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Literacy Matters.
Literacy is foundational to lifelong learning and education. People who cannot read or write experience difficulties with simple everyday tasks such as reading the label of a medicine bottle, filling in a job application, or understanding a traffic sign. When we help a child acquire literacy skills, we are empowering them to access better opportunities in life, to break the cycle of poverty, and to to write the story they want to read.
Meeting the Milestone...
Third grade is a critical milestone in a child’s education, during which they are expected to transition from learning how to read to reading to learn. More than 43 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level. On average, nationwide, 66% of 4th grade children in the U.S. cannot read proficiently. Research indicates that reading below expected third grade levels is highly correlated to future academic challenges, as well as dropout, incarceration and poverty rates.
Changing Children's Lives...
6 out of 10 children in Texas are not learning the minimum in reading and math. Texas currently ranks 49 out of 50 among states in the percentage of the adult population with a high school education; 16% of adults over 25 in Texas don’t have a high school diploma or equivalent. Tens of thousands of Texans are on waiting lists for basic education in any given year.
But we can do better. Early intervention is key.
Research confirms that a child's early brain development shapes the adults they eventually become, the success that they will achieve and the contributions they make to the economy and society.
Authoring Life focuses on early intervention so that every child, regardless of zip code, has the opportunity to become exactly who they were created to be. Our work includes summer reading programs, scholarship and educational opportunities, writers workshops, book distributions, and other literacy resources.