We recently celebrated National Nonprofit Day and the tremendous impact that organizations, like Barbershop Books, make in each community across America.
One of the amazing attributes of the nonprofit sector is the endless opportunities to serve your community in a positive way. But the question is, in what capacity will you serve?
While you ponder on that question, take a look at some recent stats.
A recent Stanford University study comparing gender gaps in the National Assessment of Educational Progress across nearly 10,000 districts nationwide found that in “low-income communities, girls tended to outperform boys in both reading and math.”
Also more specifically, more than 80% of African-American male fourth and eighth-graders in the United States are not proficient in reading, according to the 2015 U.S. Department of Education Nation’s Report Card.
In an increasingly knowledge-based economy, poor reading skills can severely impact the trajectory of an individual’s future success, both in school and the workforce.
In an effort to tackle this literacy challenge, we must first identify the main factors that contribute to low reading proficiency among Black boys.
Here are 4 contributing factors:
(1) limited access to engaging and age appropriate reading material;
(2) lack of Black men in Black boys’ early reading experiences;
(3) few culturally competent educators; and
(4) schools that are unresponsive to Black boys’ individual learning styles.
While each factor may seem like a huge feat to change, the Barbershop Books team works tirelessly to level the playing field for young Black boys.
But we haven’t done this alone. With amazing community support spanning the country, we are able to continue our efforts in ensuring a brighter future for these young boys.
We invite you to join us in our efforts and challenge you to make a positive impact in your community by helping us boldly inspire young readers.
There a few ways that we have made it easy for you to get involved with the Barbershop Books program:
Let the new school year begin!
