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Scenarios for Change Student’s Name

Institution

Course

Instructor

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Scenarios for Change

My area of specialization is early childhood education. I have participated in the discussions involving this area of specialization in relation to the issues in Grand City area. I have utilized the data from the Grand City area to suggest some of the improvement strategies and changes for the improvement of early childhood education. However, this does not imply that my community, which is Greenville County does not have issues in early childhood education that need to be addressed to allow advancement and change in the education within the County. As an individual with great interests in matters that affect education in my County, I always ensure that I am updated on the issues or changes in the area. One issue that I found to be of a serios concern and needs adequate attention is reading and literacy in third grade students in Greenville County. In the year 2019, the number of third graders who tested below state standards for English and Reading/ Language Arts was at 39% (United Way of Greenville County, 2020). This was relatively low compared to other regions in the state of South Carolina. While the figure was not very impressive it was an indication of some progress as compared to the year b2016 when the score was 49.5%. In the year 2018, number of third graders in the county who met English and Reading/Language Arts standard for the state was 55%. Even though this was a reasonable figure above the average, there were significant deviations in performance with regards to race. Only 31% of African American students met or exceeded the standard and only 37% of the Hispanic students met or exceeded the standard. 69% of white students met or exceeded the standard (United Way of Greenville County, 2020).

This is a serious problem since there are students who do not meet 3rd grade level for reading. If the problem is not addressed, there are high chances that such students will not graduate from high school. This in turn will affect their economic and social success in future. Reading proficiency is a critical indicator for educational development. Educators and education stakeholders need to understand that before the third grade, learners should learn to read so that from 4th grade onwards they can read to learn. According to the Greenville Journal dated August 2018 and authored by Ariel Gilreath, eight third grade students could not proceed to 4th grade due to application of the Read to Succeed Act of 2018. The act requires schools in South Carolina district to hold 3rd grade learners with the lowest scores for reading. A total number of 322 students did not score high grades for reading as required by the Ready to Succeed Act (Gilreath, 2018). Even though the threat to retain or hold in third grade students has played a role in improving literacy, there is need for more intervention measures. Performance in third grade is critical for future educational advancement of students.

References

Gilreath, A. (2018, August 20th). Greenville schools retained few students because of Read to Succeed. Greenville Journal. Retrieved from https://greenvillejournal.com/news/greenville-schools-retained-few-students-because-of- read-to-succeed/

United Way of Greenville County. (2020). Greenville County community needs assessment a compilation of facts and findings. (PDF). Retrieved from https://www.unitedwaygc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Community-Needs- Assessment-UWGC.pdf