Enact State Literacy Laws
Model Language for State Law on LITERACY in GENERAL EDUCATION
A fundamental civil right in our country is the right to a free, appropriate public education. Achievement by each individual of college and/or career readiness, through public education, is critical to the individual and the country. The largest barrier to all students reaching their educational potential is failure to become literate—to read for knowledge, write, use technology proficiently and think critically about what is read. Literacy failure is most often associated with poverty, limited English proficiency, learning disabilities, dyslexia and/or poor reading instruction, but extensive research funded through our National Institutes of Health and other agencies shows that most literacy failure is unnecessary: It can be prevented or ameliorated through schooling.
All students can make important and unique contributions to our society. Many successful entrepreneurs, innovators, and cultural and community leaders have overcome obstacles to become literate. Conversely, millions of at-risk students are not being served well by public education and, thus, are unable to reach their potential. Almost all of these students represent educational challenges that can be overcome, and if unaddressed, lead to functional illiteracy, dropping out of high school, and to the widely understood consequences of a cycle of literacy failure: frustration, delinquency, crime, underemployment, and/or social dependency.
The documented costs of these social consequences represent extraordinary hardships to each and every state. On the other hand, a significant but far smaller investment in rigorous training for teachers-of-reading, effective reading instruction, early identification through screening and assessment, and appropriate support services leads to a more fulfilled, educated, productive citizenry that directly affects the overall growth of a state’s communities, regions, workforce, gross state product, the nation’s GDP, and ability to compete in the globalization of the 21st century. A state’s goal is to create a generation of educated citizens, prepared to tackle and fulfill the requirements of the 21st century’s work force.
This website will provide the resources to help guide those looking to make real change in children’s lives by working to create strong literacy laws in each and every state. This site is for families, teachers, school administrators, government officials and others that recognize the growing problem of illiteracy in our nation. Strong laws create strong schools and strong children. Weak and non-existent laws foster broken schools and yield children unprepared to compete in the 21st century world. Together we can rebuild America’s educational promise to its students and reclaim our position as a top competitor in the world of reading, math and science proficiency.
http://state-literacy-law.org/content/model-language-state-law-literacy-general-education
A fundamental civil right in our country is the right to a free, appropriate public education. Achievement by each individual of college and/or career readiness, through public education, is critical to the individual and the country. The largest barrier to all students reaching their educational potential is failure to become literate—to read for knowledge, write, use technology proficiently and think critically about what is read. Literacy failure is most often associated with poverty, limited English proficiency, learning disabilities, dyslexia and/or poor reading instruction, but extensive research funded through our National Institutes of Health and other agencies shows that most literacy failure is unnecessary: It can be prevented or ameliorated through schooling.
All students can make important and unique contributions to our society. Many successful entrepreneurs, innovators, and cultural and community leaders have overcome obstacles to become literate. Conversely, millions of at-risk students are not being served well by public education and, thus, are unable to reach their potential. Almost all of these students represent educational challenges that can be overcome, and if unaddressed, lead to functional illiteracy, dropping out of high school, and to the widely understood consequences of a cycle of literacy failure: frustration, delinquency, crime, underemployment, and/or social dependency.
The documented costs of these social consequences represent extraordinary hardships to each and every state. On the other hand, a significant but far smaller investment in rigorous training for teachers-of-reading, effective reading instruction, early identification through screening and assessment, and appropriate support services leads to a more fulfilled, educated, productive citizenry that directly affects the overall growth of a state’s communities, regions, workforce, gross state product, the nation’s GDP, and ability to compete in the globalization of the 21st century. A state’s goal is to create a generation of educated citizens, prepared to tackle and fulfill the requirements of the 21st century’s work force.
This website will provide the resources to help guide those looking to make real change in children’s lives by working to create strong literacy laws in each and every state. This site is for families, teachers, school administrators, government officials and others that recognize the growing problem of illiteracy in our nation. Strong laws create strong schools and strong children. Weak and non-existent laws foster broken schools and yield children unprepared to compete in the 21st century world. Together we can rebuild America’s educational promise to its students and reclaim our position as a top competitor in the world of reading, math and science proficiency.
http://state-literacy-law.org/content/model-language-state-law-literacy-general-education
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