Third grade is a critical year for young readers, predicting the success of their future education. See how well your local schools are doing at producing proficient readers by the end of third grade.
Students are back in school, so how well is your local public school preparing children to read by the critical third-grade milestone?
In Illinois, 7 of 10 third graders can’t read at grade level. That means there’s trouble awaiting most Illinois students.
If a child has not learned to read by the end of third grade, that child is likely to struggle throughout his or her education. That’s because fourth grade is when students move from learning to read to reading as their main method of learning.
There is a literacy crisis in Illinois, and it threatens the future of Illinois’ children – but it can be fixed. Five proven reforms used in other states can be promoted by Illinois lawmakers and embraced by local school districts:
- Provide an early universal reading screening for every student in first through third grades to identify reading deficiencies.
- Provide reading interventions for any student in first through third grades with a reading deficiency.
- Notify parents and keep them engaged in their student’s reading deficiency diagnosis and intervention.
- Ensure schools use science-based instruction methods to teach reading.
- Discuss and determine grade promotion decisions with parents and teachers for students whose reading deficiencies are not remedied by the end of the school year.
Illinois’ young students have a literacy problem, but there is a solid solution. Adults just need to help them by making the right decisions.
