The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

September 2011

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 joins United Way, the National League of Cities, and the National Civic League in hosting a webinar series on the 2012 All-America City Awards. Join us again for part one, which will provide an overview of the program, tomorrow Sept. 20, 2:00-3:00 PM EDT. Register here, and on the day of the webinar log in here. Part two, featuring local perspectives on the All-America City Award, is scheduled for Oct. 3 from 2:00-3:00 PM EDT. You can also view archived versions of these webinars – access part one, held on Aug. 25 here, and part two, held Sept. 6, here.

The Campaign is actively networking with partners to encourage local leaders to submit a letter of intent for the All-America City Grade-Level Reading Awards. Cities or communities that file their letters by Oct. 14 will become part of the Grade-Level Reading Network, with access to:

Experts in school readiness, chronic absence, and summer learning loss
Funders with an interest in supporting local campaigns
Policymakers at the federal and state levels in Campaign convenings
Models of programs and practices with proven impact
Peers in other cities facing similar challenges
Media products that can be localized to help you spread the word
Opportunities to publicize and promote your work

There are a number of resources on the Campaign website to help with the initial planning for the awards, including samples and materials that can be adapted for each community, as well as background papers, meeting agendas, press releases, and implementation plans.

Please help us spread the word and consider working with city and community leaders to submit their letters of intent by Friday, Oct. 14, 2011.

The awards are generating interest in the Campaign and news across the country. In Southern Pines, N.C., representatives from the local library, schools, and civic organizations announced a local initiative aligned with the Campaign to support existing programs that target school readiness, attendance, and summer learning. City leaders in El Dorado, Kan., have announced that they intend to enter the competition for the All-America City Grade-Level Reading Awards. Partners around the city will collaborate to develop a working plan to increase third-grade reading proficiency.

Ralph Smith, a Senior Vice President at the Annie E. Casey Foundation who is serving as Managing Director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, was awarded the 2011 Fred Rogers Award by Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families this month. The award recognizes staff, trustees, and donors who have made outstanding contributions to children, youth, and family philanthropy. Read more about the announcement here.

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.

This month the U.S. Department of Education awarded six states $180 million in federal grants to create and implement comprehensive programs for improving literacy for children from birth through 12th grade.

The states – Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, Nevada, and Montana – received grants ranging from $7.6 million to $66.5 million as part of the Education Department’s Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program. The funds will support “programs that advance literacy skills through professional development, screening and assessment, targeted interventions for students reading below grade level, and other research-based methods of improving classroom instruction and practice,” according to the Education Department.

Last year the Education Department awarded Striving Readers grants to 48 states to help them establish literacy teams and create comprehensive literacy plans. About three dozen states applied for the discretionary grants awarded this month. Although funding for Striving Readers was completely slashed in this spring’s long-term spending bill (the grant dollars awarded this month were left over from the Education Department’s 2010 budget) the Education Department still plans to award technical assistance contracts to help all states – including the six who won the discretionary grants – put their plans into action.

This technical assistance will include a grantees’ meeting, webinars, and a Summer Literacy Institute, along with other types of help depending on the needs of the states. The Education Department will also help states collaborate and share resources, allowing all states to benefit from lessons learned as the six grant winners implement their plans.

During early childhood – a critical period for brain development – children’s experiences both inside and outside the home shape their language and literacy skills, according to a new paper from Child Trends.

Child Trends has assembled a fact sheet, “What Works for Early Language and Literacy Development: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Strategies,” that reviews 15 programs that have empirical studies showing their effectiveness in developing early language and literacy skills.

The fact sheet examines programs aimed at improving children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal fluency, and letter and word recognition, among other skills. In each of the program areas the study found mixed results, with some programs having positive effects in specific areas. The PBS television series “Arthur,” for example, was found to help build children’s narrative skills.