Too many of our students are sitting in classrooms struggling to read. There is a reading crisis in Virginia. The data tells us that Virginia’s students are falling behind and do not have the basic skills they need to be successful in K-12, higher education, the workforce and life.

1 in 4 kindergartners are not meeting literacy benchmarks (Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program/Virginia Language & Literacy Screening System, 2024-25).
43% of third graders cannot read proficiently (Reading Standards of Learning, 2024-25).
Only 31% of fourth graders can read at or above proficiency (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2024).
Virginia ranked 41st in reading recovery between 2019 and 2024. Average student achievement in Virginia remains almost a full grade level below 2019 levels in math and three quarters of a grade level below in reading (Education Recovery Scorecard, 2025).

The brain is wired to read as early as 18 months of age. The first eight years are a critical time in language and literacy development. When children grow up in homes without books and adults talking and reading to them, the path to learning to read is tougher. That is why expanding Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is critically important. More than 80,000 children and families in Virginia are receiving up to 60 age-appropriate, high-quality books, activities to engage the family and ignite a love of reading. Sadly, there are more than 300,000 children that live in book deserts and many of them live right here in South Hampton Roads. The statewide expansion of the Imagination Library will change that.

When a child doesn’t develop the foundational skills to read, they cannot pick up a book and read it; think critically and comprehend; solve a math problem in class; take a driver’s test; or fill out a job application.

When they never learn to read, they will struggle in school, work and life; end up in low-paying jobs; repeat cycles of poverty; and have poorer health outcomes.

Virginia must build capacity, implement and invest in the Virginia Literacy Act and literacy initiatives year after year as other states have done. Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi are leading the way and have results to show for it. More children are reading at grade level.

The Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS) is a screener that identifies students in preschool through eighth grade for reading difficulties and guides instruction. Research tells us that the professional development and coaching for teachers must be ongoing to build capacity, improve and intensify literacy practice. Coaches and reading specialists need to be trained and deployed. The curriculum must be aligned with the science of reading and the VALLSS data is used to drive instruction, professional development and coaching in preschool through third grade.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting schools across the state to observe in classrooms and listen to the challenges our division leaders, principals, teachers and reading specialists face every day. Ultimately, they share the vision that:

All kids in Virginia read by third grade. They have books at home and school. They love to read. They read to learn.
There is a culture of books and reading at home and school.
Every family has the tools they need to help their child at home and in partnership with their child’s school.
Teachers and schools are equipped and empowered to use data and teach explicit literacy instruction.

Virginia has made reading by third grade a priority. Now it is time to make it a top priority. Our state has one of the most comprehensive reading policies in the nation from preschool to eighth grade.

Our students, teachers and schools need robust public-private investment to solve this problem. Virginia has all the right policies and strategies in place, but we can’t move fast enough to implement them. It is time to double down on our efforts to ensure every child reads by third grade.

Lisa Howard of Virginia Beach is the president and CEO of E3: Elevate Early Education and The E3 School. 

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/12/20/column-third-grade-reading-proficiency-should-be-top-va-goal/