Adelante schools see increased test scores after early literacy investment 

When an ongoing literacy crisis resulted in a drop in reading proficiency and test scores regionally and nationwide, Eddie Rangle, executive director of Adelante schools, decided to invest in early literacy.& & Now, this investment has paid off, resulting in increased test scores.   Adelante is seeing continual gains in reading scores, which include a striking 50-60 percentage point gain in benchmark reading scores from grades kindergarten to second grade during the 2022-23 school year. Recent results also show a 73% gain among kindergarteners — 83% of kindergarteners are on benchmark compared to 10% at the beginning of this school year, Rangel said. & “We did anticipate these types of scores,” he said. “We know using the research and science of reading that it is possible.”& As scores continue to rise, so does the confidence of the students.& & An Emma Donnan teacher uses science of reading techniques with his students. (Photo/ Leah Tribbett) Rangel recalled a first grader who came to Emma Donnan, an elementary and middle school managed by Adelante schools, who struggled early on but gained confidence and passed the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3), an assessment used to measure foundational reading.   “Literacy is access to opportunity,”...