Colorado READ Act Information for Parents

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Colorado's Commitment to Early Literacy

The ability to read is perhaps the most important skill we can teach in school.

The READ Act creates a system to identify students experiencing challenges with reading, to engage parents in the development of reading improvement plans and to provide quality support for those most at risk.

By challenging our state to move more students toward grade-level proficiency in reading, we believe collectively we can increase overall student achievement here in Colorado. Early student success is a roadmap to everyone's future success. It all begins with reading.

• Graduation, college and career preparedness are more likely possibilities for students who master reading skills by fourth grade.
• Reading to learn enables a student to comprehend facts in social studies and science, understand word problems in math and interpret increasingly complex concepts in language arts.

• A student who misses the opportunity to learn to read proficiently before fourth grade almost never catches up.
• According to the Annie. E. Casey Foundation, students who cannot read by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, and high school drop outs make up 75 percent of citizens receiving food stamps and 90 percent of the Americans on welfare.

• If your child is At Level/On Target: If your child gets this designation from their school, it means your child is on track for meeting reading targets. You will want to ask your child's teacher about daily reading instruction. What does classroom instruction look like? What skills are they working on? What home activities can support instruction?
• If your child is At Some Risk: If your child gets this designation from their school, it means he or she has some reading skills but not all of them. Supplemental supports are needed in addition to grade-level instruction to help get your child on track. You will want to ask your child's teacher about supplemental supports. What does classroom instruction look like? What skills are they working on? What skills should my child need to have supported? What types of home activities can support instruction?

• If your child is At High Risk: If your child gets this designation from their school, it means he or she has limited or no reading skills. Intensive intervention is needed in addition to grade-level instruction to support your child to get on track. You will want to ask your child's teacher about the READ Act plan for your child and intervention services being provided. What does classroom instruction look like? What skills need to be supported for my child to be on track? What type of intervention services is being provided and how frequently? What types of home activities can support instruction?

For more information, see this Fact Sheet about the importance of early literacy and how to talk to your child's teachers about reading.