At a large Baltimore high School, 77 percent tested at the elementary level, including a quarter with kindergarten and first-grade skills. An F+ Student ranked in the middle of his class at another high school; 1 percent of students test as proficient.

To teach reading effectively, Maryland should “require rigorous standardized tests of students starting at the ages of 4 and 5,” writes Kalman R. Hettleman in the Baltimore Sun. He’s a former member of Maryland’s Kirwan Commission on education reform and of the Baltimore City school board.

Teachers need to know, as soon as possible, how well children in the early grades are learning foundational reading skills, Writes Hettleman. Then, they need to tailor their teaching to meet students’ needs.

There’s no dispute that children that young can and should be taught such skills in a developmentally appropriate way. More important, students who aren’t taught that way almost never catch up, especially students who are poor and of color; they fall off the literacy ladder to all learning, severely jeopardizing their life chances.

This happens to an unconscionable number of students. Even before the pandemic, only a little over 40% percent of students statewide achieved proficiency in reading in grades 3-8; the number in Baltimore City was 20%.

The stress of testing is nothing compared to the stress of trying to get through life without being able to read.

Maryland’s State Department of Education has proposed assessments that would be given statewide in the fall, winter and spring, writes Hettleman. Students could get help immediately. Schools could be held accountable for their work in enabling students to make progress.

Michael Petrilli makes the case for National Assessment of Educational Progress testing in kindergarten: The more we know, the more we can do.