As literacy rates lag, a pediatric hospital is screening for reading ability

For some young children in Columbus, Ohio, reading assessments don't start in the kindergarten classroom—they happen first in the doctor's office. With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Children's Hospital has begun screening children's literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits. The idea is to catch reading struggles early on and guide parents on how to help their kids. "They are all doing developmental screenings, they're all talking to parents repeatedly," said Sara Bode, the hospital's medical director of school-based health. "So this is an opportunity." The pediatric hospital chose clinics to provide the literacy screenings largely based on their proximity to schools with lower performance scores on kindergarten readiness assessments. Across Columbus City Schools, more than 63% of kindergarteners were behind on language and literacy skills during the 2024-2025 school year, according to state kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) data. Concerns about childhood literacy extend far beyond Columbus. Nationally, the percentage of fourth graders considered proficient in reading sits just above 30%, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card. Reading proficiency has dipped 4 percentage points since 2019 as schools have struggled to make up for pandemic learning losses. Literacy screenings are not typically conducted in medical settings, but several prominent pediatric care centers, including Boston Children's Hospital, promote early literacy resources to families in recognition of reading's importance for a child's development. Kids who enter kindergarten with lower reading ability often struggle to catch up in later grades. Almost three-fourths of kindergarteners who test in the bottom 20% of students for readiness exams remain in the bottom 20% of their class by fifth grade, according to The Children's Reading Foundation, a nonprofit organization. This article was provided by The Associated Press.