To Gauge Success, We Need to Look Beyond Third Grade

The latest installments of the “Sold a Story” podcast juggernaut celebrate a depressed small city in Ohio for its astounding success in teaching kids to read. But does that early success carry over to high school and beyond?

It’s clear that there’s much to admire about the way Steubenville is implementing Success for All, an elementary literacy program that includes structured, explicit instruction in foundational reading skills like phonics. For nearly 20 years, we learn in one of three new episodes, 93 percent or more of Steubenville’s third graders have scored proficient on state reading tests. The city even shines in the national context, scoring in the top 10% of districts across the country—again, for third-grade reading.

But what happens past third grade? “Sold a Story” cites evidence that students who get Success for All are still ahead of their peers at the end of eighth grade. And by some measures, Steubenville does look pretty good at higher grade levels.

According to US News, 72 percent of the city’s high school students and 62 percent of its middle school students score proficient in reading on state tests, along with 87 percent of elementary students. The state report card gives the district five stars in all categories, indicating that it significantly exceeds state standards. That’s impressive, especially for a city where nearly 80 percent of students are poor enough to quality for free or reduced school meals.

At the same time, though, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford—the same entity that puts Steubenville in the top 10 percent of districts nationwide—finds that students’ academic growth, as measured by improvement in test scores, is lower than the U.S. average. In fact, the project reports that students in the district learn about 20 percent less each grade than the U.S. average and 13 percent less than students in districts with similar demographics.

Maybe it’s hard for a district like Steubenville to show growth because its third graders are already performing at a high level, so there isn’t much room for them to grow. Or maybe something else is going on.

What Happens in High School and Beyond

Writing in The74, Chad Aldeman notes that Steubenville’s high test scores “have not guaranteed a path to economic security” for its students. “Despite its near-perfect early reading scores, strong middle and high school achievement and a 96% graduation rate,” he writes, “the district’s post-high