SCALING READING SUCCESS

The Children's Initiative works with local expanded learning programs to help struggling readers in 1st through 3rd grades get the extra literacy support they need to be proficient readers. As the local host agency for AARP Foundation Experience Corps, the Children's Initiative recruits, screens, trains and coaches volunteers ages 50 or older to be volunteer reading tutors during the after school time with the goal of  helping children who are not reading at grade level become great readers by the end of third grade.  Fourth grade is a pivotal year because that is  when students move from learning to read to reading to learn.  Numerous studies document the relationship between fourth grade reading proficiency and high school dropout rates, incarceration and teen pregnancy. By focusing on students in the lower primary graders, this program helps provide a greater chance of academic and social success for students most in need. The Experience Corps model is a nationally proven intervention with measurable benefits for students, as well as positive mental and physical health benefits for volunteers who participate.