Forty-five elementary schools in Arizona outperform expectations in third-grade reading based on their student poverty rates, according to a national analysis by The 74. These results come even as Arizona ranks near the bottom nationally in fourth-grade reading achievement.
What Happened
For its Bright Spots project, The 74 reviewed data from 42,000 schools across the country to find campuses where third-grade reading proficiency beat expectations for their student poverty levels. Nationally, 2,158 schools met that mark, including 45 in Arizona.
Statewide reading proficiency remains low, particularly for low-income students, based on state testing data reported by The 74. On Arizona's 2025 third-grade reading exam, just under 36% of all students scored proficient or higher, while fewer than 24% of low-income students reached proficiency. Still, among campuses with at least 20 low-income test-takers, economically disadvantaged students beat the statewide overall average in 133 schools and 26 districts. Many of the 10 highest-performing schools for low-income readers are charter or selective magnet schools with specific admissions policies, but 10th-ranked Senita Valley is an open-enrollment neighborhood public school.
These individual school results differ from Arizona's wider record on national assessments, as reported by The 74 from federal and research data. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only five states scored lower than Arizona in fourth-grade reading. The state's average score fell by 5 points between 2013 and 2024 as the share of low-performing readers grew. After the Urban Institute adjusted state NAEP scores for student demographics, Arizona ranked ahead of only Alaska and Oregon.
Arizona has had a K-3 literacy law called Move on When Reading since 2010, according to The 74. The law directs state funding to early reading. It requires schools to test students, use evidence-based reading instruction and interventions, submit literacy plans, screen for dyslexia, and meet teacher training standards. Although the law includes a third-grade retention requirement, schools held back only 0.2% of students in the 2024-25 school year.
The Bigger Picture
Arizona's low retention rate comes from how state law sets third-grade promotion thresholds and exemptions, according to the Arizona Elementary and Middle School Enrollment Guide. Under Arizona statute (A.R.S. 15-701), the State Board of Education sets a retention cut score on the reading section of the state test that sits below the general proficiency benchmark. A student can also be retained only once under the rule. School districts and charter boards can promote students who miss the cut score through several legal exemptions: English learners with fewer than three years of English instruction, students with certain special education statuses or diagnosed significant reading impairments such as dyslexia, and students who show adequate reading skills on an approved alternative test or through summer and school-year interventions.
When a student scores below the required threshold, Arizona schools must notify parents in writing within three weeks and explain both the retention policy and planned remediation, according to the Arizona Elementary and Middle School Enrollment Guide. For students promoted without meeting the cut score, districts must provide evidence-based interventions, such as summer reading classes, small-group support, or intensive instruction before, during, or after school, chosen jointly by parents, teachers, and principals. Wide gaps between test proficiency and retention rates are common across states with third-grade reading laws because of exemptions and alternative pathways, according to a state policy review by Savvy Learning. That review noted that roughly 60% of Tennessee third graders missed the state reading benchmark in 2024, yet only 0.88% were held back.
Academic research documents the link between poverty and student literacy. An analysis of state funding policies from 1996 to 2015 in Poverty & Public Policy found that 41 states directed extra funding to high-poverty schools, which narrowed fourth- and eighth-grade NAEP reading and math gaps between low-income and higher-income students. Even so, fully closing those gaps requires substantial funding. At the classroom level, a study of six high-poverty elementary schools that outperformed peers in The Reading Teacher found that teachers pointed to four main practices: maximizing instructional time, dedicating substantial time directly to reading and writing, keeping students engaged, and maintaining persistence among both teachers and students.