"Reading is the key that unlocks all other subjects." "Ensuring that students have a solid understanding of reading fundamentals is a cornerstone of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act." "If America is going to remain the world's innovation leader—then our students must have the skills, especially literacy and proficiency to compete and thrive."

New York, N.Y. — U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today addressed the Association of American Publishers at their annual meeting. She discussed the importance of literacy and rigorous coursework in keeping America globally competitive. Following are her prepared remarks:

Good morning and thank you for having me here today. Tony I appreciate that introduction. And I want to thank you and Pat both for your leadership and all the good work the Association of American Publishers does to promote literacy.

I saw where book sales are up for 2005—and I think this organization deserves a lot of the credit—let's not give it all to Harry Potter!

I just returned from Italy where I was leading the American delegation at the Paralympics in Turin. I met athletes who had survived cancer or overcome physical disabilities to train and excel as elite athletes. It was inspiring to say the least.

And it occurred to me that the type of stories I was seeing play out in person were the type of motivational accounts I often gravitate to when I'm looking for a good book to read.

Today, we have so many modern conveniences—blackberries, iPods, TiVo (I never have to miss American Idol), wireless laptops, GPS systems in our cars—we can multi-task and multi-function with the best of them.

And yet, even as our entertainment sources get slicker and our information sources swifter—there will always be those that seek the refuge of reading.

Jerry Seinfeld once observed, "a bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." And he has a point. These days we are information sponges. There is so much to take in, so much to process. But from the pile of information sources—books stand apart.

That's because books do far more than just "inform" us—they "inform" our thinking, shape our character, and enlighten our perspectives.

The knowledge we get from books enriches our lives and the knowledge of how to read is the building block for success in life. Reading is the key that unlocks all other subjects. And in today's world it is more important than ever to have this foundation.

I know you all get this completely. Each of you in this room does double duty—both feeding the supply of books and also increasing the demand.

The Association of American Publisher's public advocacy for the importance of literacy and your strategic reading initiatives are instrumental to expanding the readership among the American public.

And as this session's theme of "Increasing Reading and Literacy Among Children" underscores, there is no audience more important to reach than our children.

Ensuring that students have a solid understanding of reading fundamentals is a cornerstone of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act. The goal set by this law is truly historic—it says that we will not rest until every single child is reading and doing math at grade level or above by 2014.

And we are already seeing the tremendous results we can achieve when legislators, parents, educators and students work together toward a common goal.

Some people doubt that NCLB can be fulfilled—they question whether every child doing grade level work by 2014 is possible. Yet schools and students from Seattle to Sacramento to Sarasota are proving the doubters wrong.

I see it when I visit places like Holmes Elementary in Spokane—which practically doubled the percentage of students reading and doing math on grade level... in just one year! Or C.L. Gideons Elementary, one of the poorest schools in Atlanta, where fourth graders posted a 23 point gain in reading... and a 34 point gain in math since 2003.

No Child Left Behind brings practical, research-based tools into the classroom and focuses on doing what works.

We're fortunate that we know a lot more today than we used to about what works when it comes to teaching kids how to read. Through our Reading First initiative we are now implementing reading instruction with materials and methods based on scientific work—not guess work or fads.

Reading First is the largest, most focused early reading initiative ever under taken and builds on more than 20 years of research that followed over 44,000 children from age 5 to adulthood. Researchers tracked children who could read well and those who couldn't read at all.

As you know, the National Reading Panel examined these findings and looked at thousands of high quality scientific studies to determine what the research tells us about how children learn to read.

Now we have evidence-based insights into how children read, why some struggle and how we can make sure all our children are reading well.

The impact of the Reading First program is one of NCLB's main accomplishments. More than 2 million students and one hundred thousand teachers have benefited directly from the program.

And thanks to you and No Child Left Behind, over the last five years, more reading progress has been made among 9-year olds than in the previous 28 years combined. Reading scores for African American and Hispanic American 9 year olds have reached all time highs.

With scientifically proven methods, Reading First is getting our younger students on track to being successful readers. That's the good news. The bad news is the same can not be said for our older students. High school test scores in reading have barely budged in the last 30 years—a fact that demands we bring the same scientific, tested approaches to our high schools, where many students are struggling and every day fall more and more behind.

President Bush created the Striving Readers program to address this challenge. Similar to Reading First, the program provides grants to fund research-based instruction for students reading below grade level and at risk of dropping out of school.

Recently I was in Massachusetts with Senator Kennedy to award a Striving Readers grant of $16 million to the Springfield Public School system. Money that will help train more than 500 teachers, who will then be able to help 7,000 students improve their reading and writing abilities.

Two days from now, I'll be nearby in Newark with the First Lady to award another Striving Readers grant of $14 million which will fund similar efforts within the Newark Public School System. We're awarding eight such grants around the nation, and the President has requested $100 million in the budget this year so that we can expand the program to help even more students.

Each year about a million students drop out of high school, and nearly half of all African American and Hispanic 9th graders don't graduate from high school on time.

Think about the implications for our country. When we know 90 percent of the jobs of the future require some postsecondary education, we must work to bring high standards and accountability to our high schools. A diploma should be a ticket to success for all graduates—not a certificate of attendance.

In 2005, barely half of high school graduates (51%) were ready for college level reading, and less than half were ready for college-level math and science coursework. This not only points out the need for more reading intervention, but it goes to a much more fundamental and comprehensive need for overall high school reform.

In an increasingly competitive world; it's imperative we get this right. These days, you can't pick up a magazine or newspaper without reading about global competitiveness. The reality is if we are going to keep pace—if America is going to remain the world's innovation leader—then our students must have the skills, especially literacy proficiency—to compete and thrive.

President Bush is leading the charge with his recently announced American Competitiveness Initiative. It will build on the success of No Child Left Behind and increase academic rigor across the board. In a recent study of high school dropouts published by the Gates Foundation—the lack of challenging coursework was one of the top reasons given for quitting. Nearly 50 percent surveyed said they left school because their classes were boring and not relevant to their lives.

The American Competitiveness Initiative aims to change that by ensuring high schools offer more rigorous coursework, including Advanced Placement programs in math, science and critically needed foreign languages such as Arabic and Chinese.

The AP program has been proven to make a difference in student performance. Students who take two or more Advanced Placement classes in high school are twice as likely to graduate from college in four years compared to students who don't take any AP courses.

Y

et, nearly 40 percent of our nation's high schools don't offer any AP courses, and many of those schools serve low-income and minority students. There's something wrong when in the Washington, D.C. area where I live, suburban Langley High School offers 21 AP courses—which is great—while inner-city Ballou High School offers only four.

We need to do everything we can to encourage our students to pursue this more rigorous curriculum and make sure that it is available for every child that wants to take advantage of these opportunities.

In addition, just as we worked to strengthen reading instruction, we must now look at ways to improve the way we teach math in our elementary schools. It's not just about helping younger students develop strong arithmetic skills; it's about planting the seeds of higher order thinking for later in life.

We plan to do for math what we've done for reading by building the best available scientific-research base of classroom practices that are proven to work. The new National Math Panel will bring together top experts in the field to do this work. And the President's Math Now program for elementary school and middle school students will help bring this research to the classroom where it can help teachers and students.

The good news is there are certain things you can't teach in a classroom that our students and our country already have—creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit. We actually have the easier job, but we have to do it.

We must equip our children with the right tools, and if we do our job—they will rise to the top.

In the end, it all comes back to reading—there is no skill more essential. You can't cure cancer if you don't know how to spell it.

In helping more kids learn to read, the work in the classroom is only half the battle. Reading instruction must be reinforced in the home and many kids who struggle with reading live in homes where their parents can't read. Eleven million Americans—5 percent of our population can't read. That's equal to the entire population of New York City plus the population of my hometown of Houston. We have to get just as aggressive with our efforts to increase adult literacy because if we don't we will never end this vicious cycle.

And, we're on the right track. Since 2001, we've invested millions in scientific research to determine the best teaching methods for adults. And the Department is helping states implement proven reading strategies to accelerate adult learning.

We've also set up a working group that will pull together adult education resources from across the federal government to better coordinate and improve our adult reading work. Last week, we held the first meeting with representatives from a dozen federal agencies that handle adult education programs.

I know that all of you understand the seriousness of this problem—adult literacy is not just an education issue; it's a quality of life issue. For example, across town today President Bush is speaking about the new prescription drug benefit under Medicare.

For the first time, seniors can now enroll to receive prescription drug coverage, but to do so they have to complete an application form. What happens—which we have found to be the case in many instances—when those who most need this aid can't read well enough to fill the form out? Or pick the coverage that makes the most sense for their situation?

To me this cuts to the heart of the matter—in this day and age, reading is a survival skill. It's our duty to help every American gain the mastery of it.

I've heard all kinds of excuses for how difficult it is, how it can't be done, but if we're going to improve literacy in this country; if we 're going to answer the question "Where Have all the Readers Gone?"; then we don't have time for excuses.

It all starts with getting our kids to read... and thanks to NCLB and with your help we are going to make sure every child is capable of reading your books by 2014.

It's going to take a lot of hard work and the commitment of all of us—policymakers, parents, and publishers alike—to achieve our goal. But it can be done.

We didn't get to where we are as a nation by giving up when things got too hard. Time and again, from the Wild West to Outer Space, America's can-do attitude has broken new ground.

Ours is a nation of take-charge pioneers.

And if we ensure our children and our citizens have the skills they need to compete, then we can be sure they will be the ones leading the charge on the frontiers of the future.

Thank you.

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