Literacy Information

  • ​Here’s what we know: there’s a direct correlation between illiteracy and poverty, crime, and even early mortality.  We also know that those who are literate are more likely to vote, be involved in their communities, and seek medical help for themselves and their families. (International Literacy Association, 2015)
  • According to the 2013 NAEP results, only 38% of children entering 4th grade read at a ‘proficient’ or better level.
  • 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.  There is something called the 4th grade slump (Chall, 2005).  We can predict that if a child is not reading proficiently in the 4th grade, he or she will have approximately a 78% of not catching up.
  • According to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), 13 percent of adults were at or above proficient, indicating they possess the skills necessary to perform complex and challenging literacy activities.

Literacy Statistics and Court

  • ​85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.
  • More than 60 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate.
  • Penal institution records show that inmates have a 16% chance of returning to prison if they receive literacy help, as opposed to 70% who receive no help. This equates to taxpayer costs of $25,000 per year per inmate and nearly double that amount for juvenile offenders. 
  • Illiteracy and crime are closely related. The Department of Justice states, "The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure." Over 70% of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.

STELLAR is holding a PACT contest starting this summer and running through the 2024-25 school year.  PACT stands for Parent And Child Time.  This a contest emphazing reading fluency.   If you and your child might be interested in joining this contest, please contact Dr. Debbie at (302) 530-6181.

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Past and Current Activities

  •  Our activities have mostly focused on tutoring and educational consulting.  
  • ​We have held parent workshops for parents interested in learning how to help their child learn and study better.  
  • STELLAR conducts an annual WALK for Family Literacy in Elsmere, DE
  • STELLAR celebrates literacy with an annual African-American Read-In


Ongoing Planned Activities
  • STELLAR holds an annual fundraising event, the WALK for Family Literacy, to earn money to maintain a scholarship fund for those families who cannot yet afford to pay full tutoring fees in order to help their children increase literacy skills and overall academic achievement.  The ANNUAL WALK is on the first Sunday in November, which in National Family Literacy Month.
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The African-American Read-In  

The WALK for Family Literacy