Local group wins national education honor
Dayton-Montgomery County was one of 32 communities nationally and the only one in Ohio honored last week by the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading as a “pacesetter” in early education.
CGLR’s annual Pacesetter honors highlight communities that report measurable progress on key indicators of early school success in the previous year. The group said these communities represent “the leading edge of innovation, impact and improvement.”
“Recognizing Pacesetters is our way of applauding and thanking the civic leaders, organizations and agencies that have joined forces to build brighter futures for children in their communities,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of CGLR. “We are learning with them and from them what it takes to move the needle and close the gap.”
Pacesetter award winners are recognized for improved student outcomes, or for national collaboration, or for structural and strategic changes to improve education.
The Dayton-Montgomery County honor specifically named Learn to Earn Dayton’s work. Learn to Earn officials said it was a result of community-wide efforts they led to analyze student data by demographic groups, “leading to system changes and targeted interventions that promote all students’ success.”
Learn to Earn has worked for years on school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and other K-12 benchmarks, getting all of Montgomery County’s public school districts and other groups to collaborate on solutions.
“We have learned so much by partnering with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading,” said Robyn Lightcap, executive director of Learn to Earn Dayton. “Our partnerships and coalitions have allowed us to ensure professionals have the tools they need to close the educational achievement gap. That’s our goal — ensuring that all children are realizing their potential.”
Educators consider reading proficiency by the end of third grade a critical milestone toward high-school graduation and career success. By that time, students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” in all of their other subjects. Research shows students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely drop out and struggle economically.
Locally, Learn to Earn has been heavily involved in the Preschool Promise effort to expand high-quality preschool access and improve children’s school readiness. A review of the 2017-18 school year showed Preschool Promise students made “significant gains in school readiness” but added the program was not succeeding yet in closing racial achievement gaps, another key goal.
Learn to Earn officials said Dayton/Montgomery County has a new Summer and Afterschool Collaborative working on out-of-school programming and is giving parents resources to continue teaching their children at home, through programs like Preschool Promise’s mailed book of the month effort.