Rowan County has to make up a lot of ground just to reach the state average in student proficiency levels.
Statewide, 55.7 percent of students in grades 3-8 were proficient in all end-of-grade areas for 2013-14. In Rowan-Salisbury, only 45.3 percent were proficient.
Why? Our poverty level is not that much higher than the state’s — 18.5 percent vs. 16.8 percent, according to Census Quick Facts. More likely, the difference in children’s achievement levels comes from the difference in their parents’ education levels. The percentage of the adult population with a college degree is only 16.7 percent in Rowan, while it’s 26.8 percent statewide.
We can’t send all our adults back to school to get a college degree. But we can ensure the community does all it can to develop children — regardless of background or home situation — to their fullest potential. Maybe even to their extraordinary potential, to borrow a word from the school system’s credo: Extraordinary Education Everyday.
Here are some troubling national statistics to ponder as well:
• Disadvantaged students in the first grade have approximately half the vocabulary, on average, of an advantaged student (2,900 and 5,800 respectively), a 1990 study found.
• The educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are at risk because they don’t read well enough, quickly enough, or easily enough, according to a 1998 report the National Research Council.
• More than $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems.
Rowan County has a literacy problem, one that’s holding back our children and our county. School officials and community leaders are well aware.
Literacy is the focus of a countywide summit taking place Friday morning, hosted by the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. It’s being held on the Hood Seminary campus, in the Albert Aymer Center. You can still sign up by calling the chamber at 704-633-4221.
This will be a call to arms. Moody will ask 100 businesses and religious centers to start homework centers where students can go after school for Internet access and homework help. Pastors who have overseen such programs will share their stories. Other speakers will talk about improving adult literacy — maybe we can send more adults back to school — and there will be time for sharing ideas.
We need to show the world — and maybe ourselves — that Rowan citizens will not settle for low test scores. We will not look away from the problems that trail struggling students all their lives. And we will not leave a legacy of community deterioration. It’s time to turn the tide.
The schools cannot conquer this problem alone. If our children and our county are to have a solid future, we all need to get involved.