Reading ability forms a strong measure of how well the educational system is serving students and preparing them for future success, which is why weight is given to reports about the adequacy of a school’s reading curriculum and means of making children more adept readers. Unfortunately, a new national study conducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation suggests that schools are falling short on this count, especially when it comes to students from lower-income families. The report states that four out of five lower-income fourth grade students are not reading at a proficient level. However, the problem is not just limited to lower-income students: two out of three total students do not read at a proficient level.
Report Based on Strict Standards
Parents may wonder how they have not heard before about fourth-graders lagging behind so much in their reading skills. The reason is that the standards used in the Casey Foundation report are some of the highest; in fact, they are stricter than many of the standards that schools in various states employ. The report is based on data collected when the notoriously difficult National Assessment of Educational Progress test was administered in 2003 and then again in 2013. Still, even if the troubling results were generated by a test with unusually high standards, the findings remain important because of the general trends observed.
Racial and Economic Gaps Exist
Between the two test administrations, children from lower-income families did not improve their test scores as much as their peers from higher-income families. The report also found that white and Asian students tended to read at or above a proficient level, while Latino and African American children were more likely to fall below that mark. Children in the process of learning English also had a heightened risk of being below proficient. While 55 percent of white children and 49 percent of Asian children read at a below-proficient level — results that are troubling on their own — 81 percent of Latino children and 83 percent of African American children fall into the same category.
Geography Also Plays a Role
The Casey Foundation also broke the data down to be analyzed on the state level. Encouragingly, forty-four states had made improvements in building stronger reading skills among fourth-graders. However, although geographic differences existed, more than 50 percent of students in every state were failing to read at a proficient level. Massachusetts fared best, with just 53 percent of students reading at a level below proficient, but unfortunately, the difference between the reading levels of higher- and lower-income students was higher in Massachusetts than most other states. The worst overall results, meanwhile, occurred in Mississippi and New Mexico, where 79 percent of students, or over three out of four children, were reading below standard.
Why Reading Ability Merits Ongoing Reporting
Based on past studies and analyses, the Casey Foundation has determined that reading ability is a strong indicator of student wellness, not to mention a predictor of how students will succeed in the future. Reading ability can even suggest whether students will complete high school and earn a suitable income as adults. In addition to conducting ongoing research, the Casey Foundation strives to help today’s students through supporting the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which encourages students to improve reading ability by following a proven reading curriculum, being prepared, attending class, and staying mentally active during the breaks between school years.