Sounding the Alarm Literacy Panel

Literacy is a human right. Success in school, employment, and life is utterly dependent on being literate.

But children living in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods are struggling to read and write. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, in 2022 less than one in ten Black third graders in Chicago Public Schools were reading at grade level.

We have an illiteracy crisis.

In our panel, Sounding the Alarm: Understanding the price we pay for illiteracy and what we can do about it, we explore the price we pay for illiteracy, why children aren't learning to read, and what we can do about it. We also discuss why Friends of the Children's trauma-informed, long-term, and in-depth support is critical in reshaping literacy development.

Watch the full panel here.