NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Communities Recognized as National Pacesetters

Congratulations to Read Charlotte and WAKE Up and Read! Both have been recognized as national Pacesetters by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for their work to ensure more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship. More than 300 communities across the country are partners in the Campaign.

WAKE Up and Read was recognized for reporting population-level, measurable progress in school readiness for children from low-income families. Successes include an increase in school readiness for entering Wake kindergarteners in Title I schools; in 2014-2015, just 22 percent of Wake County incoming kindergarteners in Title I schools were at or above proficiency in reading, and by 2016-2017, that percentage increased to 34 percent. WAKE Up and Read, along with other numerous agencies and organizations in Wake County who support young children and families, contributed to this change by offering learning opportunities for families through targeted messaging and helping them build home libraries.

Read Charlotte was recognized for its exemplary community-wide mobilization, cross-sector collaboration and strong funder coalition as well as for its careful efforts to align and stack proven programs and practices. Read Charlotte’s plan is grounded in a set of eight research-based indicators that predict third-grade reading outcomes with practices/programs that show evidence of increasing literacy. Read Charlotte also made presentations and sought input from 80 community groups throughout the city and created four Action Learning Teams to lead the way on Active Reading, Summer Reading, Family Engagement and Kindergarten Success.

Read the WAKE Up and Read press release here.