The National Civic League recently named fourteen communities, including Providence, RI, and Pittsfield and Springfield, MA, All-America Cities. These cities, counties, and regions were recognized for their ambitious plans to ensure that more children are proficient readers by the end of third grade.
The 2012 awards process marked a change from past years when applicants were asked to list three community improvement projects of their own choosing. At last year’s award event, NCL announced that 2012 would have a special focus on reading. This year’s league conference and award event marked the formal launch of a national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Community Network.
The communities in the network (124 cities, counties, and towns from 34 states and representing 350 school districts) adopted a collective impact strategy that engages parents, schools, nonprofits, businesses, and foundations around the goal of supporting low-income children from birth through third grade. Their efforts recognize that schools alone cannot address the challenges that thwart early literacy, including students who arrive at kindergarten without the basic skills they need to succeed, children missing excessive school days, and students losing ground over the summer.
For additional information about this campaign, please visit:
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Background information:
National Civic League: All-America City Award
Facebook: All-America City Awards
Wikipedia: Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Wikipedia: Springfield, Massachusetts
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