Double Jeopardy

How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation

By the Annie E. Casey Foundation

January 1, 2012

Summary

Graduation rates are dramatically impacted by:

  1. Reading level at the end of third grade
  2. Having lived in a high-poverty neighborhood
  3. Experiencing family poverty

Policy and program strategies must be enacted in three arenas: schools, families and legislation on the federal, state and local levels.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaway

There are several risk factors that lead to the likelihood of not graduating from high school

35% of children who were poor, lived in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty and not reading proficiently failed to graduate high shcool on time.

Findings & Stats

Statements & Quotations