Reading is the cornerstone of education and life. We need and use the lifelong skill of literacy on a daily basis -- probably more than each of us realizes. Reading can be as basic as reading street signs or as complex as deciphering tax codes. It enriches our lives and enables us to build strong communities. Too many Hoosiers, children and adults, have yet to master the basic skill of reading.

Over 15,500 first grade students (about 20 percent) are at risk of not learning to read and write each year. Educators throughout Indiana are working hard to improve the reading abilities of all our students -- to leave no child behind. Indiana must take decisive steps now to ensure improved student achievement.

The 1997 and 1999 Reading and Literacy Initiatives for a Better Indiana have helped address these needs and objectives. When the Indiana Department of Education brought the literacy needs of our state before the 1997 Indiana General Assembly, legislators responded by allocating $14 million for the 1997 Reading and Literacy Initiative for a Better Indiana. A total of 26 reading and education associations endorsed the initiative that focused on early intervention reading programs, a renewed investment in school library books and newspapers, and adequate funding for the state's adult education literacy programs. Two new grant programs were established in 1997 as a part of this initiative, the Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program and the School Library Printed Materials Grant. The legislature supported continued funding, with some increases, for these programs in 1999. A review of this initiative after three and a half years shows clear and positive results in improved student performance, increased literacy, and a more skilled work force.

The Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program has produced significant results. During the last two years, approximately 31,800 preK-Grade 3 students have received intensive intervention services supported by this grant through such programs as Even Start, Success for All, Four Block, Literacy Collaborative, and Reading Recovery. Other schools have successfully implemented, through support of this grant, their own literacy intervention strategies based on local needs.

The second component of the program involved the purchase of library materials. In 1996, the Middle Grades Reading Network at the University of Evansville conducted an inventory survey with school librarians and determined that the average copyright date of school library books was 1968. The department determined that two new books per student per year were needed to sufficiently replenish library printed materials and increase circulation rates. A study of the differences between higher and lower performing Indiana schools in reading and mathematics, conducted by the North Central Regional Education Laboratory, reports one necessary component to increase student performance in lower-performing schools is to "increase student access to instructional and print materials, including regular and flexible access to a working library."

The School Library Printed Materials Grant has allowed schools to purchase hundreds of thousands of new library books, which has resulted in greatly increased circulation rates. Despite the local dollar-for-dollar match of the grant funds, however, schools have only been able to increase their purchases to 1.08 books per student. With the average cost of a hardcover library book for children and young adults increasing to $17.57, more resources are needed. The department is requesting $10 million for the 2001-2003 biennium for this program.

Finally, a new component of the 2001 Reading and Literacy Initiative for a Better Indiana will address the growing population of Grade K-12 students who are classified as limited English proficient. The number of limited English proficient (LEP) students has more than tripled in the last ten years. During this time, the percentage of language minority students who are LEP has increased from 25.37 percent to 42.39 percent. The number of native languages other than English has increased to 212 in Hoosier classrooms.