The need to promote early literacy and school readiness in the Native American community is especially great.

• 80% of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children on reservations live in families with income below 200% of the federal poverty line.
• As a group, AI/AN children have the poorest test scores, the lowest high school graduation rates, and the worst college entry and graduation rates of any minority group in the United States.
• There are approximately 400 Indian Health Service/Tribal/Urban (I/T/U) clinics nationwide that care for 75% of AI/AN children, and provide an established infrastructure to reach this population.
• There are limited AI/AN-themed children's books available, and those that exist are quite expensive.

To address the need for a proven school readiness strategy in the Native American community, Reach Out and Read joined together with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Native American Child Health (CONACH) to launch the Reach Out and Read American Indian/Alaska Native Coalition.

The ROR AI/AN Coalition serves four primary functions:

• Providing on-site training, technical assistance, and quality improvement visits to I/T/U Programs.
• Securing funding for each Program's annual book budget. Most I/T/U clinics are under funded and lack the discretionary funds to purchase ROR books.
• Expanding the ROR program to additional I/T/U clinics across the country.
• Procuring books with Native American themes and in Native American languages.

Today, the ROR AI/AN Coalition has expanded to 175 IHS and tribal clinics, serving more than 49,000 Native American children annually. Those children and families receive more than 81,000 new, developmentally-appropriate books each year.

Through a new partnership, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is now providing critical funding for a majority of Reach Out and Read's American Indian/Alaska Native Programs. With RIF's support, Reach Out and Read hopes to significantly increase the number of I/T/U clinics participating in ROR.

Learn more about the ROR American Indian/Alaska Native Coalition.