The number of Louisiana kindergarteners reading at or above grade level doubled during the 2024-25 school year, Louisiana Department of Education officials reported Thursday. That data comes from the state’s early literacy screener — a test to measure whether kindergarten through third/grade students are reading at grade level. Younger Louisiana children are doing better, because they entered school after the return to in-person learning— and because state curriculum recently shifted to a focus on fundamental reading skills, including phonics. In the fall of 2024, just over 50% of Louisiana students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade were reading at or above their respective reading levels. Those students’ test scores are the largest factor in the state-assigned A through F letter grade schools receive each year.