• 85% of 3rd grade students in the Kansas City Public Schools /Charter schools ARE NOT proficient in reading? Reading scores for our children have been so low for so long, that many have come to simply accept them. We know that children that do not become competent readers by the end of elementary school, are more likely to drop out of school and the risks related are dramatic.
  • The U.S. reading crisis has been 20 years in the making. While one-third of students are considered proficient, the statistics are even more alarming for various demographics, such as LOW-INCOME STUDENTS, STUDENTS OF COLOR AND STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. 
  • Reading scores for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students have been so low for so long, and efforts to raise them have been so fruitless, that many have come to simply ACCEPT THEM.
  • We’re in new territory. If children do not become competent readers by the end of elementary school, the risks are “pretty dramatic.” Poor readers are more likely to drop out of high school, earn less money as adults and become involved in the criminal justice system.     Tiffany Hogan, Director of Speech & Language Literacy

To address this crisis, the Contending for Children Initiative offers a program that will engage the faith-based community as partners in this reading crisis, the ROAR! Reading Program.