3Rs program empowers Black children through gift of reading

Teacher reads to elementary school pupils. Getty Images Stock Photo One of the greatest and most transformative gifts we can give Black children is a love of reading. Reading promotes language and thinking skills and leads to academic achievement. It sparks creativity. It helps kids develop empathy and understanding. It improves concentration and discipline. For kids, reading well by the end of third grade is not only an educational milestone, but also key to lifelong health. This critical like skill helps them with all other learning. It’s so important that if children reach it, they’re four times more likely to graduate from high school. According to a 2022 study, 12% of Pennsylvania’s Black fourth graders scored at or above goal on national reading tests. Their White counterparts scored 51%. This& gap is, in part, the result of structural racism like inequitable school funding and lack of culturally relevant teacher training, as well as unequal access to educational resources, housing, health care, and employment. These complex structural issues demand solutions focused on dismantling the white-centric nature of our education system. One solution got its start in 2018. At the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, as part of the Early...