The purpose of this quantitative methods study was to determine a relationship between instructional reading strategies and standardized test performance for third-grade students in Phoenix, Arizona, and counties in Arizona school districts. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 enhanced accountability policies in the United States, and standardized testing became prevalent as a policy tool to ensure accountability in K-12 education. High stakes of state-administered accountability tests, more school teachers have adopted test-preparation strategies to ensure student performance on state tests. The instructional strategies investigated have been implemented in Arizona school districts and were shown to affect student test performance. The general population for the study consists of third-grade students in 21 public elementary classrooms English Language Arts (ELA) across Phoenix, Arizona school districts Creighton and Roosevelt school districts. The schools that use instructional reading strategies as Move On When Reading in 21 schools from The Schools of Nogales Unified, K-8 Charter School and Pinal County, and Yuma Elementary School Districts. The Mann-Whitney U tests were used in this quantitative methods study. The relationship between instructional reading strategies and standardized test scores. The Mann-Whitney U identifies whether a relationship exists between instructional reading strategies and third-grade students who participate in instructional reading strategies before their standardized test and the students that do not. The benefits of students receiving instructional reading strategies before their standardized tests have shown an increase in third-grade students' standardized tests scores. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]