OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite COVID-19 variants creating ongoing disruptions in schools, Reading Partners continued to provide critical literacy support to students, schools, and communities.
This was accomplished by expanding the impact of literacy tutoring by prioritizing innovation, partnerships and racial equity.
“The widespread school interruptions of the past few years have exacerbated pre-existing opportunity gaps and disrupted learning that disproportionately impacted Black and Hispanic students, and students experiencing economic disadvantages,” CEO Adeola Whitney said. “Reading is foundational — the ability to read transforms lives and empowers children and communities to thrive.”
Reading Partners reached over 30% more students during the 2021-22 school year than the year before. There were:
- 5,371 students across the country who received one-on-one tutoring
- 138,084 total tutoring sessions delivered
- 49% of sessions were delivered online via Reading Partners Connects
- 5,814 community tutors who supported students
- 181 partner schools and other community-based locations nationwide
Aside from the reach, Reading Partners achieved impressive student performance. More than three-fourths of all Reading Partners students finished the year meeting or exceeding their primary end-of-year literacy growth goals, while 82% of K-2 Reading Partners students were developing mastery of key foundational reading skills needed to read and grade level. Nearly half of all tutoring sessions were delivered via Reading Partners online program called Reading Partners Connects.
“If we have learned anything during the pandemic, it is that we need to be agile in our response,” Whitney said. “By taking a hybrid approach to tutoring, we ensure that students will be able to receive much-needed literacy support regardless of external factors like a public health emergency.”
Heading into the new school year, Reading Partners anticipates needing more than 11,000 community volunteers nationwide to support students' literacy development. It is easy to become a volunteer and many locations offer both in-person and online volunteering options. Follow this link if you’re interested in investing one hour a week to help empower a student through reading.
Reading Partners also gets help from AmeriCorps members in its 12 regions to train and provide ongoing support to literacy volunteers. Please follow this link if you’re interested in becoming an AmeriCorps member at Reading Partners.
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About Reading Partners
For over 20 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 75,000 community volunteers to provide more than 2.5 million individualized literacy tutoring sessions to more than 70,000 elementary school students in nearly 470 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, Twitter, and Instagram. Reading Partners is a proud AmeriCorps service partner and has been endorsed by The New York Times.
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