
To Bolster Grade-Level Reading, United Way of Pinal County Has A Goal To Raise $100,000
Research shows that students who do not read well by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school than proficient readers. We spend the first eight years of our life learning to read so that we can spend the rest of our life reading to learn.
WHAT MAKES THE PROBLEM WORSE?
Students in poverty are three times more likely to drop out of school or fail to graduate on time. If they read poorly, the rate is six times greater than for proficient readers. For black and Latino students, the combination of poverty and poor third-grade reading skills, makes the rate eight times greater.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
As a way to increase third grade reading scores the United Ways of Arizona and four Arizona foundations formed a statewide coalition to implement a community approach known as READ ON. This effort brings together school superintendents, nonprofit agencies and government, foundations, businesses and literacy organizations to partner in addressing the reading gap.
WHAT ARE THE HURDLES?
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
- Address the Readiness Gap by working with communities to become a READ ON community and getting more books into the hands of low-income children and supporting families to prepare children for school.
- Address the Attendance Gap by working with school districts and after-school program providers to address the service delivery and affordability gaps that exist in Pinal County.
- The Family Friends and Neighbors Caregiver Outreach Assistance Project (FFN- COAP) is supported by a generous grant from First Things First, which provides training and educational opportunities to family, friends and neighbors that take care of children in their home. The goal is to provide access to quality early childhood experiences so our children will start school healthy and ready to succeed.
- Dolly Parton Imagination Library