2022-Leaders-United-Quarterly-Q1-ReaderSpreads-v4 - Flipbook - Page 5
Early Literacy and Grade-Level Reading
Workforce Development
Our community is seeing an increasingly alarming literacy crisis among our youngest
Our economy is thriving but, with it, comes an urgent need for workforce infrastructure,
learners. Fewer than 22 percent of Metro Nashville Public School students are reading
training and support. To move out of poverty, people need higher paying jobs with
at grade level by the end of third grade, a crisis only exacerbated by the pandemic. Third
opportunities for growth. Greater Nashville continues to attract national and regional
grade is the turning point when children go from learning to read to reading to learn
corporate headquarters. But often, our residents lack the skills and credentials needed
and is a key indicator for educational and lifelong success. If children aren’t reading on
to compete and participate in our thriving job market. To land these jobs, people need
grade level by that point, they will likely struggle in other subjects and will continue to fall
the right industry credentials, post-secondary education, training or certification. That’s
behind. Our children’s success is the greatest investment we can make in our community.
the key to increasing wages and stabilizing housing in our community. Our investment in
A significant investment of Ms. Scott’s gift into the Blueprint for Early Childhood Success,
workforce development will help individuals receive the education and training they need
Nashville’s citywide effort to tackle our early literacy crisis, will be key to increasing third
to obtain a livable wage that will set them on the path toward a stable, financially secure
grade reading proficiency by ensuring high-quality learning environments from birth
future. We will work with nonprofits, community and technical colleges and the business
through third grade, addressing out-of-school-time progress and connecting children and
community to upskill workers and build pipelines of employment with an emphasis on
families to literacy resources. A catalyst to the work is the Blueprint’s partnership with
those coming from disenfranchised communities.
Bright Start. Bright Start is an initiative of Tennesseans for Quality Early Education that
brings together statewide partnerships dedicated to accelerating early learning outcomes
and closing achievement and opportunity gaps for Tennessee children birth through
third grade.
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Unite d Way of Greater Nas h v i l l e
U nited Way of Greater Nas h ville
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