Early Literacy
The mission of the Know & Grow Literacy Program is to bring low-performing students up to grade-level before they finish first grade.
1st Grade Poor Reader = 88% chance 4th Grade Poor Reader
If the child was a poor reader at the end of the first grade, there is an 88% probability the child will remain a poor reader at the end of fourth grade.[1]
4th Grade Poor Reader = 4x More Likely Drop Out of High School
Students who have not learned to read proficiently by the time they enter fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school, and this risk is even greater for low-income children.[2]
The statistics are staggering…nationally 82% of students eligible for free or reduced lunches are not reading at or above grade level by fourth grade. This is a great concern as the percentage of adults that did not graduate from high school in the Dinsmore community is among the highest in the nation at 17.3%.
Our long-term goal is to consistently have 90% (or higher) of students performing at grade level by the end of first grade. Currently, only slightly more than half the students meet this measurable outcome. With your help we can put these elementary children on the road to succeed in school – and beyond!
1 “Learning to Read and Write: A Longitudinal Study of 54 Children From First Through Fourth Grades” by Connie Juel, The Journal of Educational Psychology, Volume 80, Number 4, Pages 437-447, 1988
2 Double Jeopardy: How Poverty & Third-Grade Reading Skills Influence High School Graduation. 2012, The Annie E. Casey Foundation study
3 UnitedStatesZipCodes.org
