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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: 3rd Grade Reading Skills Predict High School Graduation

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Friday, April 15, 2011   

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – West Virginia children struggling with reading in third grade are more likely to miss out on a high school diploma, according to a new study that followed thousands of students through their school years. Those not reading at grade level are four times more likely not to graduate – and for kids in poverty and minorities, the likelihood of failure is higher.

Report author Donald Hernandez says reading is a skill that needs to be addressed even before a child enters kindergarten.

"Research has found that high-quality early education makes a big difference, in terms of third-grade reading scores and success through high school."

Hernandez, a senior adviser for the Foundation for Child Development, has recommendations to improve the odds: Set up preschool learning so it aligns with kindergarten lesson plans, help families out of poverty, and pay closer attention to the health and developmental needs of young children.

Jack McCarthy, managing director of the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation in Washington, D.C., provides an example of how high quality preschool pays off. He says preliminary research funded by the U.S. Department of Education shows that students who attend AppleTree programs have stronger literacy skills in grade school than those who didn't attend – even if they live in poverty.

"We see these as really strong indicators that a high-quality preschool experience, that involves pre-literacy skills and social-emotional skills, really translates into better performance in the early years."

Another underlying issue for reading success in the third grade is educational stability. Students who move often, whether because of housing issues or foster care, face additional challenges in school, says Hernandez.

"This creates difficulties, partly because we don't have curricula that are standard across schools, even within the same school district. And so, children transferring from one school to the next can't pick up where they left off."

The report, "Double Jeopardy: How Poverty & Third Grade Reading Skills Influence High School Graduation," was commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It can be viewed at http://ht.ly/4xNNK.



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