First Round of Reading Test Exemptions Impacted More Than 1,300 Learners

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on July 6, 2025

BOISE, ID – About 1,350 students who are learning English were exempted from the state’s fall 2024 literacy exam, according to the Idaho Department of Education.

It was the first time beginning English language learners (ELLs) were able to skip the high-stakes Idaho Reading Indicator, which K-3 students take each fall and spring. The exempted students represented about 1.5% of K-3 students. 

Proponents of the exemption said that for beginning language learners, the test reflected English fluency rather than reading ability.

“It’s data that’s not useful to teachers,” Rep. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise, told EdNews last spring after the exemption was signed into law. Plus, the testing experience was stressful and confusing for English language learners.

Galaviz and Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, had co-sponsored the bill, which allows IRI exemptions for language learners who have been in a U.S. school for two years or less, and score low on the state’s English language proficiency test.  

Each school ultimately decides whether to allow qualifying students to skip the exam. 

New data from the IDE shines a light on which school districts had the most student exemptions:

1. West Ada, 310 students exempted (3% of test takers)
2. Boise, 225 students exempted (4% of test takers)
3. Twin Falls, 111 students exempted (4% of test takers)
4. Idaho Falls, 104 students exempted (4% of test takers)
5. Jerome, 91 students exempted (16% of test takers)

At each of those districts, fall reading scores improved from the year before — though the improvements could be due to a number of factors.

The districts below had the highest percentage of exemptions, as compared to overall test takers:

1. Jerome, 16% of test takers exempted
2. Clark County, <16% exempted
3. Valley, 13% exempted
4. Dietrich, <11% exempted
5. Aberdeen, 9% exempted

In these districts, the fall 2024 scores were more mixed — some were improvements from the year prior, and others were not. 

For more information on the IRI and other standardized testing, go here.