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September 4, 2018

Celebrating its 20th Year of Nationwide Impact, Reading Partners Unveils Outstanding Student Results in Baltimore in 2017-18

For Immediate Release

 

Contact:         

Jeffrey Zwillenberg

Executive Director, Reading Partners Baltimore

(410) 949-1552  | jeffrey.zwillenberg@readingpartners.org

 

CELEBRATING ITS 20TH YEAR, READING PARTNERS UNVEILS OUTSTANDING STUDENT RESULTS IN BALTIMORE IN 2017-18
The early literacy nonprofit looks for more community tutors in 2018-19

 

(Baltimore, MD) Tuesday, September 4, 2018

The 2018-19 academic school year marks Reading Partners’ 20th anniversary of bringing community volunteers into schools to provide essential one-on-one literacy tutoring that empowers students to succeed in school and beyond. Over the past two decades, the organization has grown from supporting a handful of students at one school into a national literacy nonprofit supporting more than 11,000 students at 200 schools across the US every year.

“Reading is critical and equitable education needs to be a norm, not a luxury,” said Karine Apollon, CEO, Reading Partners. “This is a solvable problem and one that Reading Partners has been successfully tackling for 20 years. Last school year alone, our organization mobilized over 12,000 volunteers in communities across the country to tackle one of the nation’s greatest issues, one student at a time, and our personalized literacy approach continues to show strong results”

Student results in 2017-18 continued a strong trend for Reading Partners Baltimore

Every fall, 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 2017-18 school year have recently been posted on readingpartners.org and include the following highlights.

  • In the Baltimore region:

    • 773 students were matched with 777 community volunteers at 18 partner schools who delivered over 25,000 tutoring sessions (an average of 32 tutoring sessions per student over the course of the year).

    • Among Reading Partners’ youngest students in Baltimore, 89% are developing mastery of key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.

    • Based on survey responses, 100% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 97% of volunteers were satisfied with their Reading Partners experience.

    • Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in Baltimore here.

    • Learn about Reading Partners’ 2017-18 national impact here.

“Results matter,” said Jeffrey Zwillenberg, executive director of Reading Partners Baltimore. “Our tutors are committed to our students and volunteer their time and energy to help their student unlock their fullest potential. When we see nearly 90% of our youngest students mastering the skills they need to be strong readers, it bodes well for the kind of academic achievement and success they can have later on in school and in life.”

A 20-year track record of student and community impact

Only 20 percent of economically disadvantaged students in the US are reading proficiently by fourth grade. For students entering fourth grade, it is essential to have made the switch from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ Most subjects, including history, science and math, all require literacy in order to progress. Over the past two decades, Reading Partners has engaged nearly 55,000 community tutors and over 1,300 AmeriCorps members to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring to more than 50,000 students attending over 350 public schools in nearly 75 school districts across the country. All told, Reading Partners volunteers have delivered more than 1.5 million tutoring sessions, helping students grow their reading skills and confidence at a critical stage in their education.

More volunteers needed in Baltimore in the 2018-19 school year

There are nearly nine million low-income K-5 students in the US, including thousands in Baltimore, who are not yet reading at grade level. Without developing the literacy skills needed to read at grade level, these children do not have an equitable chance to succeed in school or in life. Each new volunteer that Reading Partners engages helps more students develop the foundational reading skills needed to power their learning in all other subjects in school.

In the 2018-19 school year, Reading Partners aims to match 900 community volunteers with 750 struggling readers in Baltimore. By tutoring a student one-on-one for as little as one hour a week, volunteers can make an impact that can quite literally alter the course of a child’s educational experience and life.

“I have volunteered with many organizations throughout my career, but I have been continually most impressed and inspired by Reading Partners, as it is a highly organized and effective program,” said a tutor at Francis Scott Key. “Giving a child the gift of reading gives them a running start in life.”

The positive student results highlighted in the 2017-18 impact reports are made possible through the generous participation of thousands of community volunteers. To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit readingpartners.org/volunteer today.

Photos of students and volunteer tutors in a Reading Partners reading center (Photo Credit: Reading Partners)

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About Reading Partners
For 20 years, Reading Partners has empowered students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has mobilized nearly 55,000 community volunteers to provide proven, individualized literacy tutoring to more than 50,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

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