Partner to close achievement gap

By Jody Murph

The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently reported that 68 percent of America's fourth-graders and

66 percent of those in Iowa scored below proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test in 2009. Most of these children will never catch up, putting them at greater risk for absenteeism, dropping out, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.

Every year, 1.2 million students drop out of high school, contributing to a growing population of young adults who are not prepared to enter an increasingly competitive work force or to take their place as our nation's future leaders. Instead, they eventually constitute 75 percent of our prison population and cost more than $200 billion in lost earnings and tax revenue.

Students at risk of dropping out can often be identified early. They are more likely to live in poverty, to be part of a minority group and less likely to be ready to learn when they first enter school. In some states, the failure rate on third-grade reading tests is now used to help project the number of jail cells that will be needed when those third-graders are adults.

Before we can decrease the dropout rate, we must first close the school readiness gap and ensure that every child enters school prepared to learn. Thirty-five percent of American children arrive at kindergarten without the basic skills they need to succeed.

The single most effective thing parents can do to help their children is to read aloud to them every day, but unfortunately, this happens for fewer than half of U.S. children. Many parents weren't read to as children, don't have access to books or don't understand the incredible impact that this simple daily routine can have on the rest of their children's lives.

Because of their relationship with parents and the fact that they see children frequently in the first critical years of a child's life, pediatric health care providers are ideally positioned to communicate the importance of early reading to parents before their children enter school. More than 27,000 doctors nationwide incorporate school readiness as a critical component of the care provided for young children.

Pediatric care providers, using the Reach Out and Read, or ROR, research-based model, give each child a brand-new book at every checkup, and talk with parents about the importance of reading aloud every day. The 52,000 children served annually by ROR in Iowa read together with their families more often, and enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills.

A key recommendation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's report is to embed reading “in the agencies and institutions that work and interact with young children and families.” ROR is working to achieve that goal in Iowa and nationwide, and to directly address many of the obstacles that low-income children and families face.

To be successful, we must strengthen and support families, schools and communities so children enter school healthy and developmentally and emotionally ready to learn. Integrating a high-quality educational system with health care, and other community resources and systems, could more effectively nurture and support young children and their families.

By working together to engage community systems of care and education and legislators at all levels, and by supporting successful programs such as ROR, we can begin to ensure that every child has the tools and the opportunity they need to excel in school and in life.

Dr. Jody Murph is a pediatrician at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, and advisory committee member of the Reach Out and Read Iowa Coalition. Comments: jody-murph@uiowa.edu. More about Reach Out and Read at www.reachoutandreadiowa.org/