What if? We all ponder our “what ifs”, those long shot wishes that it would be great to realize, yet we know that long shots are more wish than possibility. Half of pondering is considering “what it would take” to make our long shot happen. And, as with most ponders, the magnitude of what it would take dissolves the dream.

Still, we ponder, so ponder this. What if each and every child entering fourth grade could read and comprehend printed information written at or above the fourth grade level? What if teachers for fourth grade students could begin instruction in September with curricular materials that were at or more complex than fourth grade? As fourth grade marks a shift from learning to read to reading to learn, what if all children entered fourth grade capable of reading to learn? What if?

But, once again, there is a huge span between reality and the above “what if.” The reading comprehension level of children entering fourth grade typically ranges from late first grade to sixth grade. Children with special education needs, children living in poverty, and children who entered Kindergarten unready for schooling too0 often enter fourth grade with reading comprehension and other academic skills well below grade level. Most of their fourth grade instruction will be designed to get their skills past the second and maybe the third grade level and, even though they are exposed to the fourth grade instruction their at-grade-level peers receive, they are very likely leave fourth grade with academic achievement that will make their unready for fifth grade. For almost half the children in every elementary grade level, this describes their academic experience in grades K-5. And, after direct reading instruction ends with their passage to middle school, these children will struggle to read almost all printed material presented to them in grades 6 through 12.

So, again, consider the “what if” that describes all children as being proficient third grade readers ready and able to comprehend fourth grade printed materials. If the reading proficiencies of all children are at grade level, how much academic growth will these children be able to achieve in fourth grade? A lot! With regular fourth grade instruction and learning support, most children would be able to attain fifth grade with at grade level achievements.

This is sounding good. But, what would it take for this to happen, for all children to be at grade level as they complete their elementary education? A lot?

Stop your pondering here. Stop thinking about what all children at grade level would mean both for students and for teachers. Instead, be real and think about what it means today for learning achievement to be scattered across multiple grade levels when they begin fourth grade. Think about what it means to children who know they are still being taught second and third grade curricula. Think about what it means to children who are at or above grade level who know that their teacher must split instruction many times before she can address their grade level or advanced learning needs. Think about what the spread of achievement means for teachers as they plan for multiple grade levels of learning in their class.

When you add up all of these “think abouts,” you should come to a simple and ompelling conclusion. Whatever it takes to cause the reading proficiency of all children to be at beyond the fourth grade entry level is worth its expense.

All children reading at grade level certainly is more than worth all of the resources – time, money, modified instruction, assisted learning – we now plow into helping children in middle school through high school whose reading and comprehension abilities are significantly below grade level. This is not to say that all that we now do to cause children who are below grade level to learn is not worthwhile– far from it. No one advocates abandoning their learning. But, what if they were not below grade level?

Causing all children to achieve grade level reading comprehension when enter fourth grade is worth whatever it takes. Once we determine the scope and depth of the necessary whatevers, the next question we face is “What are we prepared to do?” Too often we know what to do but lack the conviction to do it because the whatevers seem overwhelmingly economically, politically and pedagogically difficult. The subsequent blogs will discuss “whatever it takes.”