Blog / The Business Perspective
Early Warning: Early Education Matters
June 5, 2012
by Gary Toebben
President Barack Obama emphasized the need for making education a national priority, which will produce a workforce capable of capitalizing on a global economy. This commitment comes at a time when 83 percent of our nation's low-income fourth graders failed to read proficiently. In Los Angeles County, only 41 percent of third grade students score proficient or higher on English Language Arts. The Public Policy Institute of California reports that if current trends persist, employers within the State will have 1 million fewer college graduates than needed in 2025. Students who don't read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out than proficient readers, according to a 2010 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Third grade, according to the study, is an important pivot point in a child's education, the time when students shift from learning to read and begin reading to learn. The reality is that disparities in early vocabulary growth between welfare and professional families of three-year olds is an astonishing 30 million word gap, according to a 1995 Hart & Risley study. These disparities reveal that the achievement gap and risk of high school dropout originate early in life and that not addressing this crisis early will be more costly to society in the long run.
Recognizing the importance of early childhood education and the alignment to K-12 is critical, the Chamber collaborates with signatories of the L.A. Compact, a commitment signed in February 2010 by city, business, education and community leaders to work together to make sure all students graduate from high school and college, and have access to sustainable careers. Recently, the L.A. Compact added First 5 LA, a unique child advocacy organization advocating for children ages 0-5, as an additional signer to represent the early education efforts in Los Angeles.
Part of that strategy involves working with the Los Angeles Unified School District and Superintendent John Deasy, who announced an ambitious agenda to increase graduation rates, third grade reading proficiency rates, attendance and test scores. Additionally, the Chamber and L.A. Compact partners will work with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a national effort to help address and put in place efforts to increase grade-level reading by the end of third grade. Efforts include addressing chronic absenteeism and summer learning loss and supporting school readiness programs.
Chronic absenteeism, most common in kindergarten and ninth grade, and summer learning loss are factors that contribute to our children’s inability to be prepared for school. This combination of elements, if not addressed, can be detrimental to California's education system, its workforce and society, especially as California experiences growing cuts to education.
Los Angeles will charge itself with showcasing its commitment to promote third grade reading proficiency. It is only through collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders that the job will get done. School districts cannot do it alone, parents cannot do it alone. Los Angeles is fortunate to have a rich organized group of collaborators including business that recognize the importance of early childhood education and the importance of grade-level reading and the impact it has in society and our economy.
And that's The Business Perspective.
Comments
Gary - thank you for the insightful message and inspirational call to action. Those of us in the inner-city Catholic school space know the challenges all too well. Our commitment to providing the absolute best academic environments possible in the development of the whole child translates into outstanding outcomes. Recent Loyola Marymount University studies document the impressive advancement and graduation rates among even the most at-risk populations. The drive to an extended school year to 200 academic days is just the latest in this commitment. While we are proud, we cannot be complacent. Getting a start in a Catholic elementary school is a tremendous entry-point providing proven advantages for children in the inner-city, but these schools need help to, too, to survive and thrive. We are anxious to be part of the community-wide solution.
Posted by: John McKenna @ 3:26:00 pm
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