Louisiana students not reading on grade level may be eligible for free book deliveries

Louisiana is launching a new program to help elementary students who aren’t reading on grade level get free books and resources delivered to their homes.

In collaboration with Scholastic, the state announced the creation of the Reading Enrichment and Academic Deliverables, or READ, program, which will serve preK-4 through fifth-grade students who are not yet reading on grade level. 

As part of the program, eligible students can receive free, age-appropriate, high-quality books and literacy resources, the Louisiana Department of Education said in a release.

Families can register for the program at readLA.scholastic.com. 

More:Half of Louisiana K-3 students are behind in reading skills. How did Lafayette score?

An estimated 150,000 students are eligible for the program statewide, according to LDOE. The department said in a release that the aim is to ensure that the students have access to books and to help them “discover the power and joy of reading through book ownership.”

The eligible families and children can also select the topics of the books they would like to receive. Each book will include a resource to help the child learn by aiding in building reading skills and confidence connected to each book.

The state’s department of education has been placing an emphasis on improving literacy in recent years. Cade Brumley, the state’s superintendent of education, has repeatedly said the state is in the midst of a “literacy crisis.”

More:Data shows big drop in Lafayette kindergarten literacy scores, state falls too

Louisiana has also begun implementing several new strategies to better identify students who need extra assistance and to provide more targeted support for those students.

From fall 2021 to fall 2022, Louisiana saw kindergarten literacy scores fall significantly, with only 39.2% of kindergarten students reading on grade level. In fall 2021, around 41.5% of kindergarten students were reading on grade level.

All other grades from first through third saw improvement, but less than half of all Louisiana K-3 students are reading on grade level or higher.