Governor’s Pocket Guide to Early Literacy

Early literacy has been elevated by governors across the nation as an indicator of success in school and in life. The 2019 Governor’s Pocket Guide to Early Literacy underscores the importance of early literacy with compelling state examples of outcomes, initiatives and investments in early reading. This version is a brief, digestible guide that focuses on how governors can use their unique position to promote reading proficiency by the end of third grade through their executive authority, public awareness and agenda setting, policy making and budgeting. The guide also highlights a few reading scores from the 2019 NAEP results.

As the chief executive of state government, governors are uniquely positioned to create a collaborative governance structure that promotes early literacy. Governors can issue an executive order to state agencies under their purview (see example from Mississippi) or create a state-level committee and convene key stakeholders to cultivate crossagency leadership.