A POSITIVE FRACTION IS AN INCREASE IN THE MEAN READING LEVEL OVER THE SUMMER. (a 0.1  would indicate a collective gain of about one month's worth of learning).
A NEGATIVE FRACTION IS A DECREASE IN THE MEAN READING LEVEL OVER THE SUMMER (a -0.1 would indicate a collective loss of about one month's worth of learning).

The STAR Reading assessment measures each student's Independent Reading Level at the end of each school year and again at the beginning of each school year. The benchmark for students exiting 3 grade is an IRL of 3.8 (grade 3, month 8)

This Indicator shows the increase (or decrease) in the mean Independent Reading Level of all students assessed at all schools between the end of Third grade and the beginning of Fourth grade (e.g. the mean IRL in Spring 14/15 was 3.4, and rose to a mean of 3.5 when the cohort  was reassessed in Fall 15/16)