Making Connections

Closing the Reading Gap

Foundations has joined The Annie E. Casey Foundation as a partner in their flagship national initiative, Making Connections.  The initiative has two main goals:

• To improve educational outcomes for vulnerable children living in tough neighborhoods
• To strengthen their families’ connections to economic opportunity, positive social networks and effective services and supports

Nationwide, in cities like Denver, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Louisville, Oakland, Providence, San Antonio and Seattle, Foundations partners with Making Connections to ensure that young children are healthy and prepared to succeed in school. We are on the ground helping schools build their capacity to ensure that all children read at grade level.

Specifically, we focus on closing the gaps in third grade reading scores between disadvantaged Making Connections neighborhoods and the surrounding counties, while helping schools achieve grade-level reading proficiency for all students. Studies have shown that third grade is a critical time in childhood educational development—the point at which they should be “reading to learn, not learning to read.”