Grim Statistics
Why become involved?
- 1/3 of all teens who enter high school do not graduate with a diploma 4 years later. (Orfield, 2005)
- $73 billion per year of unnecessary health care expenses attributed to poor literacy. (Healthcare Study Report)
- 70% of prisoners read below eighth grade reading level, and new prisons are being built based on below level third grade reading test scores. (National Adult Literacy Survey, 1994)
- At the current rate of [reading] loss, literacy reading as a leisure activity will virtually disappear in half a century. (NEA, Reading at Risk)
- 10 million children have trouble reading and 6 million middle and high school students can’t read at [basic reading] levels. (U.S. D.O.E./Alliance for Excellent Education)
- Illiterate adults account for 75% of the unemployed and 85% of juveniles who appear in court. (Education Consumers Clearing House)
According to Programme for International Student Assessment in 2009 out of 65 nations participating in the standardized test provided to 15-year-old students, the United States ranked 30 in math, 23rd in sciences, and 17th in reading.
These educational statistics appear bleak and when students do not excel in education their standard of living can drop, and such problem behavior students are more likely to turn to crime.
The purpose of the Every Child Dreams of Greatness literacy campaign is to reverse this alarming downward trend by instilling in today’s youth the goal of excelling in education by inspiring students to believe in dreams at an early age. When children have hope they are more likely to excel in education. Our commitment is to never give up on a single child for all children have been born with a special gift.
