Pressure is on SCS to fulfill pledge, close third-grade literacy gap
Special Report: Memphis’ Reading Test
Madison Clark (left), Ayanna Hughes, La'kiya Carr and Jaylen King work at an easel where they color their reading assignment in Thomas Denson's Pre-K class at Cherokee Elementary School. More than three in four Shelby County elementary students, and four in five middle and high school students, read below grade level. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian)
David Waters
David Waters is Distinguished Journalist in Residence and assistant director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis.
Special Report: Memphis' Reading Test
PART 1: Meeting goals for third-grade reading proficiency in Tennessee is a daunting task unless dramatic improvements occur in Shelby County, where the hurdles are high and the challenges complex. And in Memphis, a city where nearly four in five children in public schools aren't reading on grade level, the undertaking is monumental.
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