Leaning into Literacy

Our state has a literacy problem. Two-thirds of Georgia’s third graders aren’t reading on grade level. This milestone is important because third grade is the last year students are learning to read; from fourth grade on, they’re reading to learn and those who haven’t met this benchmark of literacy risk getting left behind by public school curriculums.

A long-term study by the Annie Casey Foundation found that students who weren’t proficient in reading by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school.

Finding a way forward

Georgia lawmakers are aware of the problem, having recently passed a pair of literacy bills calling for a major overhaul in how public schools teach reading. But while these bills acknowledge the gravity of the crisis, they seem to place all of the responsibility on schools without making any provisions in terms of funding (in Mississippi, a similar bill cost $15 million to implement, and Georgia has roughly four times the number of students).

Shared responsibility

While it’s heartening to see Georgia lawmakers focus on this issue, the answer isn’t just increasing demands on an already-overburdened school system. In addition to providing them with resources, we must be willing and able to pick up the slack in our communities.

Our partners at the Get Georgia Reading campaign have established a four-pillar framework designed to get children reading by the end of third grade.

The framework emphasizes:

  • “Language Nutrition”

  • Access to Resources

  • Positive Learning Climates

  • Teacher Preparation

In addition to outlining the framework, they also provide information and resources for how to implement it in schools as well as community-based programs like ours.

At Emmaus House, we’re proud of the impact our educational programs have had on childhood literacy in our community, but if Georgia is going to move forward, we need more programs, more funding, and more holistic approaches to ensuring our children have what they need to succeed.

Learn more about the Get Georgia Reading campaign.

KATHERINE BRANCH