By Joseph Young, Washington Informer Staff Writer
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Sandra Johnson loved volunteering as a basketball coach but her struggle with reading prevented her from turning her volunteer position into a job.
“I didn’t want to do housekeeping, but I didn’t have a choice,” Johnson said.
But in the lobby of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on Thurs., Sept. 4, the 47-year-old District native stood before an audience and described her journey to learn how to read. What the audience heard was her painful, personal story about the power and joy of reading.
This was the kind of personal example that the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent’s (OSSE) literacy campaign had in mind, whose aim is to get District residents reading.
Thirty-seven percent of people living in the District of Columbia are functionally illiterate, as compared to 21 percent nationally, according to OSSE.
People that are functionally illiterate may have some ability to read but have difficulties with crucial tasks such as filling out a job application, understanding bus schedules or reading a newspaper article.
It is not just adult learners who have problems with reading, but school aged children as well.
According to the District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (D.C.-CAS) eighth-graders’ reading proficiency is at about 36 percent and their math proficiency is at about 33 percent, which means only about a third of eighth-graders are operating on grade level.
The National Assessment Program, or NAP test, ranks District schools last among all of the urban schools tested. According to that test, only about 12 percent of the District’s eighth-graders are proficient in reading and about nine percent in math.
To help combat this problem, this Sat., Sept. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., OSSE will host a “D.C. Family Education Expo” at McKinley Technology Senior High School located at 151 T Street, Northeast. D.C. residents, parents, students, educators and community groups are invited to attend.
Entitled “Reading: It Takes You Places,” the campaign will work to combat the growing problem of literacy in the District and encourage residents to engage in reading daily.
“I really want to encourage families to read aloud to their children,” Deborah Gist, the State Superintendent of Education, said.
While the campaign is aimed at District residents of all ages, it is placing a special emphasis on children.
There are nearly 50,000 students in the District of Columbia Public Schools, with 22,000 students enrolled in charter school, Gist said. Sixty-three percent of that number are eligible for free or reduced lunch, suggesting that the students are from low income families.
“Despite a child’s background, schools are the place where children must get an excellent education,” Gist said.
Though she still struggles with reading, on June 10 Johnson walked across the stage, wearing her cap and gown. She received her high school diploma.
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