Third Grade Is Key to Later Life

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GaFCP Policy and Communications Director Taifa Butler talked to Orlando Montoya of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News about the importance of reading on-level by third grade. According to a new national study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, students who don’t learn to read well by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

GPB reports that the most recent available test results show 94 percent of Georgia third-graders met or exceeded state reading standards.

But minorities and the poor still have a huge gap.

“There are some huge gaps in terms of some students who are not meeting those standards,” Butler said in an interview with Montoya. “That’s where Georgia has to move forward and really focus on the achievement gap.”

Read the GPB News story.

Read the Casey Foundation’s report, Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation.

Learn about Georgia’s Grade-Level Initiative.


Contact:

William Valladares
GaFCP Communications Manager

404-527-7394 (x114)

william@gafcp.org