College & Workforce Readiness Report Roundup

Study: Reading Problems Can Flag Potential Dropouts

By Sarah D. Sparks — April 19, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A student who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who reads proficiently by that time, according to a new study. Add poverty to the mix, the report concludes, and a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient and wealthier peer.

“Third grade is a kind of pivot point,” said Donald J. Hernandez, a sociology professor at Hunter College, at the City University of New York, and the author of the study, which was released this month at the American Educational Research Association convention in New Orleans. “We teach reading for the first three grades, and then after that, children are not so much learning to read but using their reading skills to learn other topics. In that sense, if you haven’t succeeded by 3rd grade, it’s more difficult to [remediate] than it would have been if you started before then.”

Mr. Hernandez analyzed the reading scores and later graduation rates of 3,975 students, born between 1979 and 1989, in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979. He found that 16 percent overall did not have a diploma by age 19, and that students who had struggled with reading in early elementary school grew up to constitute 88 percent of those who did not receive a diploma. That made low reading skills in 3rd grade an even stronger predictor of dropping out of school than having spent at least a year in poverty during childhood.

The study was released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, of Baltimore, to promote its new focus on improving learning during children’s early years.

A version of this article appeared in the April 20, 2011 edition of Education Week as Early Reading Problems Flag Potential Dropouts

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness How Can Educators Support Students Not Going to College?
A bipartisan panel talks about slowing trends in college-going—and what it means for schools.
3 min read
Carter Crabtree, a Daviess County High School junior, learns to stack landscaping blocks with a mini excavator at a demonstration set up by Barnard Landscaping during the Homebuilder Association of Owensboro's annual Construction Career Day on Apr. 24, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky.
Carter Crabtree, a Daviess County High School junior, learns to stack landscaping blocks with a mini excavator at a demonstration set up by Barnard Landscaping during the Homebuilder Association of Owensboro's annual Construction Career Day on Apr. 24, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky. Leaders in education discuss how career-tech education programs can support non-college-bound students, in an online webinar.
Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Is It Time to Ditch the Four-Year Degree?
A call for three-year degrees, micro-credentials, and closer ties between educators and employers could affect K–12 and higher education.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness 3 Ways Leaders Develop College and Career Pathways Designed to Serve All Students
Two EdWeek Leaders To Learn From share how they built these systems from the ground up.
3 min read
Jennifer Norrell, superintendent of East Aurora School District 131, meets with district leaders for the School Leadership Team's weekly meeting to discuss a college readiness presentation for students at East Aurora High School in Aurora, Ill., on Dec. 4, 2024.
Jennifer Norrell, the superintendent of East Aurora School District 131, meets with district leaders for the School Leadership Team's weekly meeting to discuss a college-readiness presentation for students at East Aurora High School in Aurora, Ill., on Dec. 4, 2024. She has led efforts to expand and enrich the kinds of post-high school pathways the school offers, both in core academics and in career-technical fields.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness High School Grads Lack Clarity on Next Steps, Survey Shows
Recent high school graduates share insights on what would have changed their trajectory in a new survey.
4 min read
Genny Willis, the Academy Teacher instructor at Smyrna High School, listens to a roundtable of students in the program in a classroom in Smyrna, Del., on Oct. 15, 2024. At Smyrna High School, there are career pathways and experimental learning opportunities to help students use practical applications towards careers after graduating high school, which can include internships, advanced classes, and specific on the job training.
Genny Willis, an instructor at Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Del., listens to a roundtable of students on Oct. 15, 2024. At Smyrna High School, there are career pathways and experimental learning opportunities to help students use practical applications towards careers after graduating high school, which can include internships, advanced classes, and specific on-the-job training.
Michelle Gustafson for Education Week