Oakland, CA, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reading Partners, a national nonprofit committed to improving reading outcomes through community-driven tutoring and other literacy solutions, is excited to announce its expansion into Newark, New Jersey, with the support of a $600,000 investment from nonprofit funder GreenLight Fund Greater Newark. This multi-year partnership aims to address critical literacy gaps in Newark, where only 23% of students are currently reading at grade level.
As the 2023 New Jersey State Learning Assessments (NJSLA) revealed, Newark's third-grade reading proficiency rate remains stagnant at 19%, significantly below the statewide average of 42%. Reading Partners’ evidence-based, one-on-one literacy tutoring model has a 25-year track record of success across the country, and this expansion seeks to provide Newark students with the necessary tools to read at grade level by fourth grade.
“Newark is joining the many communities that have successfully mobilized tutors to help improve early literacy skills and support positive outcomes for our young people through individualized instruction,” said Adeola Whitney, CEO, Reading Partners. “Reading Partners has activated tens of thousands of supporters across the nation who believe, like we do, that reading is a civil right. Newark is not alone in this challenge of inequity in our education system, and we look forward to partnering with the Newark community to recruit tutors to help improve literacy rates and close the opportunity gap.”
Reading Partners will work with schools and community organizations in Newark to empower them to implement the evidence-based program within their communities to support student learning. To do so, over the next four years, Reading Partners will help recruit paid and unpaid tutors who will deliver personalized literacy instruction (in-person and online) to an estimated 4,500 students and facilitate family literacy workshops for 3,700 families. The goal is that over 80% of students engaged will reach their annual literacy goals.
Since Reading Partners’ founding in 1999, the organization has mobilized over 85,000 volunteers, positively impacting more than 80,000 elementary school students nationwide. Last school year, 91% of K-2 students and 87% of all students in Reading Partners’ programs met or exceeded their primary literacy growth goals.
GreenLight Fund Greater Newark’s investment was informed by a year-long selection process, which involved the local Selection Advisory Council (SAC), a diverse group of Newark residents, leaders, and experts. The SAC identified literacy as a top priority for the community and selected Reading Partners based on its demonstrated success in other cities.
“Data has shown us that Newark is experiencing a literacy crisis, and this was confirmed during our community conversations tour where we heard from hundreds of residents that this is a critical issue for us to address,” said GreenLight Fund Greater Newark Executive Director Tish Johnson-Jones, JD. “As a new school year starts and we mark National Literacy Month, GreenLight Greater Newark is excited to announce that we will be bringing Reading Partners’ proven program model to Newark to help improve literacy. By recruiting and training community members to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring, we will help strengthen reading skills and set our young people up for lifelong success.”
Reading Partners’ expansion into Newark marks a critical step in addressing the city’s literacy challenges. GreenLight Fund Greater Newark and Reading Partners will host a community discussion on early literacy later this month and share more information about how local volunteers can get involved in the program starting next year.
This partnership for Reading Partners in New Jersey follows the successful development of partnerships in over a dozen other states including Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas just to name a few. Through new partnerships with organizations, Reading Partners aims to expand beyond its own direct tutoring programs to help positively impact literacy growth for as many students as possible.
For more information about partnering with Reading Partners, visit Transcend’s Innovative Models Exchange or reach out to Jennifer.Joyce@readingpartners.org.
For media inquiries, please contact Jen Peters at peters@collaborativecommunications.com.
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About Reading Partners
For nearly 25 years, Reading Partners has helped empower students to succeed in school and beyond by engaging community volunteers to provide proven, one-on-one literacy tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has mobilized over 85,000 community volunteers to provide nearly 3 million individualized literacy tutoring sessions to more than 80,000 elementary school students in over 550 under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact and our Reading Partners Connects online program innovation, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram. Reading Partners is a proud AmeriCorps service partner and has been endorsed by The New York Times and featured on The TODAY Show and GMA.
About GreenLight Fund Greater Newark
Started in Boston in 2004, GreenLight Fund is a national philanthropic nonprofit with a local focus that partners with communities to create opportunities for inclusive prosperity. The organization, in each of its sites, facilitates a community-driven process that matches local needs of individuals and families not met by existing programs, to organizations with track records of success elsewhere. Working with communities, GreenLight identifies, invites in and launches proven organizations, providing collaborative support so they can quickly take root and deliver measurable social impact. GreenLight Greater Newark was launched in 2022. Founding investors in GreenLight Greater Newark include Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, MCJ Amelior Foundation, Prudential Foundation, among others. Additional GreenLight sites include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and the Twin Cities. More information at https://greenlightfund.org/sites/greater-newark/.
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