Research is clear that third grade reading is impacted by a wide range of factors. As outlined in North Carolina’s Measures of Success Framework (LINK), those factors range from healthy birthweight to on-track social-emotional development and from strong parent-child relationships to high quality teachers and administrators. When we look at third grade reading proficiency from a whole child, cross-sector, birth-through-age-eight perspective, it becomes more than a critical literacy milestone; it is also a measure of overall child and family well-being.
A recent EdNC article shared Read Charlotte’s research and thinking on some specific levers that can improve early literacy, including:
- Great teaching (pre-K through third grade)
- Empowering families (birth through third grade)
- Building home libraries (birth through third grade)
- High-quality, targeted tutoring (kindergarten through third grade)
- Summer reading (kindergarten through third grade)
The article and Read Charlotte’s Reading Success Pathway go into more detail on each of these levers.