Students becoming proficient readers by third grade is one of the most important milestones in K-12 education as it marks the critical transition between learning to read and reading to learn. After this point, the ability to read becomes essential to successful learning in all other subjects.
Three-fourths of all students who do not read proficiently by 3rd grade will never reach full proficiency in future grades. These students are also less likely to attend college and to find living wage jobs later in life. It is clear that learning to read is a critical step in students’ development that helps set them up for successful futures. But it is not always clear to educators how to ensure that students reach this critical milestone.
Our District Leadership Forum has researched this topic thoroughly and has uncovered that science provides a blueprint for effective reading instruction. Explore the below research, tools, and resources to help you pursue the strategies and systems needed to address the reading skill gap.
Research & Insights
Narrowing the Third-Grade Reading Gap Research Brief
Explore our findings on the present challenges with reading instruction and demonstrated ways to improve reading outcomes.
How Our Brains Learn to Read
Early readers must develop certain parts of the brain and build connections between brain areas that were not connected before. Our infographic, created for the elementary classroom, presents a simplified depiction of how our brains learn to read.
Design a Summer Reading Camp
Strong summer programming can narrow the achievement gap in reading. This toolkit is designed to help districts attract and enroll students in summer programming who are struggling to read and maximize the benefits of the programming through strong attendance rates all summer long.
The Science of Reading Implementation Guide
This toolkit offers a variety of resources, templates, and discussion guides to help districts develop and sustain expertise in science-based reading instruction.
Skills-Based Grouping Toolkit
Most districts use broad grouping metrics, such as reading levels, to organize students for small group reading instruction. However, students with similar reading levels often have very different needs.
Embracing the Science of Reading On-Demand Webconference
Researchers have long examined how the brain learns to read and what this means for reading instruction. This on-demand webconference will help districts create clear and consistent structures to ensure teachers know how to translate this science-aligned reading knowledge into practice and that will support them in doing so.
Develop and Implement Schoolwide Expertise in Science-Based Reading Instruction On-Demand Webconference
This on-demand webconference focuses on building principal knowledge and teacher expertise and highlights ways to transfer practitioner knowledge into classroom action.
Mitigate Summer Slide with Engaging Summer Programming On-Demand Webconference
This on-demand webconference provides strategies for mitigating the impact of summer slide by improving student participation and engagement in summer learning programs.
Redesign Small Group Instruction to Target Student Skill Deficits On-Demand Webconference
This on-demand webconference introduces proven ways to enhance the effectiveness of small group instruction and intervention.
