Hays, Caldwell Counties Are The Latest Communities To Join ‘Start Smart Texas’, Targeting Early Literacy

Hays and Caldwell Counties join Texas communities in a statewide movement to increase early reading proficiency. Each of the communities in the Start Smart Texas network has committed to targeting early literacy as an urgent priority and developed a comprehensive action plan to put its youngest citizens on a path to success.

Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and success later in life because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”

Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives.

National tests show that more than half of all Texas fourth-graders (many of whom are from low-income families) are not reading proficiently.

“We are thrilled to welcome the newest members of our growing network of communities,” said Adrianna Cuellar, CEO of the United Ways of Texas and co-state lead in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. “The commitment of communities to this vital mission comes at a critical time when nearly half of the children in Texas under the age of 5 (the years of greatest brain development) live in extreme poverty. Together, we will do what it takes to ensure our state’s most vulnerable children have the support and opportunities they need to thrive.”

In order to join Start Smart Texas, each community must develop an action plans to focus on mobilizing local nonprofit organizations, civic and business leaders, and engaged citizens to work in concert with families and schools to address three underlying challenges that can keep young children from learning to read proficiently:

• School readiness — too many children are entering kindergarten already behind
• School attendance — too many young children are missing too many days of school
• Summer learning — too many children are losing ground academically over the summer

“In Hays and Caldwell Counties, we know that the needs of our growing and diverse communities start from day one. From the moment a child is born, every aspect of their life – from their nutrition to their interactions with caregivers and access to books – shapes the course of the rest of their life. Because starting kindergarten ready to learn is an important marker for future success, we have focused our energies on families with young children from zero to five years of age,” said Alex Mylius, Deputy Director, Early Childhood Programs, Community Action, Inc. of Central Texas. “Our members provide a range of services to families from early care and education to health and wellness services. As a Coalition we aim to share resources and best practices, and create awareness of and connect families to the resources they need to ensure their children are happy, healthy and successful in a thriving community.”

Membership in the Start Smart Texas Communities Network gives these local initiatives access to experts and policymakers focused on early literacy, assistance in addressing the challenges that keep many children from learning to read, and opportunities to share and learn best practices from more than 240 communities across the country.