Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education.
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My students are five years old. Most of them live in our city's roughest housing project. Gun shots don't wake them up at night. They are used to the sound. All of them receive free breakfast and lunch because their families live in poverty. When money is always tight, putting food on the table always trumps buying books.
My children do not have the same access to books and rich language that more privileged children do. Studies show that my children have heard about 13 million words in their lifetimes. More privileged children have heard 45 million. In my city, all students showed up for Kindergarten on the same day, but my students came with 32 million fewer words. Five years old and already behind.
Literacy development is the key to closing the achievement gap that fuels the cycle of poverty. Research shows that 74% of children who leave Kindergarten at risk for reading failure will continue to struggle to read into adulthood. Now is the time to close the literacy gap.
About my class
My students are five years old. Most of them live in our city's roughest housing project. Gun shots don't wake them up at night. They are used to the sound. All of them receive free breakfast and lunch because their families live in poverty. When money is always tight, putting food on the table always trumps buying books.
My children do not have the same access to books and rich language that more privileged children do. Studies show that my children have heard about 13 million words in their lifetimes. More privileged children have heard 45 million. In my city, all students showed up for Kindergarten on the same day, but my students came with 32 million fewer words. Five years old and already behind.
Literacy development is the key to closing the achievement gap that fuels the cycle of poverty. Research shows that 74% of children who leave Kindergarten at risk for reading failure will continue to struggle to read into adulthood. Now is the time to close the literacy gap.