Reading Scores Up in Santa Barbara Unified After Implementing Literacy Screener

The Santa Barbara Unified School District is making strides toward addressing students’ reading challenges. After implementing its one-on-one reading assessment across nine elementary schools last year, reading proficiency has increased.

The screener, called mCLASS, is used for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade and assesses students several times a year on foundational reading skills and potential indicators of dyslexia.

It’s prescriptive, the district said, to spot room for improvement — targeting specific skills such as phonemic awareness or decoding. It goes deeper than test scores. Teachers meet face to face with students, clocking potential reading challenges over a five-minute assessment.

Since its implementation, elementary schools saw scores increase by 23 percent, 26 percent, and 12 percent for kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders, respectively. 

Teachers assessed students at the beginning of the school year, in the middle of the year, and at the end of the year. 

Using those benchmarks, the district could monitor students’ progress and provide necessary interventions, said Denise Alvarado, the district’s executive director of elementary education.  Teachers, administrators, and coaches were then able to easily access assessment results, alongside resources and activities to target specific skills to meet students’ individual needs. Parents were also given tools to practice these skills at home. 

The state-approved screener was implemented in response to a new California law requiring early literacy assessments for all K-2 students and community members’ outspoken concerns about low literacy rates in the district. Test scores from the 2024-2025 school year showed that only 51 percent of students in the district could read at grade level. 

But the preliminary increases are promising. The district is now building on that success for its 3rd through 6th grade students on an as-needed basis. 

“We thought, if we have this resource for K-2, could we use that same resource for [grades] 3 through 6?” Alvarado said. “Although it’s not a requirement by the state, we as a district decided that it would be important for us to utilize this assessment.”

Franklin Elementary School piloted the screener, called DIBELS, for 20 students in grades 3-6 last year. This year, it is being implemented across all elementary schools. 

While the K-2 screener focuses on foundational skills, the 3-6 screener will test students’ comprehension — addressing the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. 

At the beginning of the year, all students in grades 3 through 6 will take the screener. After that, only those below the benchmark will continue. 

Strengths and weaknesses among students vary between cohorts, said Casie Killgore, principal of Franklin Elementary. It’s hit or miss, year by year, she said. 

“And so the goal is — regardless of who it is and where they are at — it’s to know where they are and push them, even if they’re advanced,” Killgore said. “How do you make sure they don’t get bored and continue to grow and progress?”

It’s the same thing for students who need more academic support or display gaps in knowledge, she continued. “How do we fill those specific gaps so they can move forward? Because the quicker they can read, the more confidence they have and the more academically sound they are.”

For example, if a child has been mispronouncing a sound, the 3-6 screener gives the district a chance to identify that and help the child rectify it. 

“Our job in elementary school is to make sure the students have strong foundations,” Killgore said, “so they can handle junior high curriculum. If we’re giving them students who are not there, it’s not fair. So, let’s make sure that we fill these gaps and the kids have the best foundation we can give them — let’s make sure we’re not missing anybody.”