SARASOTA – Members of a task force formed to bridge the achievement gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers presented preliminary recommendations to Sarasota County School Board members Tuesday.
The task force suggested the school district work to increase parental involvement, reform discipline practices, increase attendance loss and prevent summer learning loss, among other proposals.
The task force’s creation in February was largely influenced by the Campaign on Grade-Level Reading, a national initiative Sarasota joined in 2013 that aims to increase the reading proficiency of third-grade students. Students who are not reading-proficient by third grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school on time, according to an Annie E. Casey Foundation national study.
