1. Reading Statistics
This is why we read!!

2. 70% of college instructors felt that students were unprepared to understand college level reading and comprehending complex materials.

3. Every school day in America, 3,000 students drop out -- the majority of them are poor readers. Students with below grade level reading skills are twice as likely to drop out of school as those who can read on or above grade level. 

4. About one-third of all first-year college students took a remedial course in reading or math in Students taking remedial reading classes in college had only a 17 percent chance of graduating, according to 2004 DOE data.

5. Forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees -- and the report shows that we will fall short by three million workers without a dramatic change in course. This translates into a deficit of 300,000 college graduates every year between now and (

6. Forecasters have predicted that if static literacy levels continue, then by 2030 the entire Literacy Level distribution of the U.S. population will have decreased, creating an American workforce that is unequipped and unskilled to work in the demanding global market

7. Among adults at the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% live in poverty. Among adults with strong literacy skills, only 4% live in poverty. 

8. One in every 100 U.S. adults 16 and older is in prison or jail in America (about 2.3 million in 2006). About 43 percent do not have a high school diploma or equivalent and 56 percent have very low literacy skills

9. When children are provided with 20 self-selected books by the end of the regular school year, as many as 50 percent not only maintain their skills, but actually make reading gains

10. Students who read widely and frequently are higher achievers than students who read rarely and narrowly

11. Children learn an average of 4,000 to 12,000 new words each year as a result of book reading

12. Research has found a relation between the amount of time that children read for fun on their own and reading achievement.