Students of color are at greater risk for reading difficulties - even in kindergarten

"Black, Hispanic and Native American students are more likely than white or Asian students to struggle with reading - and that gap emerges early, according to our new research. During kindergarten, they are more likely to score in the lowest 10% on assessments measuring skills such as letter recognition, vocabulary and recognizing common sight words. Large racial and ethnic differences in the risks for reading difficulties continue as students move through elementary school - a pattern largely explained by family income and early academic skills."

"Our study, published in September 2025 in the Journal of School Psychology, finds that about 15% of Black, Hispanic and Native American kindergartners score in the lowest 10% of reading scores, compared to 6% and 8% of white and Asian students, respectively. By fifth grade, 18%, 16% and 10% of Black, Hispanic and Native American students are struggling. The contrasting rate for white and Asian students is about 5%."

"This data includes direct academic assessments as well as surveys of the students and their parents, teachers and school administrators. We used standard statistical methods to explore how a wide range of factors across homes and schools - measured during kindergarten - helped explain whether students later experienced reading difficulties. A key factor, according to our analysis, is the family's socioeconomic status: a measure including household income and parental education levels and occupations."

Black, Hispanic and Native American children are more likely than white or Asian children to score in the lowest 10% on kindergarten reading assessments measuring letter recognition, vocabulary and common sight words. About 15% of Black, Hispanic and Native American kindergartners score in the lowest decile, versus 6% of white and 8% of Asian students. By fifth grade, 18%, 16% and 10% of Black, Hispanic and Native American students struggle, compared with about 5% of white and Asian students. Large racial and ethnic differences persist through elementary school and are largely explained by family socioeconomic status and early academic and cognitive skills.

Read at The Conversation