Results of the spring 2009 administration of the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10) in kindergarten, first and second grades show that Lee County elementary school students continue to meet high standards in reading, said Joe Donzelli, the school system’s public information spokesman.

In kindergarten, 88 percent of students met grade-level standards in reading (up from 84 percent in 2007-08). In first grade, 86 percent (up from 79 percent in 2007-08) met grade-level standards and 82 percent of second-graders (up from 76 percent in 2007-08) met grade-level standards, Donzelli said.

“Even our youngest learners are showing tremendous gains academically,” said Dr. James Browder, superintendent of schools. “We’ve seen academic improvement across the board, and we will keep working to ensure that continues.”

The SAT-10 Test, administered each spring, is a nationally normed test designed to assess skills essential to early reading. It focuses on sounds and letters, word reading and sentence reading as well as vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. The District utilizes SAT-10 results to monitor student progress and to predict performance on the statewide Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT,) which begins in third grade.

District officials believe that efforts in recent years to intensify reading for early elementary students contributed to these positive results. Individual student reports will be sent home to parents in the coming weeks of May at each school, Donzelli said in a press release this weekend.