Dorchester County is taking a big step toward improving student success by joining the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR), a collaborative effort to improve reading proficiency, early learning, and early school success for children from economically challenged families.
CGLR partner, Dr. Michael Collins, Director of Secondary Education with Dorchester County Public Schools says, “Reading is a life skill and the foundation of education. The CGLR is an opportunity to focus on 3rd grade proficiency as an entire community in collaboration with Dorchester County Public Schools. We wholeheartedly support this initiative”.
Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and success later in life because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives. Omeaka Jackson of Harvesting Hope, notes, “Improved literacy can expand a child’s hope of being successful in school and life.”
The Dorchester County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has a goal to double the number of 3rd graders reading at or above the proficient level in the next 10 years.
The community’s action plan addresses three underlying challenges that can keep young children, especially those from economically challenged families, from learning to read proficiently — school readiness, school attendance and summer learning/afterschool.
In Cambridge, the GLR campaign is supported by the John and Janice Wyatt Foundation, county and city governments, and community groups e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Moving Dorchester Forward, Harvesting Hope, Empowerment Center, New Beginnings, Dorchester County Public Schools, Boys and Girls Club, Dorchester County Local Management Board, Dorchester County Health Department, Hyatt Regency Chesapeake, Big Brothers Big Sisters, YMCA, Dorchester County Public Library, United Way, Shore Up Head start, Healthy Families, Bond Servants, Salisbury University, Cambridge City Council, and Dorchester County Council have collaborated to develop a multiyear action plan.
Community partners will be critical to Dorchester County’s CGLR success. Julia Barker, Cambridge Empowerment Center says, “For our after school program, we are having monthly ‘Family Reading Nights’. The children are encouraged to read books and stories to their parents. We feel that parent involvement is crucial to their child’s reading success.”
“We welcome the newest members of our growing network of communities,” says Ralph Smith, managing director of CGLR. “Their commitment to this vital mission comes at a critical time when too many children are falling beyond the reach of schools. We need systems that can assure 24/7/365, two-generation supports and interventions. By taking up this challenge, each of these communities commits to do more, to do better and to make a difference in assuring more hopeful futures for the next generation.”
Membership in the GLR Network gives Dorchester County and Cambridge access to experts and policymakers focused on early literacy; assistance in addressing the challenges that keep many children from learning to read; and access to the new CGLR Community Learning for Impact and Improvement Platform (CLIP). CLIP is designed to deliver value by providing seamless access to relationships, content and data that can be used to drive impact and improvement on measures of early school success for children from low-income families.
The John and Janice Wyatt Foundation’s mission is to level the playing field for economically disadvantage students in early childhood education and out of school programming. The Campaign for Grade Level Reading is the start to fulfill this mission.
Launched in 2010, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort of funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities to ensure that many more children from low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship. Since its launch, CGLR has grown to include more than 350 communities, representing 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and two provinces in Canada — with 5,000+ local organizations and 500+ state and local funders (including 200+ United Ways).
To learn more, visit gradelevelreading.net and follow the movement on Twitter @readingby3rd.
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