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ST. LOUIS — The whole community can help children learn to read inside and outside of the classroom, say the leaders of two new campaigns aimed at boosting literacy rates across ��ѿ��ý.

Last year, 21% of students in ��ѿ��ý Public Schools scored proficient in English on standardized state tests. For Black students the proficiency rate was 13%.

The district’s Literacy for the Lou campaign includes several initiatives, including $4.5 million upgrades to all SLPS libraries for new books and materials. Thousands of books will be donated to students for their home libraries. Students will also receive “reading passports” to collect prizes at local businesses.

“The literacy campaign sounds positive — libraries are great, reading initiatives are great, getting books in the hands of students is great,” said Lauren Preston, a parent of an SLPS third grader with dyslexia. “But I know with my daughter, she had books she could read, she had parents who read to her. Kids with a learning disability still need very specific methods of intervention. How is the district making sure that kids get identified early when they’re going to struggle?”

Superintendent Keisha Scarlett said the campaign is an extension of work already happening in schools on foundational literacy skills. A pilot program is underway in six SLPS elementary schools: Ashland, Columbia, Jefferson, Meramec, Peabody and Walbridge, where teachers will receive literacy training and third grade students will visit reading tutors twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes.

Literacy for the Lou is the second local campaign focused on reading amid a national push to revamp curriculum and turn around declining test scores. Last month, the ��ѿ��ý chapter of the NAACP launched the “Right to Read” campaign calling for all children in ��ѿ��ý city and county to read on grade level by third grade.

“We all have the same goal. We understand the connection between literacy and life outcomes,” said Ian Buchanan, ��ѿ��ý City NAACP education chair.

Each school district and charter school will be encouraged to adopt goals for English proficiency among Black students that meets or exceeds the state average among all students of 43.5% by 2030. Last year, Bayless in south ��ѿ��ý County was the only local school district where Black students scored higher (45.5%) than the state average for all students.

The NAACP will provide “an umbrella of support” by bringing together school districts, universities, tutoring organizations and charities.

“This is a community issue because it impacts all of us from a moral perspective and from an economic perspective,” Buchanan said. “This is a solvable issue and we have the will and the skill in this region to do it.”

Scarlett, SLPS superintendent, said improvements “may be generational” to offset long-term disinvestment in Black and low-income communities in ��ѿ��ý: “There’s so much work to be done.”

The leaders of the literacy campaigns acknowledged the monumental task of overcoming disparities shown in state data:

• Statewide, Black students score lower on average (21% English proficiency) than students learning English as a second language (26% proficiency).
• Black students in eight local districts or charter networks fall below the state average for English proficiency among all Black students (19%): Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, KIPP, Lift for Life Academy, Momentum Academy, Normandy, Riverview Gardens and SLPS.
• There is a 61-percentage-point gap between the highest scoring district, Clayton with an overall reading proficiency of 72%, and the lowest, Lift for Life with 11%.

Kenya Womack, a fourth grade teacher at Mullanphy Elementary in the Shaw neighborhood, said proficiency on the test translates to a level of reading comprehension without assistance.

“The scores are important, but you can guess your way through a test,” Womack said. “My goal is to make sure you can read.”

The Literacy for the Lou kickoff event will be held from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Central Library in downtown ��ѿ��ý.