Narda Pitkethly’s Letter to the Editor: ‘We can do better when it comes to reading proficiency’

Narda Pitkethly, CEO of The Nardagani Reading Program, recently responded to an article published in the Idaho Mountain Express that focused on the “growth” of kindergarten through third grade reading scores.

Here is Narda’s Letter to the Editor, as published July 27, 2022 by the Idaho Mountain Express, ‘We can do better when it comes to reading proficiency’ :

In the July 13 edition of the Idaho Mountain Express, an article titled “State reports gains in early reading proficiency” stated that “68.2% of Idaho’s kindergarten through grade three students were at a proficient reading level this past spring.” And, “According to the most recent statistics provided by the State Department of Education, Blaine County sat just below the state average in the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI) test, with a proficiency percentage at 61.6% in the spring 2021, compared to the state average of 65.9%.”

However, the other way to look at these numbers is that 31.8% of Idaho’s kindergarten through grade three students are not proficient in reading, and 38.4% of Blaine County’s kindergarten through grade three students were not proficient in reading in the spring 2021.

I know we can do better when it comes to reading, especially for Idaho’s youngest students. We must try alternative ways of teaching reading.

Narda Pitkethly

Ketchum, Idaho

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Of course, touting the success of 68.2% of students reading at proficient levels at any grade is confusing and counterproductive. At the Nardagani Reading Program, we work with middle school teachers to ESL instructors to literacy specialists who frequently work with challenged readers, including those students who have been diagnosed with a reading disability and qualify for IEP (Individual Education Program)—these educational professionals know the Nardagani Reading Program works. Teachers who used the Nardagani Reading Program, during teacher-based research studies that were implemented in the United States public school system, saw student reading improvement and the data gathered was dramatic. 

Click here to learn more about the Nardagani Reading Program and watch Narda’s TEDx talk, “A New Way to Learn to Read English.”