The Scope of the Reading Problem in America

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1998 (see References):

• Proficient readers remain a minority.
• Problems are particularly severe for disadvantaged students (50% of 4th grade students whose parents graduated from college were proficient / advanced compared to only 10% of 4th graders whose parents did not finish high school).
• Lower income and minority students lose significantly greater literacy skills in the summer than students from higher income families.