COLUMBUS, Ind. — The “Read by 3” program will continue in Bartholomew County thanks to a generous donation of $5,000 from the Duke Energy Foundation. The program is a systematic, explicit, multi-sensory phonics curriculum that has been very successful in the Indianapolis Public School system.
Locally, during the first year of the program in the 2014-15 year, 89 percent of the 140 participating kindergartners were reading at grade level by the end of the year. That was an 8 percent gain from the previous year. The program was introduced to six kindergarten classrooms in Taylorsville and the Columbus Signature Academy-Lincoln Campus. A full-time coach works with teachers at each school to administer the program.
Studies show children who are not reading at grade level by third grade are four times as likely not to graduate high school. Approximately 14 percent of Indiana students do not pass the IREAD3 test administered in the third grade.
The program was developed from a parent-created program called R.E.A.D.S.- Recognizing Educating and Advocating for Dyslexic Students.
