“We cannot significantly increase the nation’s high school graduation rate unless and until we increase dramatically the number and proportion of children from low-income families who are reading on grade level by the end of third grade.… We will not and cannot fulfill our aspiration for third grade reading unless and until we succeed in making sure that children are born healthy, that they develop on track — thriving at 3, ready at 5.”

Ralph Smith,  Annie E. Casey Foundation, Washington, D.C., May 25, 2011