From our friends at the American Baseball Foundation:

No matter how astonishing the statistics pop up regarding societal trends, e.g. children ages 0 to 7 living in single-parent family whose adult had only graduated from high school went up from 19% of that population in 1950 to 67% in 2012, the truth of one’s own numbers emphasizes the challenge for U.S. families of low resources.

Following a five-year trend in reading, on average all eight BASIC grades entered the 2019 summer program at least eight months below grade level. Regarding the junior high students--6,7,8 grades--the average test score showed one year, four months below grade level.

Short of calling for a moratorium on hand-held games, the ABF takes these steps to meet the reading challenge:

We seek motivational gifts that can be used to stimulate BASIC students reading at home during and after the summer programming. Such gifts as a three-day stay at the beach in July 2020, or airline tickets to a favorite destination would motivate family members to read and then play together.

Seeking to visit the problem in its formative stages, the ABF is designing a new BASIC FunReads program for students grades kindergarten through third grade. Based on movement, the sessions make it too fun not to read!

Your considered gift in-kind or cash contribution to the ABF will be used to confront our reading challenge.