A new publication from KIDS COUNT® and a new video from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading underscore the gap in early reading proficiency rates between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers.

The KIDS COUNT® data snapshot Early Reading Proficiency in the United States, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, finds that the gap between lower and higher income students has increased by nearly 20 percent in the past decade.

The GLR Video illustrates this gap using stick figures to show how health factors, early education, attendance and summer learning can make a difference for children from low-income families.

Overall, 80 percent of lower-income fourth graders and 66 percent of all kids are not reading proficiently, according to scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The KIDS COUNT® snapshot analyzes the data further and finds:

• All but six states have made progress on fourth grade reading proficiency in the past 10 years, but more than half of students in every state are still not hitting that mark.
• Scores for students from higher income families increased an average 17 percent, compared to a 6 percent improvement for lower-income peers.
• 49 percent of higher income students are reading proficiently, compared to 80 percent of lower-income peers.