Innovation Video Series, Episode 8 — How Basic Reading Skills Are the First Step Toward a Full, Healthy Life
It’s like a domino effect. Not reading on a basic level leads to bigger problems, systemwide and for each individual. Cari Miller, policy director for the Florida Foundation for Excellence in Education, tells us that:
- seven out of every 10 prison inmates can’t read above a fourth-grade level;
- almost nine out of 10 high school dropouts were struggling readers in third grade; and
- high school dropouts represent 75 percent of people receiving food stamps, as well as 90 percent of Americans on welfare.
Tune in to find out how Florida took a no-excuses approach to changing the tide of reading abilities among its state’s young students.
Then go back to watch Episode 7 and learn why reading should be a top priority for Georgia’s businesses, as well as its schools, with Dana Rickman’s “The Economics of an Educated State.”