My work has included being director of the Reading Partners' Clinic for children in grades K-5. I have also been a reading and classroom teacher in public schools in New York and Missouri. Norfolk State University is the largest predominantly black institution in the nation and is proud of its expanding role in serving the increasingly diverse community of Hampton Roads, Virginia. I want to thank you for having me here today to discuss literacy issues and the reading readiness of our nation's children. You will both be missed.
Literacy is a lifelong process of learning how to make meaning from text.
This is a complex process that is always changing as each individual brings new experiences to interact with the text. Reading readiness or emergent literacy is a critical stage in the process of developing as a fully literate person. And it is important to understand where our kindergartners are in relationship to mastery of these essential skills and abilities. However, the chart also indicates that there are many students who lack these skills and abilities and who need to be taught them in school. Looking beyond these numbers we find that many of the students who have not achieved these readiness skills are from homes with parents who do not have a strong educational background.