READ! Reading Success by 4th Grade
When does a child learn to read? Many people might say, “in kindergarten or first grade.” But researchers have told us something very important. Learning to read and write can start at home, long before children go to school. Children can start down the road to becoming readers from the day they are born.
Very early, children begin to learn about spoken language when they hear their family members talking, laughing and singing, and when they respond to all of the sounds that fill their world. They begin to understand written language when they hear adults read stories to them and see adults reading newspapers, magazines, and books for themselves. These early experiences with spoken and written language set the stage for children to become successful readers and writers.1
Third grade marks the critical time when children shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” and begin encountering more demanding texts. Research suggests that about three-quarters of third graders who do not read well will continue to struggle throughout their school careers. They are far less likely
- to graduate from high school than classmates who are good readers
- to develop the skills needed to succeed in the knowledge-based workforce of today
- to find jobs with decent wages
- to become informed, effective citizens
and far more likely to become involved with the juvenile justice system.
Because, in Springfield, Massachusetts, 64% of the city’s third graders cannot yet read proficiently, according to the 2009 MCAS results, this statistic caused our foundation to ask “What can we do as a community to reverse this very troubling trend?”
Driven by this data and by the research, Cherish Every Child launched READ! Reading Success by 4th Grade, a campaign with a goal of 80% of Springfield’s third graders achieving reading proficiency by 2016.
Reading Success by 4th Grade: Blueprint for Springfield is a call to action, the result of twelve months of work with a range of community partners. The blueprint offers a game plan to make reading and early literacy a priority in Springfield by engaging families, schools and the community to work together so that all Springfield children are proficient readers by the end of third grade.
1 National Institute for Literacy, A Child Becomes a Reader, Proven Ideas from Research for Parents, Birth through Preschool (2006), p.1.
The Davis Foundation's pro-active grantmaking initiatives support education and through the continuum from birth to high school graduation. More »
Getting Ready. Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative. A 17-State Partnership. Prepared by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. February 2005. www.gettingready.org
