Paterson Reads is one of 160+ communities from 41 states representing 350 school districts of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, working to get more kids reading well by the end of third grade. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort by foundations, nonprofit partners, states, and communities nationwide to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career, and active citizenship. The campaign focuses on the most important predictor of school success and high school graduation—grade-level reading by the end of third grade.

Research shows that proficiency in reading by the end of third grade enables students to shift from learning to read to reading to learn and to master the more complex subject matter they encounter in the fourth-grade curriculum. Most students who fail to reach this critical milestone falter in the later grades and often drop out before earning a high school diploma. Yet two-thirds of U.S. fourth graders are not proficient readers, according to national reading assessment data. This disturbing statistic is made even worse because more than four out of every five low-income students miss this critical milestone.

Although schools must be accountable for helping all children achieve providing effective teaching for all children in every classroom every day, the campaign is based on the belief that schools cannot succeed alone. Engaged communities mobilized to remove barriers, expand opportunities, and assist parents in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities to serve as full partners in the success of their children are needed to assure student success.

For more information, go to gradelevelreading.net.