of students are significantly below benchmark at any given period and 16 to 19 percent are below benchmark in all three periods, rates consistent o... |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
recheck_by |
2030 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — lemke-2025 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.