From Reading Partners, a national non-profit organization

In the 2016-17 school year, Reading Partners continued to build on its history of successfully advancing early literacy in the Seattle region. A national nonprofit organization, Reading Partners collaborates with community volunteers and local public schools to provide students in under-resourced schools with the proven, individualized reading intervention they need to read at grade level by fourth grade. Reading Partners collaborates with teachers and principals at local public elementary schools to identify students reading behind grade level and provide them with personalized literacy instruction in a dedicated “reading center” space at their school.

For the 2016-17 school year, the results were strong

Each year, Reading Partners issues student impact reports for the national organization and for each of its 14 respective regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2016-17 school year have recently been posted on readingpartners.org and include the following highlights.

• In the Seattle region:
  • Nearly 200 students were matched with over 250 community volunteers at 4 partner schools who delivered a total of more than 7,600 tutoring sessions over the course of the year.
  • Among Reading Partners’ youngest students in Seattle, nearly 90% mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.
  • Based on survey responses, 100% of principals report improved school-wide reading progress, 98% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 95% of volunteers were satisfied with their Reading Partners experience.
  • Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in Seattle here.
  • Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

“These results would not be possible without the generosity of time and care from the impressive volunteers who dedicate at least an hour per week to serving our students and our community.” said Cassy Charyn, Interim Executive Director of Reading Partners Seattle.

Now 75 students waiting for tutors at Reading Partners partner schools

Nationwide, only one in five low-income students is reading proficiently by the fourth grade. Tragically, this translates into nearly nine million low-income elementary school students who are unable to use reading as a foundational skill to power their learning in all other subjects in school. Reading is, quite simply, a necessary platform for all future learning. Without developing the reading skills needed to read on grade level, kids don’t have an equitable chance to succeed in school or in life. Students who can’t read by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school or not earn a high school diploma.

In the 2017-18 school year, Reading Partners aims to match nearly 300 community volunteers with 200 struggling readers in Seattle. Reading Partners is currently serving over 125 Seattle students, but amongst three of Reading Partners school locations (Highland Park Elementary School, Sanislo Elementary School, and Beverly Park Elementary School), 75 students still are in need of a tutor.

By tutoring a student one-on-one for as little as an hour a week, volunteers can make an impact that can quite literally alter the course of a child’s educational experience and life.

Highland Park Elementary volunteer Kate Schneider commented, "Working with my student has been so gratifying, especially when a lesson that begins with ‘I don't want to read’ ends with ‘I don't want to leave.’”

The impressive student results highlighted in the 2016-17 impact reports are made attainable by the generous participation of thousands of community volunteers. To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit readingpartners.org/volunteer today.