For Policymakers

Improving literacy is an economic and social justice imperative.

• Illiteracy costs the U.S. economy $2.2 trillion per year.

• Thirty-eight percent of Illinois 4th grade students read below a “basic” level on the 2022 National Report Card.

• 2022 State report card data show half all Illinois 3rd graders do not meet or “partially meet” expectations on the IL Assessment of Readiness, with stark opportunity gaps among demographic groups.

• Low literacy is a major contributor to inequality and increases the likelihood of poor physical and mental health, participation in crime, and welfare dependency, all of which also have substantial additional social and economic costs.

• Students who cannot read by 3rd grade are four-times more likely to drop out of high school.