 AAP Section of Medical Student, Residents and Fellowship Trainees Annual Campaign focused on Advocacy  Provides a framework for YOU to get involved and create an advocacy project of your own  Successful campaigns in the past focused on smoking, vaccines, obesity and voting for kids!

 More than 1/3 of 4 th graders read so poorly they cannot complete their schoolwork successfully  Children who develop more literacy skills in the preschool years perform better in the primary grades  Reading just 20 minutes per night corresponds to a 10 point increase on literacy tests Source: National Institute for Literacy

 One in four children grow up without learning how to read  53% of children ages 3-5 are read to daily by a family member  Only 3-5% of children are able to read phonemically by kindergarten

 62% of parents with a high socioeconomic status read to their children every day  For America’s poorest children, the biggest obstacle to literacy is the scarcity of books and appropriate reading material  85% of juvenile delinquents are functionally illiterate

 Children who are read to regularly are more likely to: ◦ Know their alphabet ◦ Count higher ◦ Write their own name ◦ Read themselves  Decreased high school drop out rate  Decreased chance of ending up in jail or on welfare

 Continuity Clinic  Residency Program  Hospital  Community  State  Federal

 Reinforce literacy at each WCC ◦ Ensure every child receives a book ◦ Learn to assess literacy with Reach Out and Read tools/curriculum ◦ Emphasize importance of Dad reading  Create library resource for parents ◦ How to obtain library card ◦ Story times at local libraries for children

Courtesy of Reach Out and Read Use these milestones to educate your parents and encourage them to start reading at an early age

 Develop a QI project ◦ Assess how often parents read to their children ◦ Assess how long parents read for  Write a prescription for reading 20 min per night ◦ Assess how parents choose books  Give examples of age appropriate books

 Coordinate volunteers to read to inpatient wards/chronic care centers/dialysis units, etc.  Dedicate a journal club/advocacy group/noon conference to early childhood literacy  Commit to every resident becoming certified with Reach Out and Read ◦ Free online module/video curriculum

Present… Redecorate… Support….

 Present to parent groups at local schools about literacy and it’s importance  Redecorate /renovate a local school or shelter’s library  Support adult literacy classes, ◦ Could publicize, sponsor, provide space

 Most funding for literacy efforts came from federal appropriations and congressional provisions  Major literacy initiatives are now applying for competitive federal grants to supplement private donations

 Contact your Congressperson and Senator to have them support the Prescribe A Book Act  Participate in the literacy advocacy day on Capitol Hill  Reach out and Read State Representative ◦ Each state has a rep actively involved in legislative advocacy with projects easy to get involved with

 April 28 - May 4  Prescribe a TV/screen free day and offer activities to do instead  Encourage each child to pick a day to be screen free  Other important literacy dates can be found on the literacy calendar Sponsored by Campaign for Commercial-free Childhood

 Get involved ◦ Choose a project/group to commit to as a residency program or come up with your own!  Tell us about it ◦ Each program delegate will communicate with the AAP about the project and it’s success  Get recognized ◦ An overall winner will be chosen and eligible for prizes!

 1. Committee on Early Childhood ◦ Staff contact: Charlotte Zia, ◦  2. Section on Early Education and Child Care ◦ Staff contact: Jeanne VanOrsdal, ◦  3. Literacy Toolkit ◦ Accessible via the Committee on Early Childhood webpage and directly at:

1. National Institute for Literacy (2006). The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Available online U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics (1996). National Household Education Study, Washington DC: Author. 3. National Center for Education Statistics (1993) The Condition of Education. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 4. Needlman R, Fried L, Morley D, Traylor S, Zuckerman B. Clinic-Based Intervention to Promote Literacy. American Medical Association American Journal of Diseases of Children; 145(881) National Center for Educational Statistics,caliteracy.org 10.