More Than Half of FL Fourth-Graders Aren't Reading at Grade Level
Posted January 29, 2014 12:45 pm
TALLAHASSEE, FL -
Six out of 10 fourth-graders in Florida aren't reading
at grade level, according to a new report on early
reading proficiency from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The state is doing slightly better than the national average, and the report credited Florida's voluntary pre-kindergarten program offered to all 4-year-olds.
Susan Weitzel, director of Florida Kids Count, said
the state's continued success relies heavily on
community involvement to offset some parents' inability
to help support reading skills.
"Some of it is due to time; some of it is due to
inability to read themselves," Weitzel said. "The more
the community can get involved in making reading
exciting, the more success I think we'll see in that
arena."
Links:
•
Early Reading Proficiency in the
Unites States
•
Florida Kids Count
•
Children's Movement of Florida
Family income level also makes a difference.
Researchers found that 73 percent of low-income children
in Florida lacked reading proficiency by fourth grade,
compared with 42 percent of children from higher-income
families.
The Casey Foundation also found large disparities
between racial backgrounds, with 83 percent of black
children not reading at grade level, compared with 55
percent of their white counterparts. Elizabeth Burke
Bryant, senior consultant for the Casey Foundation's
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, said the disparities
impact children in their academic life - and beyond.
"Up until third grade, they're learning to read," she
said. "After third grade, it's expected that they know
how to read in order to absorb the material."
In addition to its pre-K program, Weitzel said, Florida
has a number of programs that enlist members of the
community to help students learn to read better - and
volunteers always are needed.
"The communities can get much more involved to make
reading a success, and to help them reach that kind of
proficiency," she said."There are programs that the
adults in our communities can get involved with."
ReadingPals is one such program, organizing volunteers
who dedicate one hour a week to read in individual or
small group settings at schools. According to
ReadingPals research, children who are not reading at
grade level by third grade are four times more likely to
drop out of high school.
Photos/graphics and links added by the Observer