Every Child/Every Promise, along with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, supported the launch of the Dubuque Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in 2012, answering a call to action by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. The Dubuque Campaign for Grade-Level Reading brings focus to a key predictor of school success and high school graduation: grade-level reading by the end of third grade. The Campaign is a collaborative effort by funders, nonprofit partners, school and parents to help ensure that more low-income children succeed in school and are prepared for college, a career and active citizenship.
The Summer Slide
Too many children lose ground over the summer months. Without access to the enriching activities available to more affluent peers, research shows that children from low-income families lose as much as three months of reading comprehension skills over the summer. By the end of fifth grade, they are often as much as two grade levels behind their peers.
The Attendance Gap
Too many children from low-income families miss too many days of school. Research has found that among low-income kids in the US, two in 10 missed more than 18 days of school. These students can ill-afford to lose time on task, especially in the early years when reading instruction is a central part of the curriculum.
The Readiness Gap
Too many children from low-income families begin school already far behind. The research also shows that these children are less likely to be read or spoken to regularly or to have access to books, literacy-rich environments, high-quality early care, and prekindergarten programs. Research shows that such interactions are critical for language development, an important precursor to literacy.
Raising Healthy Readers
We know that learning begins at birth, and that healthy development greatly impacts children’s ability to learn: Children who are on track in their physical, social and emotional, cognitive, and verbal development are more successful learners from their earliest years, and they are more likely to become proficient readers. At every age and stage of development, children from low-income families often receive less, and lower-quality, health care and services. As a result, they experience poor health at higher rates than children from higher income families.