United Way of Wyoming Valley has taken a big step toward improving student success in our area by joining the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (GLR), a nationwide movement to increase early reading proficiency. Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and success later in life because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” National tests show that two-thirds of U.S. fourth graders (four-fifths of whom are from low-income families) are not reading proficiently. Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives.