Just how real is the literacy issue?

Spoiler alert: the literacy issue is real. (And you can fight it.)

Here’s what we know (and you can check out more details in our Nerd Out section)

• Under 33% of students are reading at grade level. (1)

• Only 25% of teachers say they feel prepared to teach students to read. (2)

• Teachers of higher grades report that up to 60% students are unprepared for learning the content of their subject area or advancing to higher level skills because of their existing reading skills, (3) 

• Oh, and the impact is astronomical. (4) 

But we also know that high-impact tutoring makes a huge difference. 

Here’s how:

• High-impact tutoring accelerates learning and helps students catch up to grade level peers (5)

• It also increases attendance rates for high-absentee students (6)

• This type of tutoring works at a large scale (7)

Teaching Fellows learn to deliver high-impact tutoring and mentor teachers in evidence-based literacy instruction, fostering curiosity in kids and adults alike while increasing literacy and literacy education skills. And, when more teachers feel confident teaching reading, they can impact their peers (hold onto your seats, I’ll share more about the tutor-to-teacher pipeline, and the waterfall effect of mentorship in a few weeks).

I’ll leave you with a quote I read that can’t get out of mind: 

Funding is essential for the training teachers need to work with struggling students. I have been continually frustrated by the lack of money needed to train staff, simply because the students are past third grade. — Shawna Hettich, teacher