Campaign for Grade Level Reading
Ron Fairchild, Director, Network Communities Support Center
Momentum Is Building
152 communities, representing 39 states across the nation, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Virgin Islands with 1,600 local organizations (including over 100 local funders)
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The
Campaign for
Grade-Level
Reading
• Third grade is a critical juncture on the
road to high school graduation. It is the
pivot point.
• Approximately 83 percent of lowincome children miss this critical
milestone and do not read proficiently
by the end of third grade.
• Approximately 74 percent of students
who fail to read on grade level by the
end of third grade will not finish high
school on time.
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Encourage Proof Points:
Readiness, Attendance and Summer Learning
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Community
Solutions
Areas
1.
School Readiness – Too many children start school
already far behind their peers and never catch up.
2.
School Attendance – Too many students fall
behind during the year because they miss too much
school and too much instructional time.
3.
Summer Learning – Too many children lose ground
over the summer months, returning to school in the
fall further behind than when they left in June.
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Encourage
Proof Points
By 2016, at least two dozen communities report measurable
progress on:
•
School readiness: more children ready for school at age
5 and developmentally on track, including fewer children
entering kindergarten with undetected, undiagnosed and
untreated conditions and developmental delays that can
impede learning
•
Attendance/chronic absence: more children attending
school regularly, including fewer children missing school
because of preventable and manageable health
challenges such as asthma and tooth decay
•
Summer learning: more children participating in summer
programs that meet their academic and social needs and
fewer children experiencing summer as a high-risk period
with major challenges to good nutrition and fitness
•
Grade-level reading; early progress in the early
grades.
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School
Readiness
Buffalo, NY:
•
“Read to Succeed Buffalo” initiative, called Project CARE,
offers training and resources to integrate language and
literacy into family day care curricula.
•
85 percent of the children in these programs met one or
more of their developmental literacy milestones and are on
track for kindergarten readiness.
San Antonio, TX:
•
Harlandale Independent School District, 92 percent
Hispanic, offers Dual Language (DL) Head Start with twoway Spanish/English learning model.
•
83 percent of participating kids met or exceeded
developmental and learning expectations before
kindergarten.
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School
Readiness
Cincinnati, OH:
•
Every Child Succeeds offers home visits, which take place
from the time of pregnancy through the child's third birthday.
•
At any one time, close to 2,000 families are receiving home
visits. Each month, more than 160 referrals are made to ECS
and 2,900 total visits are provided. Referrals come from
community agencies (27 percent), hospitals (34 percent) and
prenatal clinics (39 percent).
•
Preliminary findings yield positive results.
–
The infant mortality rate is 4.7 per 1,000 live births, less than
one-third of the Hamilton County infant mortality rate
–
96 percent of children have a medical home; 83 percent receive
required immunizations by 2 years old
–
97 percent or more developing normally in gross and fine motor
skills, communication and other areas
–
97 percent of parents are actively involved in their child's learning
–
98 percent of homes contain appropriate learning materials
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School
Attendance
Vernon, CT:
Problem: Too many schools do not track chronic absenteeism and
offer support to families of children who miss too much school.
Solution: Vernon has implemented new school policies and
procedures that support students in attending school every day,
and is working with families who are at risk for chronic
absenteeism. The district carefully monitors data, follows up with
families and intervenes with support.
Impact: As a result, rates of chronic absenteeism dropped from
8 percent to 5 percent for K–3 students.
Percentage of Students with Moderate or Severe Chronic Absence Over Time, by Grade Level
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School
Attendance
New Britain, CT:
•
To reduce chronic absence, adapted strategies including
actionable attendance data, school attendance teams, home
visits and professional development for principals and staff,
among others.
•
As a result, the school district experienced a drop in chronic
absenteeism in grades K–8 from 20 percent to 13 percent –
including a drop from 30 percent to 18 percent in kindergarten.
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Summer
Learning
Delray Beach, FL:
•
Implemented multi-year summer reading programs at local
camps, with support from the school system on pre- and
post-reading assessments in 2012 and 2013, serving
nearly 600 students.
•
11 percent increase in number of students assessed as
“early fluent” (from 28 percent to 35 percent) or “fluent”
(from 12 percent to 16 percent) readers.
Southern Pines, NC:
•
Implemented summer reading program in 2013 with
reading activities led by teachers and teacher assistants;
one-hour weekly book club sessions led by library staff;
and 30 minutes daily of “Stop, Drop and Read” time at a
Boys & Girls Club summer camp.
•
As a result, 76 percent of youth participants maintained or
increased their reading levels, based on pre- and postprogram test data.
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Summer
Learning
Dubuque, IA:
•
Five-week Summer Academy pilot program, staffed by
certified teachers, for at-risk children who just completed
kindergarten and first grade in six Dubuque Community
Schools.
•
84 percent of students maintained or improved their reading
proficiency using DIBELS assessment.
Marshalltown, IA:
•
Rogers University provided summer reading program for
kids K–3, staffed by certified teaching staff.
•
89 percent of students met individualized reading goals.
(2014 plans include use of DIBELs reading assessment for
pre- and post-program assessments.)
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Build the Big Tent
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2015
Milestone
Third-grade reading proficiency and addressing
the health determinants of early school success
are a priority for key constituencies, including:
philanthropy, policymakers and public agencies,
sector-leading organizations and local nonprofits,
schools and school districts, advocates, media
and engaged citizens.
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Build the Big
Tent
“On course” to having grade-level reading
emerge as a priority.
• Real “stickiness” around the core aspects of the
message:
– Early reading predictor of high school graduation
– More inclusive 0–8, birth to third, early years/early
grades as more helpful frame
– Left alone, schools cannot succeed with the most
vulnerable children
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Broad
Support:
Policymakers
and Public
Officials
Governors, legislative leaders, chief state school
officers and state attorneys general are putting a
stake in the ground on reading proficiency by the
end of third grade:
• Legislation, executive order or other policy
action in 36 states and the District of
Columbia
• Increased funding for preschool in the 2013–
2014 school year in 30 states
• Multiple gubernatorial and mayoral
proclamations marking Summer Learning Day
and Attendance Awareness Month
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Broad
Support:
Policymakers
and Public
Officials
Major policymaker support organizations are onboard
National Governors Association
• Published the Governor’s Guide to Early Literacy
• Developed a state policy audit tool and working
with 6 states on early literacy strategies
U.S. Conference of Mayors
• Unanimous resolution calling on mayors to promote
and support summer learning
National League of Cities
• Arranged for more than 200 senior city staff to
participate in a local GLR Network community
coalition or meeting
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Broad
Support:
SectorLeading
Organizations
More than 50 sector-leading organizations
joining the Campaign as partners and aligning
their work and messaging with the Campaign
• Partners account for more than 40 percent of
17,000 individuals reached in 2013 “retail
evangelism”
• 400 local affiliates of national partners are
leading or participating in local sponsoring
coalitions
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Broad
Support:
Educators,
Leaders and
Leading
Organizations
•
104 superintendents have signed the Attendance Works Call to
Action
•
Bipartisan group of 5 chief state school officers co-chair the
Advisory Committee on Eliminating Chronic Absence (AECEA)
and have committed to action in their states
•
Working with the Foundation for Excellence in Education to
develop a common-sense consensus around retention/social
promotion
•
Ongoing engagement with
– American Association of School Administrators
– Chiefs for Change
– Council of Chief State School Officers
– Council of the Great City Schools
– National Association of Elementary School Principals
– National Association of State Boards of Education
– National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
– National School Boards Association
•
Collaborating with
– National Education Association
– American Federation of Teachers and the Federationrelated Albert Shankar Institute
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Engage Philanthropy:
Local & State Funders Providing Money & Muscle
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State and Local
Funders: More
Than Money
•
State and local funders bring money and muscle to
GLR communities
– 100+ local funders
– 100+ United Ways
– Funder-led efforts in AR, ME, Oakland, Sarasota
– Funder coalitions in AZ, IA, Springfield, Tacoma
– 25 quasi-public funders (First 5 California, Children’s
Services Council, FL)
Local Funder
Profile
Other*
6%
Public Foundation
3%
Private
46%
Corporation/
Corporate
Foundation
21%
Total = 114
Community
Foundation
25%
*Includes: Donor-Advised, Health
Org., Chamber of Commerce,
Quasi-Governmental NPO
State and Local
Funders: More
Than Money
•
•
•
Sustain progress in states and communities
Support state-level clustering and impact
Leverage investments, connections and credibility to:
– Push for more seamless Bt3 systems and supports
– Engage caring adults: parents, volunteers, donors
– Invest in evidence and proof points
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IOWA ─
example
•
Des Moines joined GLR in 2011 with an investment of
$500,000; by 2014, five other Iowa cities had joined with a
total investment of $6.8 million.
•
Dubuque is doubling down on the investment in the
Campaign to expand and reach two rural communities —
Jackson and Dyersville thanks to an anonymous donor.
This grant will be matched by the Community Foundation
of Greater Dubuque and will support three years of
Campaign activities.
•
The Dubuque Campaign has also hired a full-time GLR
coordinator.
•
The Iowa Council on Foundations’ education committee
made GLR a priority by joining with the Iowa Reading
Corps, Child & Family Policy Center — Third Grade
Literacy Forum and the Iowa Reading Research Center to
work together to help improve grade-level reading.
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Springfield,
MA
•
Reading Success by Fourth Grade Campaign is led by
the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation.
•
The Funder Collaborative for Reading Success includes
officials from more than a dozen banks, businesses and
foundations. The collaborative meets regularly to
consider proposals and make grants to strengthen and
advance early literacy skill development.
•
Since its formation in 2010, the group has contributed
$773,786 and committed another $108,962 to help
families support children’s language and literacy skills;
boost the ability of early childhood, after-school and
summer-learning programs to provide high-quality
programs for young children; and increase children’s
access to these programs.
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Build National
Community
Support
Center (NCSC)
Capacity
Provide local funders with:
• Information that will answer key questions —
What works? Where? Why?
• Tools to use in driving results in communities
• Supports that encourage and facilitate peer
engagement, sharing and replication
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Network
Communities
Support
Center
(NCSC)
The NCSC functions as a hub, broker and
accelerator that supports communities in producing
results.
“Accelerator” by finding
and creating catalytic
events, awards and other
“Broker” by offering
communities access to tools,
experts and information
needed to develop the
capacities (leadership,
“Hub” by serving as
the curator of learning
communities and as the
opportunities designed to
increase the scope and
pace of change
resources and skills) to
execute their plans.
navigator for the
distribution channel
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Questions and Comments
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