Poverty + poor reading = dropout
3rd grade reading ability tied to high school graduation
Sometimes you have to wonder what the tipping point is for taking education research and moving it into action. It’s been years since educators recognized the importance of third grade as the year when children move from learning to read to reading to learn. Yet, reading proficiency for fourth graders in the United States has been fairly stagnant according to theNational Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), rising four points between 1992 and 2009.
Children below basic in reading account for a third of all students, but are 63% of those who don't graduate from high school. (click to enlarge)
Now comes a new longitudinal report, about as unequivocal as this sort of research can be, showing a direct link between third grade reading and high school graduation. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School
