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Reading and test scores

At least 1 in 5 of the 4,162 school board meetings we read in the past year dealt with reading and test scores.

Spreadsheet: all 4,162 meetings read, 1,064 marked yes
25.5%of meetings (90% range of our count 24.2%⁠–⁠27.1%)
1,064meetings
571districts

We catch about 6 in 10 meetings that discuss this (90% range 54%⁠–⁠73%); counts are floors.

Clips

Board members on reading and test scores

You brought up that in '27-'28 we may be switching from an SAT to— there's going to be a potential chance that we go from an ACT to an SAT. If we were to switch to the SAT, would we still be able to do the personalized approach where we're tracking individual students? Efficiency with that ACT model?Amanda SteeleBoard Vice President · Tempe Union High School District Board · Sep 16, 2026Watch the full meeting from 1:26:35
What specific instructional practices or intervention appear to be driving the gains? I know the plans look different across the schools, but Is there one thing that's really pushing the improvement in our learners, specifically among our Black students in reading, as well as improvements for our English learners?Kristi B. KinsellaBoard member · County School Board of Henrico County, Virginia · Sep 10, 2026Watch the full meeting from 22:33
By state

Meetings where we found reading and test scores, state by state

Of the 4,162 checked meetings the issue check read since Nov 1, 2025 · alphabetical, not ranked: we haven't measured how much of each state our count catches, so states can't be compared on these floors · the quiet band is each state's 90% range · a state needs 30+ meetings from 5+ districts, and a state that is mostly one district is named with that district

  1. California33.0% · 28%⁠–⁠39% · 342 mtgs
  2. Colorado29.4% · 21%⁠–⁠38% · 68 mtgs
  3. Connecticut22.3% · 15%⁠–⁠30% · 121 mtgs
  4. Florida20.0% · 8%⁠–⁠35% · 35 mtgs
  5. Georgia32.3% · 19%⁠–⁠53% · 34 mtgs
  6. Illinois20.9% · 16%⁠–⁠26% · 215 mtgs
  7. Indiana25.6% · 19%⁠–⁠32% · 156 mtgs
  8. Iowa13.5% · 5%⁠–⁠25% · 59 mtgs
  9. Kentucky12.1% · 4%⁠–⁠22% · 33 mtgs
  10. Louisiana19.4% · 7%⁠–⁠32% · 36 mtgs
  11. Michigan22.0% · 17%⁠–⁠27% · 213 mtgs
  12. Minnesota25.0% · 19%⁠–⁠32% · 116 mtgs
  13. Missouri35.0% · 26%⁠–⁠44% · 100 mtgs
  14. Montana24.3% · 16%⁠–⁠35% · 37 mtgs
  15. New Jersey23.2% · 18%⁠–⁠29% · 250 mtgs
  16. New York19.8% · 15%⁠–⁠25% · 478 mtgs
All 47 states
  1. North Carolina37.3% · 25%⁠–⁠52% · 91 mtgs
  2. Ohio21.7% · 17%⁠–⁠27% · 248 mtgs
  3. Oregon25.9% · 18%⁠–⁠35% · 77 mtgs
  4. Pennsylvania14.7% · 10%⁠–⁠19% · 244 mtgs
  5. Tennessee18.1% · 13%⁠–⁠23% · 88 mtgs
  6. Texas36.5% · 28%⁠–⁠45% · 241 mtgs
  7. Virginia32.1% · 23%⁠–⁠42% · 146 mtgs
  8. Washington34.6% · 28%⁠–⁠42% · 124 mtgs
  9. Wisconsin32.0% · 25%⁠–⁠40% · 231 mtgs
  10. Alabama— 25 meetings read
  11. Alaska— 9 meetings read
  12. Arizona— 7 meetings read
  13. Arkansas— 7 meetings read
  14. Delaware— 4 meetings read
  15. Idaho— 19 meetings read
  16. Kansas— mostly one district: Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501, 4 of 14 meetings
  17. Maine— 10 meetings read
  18. Maryland— mostly one district: Kent County Public Schools, 6 of 11 meetings
  19. Massachusetts— 5 meetings read
  20. Mississippi— 16 meetings read
  21. Nebraska— 11 meetings read
  22. Nevada— 17 meetings read
  23. New Hampshire— 26 meetings read
  24. New Mexico— 24 meetings read
  25. North Dakota— 18 meetings read
  26. Oklahoma— 11 meetings read
  27. South Carolina— 18 meetings read
  28. South Dakota— 6 meetings read
  29. Utah— 21 meetings read
  30. West Virginia— 9 meetings read
  31. Wyoming— 24 meetings read
The map

Every district we read, sized by how many of its meetings discussed reading and test scores

Franklin City Public Schools, VA 10Oshkosh Area School District, WI 10Austin ISD, TX 9

One point per district at its Census location · 9 of 1,114 districts have no Census point · one colour, no sides · How we count

Discussed, and who came to speak

Where reading and test scores came up, against how many members of the public speak

131030100+Typical district 22%Many speakers, rarely discussedMany speakers, often discussedOften discussed, few speakersPublic speakers per meeting ↑↑ Public speakers per meetingSan Francisco Unified 50%, 32.3 a meetingLos Angeles Unified 31%, 30.9 a meetingFort Worth ISD 88%, 30.1 a meetingAustin ISD 90%, 21.5 a meeting
← Less often on reading and test scoresMore of its meetings →

Also discussed at 368 more districts where we read fewer than 6 meetings:

In the news

At least 90 news articles found by search, Oct 29, 2025 to Oct 28, 2026

Districts that discussed it most

Oshkosh Area School District discussed it at 10 meetings, more than any other district.

10 of 12Oshkosh Area School District WImeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings10 of 15Franklin City Public Schools VAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings9 of 10Austin ISD TXmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings8 of 9Fort Worth ISD TXmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings8 of 12Beacon City School District NYmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings8 of 14Mukwonago School District WImeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 9Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools NCmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 11Redwood City Elementary School District CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 12Port Washington Union Free School District NYmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings7 of 22Oakland Unified CAmeetings that discussed it, of the district’s meetings
The meetings behind this number

All 1,064 meetings, newest first

Showing the newest 100

Spreadsheet: all 4,162 meetings read, 1,064 marked yes