This resource is a compilation of evidence- and research-based policy, practice, program and capacity-building options that can move the needle on the major factors that impact children’s reading proficiency at third grade. Created by the Institute for Child Success and the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation, in collaboration with BEST NC, the working papers address 12 of the North Carolina Pathways to Grade-Level Reading Initiative’s Measures of Success. There are four working papers in each of three Pathways goals areas:

• Health and Development on Track, Beginning at Birth
• Supported and Supportive Families and Communities
• High Quality Birth-through-age-Eight Learning Environments with Regular Attendance

Each working paper details why the Pathways measure matters for third-grade reading, outlines how it is connected to the other Pathways Measures of Success, defines relevant terms and offers national research-based options that can impact the measure, including polices (federal, state legislative, state departmental, and local), practices (protocols to implement policies, some which might be driving good outcomes, and some which might be obstacles to improving outcomes), and programs and capacities (provider capacity, parent capacity, public understanding and will-building, and array of quality programs to move the measures). All sources are cited.

Begin by Reading: An Overview of the NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading Working Papers and Suggested Guidance for Using the Pathways Working Papers.

Read the full collection of documents here.