(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says there have been exceptional gains in the reading, writing and math skills of Iowa’s K-through-12 students.

Tests scores show there was an 11 percent increase in reading proficiency among last year’s third graders who are now 4th graders. That’s after year one of a state law that requires all early elementary students to have their reading skills screened every other week. Tens of thousands of students got on-line tutoring to improve their ability to read. Iowa Department of Education director McKenzie Snow says science proficiency rates rose in all tested grades.

The number of students who were chronically absent has dropped nearly six percent in the past year. And 45 percent of high school seniors had some sort of outside the classroom experience about a potential career.