We know that the only way children become readers is to read. Two recent studies indicate that: 1) The percentage of students reading for pleasure drops significantly after third grade and that, 2) While grades are rising, learning is lagging.

The first of these studies, the National Assesessment of Education Progress (aka the Nation’s Report Card) came to the frightening conclusion that children read less as they get older. Just as they leave formal “learning to read” after the 3rd grade, students are “reading to learn” from the 4th grade onwards. That’s where the trouble begins. The Nation’s Report Card showed that after the 3rd grade there is a declining interest in reading and a gradual disengagement from school. The results can be easily seen in LAUSD schools – only 50% of those students who start 9th grade complete 12th grade.This leads to the second study, the Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress. While seniors across the country from both public and private schools have taken more college preparatory classes and have strikingly higher grades, their reading scores and their knowledge base have dropped. And these are our best students – those who make it to the 12th grade.

What conclusions can we reach after examining the results of these two studies? There seems to be very little doubt that helping young children read more for pleasure will enhance their reading abilitiy. That, in turn, will give them the necessary skills and motivation to really learn. The grade inflation and “dumbed-down” curriculum so prevalent in schools today can only be eliminated when our children are eager and motivated to read and learn. That’s where our KOREH L.A. volunteers come in – to provide their students with rich opportunities to read for pleasure and to help them understand the many joys found inside a book. It sounds so simple, yet the results for our children are profound.