Two small Magic Valley school districts, Dietrich and Wendell, lie just 35 miles apart. But when it comes to reading, a chasm divides them.
Most Dietrich students — about 84% — in kindergarten through third grade are on track with their reading.
In Wendell, the K-3 literacy rate plummets to 38%.
And though Wendell struggles, Dietrich gets significantly more money from the state because of its success — approximately $978 per K-3 student, as opposed to Wendell’s $734.
This funding disparity is by design.
In 2022, legislators changed the way the state divvies up literacy dollars.
At the time, literacy dollars were awarded based on the number of students in a district who were struggling with reading. Former Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, and other lawmakers argued that doing so rewarded failure.
So they came up with a new plan: half of literacy dollars would be awarded based on K-3 enrollment. The other half would be based on the number of students in a district who were doing well in reading.
An EdNews data analysis of 2024 reading scores and literacy funding illuminates a likely outcome of the change: the districts getting the most money tend to have the best reading scores.
In our interactive scatterplot below, we compare proficiency levels on the spring 2024 IRI to the approximate literacy funding levels per student last school year. Each dot below represents a district or charter. Click or hover on each for detailed reading achievement and literacy funding information.
It’s not surprising, given how the funding works. But if lawmakers’ theory is correct — that tying funding to reading achievement will spur improvements — the uphill trendline should flatten out as struggling districts boost their scores and get more funding.
So far, that hasn’t been the case.
In the meantime, some education leaders are skeptical about whether the literacy funding formula is fair or effective.
Literacy Funding: Get the details
Need to know: The state’s reading exam, the Idaho Reading Indicator, is administered each fall and spring in grades K-3. There are four levels that students may achieve: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Proficient means a student is reading at grade level. When literacy levels are reported, they represent the percent of students achieving proficiency or higher on the exam. You can read more about standardized tests in Idaho here.
2021-22 school year:
Literacy dollars were awarded based on the number of a district’s K-3 students scoring basic or below basic on the IRI.
2022-23 school year to now:
- 50% of literacy funding is based on K-3 enrollment
- 50% of literacy funding is based on the number of K-3 students who move a full level (e.g. basic to proficient) or who are proficient from spring to spring on the IRI. Districts also receive more money if economically disadvantaged students are doing well in reading.
Get all the details in House Bill 790.
Literacy funding formula drives financial instability, state education leaders say
The current literacy funding model is problematic because it leads to budget instability, said Quinn Perry, deputy director for the Idaho School Boards Association.
Heather Williams, associate executive director for the Idaho Association of School Administrators, echoed Perry’s comments. Literacy funding can vary dramatically based on “the students that come through the door.”
“That’s the issue, and it’s hard for a district to build a stable system of support on unpredictable funding,” Williams said.
On top of that, Perry said that districts with poor literacy scores often have barriers to reading achievement, like high percentages of students learning English, or students who have limited access to early childhood education or literacy intervention specialists.
“There’s something to be said about ensuring that we’re directing as many resources as possible to those areas that are struggling,” she added. “It makes sense to me that you would target your efforts to those kiddos that are not performing at where we want them to be.”
The ISBA does not have an official position on how literacy dollars should be sent out, Perry said. It wants to ensure literacy funding decisions are based on data and evidence, and cited the new funding for teacher training in the science of reading as a good example of that.
“We should be having year-round, high-level conversations that are meaningful to make sure that the investment is going where it needs to go and that it’s being used in the most evidence-based method,” she said. “Let’s use data and evidence from other states that have clearly made gains in this area to be more strategic about how the funds are being distributed or invested.”
Williams said further investment in school leaders, like principals, could be an out-of-the-box way to shore up literacy rates.
“There’s a need for literacy investments, but we’ve been doing that and that’s been a consistent investment,” she said. “What we haven’t invested in is leadership. The teacher is the number one impact in the classroom, but the building principal is number two.”
Gov. Brad Little has long advocated for increased literacy funding — which doubled in 2020, then nearly tripled in 2023.
During that same time period, statewide literacy rates have fluctuated between about 52% and about 55%.
But Williams said investments take time to reap change: “Sometimes people forget to be patient and wait for systems to be built at the state level, but also at the local level, for effective approaches that really improve student literacy skills.”
Wendell and Dietrich are worlds apart when it comes to reading
Wendell superintendent Tim Perrigot is proud of his staff, which works in a small, agricultural community west of Twin Falls.
“We are making a difference for all of our students, and we are seeing successes every day in the classroom,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes that doesn’t show up on an ISAT score or IRI reading score.”
The district serves about 1,100 students — 64% of whom are from low-income families, and 38% of whom are learning English. About 10% have disabilities and 9% are from migrant families.
Perrigot said that in small districts like Wendell, “every dollar counts” and any decline in funding “could be frustrating:” “It’s already difficult enough to have the amount of money that we need to fund public education.”
The shift in literacy funding hasn’t impacted what happens in the classroom, he said, because teachers are always doing their best for the sake of students, not money.
“I’ve never met a teacher in all my years of public education that was worried about funding or scores,” he said. “They just want to see kids do well.”
Stefanie Shaw, superintendent at nearby Dietrich School District, agrees.
“I don’t think it matters how you’re funded — teachers and administrators want what’s best for kids,” she said. “We mold to whatever is given to us, and we do the best that we can for the kids that we have.”
Dietrich is much smaller than Wendell, serving about 183 students — 56% of whom are from low-income families and 10% of whom are learning English. About 17% have disabilities, and 21% are from migrant families.
Because of the literacy funding change, Dietrich is receiving more money, and Shaw is grateful. The district identified literacy as a concern about three years ago and has been focusing on it ever since. With the literacy dollars, Dietrich has implemented a K-6 intervention program and all-day kindergarten.
“When people work hard to get kids where they need to be, that’s a good reward,” she said. “And we’ve definitely benefited from it and we appreciate that legislators and the governor have made (literacy) a priority…. Because everything to do with kids’ learning and being able to move forward with their education comes back to literacy.”
Idaho Education News data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.
