New research brief: K–2 early literacy improvements offer hope, but persistent challenges remain.

Amplify’s research brief on the latest K–2 middle-of-school-year literacy data reveals encouraging gains in early reading, particularly among the nation’s youngest students. This year’s kindergarten cohort has returned to pre-pandemic literacy readiness levels. But overall progress remains slow: Only 56% of students are on track for learning to read, and 29% of students are far behind.

Middle-of-year data can help schools plan for instructional changes and implement those changes before the following school year. See the report’s recommendations for actions schools and districts can take now.

Download the research brief
A woman leans over to assist a young girl with her reading and writing at a table in a classroom, with two colored squares overlaid in the foreground.

Explore Amplify’s middle-of-year research brief.

Bar chart showing the percent of kindergarten students on track, with values 55, 38, 47, 52, 54, and 55. Highest and lowest percentages are 55% and 38%.

How many students are on track to learn to read?

While all grades across K–2 show signs of year-over-year progress, with more students on-track for learning to read than there were in 2023–24, broader literacy gains remain slow, with a little more than half of students across early grades (K–2) on track for core reading instruction.

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Bar chart showing the percent of kindergarten students far behind: 29%, 47%, 37%, 32%, 30%, and 29% across six groups.

How many students are at risk for not learning to read?

All grades across K–2 show the percentage of students at the greatest risk for not learning to read decreasing year-over-year. While fewer students are considered far behind today than in 2023–24, more than a quarter of students across grades K–2 are at the greatest risk for not learning to read.

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Table showing student progress categories, average change, and percentages of targeted students with at least 5 or 6 months' progress. Some cells are highlighted in green and red.

Take a deeper dive into progress monitoring.

Progress monitoring—identifying, supporting, and tracking outcomes—is one strategy schools can engage in when working with students who are the most at-risk for not learning to read.

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Read more research and case studies.

Amplify’s high-quality programs benefit millions of students every day using methods that are evidence-based, ESSA-aligned, and showing efficacy in a variety of contexts. Read more research and case studies and see more briefs on early literacy.