National program helping local students improve reading proficiency
New data reveals that children who don’t read at grade level by third grade and live in poverty are 13 times less likely to graduate high school than their peers that are academically on track.
“Raising A Reader” is a national program helping children in the Coachella Valley develop their reading skills. The program is offered in valley schools thanks to the United Way of the Desert and it is expanding to the Coachella Valley and Desert Sands Unified School Districts, impacting nearly 2,000 young students.
The program suggests that 67% of valley children do not read proficiently by the third grade, putting them at risk of falling behind. “Raising a Reader” hopes to improve those numbers.
“When I have done home visits I have found there’s a great need for books in the homes and with technology now you don’t see a lot of books. So this is a fabulous program,” said Debra Hoffman, a “Head Start” teacher for the program.
The idea behind the program is that each week, a child gets a book bag with three or four books and parents are encouraged to read with their kids and complete fun, learning exercises.
“They love it, they get excited for reading and honestly it sort of forces the family to sit down and be together and be in the moment and they love that mom and dad time,” said Karla Hernandez, the mother of twins in the program.
Each week, students rotate book bags and by the end of the program, each family will have read over 100 quality, award-winning, multicultural books.
“Without reading you don’t have anything else to begin with. It’s fundamental and a building block to anything” said Sabrina Hijazi, whose son is in the program.
Parents expressed concern over the percentage of valley children who do not read proficiently by third grade.
“It’s very concerning. It’s very, very concerning. Coming here, moving here…it was concerning starting a family here,” Hernandez said.
“Raising a Reader” is offering a solution to this problem, however, showing improvements in family reading by 52%.
“Meeting Ms. Hoffman and being introduced to this program, I’m confident my girls will be fine…sorry I don’t want to cry,” Hernandez said. “You get emotional because it’s your kids and you want the best for them, you know.”
Hoffman says she is proud of the work they are doing, “I’ve had kids come back to me two or three years later and they’ll see one of my books up on my board and say, ‘Ms. Hoffman, I remember that book, when we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,’ and it’s like wow, I really made a difference they remember reading those books.”
Nationwide, over 1.3 million kids have participated in “Raising a Reader.” Data from United Way of the Desert shows that the program has been particularly successful in targeting the Coachella Valley’s most disadvantaged families.
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