– Edited by Ted Lempert, Kristi Schutjer-Mance, Brian Kennedy, and Michael Altamirano.
Students who are not able to read by the end of the third grade quickly fall behind in school. In 2011, 95% of California’s English language learners failed to read English at grade-level in fourth grade. To improve grade-level reading proficiency and academic success, California’s model education programs collectively create a birth-to-third grade pipeline by promoting high quality early learning, fostering supportive transitions between preschool and elementary school, emphasizing the importance of school attendance, and providing enriching summer learning opportunities.
This paper is part of the Big Ideas: Children in the Southwest series. The complete publication will be released in the fall, but individual papers are now available. Sign up online to ensure that you receive each Big Ideas paper as it is released.