Closing the Literacy Gap
Reading Partners Helps Level The Playing Field
By Deborah Streufert
“Oh, snap!” Josh exclaims after enthusiastically perusing through the Captain America book in his hands. “There’s stickers in here!”
Who would have thought a second-grader with a reading deficiency would be so excited about a book? But that’s a mindset Reading Partners and his private tutor have helped him develop, and the Captain America book is a reward he gets to keep for reaching the next level in his reading.
Josh is an energetic boy with a future that could blossom into just about anything he can imagine. He comes from a low-income family, but as long as he acquires the requisite knowledge and skills, there’s no reason why he can’t accomplish great things in life. Let’s make sure that happens.
In the words of President Obama, “a child’s course in life should be determined not by the ZIP code she’s born in, but by the strength of her work ethic and the scope of her dreams.”
Most people agree that education is the foremost solution to combatting poverty and crime. But too many children like Josh move forward in school without adequate reading skills, thereby compromising their ability to learn across all subjects.
Studies have shown that a child’s literacy gap relative to his or her peers needs to be resolved as early as possible. It’s hard enough to learn when he doesn’t understand the material being presented, but the impairment itself throws him even further behind, thereby causing the gap to grow exponentially year by year. And as the student grows older, it becomes increasingly more difficult to bring that student back on course.
Reading Partners is a creative solution to the problem with an exceptional rate of success. It has been part of the Colorado educational landscape since 2012 when Mile High United Way leveraged a federal Social Innovation Fund grant to ensure that more Colorado children are able to read proficiently by the third grade.
The organization has paired thousands of community volunteers with kids in low-income schools. The goal is to improve students’ reading skills to grade level through a specific curriculum involving reading with the student while concentrating on spelling, word analysis and vocabulary.
The one-on-one tutoring program empowers students to succeed while providing volunteers with an opportunity to make a lasting difference. Each volunteer is paired with a particular student throughout the school year, often forging close relationships, and encouraging students to strive for success.
Reading Partners Colorado currently serves students in 14 schools throughout Denver, including three in our immediate community – Smith Renaissance Elementary in Park Hill, Columbine Elementary in North City Park, and Ashley Elementary on Montview Boulevard just east of Park Hill.
The program has more than 1,400 volunteers serving over 800 children. On average, Reading Partners students have more than doubled their rate of learning for every month they were enrolled in the program. Nine of 10 emerging readers mastered their key foundational literary skills.
Still, there’s always a shortage of volunteers, and funds. You can find out more, at www.readingpartners.org. Or, plan to attend the upcoming Colorado Read to Succeed breakfast at the Denver Athletic Club on Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 a.m. Join Senator Michael Johnston, Channel 9 News Anchor Kyle Dyer, Reading Partners CEO Michael Lombardo, and some of those whose lives have been impacted by the organization will be there. There is no charge for the breakfast. Please RSVP to Christina Herold at christina.herold@readingpartners.org.
Park Hill resident Deborah Streufert is a tutor volunteer at Columbine Elementary and a tutor advisory board member with Reading Partners.