The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
This
morning, I had the opportunity to attend a community meeting on literacy. The
event was sponsored by the Ames Tribune
and hosted by Ames Reads. Ames Reads is a collaborative initiative
of many partners with a shared agenda in ensuring all children read and
comprehend at or above grade level by 2020. Raising
Readers of Story County is one partner of Ames Reads and I am fortunate enough to be a volunteer for the
organization. The Ames Public Library
is another key partner in this effort. The purpose of the event was to raise
awareness of local literacy initiatives and promote The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which is a national effort.
Ralph Smith, Senior
Vice President of The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and Managing Director for The
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading was an inspiring speaker at the event. Many
of the points Smith expressed are profound and have an effect on families. I
want to highlight a few of his points:
·
To combat
intergenerational poverty we need to assist children in accomplish three
goals:
o
Graduate from high school
o
Acquire the skills to obtain and maintain
employment
o
Delay pregnancy/parenting until at least age 25
·
Grade-level reading proficiency by third grade
will help us with the above goals
·
What can members
of the community do?
o
Focus on reading readiness
o
Invest in local literacy initiatives
o
Train teachers and tutors to offer QUALITY
instruction
o
Embrace the Reach
Out and Read model
o
Offer information to parents
o
Encourage reading of all languages
·
What can
parents do?
o
READ! READ! READ! Read to your children
o
Work on school attendance—get children to school
on time each day
o
Make summer an OPPORTUNITY—not a risk!
o
Take advantage of “teachable moments”
o
Reading should be an ENGAGING experience
o
Seek support from community
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
You may be asking yourself,
why did Randie write about this?
What is the big deal about
this campaign? Why should I care?
All of these questions are
valid and great. We know that neighborhoods and community influence the
behaviors and choices of children[1]. Smith
shared that 68% of the nation’s children (80% of which are children living in
poverty) are not reading at grade-level by third grade. This is a critical landmark
for future success. Minority children, especially African-American boys, all
too often fall victim to these statistics, missing this landmark goal. Taking
part in community-wide efforts to tackle reading readiness, school absence, and
summer learning loss is an effective way to not only foster children’s academic
success but also support families and break the cycle of poverty by preparing
children for graduation and beyond.
For more information about the initiatives and organizations
mentioned in this blog, please visit their websites listed below:
The
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, http://gradelevelreading.net/
Raising
Readers of Story County, http://www.raising-readers.org/
The
Annie E. Casey Foundation, http://www.aecf.org/
Ames
Public Library, http://amespubliclibrary.org/
[1]
South, S. J. & Crowder, K. (2010). Neighborhood poverty and nonmarital
fertility: Spatial and temporal dimensions. Journal
of Marriage and the Family, 72, 89–104.
*Photo credit: http://www.aecf.org/AboutUs/LeadrshpMgmtTrustees/Smith.aspx
*Photo credit: http://www.aecf.org/AboutUs/LeadrshpMgmtTrustees/Smith.aspx
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