State Launches Summer Reading Challenge for Students
Soon, Georgia students will leave school for the summer. Thursday, State Superintendent John Barge unveiled a new initiative to keep kids reading throughout the break.
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The Summer Reading Challenge is a web-based program that matches students and books. Parents can enter information about their children and get a list of suggested books. Dr. Barge said that’s especially important for students who come from low-income homes.
“What research shows is that more than half of the achievement gap between low and high income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities,” Barge said.
The challenge may be targeting those students, who may lack access to books. Barge says the program is doing what it can to help.
“We are partnering with the library system with this initiative and making sure that they can find the books at the local library,” he said. “As a state, we don’t necessarily have the finances where we’ll be buying books and sending them home. Some districts do do that.”
Because the program is web-based, students and parents need Internet access to use it. That could also create a hurdle for some families.
However, schools also have access to the program. Teachers can create reading lists for their students before they leave for the summer.
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