Reading is a fundamental component of life that many of us take for granted. Reading street signs, recipes and even television show credits aren’t something that most of us give a second thought. Yet according to the National Adult Literacy Survey, about 44 million people in the United States cannot read well enough to fill out an application, read a food label or read a simple story to a child.

Difficulty reading as a young child often translates to difficulty reading later in life. According to the Journal of Educational Psychology, approximately 75 percent of students identified with reading problems in the third grade are still reading disabled in the ninth grade.

In response to these astounding statistics, AkronReads will now focus specifically on third graders, a shift from its past focus on kindergarten through grade 5 students.

"It’s critical that our students learn to read by the end of their third grade year, and we feel the shift to tutoring third graders exclusively makes the best use of our resources," said Carla Sibley, Director, Community Relations for Akron Public Schools.

Third grade is a pivotal time for mastering reading, said author and education expert Dr. Edward Kame’enui. By the end of third grade, education shifts from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." In other words, education becomes largely based on reading comprehension, so instruction on the mechanics of reading diminishes dramatically. As a result, students who haven’t mastered the nuts and bolts by then are often left behind.

Source: reading.uoregon.edu

"There are so many students that could use our help. We always need more dedicated people who are willing to share a little of their time to make a huge impact on a child’s life," Sibley said.