Reading proficiently at third-grade is the difference between a high school graduation rate of 90% versus 30%

From The Experience of One New York City High School Cohort: Opportunities, Successes, and Challenges by Aaron Churchill.

In this study, researchers from Teachers College at Columbia University analyzed data from a cohort of 77,501 New York City public school students who entered ninth grade in 2005, seeking connections between students’ high school outcomes and college persistence and their achievement, background characteristics, and school environments. Two findings stand out among many: First, students who failed New York’s third-grade reading exam had significantly lower odds of graduating high school than their peers who passed. Of those who failed third-grade reading, barely one in three graduated high school, compared to a 90 percent graduation rate among those who passed.

Reading proficiently at third-grade is the difference between a high school graduation rate of 90% versus 30%.