Addressing The Reading Crisis

There is a reading crisis among school children in the Dayton region. It is bad in Dayton, but it reaches every community and school district. Learn to Earn is a collaborative effort in the community that involves businesses, schools, universities, faith communities and others to work together to address the crisis.

The primary focus of education from kindergarten through third grade is on learning to read. After that students “read to learn” as they expand into other subjects. Far too many third graders cannot meet the third grade reading standards, which means that they will begin to fall behind at a rapid rate. New this year in Ohio is the requirement that all students who cannot meet the third grade reading standards will be retained.

There are many reasons why children do not learn to read proficiently. However, research indicates that there are three primary factors:

• Not kindergarten ready—too many students begin their school careers who have rarely, if ever, been read to or had other experiences to peak their curiosity and interest in learning.
• Tardiness and absenteeism.
• The summer slide. This is especially acute among children of poverty who have few age appropriate reading materials to keep up their newly learned skills over the long summer breaks.

Some of our people tutor and mentor students at various grade levels, and that is wonderful. If you are presently tutoring or mentoring, please let me know where and how often so that we can have a better idea of what our people are doing in the community. But not everyone has the time or skill it takes to do that important work.

Many more of us can provide a book. If you have children’s books that you would be able to donate, bring them to the church. You might consider buying a new or used book on a monthly basis. Pre-school through third grade children’s books are the materials most needed. But we will accept books for older children as well.

Through CityHeart and other programs the church will distribute the books to parents and grandparents. In this way we can join with hundreds of others of good will in improving educational outcomes for vulnerable children. 

–John Paddock