2 out of 3 California Third Graders Struggle to Read, but Preschool Efforts Could Close the Gap

Culver City, CA (PRWEB) November 1, 2007 -- According to the California Department of Education, nearly two of every three students tested in the third grade are not proficient readers, forcing many children to play "catch-up" for the rest of their time in school.

This disparity not only affects academic performance, but also the prospects for a child's later success in life. Studies have shown that children who do not read by the third grade are more likely to drop out of school, be chronically unemployed, or get in trouble with the law.

Many educators and Kindergarten teachers (http://www.plan4preschool.org/docs/single/praise-for-preschool-california-kindergarten-teachers-say-all-children-will/) have pointed to high-quality preschool as the best way to ensure students enter the K-12 system ready to learn. A study of a high-quality preschool program in inner-city Chicago (http://www.plan4preschool.org/docs/single/chicago-longitudinal-study/) showed that students in the program were 41% less likely to require special education, and were 29% more likely to graduate from high school than their peers. Supporters say that widely-available preschool is necessary to close the literacy gap in a state as diverse as California, where nearly 42% of Kindergarteners enter school with English as their second language.

In response, The Karen Hill Scott Company has established Plan4Preschool.org (http://www.plan4preschool.org), an interactive website that contains the largest digital library of preschool planning resources on the web. The website provides free access to county preschool plans, implementation resources, workforce and quality improvement ideas (http://www.plan4preschool.org/workforce_quality/) , child development research, and a targeted search engine, providing preschool-related results.

As of 2001, less than 5% of California child care centers were nationally accredited, and communities are struggling to find ways to implement high-quality preschool programs in a tight funding environment. During the past 5 years, there have been several other efforts to promote and expand high-quality preschool in California: from the creation of the Los Angeles Universal Preschool Master Plan , to the Preschool for All ballot initiative, to the funding of preschool flagship communities by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Karen Hill-Scott Ed.D., a renowned child development expert, and founder of the website, has a grand vision for its impact. "Plan 4 Preschool aims to bring the California preschool community into the 21st Century by featuring user-generated content and an electronic forum for discussing the best ways to implement preschool in our state." Hill-Scott believes that this effort will provide a solid knowledge base for those who want improve preschool services in their communities. "If planners and organizers have access to this shared body of knowledge and resources, it will accelerate our efforts to provide high-quality preschool to every child."

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