Black Belt third-grade reading scores mixed, but standouts emerge despite high poverty rates

Alabama’s latest school-level reading results show a familiar pattern: third-graders in high-poverty schools were less likely to meet the state benchmark this spring, but some of those schools still posted some of the strongest results in the state.

The results, released by the Alabama State Department of Education, offer a more detailed look at how third-graders performed on the spring reading test tied to the Alabama Literacy Act.

At the school level, the statewide rate – 88.2% of third graders reached the cut score - masks wide differences not only between individual schools, but between groups of schools with different poverty rates. The share of third-graders reaching the benchmark barely changed from 2025 to 2026 within each school poverty band, but students in high-poverty schools continued to have more difficulty reaching the mark.

Put another way, among schools where fewer than 20% of students are economically disadvantaged, about 2% of third-graders scored below the benchmark. Among schools where 80% to 100% of students are economically disadvantaged, about 22% scored below benchmark.  

But not all high-poverty schools have struggling students: Several had 95% or more of third-graders reach the benchmark, and at some schools, every third-grader met the mark. 

In the Black Belt, where most schools have a high poverty rate, the results were mixed.

Demopolis and Marengo County schools performed well, with US Jones seeing 92% of students reaching the benchmark, despite their 61% poverty rate.

All three Marengo County schools performed above 90% and Marengo High had a 100% result of students reaching the benchmark even with a 90% poverty rate.

In Perry County, Francis Marion had 89% reach the mark and RC Hatch had 82%, while both schools have a poverty level of about 90%.

A standout case came in Wilcox County, where ABC Elementary in Alberta got 100% of students at or above the benchmark even with a 98% poverty level. As for the other two Wilcox schools, FS Ervin in Pine Hill got 89% to the mark, while JE Hobbs in Camden had 81%. 

Dallas County recorded some of the lowest scores in the Black Belt with Brantley seeing only 77% meeting the goal and Southside Elementary reaching 71%. However, Salem and Valley Grande elementary schools got 94% and 95% respectively to the benchmark. The poverty level in Dallas County schools is well over 90% except for Valley Grande that has 80%.

Of the 20 schools in Montgomery, only three scored above 90% and the rest were mixed, with one school, Chisholm, getting only 55% at or above the benchmark. Chisholm as a poverty rate of 94%.

University Charter in Livingston got 98% to the benchmark with 46% poverty rate. However, Livingston Junior High only got 65% to the goal with a poverty rate of 91%. York West got 75% there.

Among the 690 Alabama schools that tested 10 or more third-grade students, in 34 schools, every third-grader reached or exceeded the cut score. Another 147 schools saw 95% to 99% of third-graders succeed on the test. And still another 159 schools had 90% to 95% of their third-graders reach or exceed the cut score. At the other end of the scale, 39 schools had fewer than 70% of third-graders reading sufficiently.

There is a bright spot when it comes to comparing second-grade reading results from 2024-25 with third-grade results from 2025-26.

Across every poverty band, a higher share of third-graders reached the reading cut score this year than second-graders did the year before.

The largest percentage-point gain from second to third grade was in the highest-poverty schools: Among schools where 80% to 100% of students are economically disadvantaged, 78% of third-graders reached the cut score in 2025-26, compared with 67% of second-graders in that poverty band in 2024-25 – an 11-percentage point gain.

The comparison of second to third grade results does not track individual students, but it shows the same pattern across school poverty levels: Third-grade reading results were stronger than second-grade results from the prior year.

Third graders who didn’t meet the benchmark on the spring reading test were invited to summer reading camps, which are already underway.

Struggling readers are not required to attend the camps, even though districts are required to offer them. Districts are also required to make sure summer reading instruction is provided by teachers with strong reading instruction skills.

Students who fall short can still be promoted if they pass a retest, demonstrate grade-level reading through a portfolio or qualify for a good-cause exemption.