Top 10 lists: Statewide, IRI scores are down. But here’s where they’re the best.

One-third of the students who took the Idaho Reading Indicator test last spring are not reading at grade level, according to recently-released results

About 91,400 students in grades K-3 took the exam, and about 31,400 were not at the level they should be. 

Overall, Idaho students dropped in proficiency from 69.1% reading at grade level in spring 2022, to 66.6% reading at grade level in spring 2023. The State Department of Education said the decline is due to a new norming system. 

Each spring and fall, Idaho students in kindergarten through third grade take the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI). The assessment is used to gauge how well Idaho students are reading. 

But it’s not all bad news. 

Here’s a look at the schools and districts throughout the state where students are performing the best and showing the most improvement. 

We’ve grouped the highest performers into the following categories:

  • traditional schools
  • charter, magnet, and nontraditional schools
  • traditional districts
  • nontraditional local education agencies

There’s also a ranking of the 10 largest traditional districts.

Before you look through the lists, keep a few things in mind:

  • These lists don’t account for enrollment differences (with the exception of the large district ranking). In smaller schools and districts, it can be easier to achieve high proficiency rates than in large schools/districts because data more easily skews high or low based on the performance of a relative few.
  • The lists also don’t account for demographic differences, such as a student body’s affluence, English proficiency, or other such factors that can affect a school’s test results. 
  • Some data has been redacted by the state, so not all districts and schools are represented. 
  • While we strive to compare the most similar types of schools and districts, there are still a number of differences that aren’t accounted for (like those mentioned above and others). No comparison can be completely fair because of that. 
  • For complete datasets, click on the links at the bottom of the article. 

Highest Performers: Traditional schools

BY SCORE

More than half of the schools where students performed the best are located in the urban Treasure Valley. 

School (District) % of students reading at grade level
Donnelly Elementary (McCall-Donnelly) 94.2
Parker-Egin Elementary (Fremont County) 91.5
Hillsdale Elementary (West Ada) 90.8
Paris Elementary (Bear Lake County) 90.6
Washington Elementary (Boise) 89.6
Collister Elementary (Boise) 88.4
Rimrock Elementary (Bonneville) 87.9
Longfellow Elementary (Boise) 87.8
Paramount Elementary (West Ada) 87.4
Adams Elementary (Boise) 87.2

BY GROWTH

By comparison, schools where students improved the most from fall to spring are located throughout the state, and most are in rural areas.

School (District) Growth in % of students reading at grade level from fall ‘22 to spring ‘23
Hamer Elementary (West Jefferson) 35.5
Valley View Elementary (Boundary County) 31.6
Dietrich (Dietrich) 30
Midvale (Midvale) 29
Prairie Elementary (Cottonwood) 29
Lava Elementary (Marsh Valley) 28.1
Sagle Elementary (Lake Pend Oreille) 28.1
Paris Elementary (Bear Lake County) 27.5
Falls Valley Elementary (Bonneville) 26.3
Prairie View Elementary (Post Falls) 25.4

Highest Performers: Charter, magnet, nontraditional schools

BY SCORE 

More than half of the top-performing nontraditional schools are in the urban Treasure Valley — as was the case with top-performing traditional schools. 

School (LEA) % of students reading at grade level
Taylor’s Crossing Charter (Taylor’s Crossing) 93.3
Sorensen Magnet of the Arts (Coeur d’Alene) 92.3
Gem Prep: Online (Gem Prep Online) 87.9
Galileo Magnet (West Ada) 86.5
Pioneer of the Arts (West Ada) 85.3
North Star Charter (North Star Charter) 85.3
Syringa Mountain Charter (Syringa Mountain) 84
Gem Prep: Meridian South (Gem Prep) 83.1
Gem Prep: Meridian North (Gem Prep) 83
Compass Public Charter 82.2

BY GROWTH

Three of the schools where students improved the most from fall to spring are in East Idaho, while another four are in the Treasure Valley. Nontraditional local education agencies had a lower bar to get on this list (15% more students reading at grade level) than traditional districts (25.4% more students reading at grade level). 

School (LEA) Growth in % of students reading at grade level from fall ‘22 to spring ‘23
Gem Prep: Online (Gem Prep) 32
Fernan STEM Academy (Coeur d’Alene) 24.3
Heritage Community Charter (Heritage Community) 21
New Horizon Magnet (Nampa) 18.8
Rolling Hills Public Charter (Rolling Hills) 18
Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy (Chief Tahgee) 18
Chief Joseph of the Arts (West Ada) 18
Taylor’s Crossing Charter (Taylor’s Crossing) 16
Idaho Science and Technology Charter (Idaho Science and Technology) 16
Syringa Mountain Charter (Syringa Mountain) 15

Highest Performers: Traditional Districts

BY SCORE

Many of the districts on this list are smaller and rural. 

District % of students reading at grade level
North Gem 86.8
Cottonwood 86.1
Garden Valley 84.6
Grace 84.2
Cambridge 82.9
Rockland 82.4
McCall-Donnelly 81.6
Midvale 80.6
Dietrich 79.1
Kootenai 78.6

BY GROWTH

Rural districts also dominated the top-ten list of greatest improvement from fall to spring.

District Growth in % of students reading at grade level from fall ‘22 to spring ‘23
Cottonwood 29
Dietrich 28
Camas County 27.2
Boundary County 26.1
North Gem 24.3
Basin 23.1
Hansen 23
Midvale 23
Homedale 22.1
Post Falls 21.8

Highest Performers: Nontraditional local education agencies

BY SCORE

Seven of the LEAs on this list are located in the urban Treasure Valley. 

LEA % of students reading at grade level
Taylor’s Crossing Public Charter 93.3
Rolling Hills Public Charter 89.1
Gem Prep: Online 87.9
North Star Charter 85.3
Gem Prep: Meridian South 83.1
Gem Prep: Meridian North 83
Compass Public Charter 82.2
North Idaho STEM Charter Academy 82.2
Vision Charter 81.9
Falcon Ridge Public Charter  78.2

BY GROWTH

LEAs with the greatest improvement were more geographically diverse. 

LEA Growth in % of students reading at grade level from fall ‘22 to spring ‘23
Gem Prep: Online 30
Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy 21.7
Syringa Mountain Charter 21
Heritage Community Charter 20.7
Idaho Science and Technology Charter 18.4
Rolling Hills Public Charter 16.6
Taylor’s Crossing Public Charter 14.5
Xavier Charter 13.6
Gem Prep: Meridian South 13.5
Pinecrest Academy of Idaho 13.1

Largest traditional districts, ranked

BY SCORE

West Ada topped the list of large traditional districts with the greatest percentage of students reading at grade level. Oneida County school district, which includes an online school that enrolled students statewide, was at the bottom with fewer than half of its students reading at grade level. 

District % of students reading at grade level
West Ada 77.2
Coeur d’Alene 74.5
Vallivue 73.5
Bonneville 72.2
Pocatello/Chubbuck 68.3
Boise 66.5
Idaho Falls 63.2
Nampa 60.4
Twin Falls 54
Oneida  46.6

BY GROWTH

Bonneville school district, in Idaho Falls, had the greatest percentage of students improve from fall to spring. In Oneida County, student performance declined, with 11.3% fewer students reading at grade level by the end of the school year. 

District Growth in % of students reading at grade level from fall ‘22 to spring ‘23
Bonneville 16.6
Vallivue 16.4
Coeur d’Alene 14.8
Nampa 12
Idaho Falls 10.4
West Ada 7.1
Twin Falls 6
Pocatello/Chubbuck 5.5
Boise 1.6
Oneida -11.3

Full datasets are also available for those interested: IRI scores by school; IRI scores by district; IRI growth by school; IRI growth by district

EdNews Data Analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report. 

Carly Flandro

Carly Flandro

Reporter Carly Flandro works in EdNews’ East Idaho bureau. A former high school English teacher, she writes about teaching, learning, diversity, and equity. You can follow Flandro on Twitter @idahoedcarly and send her news tips at [email protected].

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