By the Numbers: Why Early Literacy Matters
By the Numbers: Why Early Literacy Matters
We love having the opportunity to celebrate reading and focus on the importance of literacy every March in recognition of National Reading Month. This year, we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America Day by highlighting a few of our favorite Dr. Seuss titles, took time to talk about the importance of reading by the third grade, and shared some of our best tips for creating a classroom library students will love. But, just because Reading Month is coming to a close, the spotlight shouldn’t shift off of literacy.
To close on reading month, we’re letting the numbers do the talking, by looking at some of the key statistics on reading and literacy education. You can also check out this infographic on the impacts of literacy for early learners!
Why Literacy Matters
1 in 6 children who are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade do not graduate from high school on time –4 times greater than the rate for proficient readers1
More than $2 billion is spent every year on students who repeat a grade because of reading problems1
50% of American adults can’t read a book written at an 8th grade level1
3 out of 4 people on welfare cannot read proficiently1
50% of unemployed 16- to 21-year-olds cannot read proficiently2
85% of all kids in the juvenile court system cannot read proficiently3
Over 60% of prison inmates cannot read proficiently 3
How Reading At Home Helps
Children who are read to at least 3 times a week by a family member are twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading as compared to children who are read to less frequently1
15 minutes per day of independent reading can expose students to more than 1 million words in a year4
Children who are read to frequently are also more likely to be able to count to 20 and write their own names
The research is clear—reading makes a huge difference in every child’s academic career and their achievement outside the classroom. Plus, it’s fun! Reading allows all of us to learn new things, explore our interests, solve problems, and explore different places, cultures, times, and even worlds. So, Continue to make literacy a priority in your classroom, and share your own love for reading with your students every day!
Want to learn more about Edmentum’s online solutions to help you build strong foundational literacy skills in your students? Check out Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, our dynamic 2-in-one learn-to-read program based on the five pillars of reading!
1. https://blog.edmentum.com/infographic-impacts-literacy-early-learners
2. http://literacyprojectfoundation.org/community/statistics/
3. http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html
4. http://berniesbookbank.org/18facts/
