Only 44.9% of all New Jersey third graders who took the 2024-25 state proficiency exam were proficient in English language arts. Among low-income third graders specifically, just 28.7% demonstrated reading proficiency. Over the past couple of years, New Jersey has joined several other states in strengthening early literacy policies through promoting evidence-based curricula and intervention programs. One proposed intervention capitalizes on out-of-school time to help students make literacy gains: an evidence-based summer reading program.
Bill S268, which would create a three-year pilot summer reading program for second graders reading below grade level, was introduced in the New Jersey Senate on January 13, 2026, and currently sits in the Senate Education Committee awaiting further action. The bill aims to establish a screening-based targeted intervention to support rising third graders with summer literacy instruction to ensure they can read on grade level before the start of the new school year. While the bill requires the Commissioner of Education to consult with reading literacy experts to select the screening tool, it does not specify a curriculum or instructional model for the program.
Summer reading requirements vary greatly across districts throughout the state: some schools direct families to local library-sponsored programs, while others provide suggested reading lists. The underlying goal appears to be keeping students engaged with reading—an approach supported by expert advice on preventing summer learning loss. The pilot summer reading program proposed in S268, however, would likely employ a more specialized skill-building approach to support struggling readers at this pivotal moment in their academic development.
Why Third Grade?
Former New Jersey Commissioner of Education Kevin Dehmer recently described third grade as the critical period when “students shift from learning to read to reading to learn.” In other words, learners must be able to apply early literacy skills to access the content across disciplines for the rest of their academic careers. Consequently, educators, researchers, and policymakers are invested in ensuring students receive adequate support to develop early literacy skills from pre-kindergarten through third grade—a priority well supported by the research on early literacy.
A widely cited longitudinal study of nearly 4,000 students, published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2011, established a strong association between third grade reading proficiency and high school graduation rates. The study found that non-proficient readers were four times less likely to graduate high school on time than proficient readers. When poverty is factored in, the disparity widened: non-proficient, low-income readers were roughly 13 times less likely to graduate on time than proficient, higher-income readers. Notably, about a quarter (26%) of non-proficient, low-income readers did not graduate high school on time, compared to 11% of proficient low-income readers, demonstrating that reading proficiency by third grade can have a substantial effect on graduation outcomes for students experiencing poverty.
Other research points to similar conclusions. A 2010 longitudinal study of 26,000 students in Chicago Public Schools, published by Chapin Hall (an affiliate of the University of Chicago), found that third graders who read above grade level enrolled in college at higher rates than their peers who read at or below grade level. More recent research efforts—including those from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, the Strategic Data Project at Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, and Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development—continue to expand and deepen the field’s understanding of the relationship between early literacy and students’ later success. Given this evidence, New Jersey is right to explore ways to support young struggling readers, especially during the summer months.
What Should Effective, Evidence-based Summer Reading Programming Prioritize?
Summer learning loss has been associated with declines in reading achievement, especially for low-income young readers. Research shows that participation in summer reading programs can benefit students who experience such declines during the previous school year. A scoping review of 32 empirical studies that examine summer reading programs and their impact on literacy in elementary settings between 2014 and 2024 was published by the International Literacy Association in early 2026. The review identified three main themes across the studies: (1) they were targeted programs, (2) they focused on skill development, and (3) they fostered motivation for literacy. These themes offer a useful framework for what evidence-based summer reading programming should prioritize.
As lawmakers weigh S268, grounding the pilot in these research-backed approaches could help more of New Jersey’s young readers reach grade-level proficiency and, in the longer term, stay on track for graduation.