Reading First needs Parents' Support

ProLiteracy: U.S. must address adult literacy to improve children’s literacy

May 6, 2008
Syracuse, NY

The leader of the largest adult literacy organization in the United States said today that President Bush’s $1 billion a year Reading First program failed because “it does not take into account the literacy skills of parents.”

“Learning to read doesn’t take place in the classroom alone. It begins before a child enters school and continues at the end of the school day when parents and caregivers reinforce the reading and comprehension skills developed in school,” said David C. Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy. “And in many cases, the children who need special reading programs have parents who are struggling readers.”

A report issued by the Department of Education last week determined that Reading First did not help low income students in grades one, two, and three better understand what they had read as it was expected to do when it was created as part of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law. Several lawmakers and federal investigators claimed the failure was due in part to reports of potential conflict of interest and management problems in the program.

Harvey, however, pointed to research that shows children of parents who are poor readers are far more likely to become poor readers than children whose parents have strong literacy skills. The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, also conducted on behalf of the Department of Education, estimated that 30 million adults in the U.S. can barely read and write and that many of those individuals fall into the low income category.

“This is a perfect example of what ProLiteracy has said about No Child Left Behind all along — that pouring all our efforts and financial resources into the K-12 public school system isn’t enough to address this country’s literacy issue,” Harvey said. “There’s an intergenerational aspect of literacy and if we don’t help the parents, we won’t be doing enough to help children.”

Adult basic education and literacy programs and Even Start, which offers literacy programs for low income parents and their children, have been rated “effective” by the Office of Budget and Management using its Program Assessment Rating Tool. It is the highest rating a program can achieve and indicates that the program has set ambitious goals, achieves results, is well-managed, and improves efficiency.

“And yet funding for adult literacy has taken a $10 million hit in the past several years and the current administration keeps trying to end all funding to Even Start, while pouring millions into Reading First. That makes no sense to me,” Harvey said. “Child literacy and adult literacy are intertwined and it’s necessary that both be given adequate resources.”

Harvey said ProLiteracy will continue to call for a restoration of the $10 million cut from state grants for adult basic education and literacy programs, and to demand that additional resources be allocated to adult literacy in the FY 2009 budget.

“We’re not against funding literacy programs for children, it’s just that ProLiteracy’s more than 70 years in the adult literacy field and our more than 3,500 individual and organizational members know that these programs won’t be as effective if the parents have been left behind,” he said.

About ProLiteracy: ProLiteracy supports adults and young people in the U.S. and internationally who are learning to read, write, and do basic math by training instructors, publishing instructional materials, and advocating for resources and public policies that support them. ProLiteracy represents more than 3,000 organizational and individual members in the U.S. and works with 125 nongovernmental agencies in 65 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. The sale of materials produced by ProLiteracy’s publishing division, New Readers Press, support its programs and services.