The Early Literacy Crisis

Early Intervention: why is it so crucial?

There is an overwhelming academic consensus

that the earliest years of life, from birth to age 5,
is the time when a childs brain is undergoing the
most growth and development.

Nearly 61% of families in

low-income communities do
not have any age
appropriate books in their
homes. This lack of books
impedes literacy
development which is key for
school success

By age four, the average

child in a professional family
hears about 35 million more
words than the average child
in a family on welfare. This
word difference can impede
learning and achieving for a
lifetime

50% of children from lowincome families start first

grade about 2 years behind
their peers

Of 50 children having trouble

learning to read in
kindergarten, 44 of them will
still be having trouble in
third grade

Learning experiences in the years before kindergarten are

key to closing the achievement gap - that is when
intervention can have the most positive effect on a childs
learning trajectory. This period is critical and sets the stage
for all later learning and adult functioning.

The developing brain triples in the first year alone

and is virtually fully formed by the time a child
enters kindergarten.

Reading to a child during this critical time,

specifically during the preschool years of ages 3 5, builds a number of skills that are key to literacy,
including phonological awareness, alphabetic
knowledge, and concepts about print conventions.

Misconceptions about the early literacy crisis

Ninety-five percent of Americans consider early childhood
literacy an important problem, but they do not know that
reading to children between the ages of 3-5 has long-term
consequences for a childs academic achievement and lifelong success, according to the Pearson Foundation Early
Childhood Education Perception Poll, commissioned
with Jumpstart and released September 17, 2009.
Poll Findings
73% percent of Americans wrongly believe that if
children enter kindergarten unprepared, they will
catch up in elementary school

Only 18% of Americans know that children who lack

early literacy skills are less likely to succeed as
adults

75% of the population is completely unaware that

nearly 61% of low-income families do not have any
age appropriate books in their homes

63% did not know that poverty is the best predictor

of whether or not a child will achieve in school

53% are unaware that nearly one-half of children

from low-income communities start first grade up to
two years behind their peers

Preschoolers from lowincome families have fewer

home and preschool
language and literacy
opportunities than children
from economically
advantaged backgrounds a
major reason why they lag in
academic achievement
throughout the school
years.
--Dr. Laura Berk, author, early
childhood education expert, and
Professor Emeritus, Illinois State
University