CRAWL BEFORE YOU WALK: New America has released a report, “From Walking to Crawling: Ranking States on Birth to 3rd Grade Policies That Build Strong Readers.” Citing the need to alleviate reading disparities between high- and low-income children as young as 18 months, the report evaluates states on their policies that help students advance to a fourth grade reading level. New America used seven policy areas such as the specific “Full-Day Kindergarten: Access and Quality” and the broad “Educators: Teachers and Leaders” to rank states as “Walking, Toddling or Crawling.” Only five states reached “Walking” status—all five had state-funded pre-K and a third grade reading law—and 35 states were stuck in “Toddling” limbo. The report does clarify, though, that even the highest-scoring state, New York, would still earn a “C” in letter-grade terms.
