Significance of Early Literacy and Math Skills

We hear so much about “culture” and “belonging” in schools, and while these are important, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: how can students feel like they belong if they can’t even read? 🐘📚 It’s not just about academics. Reading is the gateway to opportunity, independence, and dignity. Yet, we have students in 4th grade who can’t decode a simple CVC word like “cat.” We have high schoolers reading at a 1st-grade level—or not at all. We have students graduating and entering the adult world unable to functionally read a job application, a lease, or a voter ballot. 📝🏠🗳️ When kids leave school without this foundational skill, the consequences are devastating: 💔 Higher rates of poverty, incarceration, and homelessness. 🚫 Fewer opportunities for stable employment. 🌍 A lifetime of disconnection from the community and society. Let’s be honest: A student who can’t read doesn’t need a pep rally or a spirit week to feel like they belong—they need the tools to unlock their potential. 🔑✨ If they can’t read, they’re excluded from fully participating in their education, their community, and their future. The root of this crisis is systemic. Many schools still use ineffective methods to teach reading, ignoring the overwhelming evidence supporting structured literacy and the science of reading. 🧠📖 Early intervention and evidence-based practices are often sidelined in favor of quick fixes or misplaced priorities. If we truly care about culture and belonging in schools, we need to focus on literacy as the foundation. Reading is empowerment. It’s how students find their voice, engage with the world, and build a sense of self-worth. 🌟🌎💬 We can change this. We must change this: 📚 Prioritize structured literacy in every classroom. 🥇Have a Tier 1 model for all classrooms in your school. 🛠️ Equip teachers with the knowledge and tools to teach reading effectively. ⏰ Intervene early and provide ongoing support for struggling readers. Belonging starts with access. 🌈 Culture starts with connection. 🤝 And it all starts with literacy. Ask the students who can’t read yet—they’ll tell you what they really need. #LiteracyMatters #ScienceOfReading #EducationReform #EquityInEducation #StructuredLiteracy

Today’s release of the Nation’s Report Card tells a story that is too familiar, but one that we cannot accept as the status quo: our education system has not evolved fast enough to meet the needs of this generation of students or to set them up with the learning, experiences, and skills they need to learn, lead, and thrive in the 21st century. The results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th- and 8th-grade math and reading assessments show that student learning continues to decline in reading and is not progressing enough in math to make up for pandemic learning losses. We’re not doing right by our kids and they deserve better. The good news is we know what works, and we need to invest in that now. When students read proficiently by 3rd grade and master certain math principles by 4th and 8th grades, they are more likely to graduate high school and to be prepared for college and careers, putting them on track to have agency and freedom in their lives, to fuel our economy, and to make their greatest contributions to their communities and country and strengthen our democracy. To get there we have to work together and invest in high-quality, evidence-based curricula and professional development for educators alongside high-dosage math and reading tutoring for students. We also have to embrace the idea that every child can be a reader and be good at math. And we need to leave room for innovation so that our education system can keep up with what students need from a 21st-century education. The potential is there, we just have to match it with investments and support for all students. In the 35 years since our founding, Teach For America’s “why” has remained consistent — to create a world where one day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. The stakes are too high for us not to unite around this simple belief and work with a shared commitment to kids and communities. Seventy-thousand people have joined our teacher corps and Ignite tutoring fellowship with this abiding belief. We look forward to continuing to recruit, train, and support the next generation of teachers and tutors and working alongside others, including our alumni – at the classroom and systems level – to ensure every child in every neighborhood can receive the education they deserve.

Dr. Pamela Snow said it best: “Research shows that if a child reaches Year Three—that is, the midpoint of primary school—and is still not a competent reader, he has only a 20% chance of catching up. And this is only if they receive intensive, high-quality intervention. We also know that, in broad terms, addressing a reading difficulty in Year Four requires four times as many resources as addressing the same issue in Year One.” This doesn't mean there’s no hope beyond fourth grade — but it is a call to action: We must stop waiting for students to fail before we intervene. We must stop accepting the myth that “they’ll catch up later.” We must act early, act decisively, and act based on science. 🧠 The brain is most malleable in the early years. 📚 PreK through Grade 3 are not just school years—they are prevention years. 💰 Delayed intervention isn’t just more expensive—it’s less effective. We owe it to our children—and to our future society—to ensure early, evidence-based literacy instruction is the norm, not the exception. The cost of inaction is too high. The window of opportunity is too short. The stakes are too great.