The Pre-K Coalition, a collaboration among education groups to build awareness of pre-K and develop common principles for pre-K policy, has released a new policy brief detailing how aligning early education from pre-K through third grade can increase grade-level reading proficiency.

The brief, “The Importance of Aligning Pre-K through 3^rd Grade,” highlights effective strategies states and school districts around the country are using to strengthen early learning, and makes recommendations for how the federal government can best help support these efforts. The brief particularly looks at the importance of building a pre-K through third grade educational model through the lens of grade-level reading. New results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show a flat line in 4^th grade reading achievement in recent years. A third of our nation’s fourth grade students are performing below the basic level in reading, and for low-income students the statistics are  worse – 35 percent of students who qualify for reduced-price lunches and 50 percent of students who qualify for free lunches are below basic, according to the 2011 NAEP reading assessment.

The brief emphasizes the impact of community collaboration – such as the All-America City Grade-Level Reading network – and high-quality pre-K on reading scores, particularly for low-income students. School districts that have adopted an integrated pre-K through third grade model, like  Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, have reported significant growth in student achievement, including a narrowing of the achievement gap and significant benefits for English Language Learners. For more information about what other districts and states are doing, as well as the coalition’s recommendations for federal policy, read the report here.