COLUMBUS, Ohio - Poverty is playing a factor in the reading proficiency of Ohio's fourth-graders, new research shows.

According to the report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the number of Ohio children not reading at grade level has improved slightly over the past 10 years, to 63 percent by 2013. But Dawn Wallace-Pascoe, Kids Count project manager for the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, said there's also a 32-percent gap between low-income children and higher-income children.

"We have some huge disparities with lower-income children in particular," she said, "so we especially need to give attention to the lower-income children and improve the rates for the state overall."

The findings came on the heels of preliminary results from an Ohio test that determines whether students will advance under the "Third Grade Guarantee." Those results showed further evidence of disparities in reading proficiency by race, with 67 percent of black and 57 percent of Hispanic students below grade level on the statewide test, compared with 37 percent of white students.

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, senior consultant at the Casey Foundation's Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, said reading well by the end of third grade is an important benchmark in predicting a student's academic success.

"Up until third grade, they're learning to read," she said. "After third grade, it's expected that they know how to read in order to absorb the material."

Wallace-Pascoe said Ohio is making strides to better focus on supports to ensure that all children can meet this reading milestone.

"We have increased funding in this year's state budget for early-childhood education; and also in 2013 expanded the 'Step Up to Quality' early-childhood ratings program," she said. "We just need to continue working to improve reading skills of our youngest readers."

The Casey report recommended giving more attention to low-performing schools and finding ways for communities to ensure that students come to school ready to learn, improve their attendance and add or expand summer learning programs.

The Casey Foundation report, "Early Reading Proficiency in the United States," is online at aecf.org.


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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Community college students in California are being encouraged to take a closer look at their education plans, to see if transferring to a state university makes sense, and new policy changes aim to ease that pathway.

The changes are part of a package of higher-education bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this month.

Two of them simplify the process for students at two-year schools to transfer to others within the state's public university systems.

Michele Siqueiros, president of the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, which championed the bills, said the changes come amid increased awareness of equity issues in the U.S.

"There are huge gaps in transfer rates, depending on race and ethnicity," Siqueiros pointed out. "You have significantly lower transfer rates for Latinx and Black students, for some southeast Asian students, for low-income students."

She pointed out a lot of the students are the first in their family to attend college, but face financial obstacles in extending their academic careers. A report from the group found among freshmen in California community colleges, only 2.5% will transfer in two years.

Among other changes, a bill signed by the governor eliminates redundancies in labeling required courses.

While an easier transfer path will help, Siqueiros noted other barriers include an insufficient number of counselors, but she hopes a simplified process means it will not be so overwhelming for students making decisions on their own.

"We shouldn't make it so confusing that you actually, you know, need to have hours of counseling session in order to get it right," Siqueiros argued.

She warned there is legitimate concern within the higher-education community about capacity at larger institutions. With the new laws in place, advocates want the state's public universities to ensure they have enough resources to welcome eligible students who plan to take advantage of the quicker pathway.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

RICHMOND, Va. - A new program aims to give underserved students of color extra support to close education and workforce training gaps that have grown worse during the pandemic.

The Racial Equity for Adult Credentials in Higher Education (REACH) program helps Black, Hispanic and Native American students deal with barriers to attending community colleges that many white students don't face.

Wayne Taliaferro, strategy officer with Lumina Foundation, which is co-sponsoring the program in Virginia and five other states, said REACH might help students of color with child care, transportation or counseling - to enhance Virginia's workforce training programs at community colleges.

"Since 2016, Virginia's been investing in short-term training programs," he said, "and then they also allow students to come back and seek further study. And so, that is something that's like, 'Oh, that's a bright spot that we can maybe build upon.'"

From the $8 million initiative, he said they hope to see at least a 2% increase in adults of color gaining credits or career advancement over the next two years. In addition to Virginia, funding will flow to community colleges in states including California, Colorado and Texas.

Even before the pandemic, Taliaferro said, higher education wasn't meeting the needs of adult students of color. As a result of chronic underfunding and other obstacles, he said, disparities arose in degree completion, job placement and earnings.

"The REACH Collaborative aims to take an active step in shifting from this present reality at community colleges, where the bulk of adult students of color are enrolled," he said. "A lot of adults enter community colleges to gain skills for jobs at different entry points. But the onramps don't always lead to quality outcomes and better earnings - or outcomes at all."

Although the numbers of Black and Latino college students have risen in the past 35 years, research shows the deficit in bachelors-degree attainment between whites and students of color has increased during that time, from 15 to 21 percentage points.

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Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.