Education Week: Early literacy has become a priority all across the country. According to recent research, reading proficiency in 3rd grade is considered to be critical to student success in education. This report, written by Donald J. Hernandez and supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, found that children are not reading proficient by the 3rd grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school by the age of nineteen. Furthermore, if these children are from a low socio-economic background and are not reading proficient, they are thirteen times more likely to drop out of high school. A similar finding is reflected in this video by Horizons National, which emphasizes the importance of summer learning for closing the achievement gap.

The Education Week article highlights several state initiatives which aim to diagnose reading difficulties and intervene before the 3rd grade. In the past year, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, and New Mexico  have passed laws which require schools to be more proactive in optimizing student reading skills in the years leading up to the third grade milestone.

RFA has a rich history of studying the significance of early literacy and reading proficiency. RFA’s literacy-focused work has included research on a range of settings, including early grades, high schools, alternative schools, and out-of-school settings. To learn more about RFA’s work with building literacies in and out of school, click here.

RFA  is conducting an evaluation of another literacy intervention, this time by American Reading Company. You may have heard of its 100 Book Challenge, an effort to encourage reading and literacy, which was adopted by thousands of schools across the country. American Reading Company has expanded that effort to implement ACTION 100, a comprehensive intervention to improve literacy that aligns with the Common Core State Standards. As it rolls out its 100 Book Challenge and ACTION 100 initiatives in 19 elementary schools in Camden, New Jersey, RFA will study its progress and document its effect on raising students’ literacy levels. RFA will also provide case studies of two elementary schools that have implemented the ACTION 100 model to provide a portrait of successful schools, to identify important conditions of their success, and to provide a road map and a set of lessons that can be used to create other successful ACTION 100 schools. These schools were awarded School Improvement Grants totaling $5.4 million and American Reading Company is serving as the lead partner in program implementation.

Check out these Action 100 videos, provided by the American Reading Company.

Watch this CBS News video on schools in Camden, New Jersey.