Literacy Programs

Three out of four fourth-graders in Detroit public schools are unable to pass basic reading proficiency.  In suburban schools, the numbers are not so grim, but many of their students also read below grade-level.  Students who do not learn to read by the third grade are unable to read to learn what they should from fourth grade on.

Functional illiteracy is also a profound problem among adults.  Almost one in every two adults living in Detroit is functionally illiterate, and it is by no means just a Detroit problem.  Wayne County's functional illiteracy rate is more than 35%, with Macomb and Oakland rates standing at 13-15%.  Even there, many suburban communities have higher rates, including Pontiac (34%), Inkster (34%), and Southfield (24%).  Statewide, one in three adults reads below a 6^th grade level.

Taken together, illiteracy in metro Detroit is an inter-generational problem that demands action on many fronts.  Children and adults who cannot read cannot learn properly and cannot earn a decent living wage.  Both to promote social justice and to foster regional economic prosperity, JCRC aims to address that problem through these literacy programs:

• Detroit Jewish Coalition for Literacy 
• Team Lamed 
• Reading Works - JCRC is a founding partner of the Reading Works Alliance.