by Andrew Davis
Campbell High School
Reading is a staple of early elementary education. It’s something that we learn so early on, we do it without thinking. It’s what people have known how to do it for years and maybe even decades. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly common for younger generations to be unable to read. Literacy rates among children around the country are falling, and rapidly.
This problem is prevalent in upper elementary school. According to an article from the National Center of Education Statistics, 67% of children in fourth grade read under the standard level. Children entering fourth grade around 9 to 10 years of age being behind the curve might never catch up.
These children contribute to the eventual 8,000 kids a day that drop out of high school. The number of academically at-risk kids will only grow larger if the problem isn’t fixed.
34% of children entering kindergarten do not have the skills needed to read. Lacking in these skills may turn out poorly for these children in the future.
The inability to read is affecting these children very much. The children that are lacking now will become the adults that are lacking in the future. According to researchers, 21% of American adults have low literacy skills that are close to, if not illiteracy.
These statistics are worryingly low for a generation of people that have access to almost any book they could want. Reading has become increasingly accessible to everyone through apps and websites such as Kindle and Scholastic. as As more people gain access to resources such as these, literacy rates should be increasing.
“The reason for the lack of expert readers in elementary school is because of the expectations of the school board, requiring teachers to push students to the next grade level without meeting the minimum requirements,” said Jemila Davis, an elementary school teacher.
School teachers are being encouraged to move on the students rather than make sure they learn what they need to. This is causing the children to miss out on information they need to know, for the sake that they can finish school “on time.”
If teachers and administration take necessary steps, we can improve our education system in general.
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