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Fundraising Resources:
Studies and Statistics That Support RIF Approach
 Included in this section are current statistics and statements you may use to strengthen your solicitations and proposals ("cut and paste" them into your letters or literature). They are drawn from national studies, publications, and prominent figures in the education field. Two or three are all you need to make a strong case in a solicitation letter or foundation proposal. If available, try to use a few local statistics to strengthen your point.
Too Many Young People Lack Basic Literacy Skills
- The percentage of children age 3-5 who were being read to daily dropped from 57 percent in 1996 to 53 percent in 1999. That’s a significant decrease according to the U.S. Department of Education. (America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2000, Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics)
- Thirty-four percent of children entering kindergarten cannot identify letters of the alphabet by name and are not yet at the first level of reading proficiency. (The Condition of Education 2000, U.S. Department of Education)
- Eighteen percent of children entering kindergarten cannot demonstrate familiarity with the conventions of print. They do not know that English is read from left to right and from top to bottom or where a story ends. (The Condition of Education 2000, U.S. Department of Education)
- Thirty-eight percent of fourth graders read below the basic level in 1998. (1998 Reading Assessment, National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], U.S. Department of Education, 1999)
- In a recent assessment of adult literacy skills, 20.8 percent of the adult population in the United States had only basic, or “level one,” reading and writing (prose) skills. (National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 1999)
- An adult with poor literacy skills earns about $550 less per week than an adult with excellent literacy skills. (Literacy in the Labor Force: Results from the National Adult Literacy Survey, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1999)
Need for Approaches Like RIF’s
- In its landmark study Becoming a Nation of Readers, the U.S. Department of Education’s Commission on Reading noted that reading motivation activities, books in the home, leisure reading and parent involvement were among the best ways to help children become fluent, able readers. The prestigious report acknowledged that the process of learning to read can be tedious, and advises that children should be given opportunities to experience the fun of reading. (Becoming a Nation of Readers, U.S. Department of Education’s Commission on Reading, 1988)
- “Researchers have described motivation as the ‘skill and will’ to learn. According to the latest theories of metacognition, students’ expectations regarding success and failure dictate the amount of effort they put into an activity. Students’ level of motivation also depends on how much meaning an activity has for them in their everyday lives and how clearly they understand what is expected of them ... Letting students pick their own books, or teaching them how to select an appropriate book may also help develop motivation. Similarly, teachers who read aloud to students demonstrate that reading can be fun . . .” (EdTalk: What We Know About Reading Teaching and Learning, Council for Educational Research and Development, August 1996)
- "Programs such as Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) that help get books into homes, and programs that encourage older siblings in school to read to their younger siblings still at home are excellent ways to introduce pre-school children to reading." (Reading, Language, Culture, and Ethnic Minority Students, Jon Reyhner and Ward Cockrum, Northern Arizona University, 2000.)
- For fourth graders, being given time by teachers to read books of their own choosing had a positive relationship to reading performance. (1998 Reading Assessment, NAEP, U.S. Department of Education, 1999)
- “Nothing is more important in helping children become readers than reading books aloud with them.” (Helping Your Child Become A Reader, U.S. Department of Education, January 2000.)
- “Knowledge about and love for literacy can develop only through experience. Children should own books, should have access to books in their preschool and primary classrooms, should be read to often, and should see others reading and writing.” (Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1999.)
- “Children must have access to books if they are to read. But books in themselves are simply not enough. Children also need to have a caring adult read to them and talk to them, preferably every day.” (Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1999.)
- Offering extended learning opportunities is clearly one of the major ways that we will ensure that all children can read in this country by the end of the third grade. (Bringing Education to After-School Programs. U.S. Department of Education, 1999)
Importance of Reading Materials in the Home
- Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress have consistently found that the more reading material available in the home, the better students’ reading levels are likely to be.
- Statements from Home Literacy Activities and Signs of Children’s Emerging Literacy, 1993 and 1999, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 2000:
- “Families, and parents in particular, play an important part in the [learning to read] process. For decades, research has shown that children whose parents read to them become better readers and do better in school.”
- “In 1999, 26 percent of children who were read to three or more times in the last week by a family member recognized all letters of the alphabet compared to 14 percent of children read to less frequently.”
- “Children who are read to frequently are nearly twice as likely as other children to show three or more skills associated with emerging literacy.”
- “The availability of books is a key factor in reading literacy. The highest scoring countries typically provide their students with greater access to books in the home, in nearby community libraries and book stores and in the school.” (How In the World Do Students Read, The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 1992)
- “The essential point is that students should have easy access to a wide variety of books...” (Becoming a Nation of Readers, U.S. Department of Education’s Commission on Reading, 1988)
- “Strong language and literacy environments are especially effective for very young children who need an extra boost to promote their later success in reading. It is especially important for children who live in low-income communities and are slated to attend elementary schools with a poor track record in reading.” (Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1999)
- Reading at home helps children do better in school. Have lots of children’s books in your home and visit the library every week. Help your children get their own library cards and let them pick out their own books. (Simple Things You Can Do To Help All Children Read Well and Independently by the End of the Third Grade. U.S. Department of Education, 1997.)
- “My message to parents is to read, read, read. If all parents will read with their children 30 minutes a day it makes a powerful difference. Please read and talk to your children.” (former U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, State of Education Address, February 22, 2000)
Importance of Reading for Fun and Reading Often
- In Becoming a Nation of Readers, the U.S. Department of Education Commission on Reading reported that of all the ways children spend leisure time, “average minutes per day reading books was the best predictor of reading comprehension, vocabulary size and gains in reading achievement between the second and fifth grades.” (Becoming a Nation of Readers, U.S. Department of Education Commission on Reading, 1988)
- “Children improve their reading ability by reading a lot. Reading achievement is directly related to the amount of reading children do in school and outside.” (What Works: Research About Teaching and Learning, William John Bennett and Dana B. Ciccone, 1996)
- “At all three grades (fourth, eighth, and twelfth) in 1998, students who reported talking about their reading activities with family or friends once or twice a week, or at least monthly, had higher average reading scores than students who reported doing so rarely or never.” (1998 Reading Report Card, NAEP, U.S. Department of Education, 1999)
- “The amount of voluntary out-of-school book reading that students report is positively related to their achievement levels.” (How In the World Do Students Read, The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 1992)
- “Research shows that the amount of leisure time spent reading is directly related to children’s reading comprehension, the size of their vocabularies and the gains in their reading ability.” (What Works: Research About Teaching and Learning, William John Bennett and Dana B. Ciccone, 1996)
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