Special Report

• Reading for Life

  Sara Mead

  Learning to read by third grade is a goal that can organize everything we do for kids.

• Literacy Begins at Birth

  Cornelia Grumman

  An agenda for early education can't wait for kindergarten -- the first five years matter, too.

• A Place for Play

  Lisa Guernsey

  Why reading programs must combine playful learning with direct instruction

• There's No Such Thing as a Reading Test

  E.D. Hirsch, Robert Pondiscio

  Real literacy involves learning about the world, not just letters and sounds.

• Lessons From New Jersey

  Gordon MacInnes

  Providing poor children with stable, high-quality preschool and kindergarten will make them higher performers.

• Missing Out on Reading

  Hedy Chang

  Children can't learn to read if they're not in school -- and chronic absenteeism is a problem we can fix.

• Health Education

  Monica Potts

  Glasses and eye tests are just one of the ways in which the new health-reform law will help kids read.