The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a determined effort to mobilize philanthropic leadership around moving the needle on third grade reading over the next decade.

The Campaign will join the United Way Worldwide, the National League of Cities and the National Civic League in hosting a webinar series on the 2012 All-America City Awards. The first webinar, on Aug. 25, 2-3 p.m. EDT, will provide an overview of the award program. Register here. The second webinar is set for Sept. 6, 2-3 p.m. EDT. For questions about registering, contact Mariana.Florit@unitedway.org.

A new partnership between the BUILD Initiative and the First Five Years Fund will help states plan, apply for and implement the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grants that were announced by the U.S. Department of Education this past May. The Early Learning Challenge Collaborative, an effort supported by private funding, is working to:

• Cultivate a pool of outstanding state applications;
• Promote the development of high-quality and robust cross-sector early childhood systems connected to education outcomes in all states;
• Support states with sophisticated and individualized technical assistance, consultation services and information, with a further emphasis on creating a learning community among participating states; and
• Develop a coordinated federal policy and advocacy strategy to sustain funding and inform policy in this area, both short and long-term.

The Collaborative will offer technical assistance to states interested in applying for the $500 million federal grant program, including policy materials and calls with national experts. Some tools – including a Simple Task List, FAQ, and template for initial state discussions – are already available here. The Collaborative will also work more intensively with selected states.

The Collaborative has identified priorities for states’ comprehensive early childhood systems, including presence of assertive leadership, coherent organizational structure, entrepreneurial commitment to high quality, intentional focus on high-needs children and commitment to systems that provide high-quality programs and services.
Read more on the partnership opportunities for states here.

For more information about the technical assistance and learning community activities, contact Kathy Glazer, BUILD’s States Services Director, at kglazer@buildinitiative.org or 804-350-3782. For more information about the federal policy and advocacy effort, please contact First Five Years Fund National Director Harriet Dichter at hdichter@ffyf.org or 202-248-5075.

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More than 600 executives from chambers of commerce across the country gathered in Los Angeles for their annual convention this month, providing the perfect backdrop to introduce the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to business leaders. Ralph Smith, a Senior Vice President at the Annie E. Casey Foundation who is serving as Managing Director of the Campaign, addressed the group Aug. 4 during the opening plenary session of the American Chambers of Commerce Executives (ACCE) annual convention. The convention was hosted by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, a key partner for the Campaign in the Los Angeles area.

The Campaign’s mission resonated with many of the local chamber members who shared concerns that too many of our children are not succeeding in school and thus are not well-prepared for success in life.

Several chamber leaders described their work in developing or implementing reading programs in their communities, while others expressed interest in learning how they can get more involved in such efforts. The Campaign will continue to follow up with these leaders and encourage them to apply for the National Civic League’s 2012 All-America City Grade-Level Reading award. Letters of intent are due Oct. 14. Many cities have already expressed interest in competing for the award. Please help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity for cities to join this competition and get the support and recognition they deserve as they work to improve reading achievement in their schools.

The Campaign worked closely with the ACCE and LA Chamber staff to increase the Campaign’s visibility at the conference, both in the exhibit hall and on the virtual exhibit site. The Campaign has already started planning for an expanded presence at the event in Louisville, Ky. in 2012.

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Stay on top of all that is new with the Campaign and with the progress of grade-level reading by making a regular visit to the website: www.gradelevelreading.net. The site offers a comprehensive news source on issues related to early childhood, reading development and achievement. Get the latest updates on federal initiatives or state campaigns and read recent studies on child development and literacy.

The Campaign and issues related to grade-level reading continue to make headlines. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson continued to use his bully pulpit to draw attention to third grade reading, this time at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual legislative summit. Education Week reports on his remarks here. Sacramento has scheduled the official kickoff of Sacramento READS! 3rd Grade Literacy Campaign for Aug. 24, with a community fair that will feature information and activities for children and their families.

In New Britain, Conn., the local Campaign for Grade-Level Reading that was launched last September is gaining steam, according to this news article. News of the 2012 All-America City Award has also spread. Some local communities – including Richmond, Ind., which is highlighted in this piece – are already starting to plan for the competition, which will reward those jurisdictions that have developed the most comprehensive, realistic and sustainable plans to increase grade-level reading proficiency by the end of the third grade.

The Campaign continues to highlight Bright Spots in education, and recently profiled more than a dozen prominent programs that have evidence that they are increasing the number of low-income children who succeed in school. The programs focus on some of the Campaign’s key issues, including school attendance, school readiness, quality teaching and summer learning.

The programs range from national in scope, such as the Success for All Foundation and National Center for Family Literacy, to local initiatives like the AppleTree Institute in Washington and New Mexico K-3 Plus in Albuquerque. You can find profiles of each of the Bright Spot programs on the Campaign’s website.

In addition to these programs, the Campaign has previously profiled 12 Bright Spot schools. The schools are located all across the country, serve large urban centers and rural areas, and educate children of every racial and ethnic group. But they have one thing in common: Each has raised third grade reading scores in their community. In these schools 70 to 100 percent of the students qualify for Free and Reduced-price Meals, yet 65 to 100 percent of the third graders achieved reading proficiency on state tests. You can find profiles of each of the Bright Spot schools on the Campaign’s website.

There is some good news in the NCES study released this month mapping state proficiency standards in reading and math to NAEP scales. But while many states have taken steps to increase the rigor of their assessment standards, there is still wide variation across the country about what “proficiency” means, and states’ expectations for what their students should know and be able to do are generally lower than those of the national assessments.

The new findings show that between 2007 and 2009, eight states raised the bar in one or more grade levels or subjects. Only two states decreased student expectations. This is a marked improvement over the study of proficiency standards between 2005 and 2007 that found two dozen instances in which states had lowered their cut scores.

But disparities still exist, and the largest exists for fourth grade reading scores, where 35 states’ proficiency criteria fell below the “basic” level of NAEP.