WHEREAS, studies show that children who are significantly below grade level in reading in 3rd grade are more likely to struggle academically and to drop out of school; and

WHEREAS, 3rd grade is an important benchmark because beginning in 4th grade students are making the shift from "learning to read" to "reading to learn", and building on strong reading foundational skills (i.e. decoding and fluency skills), students gain content knowledge from their comprehension of reading fiction and nonfiction texts; and

WHEREAS, only about 30 percent of 3rd-graders in New York City are showing reading proficiency on the state’s Common Core state tests; and

WHEREAS, in order to bring more students’ reading skills up to grade level by the end of 3rd grade it is critical to focus on literacy skills in the earlier, primary grades; and

WHEREAS, research has also shown that families play an important role in building children’s reading skills with studies finding, for example, that a child’s vocabulary development is linked to exposure to books at home; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced an initiative toward helping all students become fluent readers by the end of 2nd grade through placing a dedicated reading specialist at every elementary school; giving additional supports to English language learners and students with disabilities to ensure they are on track with their peers; and engaging children’s families as partners in the development of students’ reading skills; and

WHEREAS, the mayor’s initiative specifically calls for the placement of 700 reading specialists in elementary schools and many of whom are licensed in reading and/or currently teaching in our NYC public schools by 2018 so that all the city’s 76,000 second-graders have access to these specialists as needed, with hiring prioritized for schools with students needing the most support; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the United Federation of Teachers supports Mayor de Blasio’s plan toward reaching universal literacy among the city’s 2nd graders and will do everything in its power to support this important initiative.