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Early Grade Success
Strengthening
Families
Early Learning
& Development
Kindergarten Readiness
& Early Literacy
Early Grade
Success
Grade Level
Reading Success
The Long-Term View
Although numbers have been increasing, high school graduation rates in Nevada have been consistently low compared to
the nation—reaching a maximum of only 50% during the 2011-2012 academic year—making Nevada rank last nationwide
(1). This is a concern in terms of preparing people for work and productive lives, as the percentage of occupations that are
expected to be available for people with lower education levels are decreasing as a proportion of total employment (2).
Reading is a critical predictor of high school success – or of failure. That’s because children are learning to read until fourth
grade; after that, they’re reading to learn (14).
Students who don’t read at grade level by the time they are in fourth grade typically don’t catch up (15). In later grades,
coursework gets harder, reading becomes more challenging, and those with reading troubles have difficulty coping.
This can lead to bad grades, bad behavior, “checking out” from school – and eventually dropping out.
Parents may sometimes suspect that their child is falling behind, but many parents don’t always want to believe their
child is behind. Too often, parents wait before seeking help for their children’s reading problems, expecting the children
to outgrow the problem. Parents need to know that 88% of first graders who are below grade level in reading will continue
to read below grade level in fourth grade without intervention (16). For this reason, parent engagement in their child’s
education is critical to their child’s reading success.
Missed School, Missed Learning
School Breaks and Learning Loss
A child that is not at school is a child that is not learning
Studies have shown that during the summer months,
what they need to be successful in their classroom.
students who do not practice what they learned during the
Chronic absence (missing 10% or more of the school
school year are behind once the new school year starts.
year, for any reason) is a critical problem for 1 in 10
Even though these students had similar achievement
kindergartners and first-graders all around the country (3).
scores as their peers by the end of the year, some students
Chronic absence affects a child’s academic performance
begin to fall behind in their new school year even before
not only during that school year, but also in later grades,
it starts, due to a lack of practice during the two months
as their foundations to learn the next concepts are weak.
of summer (3) (6). If this learning loss is repeated over
Kindergartners who suffer chronic absence show lower
the years, they fall further and further behind (3) (7).
levels of achievement in math, reading, and general
The point is not that children should be deprived from
knowledge during first grade (4). This is an issue that
school breaks, but instead that during these months,
is generally overlooked, either because elementary
students need to be encouraged and given the chance to
schools track average daily attendance only or unexcused
practice what they learned during the year. This way new
absences instead of any kind of absence (4) (5). Many
knowledge stays fresh in their minds and they build on
parents are not fully aware that regular attendance is
skills through time (8). Families, schools and community
critical, even in the earliest grades (3).
programs can help prevent learning loss over breaks.
Grade level reading matters
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Strategies for Success
For children to become strong readers, they need a literacy-rich environment. This starts with parents who surround their
children with books and use the library frequently. Access to books is critical. Studies confirm that the number of books in
the home directly predicts reading achievement.
Support Summer Reading
Partner with Families to Boost School Attendance
Summer reading programs can create sustained summer
Students who are chronically absent in kindergarten, first
reading and learning opportunities for school-aged children
or second grade are already at a disadvantage. Schools,
during the summer break. There are many innovative, fun
families and communities can work together to monitor
and successful strategies to keep young readers engaged in
chronic absence and address barriers to attendance,
learning, preventing the yearly ‘summer slide.’
making significant improvements possible. Outreach can
be used to educate parents, who are ultimately responsible
Support Out-of-School Tutoring and
Reading Programs
Adults can work with before- and after-school programs
(and some during the school day) to provide children
with additional reading help and the opportunity to build
supportive relationships that benefit learning.
for getting their children to school every day, that good
attendance matters as early as kindergarten. Efforts can
be made to offer individualized help to families to identify
barriers, such as lack of public transportation, bullying,
or health care issues, which can all be factors in chronic
absence. Sometimes a lack of child care for younger
siblings can prevent an older sibling from attending school.
Provide Parents with Information and Training on
Helping Their Child Improve Reading Skills
Most families want to help their child improve reading skills,
but many do not know what strategies are the most helpful,
68%
Chronic absentees were 68% less likely
or how to work with their child’s teacher in building skills
to graduate than other students who
at home. Providing parents with information about how
consistently attend school (36).
they can support their child’s school work, homework, and
skills improvement are important to building the trusting
relationship between home and school that is critical to
building success learning environments.
Did you know?
Children who do not read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to leave school without
a diploma than proficient readers (9). Researchers at Yale University found that three quarters of students who
were poor readers in the third grade remained poor readers in high school (10). Studies have also shown that
students who have low reading levels at a young age tend to have more behavioral and social problems as they
continue their school life (11) (13).
Grade level reading matters
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Works Cited
1. Education Week. Graduation Rate Trends 2006-2007 to 2011-2012. Education Week. [Online] June 2014. [Cited: December 13, 2014.] http://www.edweek.
org/ew/dc/2014/grad-rate-trends.html.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Education and Training Outlook for Occupations, 2012–22.
3. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters. 2010.
4. Chang, Hedy N and Romero, Mariajosé. Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Years. s.l. :
National Center for Children in Poverty, 2008.
5. Attendance Works. Why It Matters. Attendance Works. [Online] [Cited: December 13, 2014.] http://www.attendanceworks.org/about/why-it-matters/.
6. The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review. Cooper, Harris, et, al. 3, 1996, Review of Educational
Research, Vol. 66.
7. Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap. Alexander, Karl L, Entwisle, Doris R and Steffel Olson, Linda. 2, 2007, American Sociological Review, Vol.
72.
8. Heckman, James J and Masterov, Dimitriy V. The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children. National Bureau of Economic Research. [Online]
2007. [Cited: December 1, 2014.] http://www.nber.org/papers/w13016.pdf.
9. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Early Warning Confirmed: A Research Update on Third-Grade Reading. Baltimore : s.n., 2013.
10. U.S. Department of Education. Publications. U.S. Department of Education, America Reads Challenge. [Online] 1999. [Cited: December 19, 2014.] http://
www2.ed.gov/pubs/startearly/index.html.
11. Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations Between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low-Income Elementary School
Children. Miles, Sarah B and Stipek, Deborah. 1, 2006, Child Development, Vol. 77.
12. National Research Council. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC : National Academy Press, 1998.
13. Debra T, Robinson. A Correlation Study Between Below-Grade-Level Reading and Graduation Rates in a Southeast Georgia School System (Ph.D.
Dissertation). s.l. : UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2009.
14. Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Preventing reading difficulties in young children, ed. Catherine E. Snow, M. Susan
Burns, and peg Griffin (National Academies Press, 1998).
15. See, for example, Shaywitz, Sally E., and Jack M. Fletcher, “Persistence of Dyslexia: The Connecticut Longitudinal Study at Adolescence.” Pediatrics 104, no.
G (December 1999); 1351.
16. Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology. 80(4),
437-447.
Grade level reading matters
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