When Philadelphia school officials announced preliminary new achievement data earlier this month, one trend was especially concerning: Philadelphia third graders are less likely to be proficient readers than they were a year ago.

The district — like many across the country — has spent millions to try to improve literacy instruction and reading scores. If kids can’t read by the end of third grade, research shows they’ll have an increasingly difficult time catching up.

The initial data is especially notable because during the 2024-25 school year, Philadelphia began implementing a new reading curriculum based on the science of reading at a cost of $25 million. State lawmakers have also pushed for legislation meant to ensure reading instruction follows research-backed methods.

Still, crucial third grade reading rates remain low, with fewer than 1 in 3 third graders able to read proficiently last school year, according to the district’s preliminary data from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. That’s lower than scores the year before, when the district hadn’t yet adopted the new curriculum.

At a school board meeting earlier this month, Superintendent Tony Watlington said that he expected that progress would not be linear. District officials said they plan to continue to invest in training teachers on how to use the new curriculum and provide tutoring to struggling students.

But literacy instruction experts and advocates say the declining scores mean it’s urgent for Philadelphia to improve preparing teachers to teach the new curriculum and support students who fall behind.