As literacy rates lag, a pediatric hospital is screening for reading ability

By MAKIYA SEMINERA, AP Education Writer

For some young children in Columbus, Ohio, reading assessments don’t start in the kindergarten classroom — they happen first in the doctor’s office.

With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Children’s Hospital has begun screening children’s literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits. The idea is to catch reading struggles early on and guide parents on how to help their kids.

“They are all doing developmental screenings, they’re all talking to parents repeatedly,” said Sara Bode, the hospital’s medical director of school-based health. “So this is an opportunity.”

The pediatric hospital chose clinics to provide the literacy screenings largely based on their proximity to schools with lower performance scores on kindergarten readiness assessments. Across Columbus City Schools, more than 63% of kindergarteners were behind on language and literacy skills during the 2024-2025 school year, according to state kindergarten readiness assessment, or KRA, data.

Concerns about childho...