It is shocking to think that a child who can't read by the third grade is a prime candidate for becoming a prison inmate. But looking at the reading levels of elementary school students might very well become a reliable way to predict the number of potential criminals in the future.
The idea of using reading proficiency to predict criminality was shared by East Palo Alto's Police Chief Ron Davis on the most recent episode of the Talking with Henrietta show, titled "The Fight Against Crime: Is It Working?"
On the show, Davis quoted statistics provided to him by David Lewis, one of the founders of Free at Last, an East Palo Alto nonprofit agency that works with parolees. The statistics showed that, compared to other third grade students in San Mateo County schools, only 10 to 25 percent of East Palo Alto third graders are reading at or above the 50th percentile mark.
Unfortunately, current research shows that those who cannot read are more at risk -- than their counterparts who can read -- for winding up in prison.
If this sad correlation between the inability to read by an early age and future imprisonment is true, then the educational priority for the East Palo Alto school district and school districts throughout the country is clear: make sure all students can read by the third grade.
Certainly, this would be a cost-effective and surefire way to reduce the prison population in the future.
To see Chief Ron Davis make the connection between reading levels and incarceration in a video excerpt from the show, click on the video below. Go here to get more information about the entire one hour discussion on "The Fight Against Crime: Is It Working?" You can post your views on the subject below.
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