Explore the Data

Third Grade Language Arts Differential

Significant disparities by race/ethnicity and income in third grade language arts proficiency remain

In the 2023-24 school year, 58% of third grade students who attended Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) were language arts proficient.¹⁹ However, there are significant disparities in language arts proficiency by race/ethnicity and income. The largest disparity in language arts proficiency for the 2023-24 school year was for Black or African-American students, which has been consistent for several years.

• 42% of students who receive free/reduced lunch (a proxy for low income²⁰) are language arts proficient, which is 16 percentage points lower than the overall LPS population.
• 66% of students who identify as White are language arts proficient, which is 8 percentage points higher than the overall LPS population.
• 54% of students who identify as Asian are language arts proficient, which 4 percentage points lower than the language arts proficiency of the overall LPS population.
• 41% of students who identify as Latino/a or Hispanic are language arts proficient, which is 17 percentage points lower than the overall LPS population.
• 39% of students who identify as Black or African American are language arts proficient, which is 19 percentage points lower than the overall LPS population.

Notes

Nebraska Department of Education, Nebraska Education Profile (formerly Nebraska State of Schools Reports), Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System.

The NSCAS English Language Arts test from 2016-17 and later is not comparable to standardized tests from earlier years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NDE cancelled the 2019 – 2020 NSCAS assessment; therefore, there are no results from that year.

For the 2020 to 2021, and 2021 to 2022 school years, there is a perfect overlap of Asian student English Language Arts scores with the district-wide average; the line representing these student scores overlays the “LPS Overall” baseline for these years.

Footnotes

19. The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) is the statewide assessment system for English language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science that public schools have administered since the 2016-17 school year. It is not comparable to the older NeSA (Nebraska State Accountability) assessment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NDE cancelled the 2019 – 2020 NSCAS assessment; therefore, there are no results from that year. The ELA and mathematics NSCAS test administered in Spring 2021 was shortened to preserve instructional time, also due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-participants were also not representative of the whole population. These factors, in addition to changes in enrollment and differences in NSCAS participation rates, complicates direct comparisons to previous NSCAS data.
20. In general, students are eligible for free lunch if their household income is less than 130% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and eligible for reduced lunch if their household income is less than 185% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. In the 2022-23 school year, students in a family of four with a household income less than $36,075 would be eligible for free lunch, and those with a household income less than $51,338 would be eligible for reduced lunch. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. (2022). Child nutrition programs: Income eligibility guidelines. Federal Register/Vol. 87, No. 32/Wednesday, February 16, 2022. Retrieved 11.26.2024.