NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Join a statewide network working to ensure more children read proficiently by third grade.
Working with NC communities to improve early literacy in low-resourced areas and support lifelong student success
The NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is part of the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Since 2015, the NC Early Childhood Foundation has served as the state lead, partnering with communities across North Carolina to help more children read proficiently by the end of third grade.
In this role, we strengthen local capacity by helping communities build lasting partnerships that drive measurable results for children and families. We do this by:
- Creating and sustaining a learning network where communities can share best practices, data, and resources related to school readiness, school attendance, and summer learning.
- Developing adaptable tools and resources that help communities promote understanding of prenatal-to-age-eight child development and the importance of grade-level reading.
- Supporting local partners as they move from awareness to engagement to action in advancing the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.
News & Resources
Summer Learning Toolkit
Download our most recent Summer Learning Toolkit and leap into summer learning with your student.
A New Perspective on Chronic Absenteeism: Highlighting the Good News Hidden Inside
While chronic absenteeism remains a serious challenge, some NC schools are making meaningful progress in improving attendance. This research analyzes attendance trends across more than 1,300 elementary schools and highlights schools that have successfully reduced absenteeism, including several high-poverty schools that are outperforming expectations. Inside, you’ll find: seven years of attendance trends across North Carolina, interactive data that allows users to explore individual schools, examples of schools that are improving attendance, insights into how poverty and attendance are connected, and opportunities to learn from successful attendance recovery efforts.
Science of Reading Implementation Briefs: Learning from Educators
Lessons from educators on the pathway to implementing the Science of Reading in North Carolina classrooms.
Data Dashboard: EQUITY FOCUSED Third Grade Reading Proficiency
Explore our three education equity dashboards to see early literacy disparities across North Carolina- filter by state, district, and school levels.
What can you do?
Get involved in your community. Connect with partners at your local Campaign for Grade-Level Reading collaborative working to improve early literacy outcomes.
NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Timeline
Expansion in the Piedmont
Love Literacy in Forsyth County files a letter of intent to join the NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.
Expansion and National Recognition
Read to Grow in Johnston County joins, led by the Partnership for Children of Johnston County, and Read Charlotte earns national Bright Spot recognition for its Reading Checkup initiative during COVID-19. WAKE Up and Read earned national Pacesetter recognition for its Wake Together and Reaching Families, Raising Readers programs, which support early school success and equitable learning recovery.
State and National Honors for Literacy Work
Book Harvest is named a Library of Congress Best Practices Honoree, and Read ENC receives the James B. Hunt Literacy Award. Twin Counties Read to Rise earns national Pacesetter recognition, while the Durham Campaign and Book Harvest are recognized as a Bright Spot for Books and Beyond.
New Community and Attendance Awareness
Ready for School, Ready for Life in Guilford County joins the Campaign. Sixty-five North Carolina school superintendents pledge to reduce chronic absenteeism, and WAKE Up and Read earns national Pacesetter recognition for advancing early school success.
National Recognition and Community Growth
The NC Early Childhood Foundation, Chatham Reads, Growing Moore Readers, WAKE Up and Read, and Read Charlotte receive national recognition for their awareness campaigns and summer learning programs, and school readiness progress. The NC Department of Public Instruction recognizes six Campaign communities. Organizations in Nash/Edgecombe, Rowan, Wayne, Chatham, Durham, and Orange counties join.
NC CGLR Initiative Launches
We are appointed NC’s state lead for the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, launching the initiative with three inaugural counties: Mecklenburg, Moore, and Wake. Organizations in Gaston County join the Campaign, and Growing Moore Readers earns a national Pacesetter recognition for making measurable progress in removing barriers to reading proficiency.
NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Communities
- Chatham County: Chatham Reads
- Durham County: Durham’s Partnership for Children; Book Harvest
- Gaston County: Gaston County Early Literacy Collaborative
- Moore County: Growing Moore Readers
- Johnston County: Read to Grow
- Orange County: Orange County Partnership for Young Children
- Mecklenburg County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading: Read Charlotte
- Guilford County: Ready for School, Ready for Life
- Nash & Edgecombe counties: Twin Counties Read to Rise
- Wake County: WAKE Up and Read