From the Arizona Republic 9.15.2004; When the State of Arizona projects how many prison beds it will need, it factors in the number of kids who read well in fourth grade. Here are a host of other relevant reading facts from cyberplayground;
- Having books in the home is twice as important as the father’s education level. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2010
- The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. National Commission on Reading, 1985
- The only behavior measure that correlates significantly with reading scores is the number of books in the home.The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, 1998.
(invite me to speak at your conference) / Buy our book or donate Sample 4 minute video of Mike’s awesome talk on child protection in AmericaFollow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/KidsAtRisk
- Children who struggle in vain with reading in the first grade soon decide that they neither like nor want to read.Juel, 1998
- Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.BegintoRead.com
- Urging young people to read more when there is little available to read makes as much sense as urging starving people to eat, when no food is available. Krashen, 2007
- In middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children. Neuman, Susan B. and David K. Dickinson, ed. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2. New York, NY: 2006, p. 31.
- 80% of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children. Neuman, Susan B., et al. Access for All: Closing the Book Gap for Children in Early Education. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2001, p. 3.
- 61 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children. Reading Literacy in the United States, 1996.
- Only 24% of Waukegan 6 year olds engage with books! 2009 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, United Way of Lake County 2010
- More than $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Perhaps the most serious problem with current literacy campaigns is that they ignore, and even divert attention from, the real problem: Lack of access to books for children of poverty. Krashen, 2007
- Each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000. Rouse, C.E. (2005). “Labor market consequences of an inadequate education.” Paper prepared the Social Costs of Inadequate Education symposium, Teachers College Columbia University. October 2005
- When the State of Arizona projects how many prison beds it will need, it factors in the number of kids who read well in fourth grade. Arizona Republic (9-15-2004) Advertisement by Sheahomes
- The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print Newman, Sanford, et all. “American’s Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000
- Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year. Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988
- A single, brief exposure to good reading material can result in a clear increase in enthusiasm for reading. Ramos and Krashen, 1998; Cho and Krashen, 2002
- In 2009, Americans spent $3.2 billion on children’s books. The supply of quality used children’s books far outweighs the demand.
