To Prepare for 21st Century Jobs, States Must Make Early Literacy a Top Priority
March 27, 2018
By: Mark Johnson
Source: The 74
I am North Carolina’s public schools superintendent — I’m also the father of a 5-year-old about to enter kindergarten. My wife and I work with her so that she can recognize her letters and numbers, hold a pencil, and know how to behave in class to learn best from her teacher. I don’t just preach the importance of early childhood literacy, I practice it every day.
Unfortunately, many students, often depending on their backgrounds, are not where educators need them to be when they start the school year. This is especially true for students who come from poverty. Impoverished parents, like their children, face many additional challenges that can make helping their young ones overcome the achievement gap even more difficult. Less than half of our fourth graders in North Carolina have the reading skills they need, according to 2015 results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card. This trend is sadly consistent across our nation.