Wisconsin Reading Coalition, via a kind email:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation published “Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children” earlier this month. This is another chance for Wisconsin to see how its children are faring in comparison to the rest of the country.

Taking into account 12 separate factors, only some of which are related to education, Wisconsin white children scored 11th out of 50 states for opportunity, while Wisconsin black children scored last out of 50 states.

Looking at just the 4th grade reading proficiency rates, Wisconsin scored in the bottom half for its white students and last for black students. Our proficiency rate for white students (41%) was lower than 28 states, the same as 4 others, and higher than 18. Our proficiency rate for black students (11%) was the same as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio. 38 states had higher percentages of black students reading proficiently, and no states were lower.

These reading results echo the results coming out of the past several administrations of the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) reading exam, and underscore the need for more than tweaking our current teacher training and instructional practices. To access the report, go to http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publications.aspx?pubguid={5B863B11-62C7-41EC-9F7F-6D12125C4DC2}

Under the auspices of Milwaukee Succeeds, a cradle-to-career initiative in the city of Milwaukee, several pilot reading tutoring programs taking an explicit, systematic approach to beginning reading skills are showing favorable early results. Alan Borsuk comments in his column, “In Milwaukee’s reading crisis, seeds of hope sprout.” Three of the programs utilize volunteer tutors trained and coached by professionals. If you are interested in being a volunteer tutor during the 2014-15 school year, contact Milwaukee Succeeds for more information.