Friday, April 22, 2011

3rd Grade Reading Predicts High School Graduation Rate

Foundation Study Shows Effects Of Early Reading And Poverty

A new study from the Annie E. Casey Foundations shows that reading skills of 3rd graders and poverty predict the later high school graduation rates of those students.

One in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers.

The rates are highest for the low, below-basic readers: 23% of these children drop out or fail to finish high school on time, compared to 9% of children with basic reading skills and 4% of proficient readers. Overall, 22% of children who have lived in poverty do not graduate from high school, compared to 6% of those who have never been poor.

This rises to 32% for students spending more than half of their childhood in poverty. For children who were poor for at least a year and were not reading proficiently in third grade, the proportion that do not finish school rose to 26%. That's more than six times the rate for all proficient readers.

The rate was highest for poor black and Hispanic students, at 31% and 33%, respectively - or about eight times the rate for all proficient readers.

No comments:

Post a Comment