Introduction

Third-grade reading proficiency may be the closest thing to a silver bullet there is in education. The ability to read is a platform for independent learning. It reflects early learning at home, in a child care center or preschool, and can reliably predict future academic success. With it, a child straps on booster rockets that can transcend mediocre teachers, dispirited classmates and a lack of support at home. Without it, he or she can begin to fall behind.

For that reason, third-grade reading proficiency is a key goal of the Boston Opportunity Agenda, the Boston Public Schools Acceleration Agenda and the Boston Indicators Project’s Civic Agenda. A special Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters, summarized its importance:

"Up until the end of third grade, most children are learning to read. Beginning in fourth grade, however, they are reading to learn, using their skills to gain more information in subjects such as math and science, to solve problems, to think critically about what they are learning, and to act upon and share that knowledge in the world around them. Up to half the printed fourth-grade curriculum is incomprehensible to students who read below that grade level, according to the Children’s Reading Foundation. And three-quarters of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school, according to researchers at Yale University…. The National Research Council asserts that ‘academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade.’”

Guest blogger Irene Sege, Communications Director for Strategies for Children, describes how educators and civic leaders are aligning their work to achieve this important goal, with Massachusetts in the lead.

---Charlotte Kahn, Senior Director, Boston Indicators Project

On September 26, Governor Patrick signed An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency into law surrounded by third graders at a Stoneham elementary school.  With that, Massachusetts took an important step toward focusing on a critical educational benchmark.

MCAS testing in 2012 shows that 39 percent of the Commonwealth’s third graders read below grade level – a number that jumps to a staggering 60 percent among children from low-income families. Even among children whose families have more resources, 26 percent were less than proficient. Equally disturbing, these statistics have remained virtually unchanged since 2001, when 38 percent of third graders in Massachusetts were reading below grade level. The numbers take on added urgency in light of research showing that these struggling third-grade readers are four times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school.

In Boston, where 66 percent of third graders are not proficient in reading, Superintendent Carol Johnson and the Boston Opportunity Agenda identify the third-grade benchmark as a key metric.

The path to literacy begins at birth

The playful back-and-forth between infant and adult forms the foundation of a child’s earliest language development. The path to literacy also includes high-quality early education, as recommended by the National Early Literacy Panel.

Children’s vocabulary in kindergarten, for instance, is strongly linked with their performance as readers in high school. But by age 3, children from low-income families have vocabularies that, on average, are half the size of their peers from families of greater means. Strong instruction in the primary grades builds on the foundation laid in early childhood.

The new Massachusetts law, which was introduced by Sen. Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Rep. Marty Walz (D-Boston), was informed by the 2010 report Turning the Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success. Commissioned by Strategies for Children and partially funded by the Boston Foundation, it focuses on research-based strategies to improve the language and literacy development of boys and girls from birth to age 9.

The new law also establishes an Early Literacy Expert Panel to advise state education agencies on the alignment, coordination and implementation of language-rich curricula, effective instructional practices, professional development and training, developmentally appropriate assessment and family partnerships.

Momentum to address third-grade reading is growing on the local level as well.

Five Massachusetts cities – Boston, Holyoke, Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester – applied for the National Civic League’s All-America City Award, which this year, in partnership with the’ Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, recognized efforts to improve third-grade reading. Springfield and Pittsfield were among the 14 winners and Worcester was a finalist.

In an effort to harness this momentum, Strategies for Children has convened teams from the five cities. The goal is to create a small learning network of communities committed to pursuing best practices to improve third-grade reading proficiency. SFC is also launching a broader effort aimed at helping communities across the Commonwealth address early literacy through quarterly events designed to help them align research, policy and practice.

Ensure that children read proficiently by the end of third grade and everything else on the education agenda becomes easier – from preventing dropouts to engaging students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM subjects) to readiness for college and career.  

By preparing all of our children to read well by the end of the third grade, we can ensure that they and the Commonwealth both will face a brighter future.

Irene Sege is communications director for Strategies for Children, an independent, statewide policy and advocacy organization that works to ensure that children in Massachusetts have access to high-quality early education and become proficient readers by the end of third grade. She blogs at Eye on Early Education.

Momentum Grows to Tackle The Critical Third Grade Reading Gap

By: Irene Sege, Strategies for Children

December 19, 2012