Developing a Partnership Model to Enhance Literacy: Focusing on a Community’s Future

Abstract

Completion of one’s education is dependent upon a number of factors including parents’ education, employment opportunities, future career aspirations, and current level of academic success (Mullis, Mullis, & Gerwels, 1998). It is clear that academic success is not possible without a child achieving some level of literacy; and, without literacy, children are not able to make the most of their academic experiences. One Florida rural county became concerned about issues of literacy because of low test scores on the California Achievement Tests. In this county, 67% of second graders, 61% of third graders, and 66% of fourth graders fell below the norms on the reading test.