Three Jackson-Madison students relish in reading rewards as district ELA scores improve

Three lucky students from the Jackson-Madison County School System were rewarded for their achievement in reading, or a combined total of more than 14,000 minutes spent reading books.

As part of the district's "Leap Up for Literacy" campaign, students and teachers alike were encouraged to read 20 minutes per day for 40 weekdays.

A total of 293 students met the district goal of each student reading 700 minutes or more, but three students went above and beyond.

From South Side High School, Elizabeth Alexander was the high school district winner, reading 7,116 minutes.

JASA's Jovanni Estrada was the middle school district winner, reading 5,000 minutes.

Genevieve Warren from Andrew Jackson Elementary read 2,092 minutes and was the elementary winner.

An honorable mention was given to Isaac Lane School pre-school student Joshua Fletcher who read 1,550 minutes.

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District winners received special recognition, an iPad, and a $500 gift card to Walmart. When asked how the $500 would be spent, Warren decided upon slime, fidget toy and more books.

Alexander noted that she seldom has to push herself to read because of the outlet it provides her.

"Going into another world and experiencing something, it's a release really. It's a way of getting away from the stress of things and enjoying your free time," she said.

Parents and JMCSS Superintendent Marlon King accompanied the winners on Monday for the Walmart shopping spree.

"We want the community to just get behind us as we push literacy in schools to read more," King said.

Resurrecting the value of reading

Striving to bring a heightened awareness to the importance of literacy, the reading incentive program launched at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

Spearheaded by Dr. Vivian Williams and Dr. Tiffany Spight, Leap Up for Literacy promotes bringing an interest and love back to reading.

"Yes, there's always a focus on test results and scores and standards; that's important. But what about just a natural love for reading books," Spight said.

She says the benefit of literacy campaigns is tangible and that preliminary English-Language Arts (ELA) scores on standardized tests reflect as much.

District makes TCAP gains

The ELA portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) tests a student's ability to meticulously read and analyze text, and then answer questions that demonstrate an understanding of state standards and the English language.

In 2023, 19.59% of enrolled students met or exceeded proficiency in ELA.

Recent 2024 TCAP data shows that the percentage rose to 24.4%, according to the Tennessee Department of Education State Report Card scores.

"As far as overall in our TCAP results, we've seen improvements in ELA, and it just makes your heart happy," Spight said.

As the state focuses on third-grade retention, 2024 TCAP scores demonstrate an increase in the number of students meeting standards.

"The more the children read, the better they can read. So the more we can encourage them to read, their confidence will come, they'll learn new vocabulary words, and their background knowledge will be built."

Sarah Best is a reporter for The Jackson Sun. To support local journalism, subscribe to the Daily Briefing here .

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Three Jackson-Madison students relish in reading rewards as district ELA scores improve