New analysis of data from millions of students shows that reading scores in kindergarten through eighth grade rose slightly between spring 2025 and spring 2026, recovering roughly 15 to 33 percent of pandemic-era losses depending on grade level. An earlier analysis from the same testing organization found first and second grade reading stagnant, with little rebound toward pre-pandemic levels. Researchers noted that today's youngest students were infants when the pandemic began, which suggests broader, longer-lasting factors are at work.

For early elementary teachers, this means reading growth cannot be assumed, and the usual signals deserve a second look. Writing offers a useful window, because a child who can put sounds, words, and ideas on paper shows decoding, vocabulary, and thinking all at once. A short writing sample can reveal that a child hears the sounds in words but cannot yet connect them to letters, or that a child reads fluently but struggles to express an idea.

Grading writing at this age is not about assigning a letter. It is about collecting small, consistent evidence that helps teachers decide what each child needs next. A short note about what the child can do now, and what to teach next, is worth more than any score on a single page, because it keeps the focus on instruction for a child who is still learning how print works.

Use a simple four-part scoring guide

A short scoring guide for grades K to 3 might look at four areas: ideas, such as whether the child communicates a clear message; sentence sense, including capital letters and ending punctuation; spelling that reflects sounds the child has been taught; and handwriting or letter formation. Score each area on a three-point scale and add a brief note. The aim is a quick picture that takes under two minutes per child.

• Score ideas, sentence sense, spelling, and letter formation on a three-point scale
• Collect the same kind of writing sample every four to six weeks
• Compare writing samples with reading assessment results
• Give one spoken next step instead of a long list
• Send families a one-page summary with a writing sample

Collect the same kind of sample on a regular schedule

Choose a consistent task, such as writing about a favorite activity for ten minutes, and collect it every four to six weeks. Keep the samples in a folder so that the child's growth is visible across the year. When progress stalls in one area, such as spelling of long vowel patterns, the teacher can adjust instruction right away, before a small confusion hardens into a habit that is harder to undo.

Read the writing alongside the reading assessment. If a child scores low in reading but writes with strong ideas and a growing grasp of letter sounds, that profile points to a different intervention than a child whose writing and reading both lag. The comparison helps teachers target small-group time more precisely, which matters when a single teacher has twenty-odd children and only a few short blocks of intervention time each day.

Give feedback young children can use

Feedback for a six-year-old should be short, specific, and spoken. Point to one thing the child did well, such as adding a period or stretching out the sounds in a word, and choose one next step. Children this age cannot process a long list, but they respond to a clear goal that they can see themselves meeting, such as adding a finger space between words or ending the sentence with a period.

Celebrate approximate spelling when it reflects the sounds a child is learning. A child who writes sed for said is showing sound-letter knowledge, and early correction of every error can discourage writing. Teach spelling directly in separate lessons, and treat the writing time as a place to practice fluency, where the goal is to get ideas onto the page with confidence and the stamina to keep going for a full ten minutes.

Share findings with families and the next teacher

Send home a one-page summary with a sample of the child's writing, a note about what the child is doing well, and one activity to practice, such as writing a short grocery list together. Families appreciate seeing concrete evidence of progress, and the activity builds the home-school link. Include a note in the child's record so that next year's teacher starts with a clear picture.

Where schools permit it, a rubric-based tool can help teachers organize and compare writing samples across a class, with the teacher doing the scoring of early writing, since handwriting and invented spelling require human judgment. The tool may help with tracking and reporting, but it should never substitute for a teacher's close look at a child's work. Early writing is best understood by adults who know the child.