On Jan. 9, N.C. State University researchers issued a stark and troubling report, citing no progress in students’ reading gains as a result of the much-heralded Read To Achieve program.
The harsh truth is that, as The News & Observer reported, North Carolina is “moving backwards” on reading; the Read to Achieve legislation enacted in 2012 is failing our students. In spite of an investment of more than $150 million, the program not only hasn’t produced gains in the reading skills of our youngest students, it has left these aspiring learners further behind. The NCSU study reports that just 55.9 percent of students reads proficiently in third grade – barely more than one in two students — down from 60.2 percent in the 2013-14 school year. Read more>>