Reading Can Change The World

My job should not exist.

I teach high schoolers how to read.

They should already have their decoding skills by the end of 3^rd grade. Yet here they are in high school unable to decode language well enough to comprehend let alone learn new information from required reading.

According to A KIDS COUNT Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation “Of the fourth-graders who took the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test in 2009, 83% of children from low-income families—and 85% of low-income students who attend high-poverty schools—failed to reach the “proficient” level in reading. Reading proficiently by the end of third grade is a crucial marker in a child’s educational development. Failure to read proficiently is linked to higher rates of school dropout.”

Some people see students unable to read by 4^th grade and discount them.

Most see teenagers unable to read by high school and completely count them out.

They will become the dropouts. The ones who couldn’t hack it. And perhaps that’s just the way of the world. In fact, the myth is that communities can plan future prison space based on 3^rd grade reading data, and certainly based on dropout numbers.

But I look at this data and ask: How can I change the outcome?

Many of my students have illiterate parents: parents who can’t read, parents with dyslexia, parents who dropped out, parents who live in cycles of poverty and substance abuse and can’t envision a different future for their kids. The kids aren’t even aware there is an alternative.

Last week during lunch I overheard students talking about their summer jobs.

“I might work at the pool. But the application is long.”

“You could work for the parks & rec kids camp.”

“Nah, I’m not really good with little kids.”

“I’ll probably just work at Town Pump. It’s where my mom works.”

“Your mom works at Town Pump? Which one? My stepdad works at the gas station south of town.”

“Hey, my dad and brother both work at the Town Pump. What a coincidence.”

It’s not a coincidence that cycles of illiteracy lead to poverty, often substance abuse, and generally unfulfilling lives.

We can do better.

All kids can learn to read.

It’s not too late.

It doesn’t take expensive curriculum, online software, or systemic change.

It’s not rocket science; you get better at reading by reading.

Be consistent. Teach them where they are. Provide small doses of instruction day by day. Build stamina. And read. Just read.

Join me in a reading revolution.

Reading can change the world.