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September 14, 2016

Reading Partners announces strong student reading progress in New York City from volunteer-led tutoring program

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Maris Goodstein, Executive Director, Reading Partners New York City
(646) 606-2431, maris.goodstein@readingpartners.org

Nonprofit calls for more community tutors in 2016-17 to expand impact

(New York, NY) September 13, 2016 — Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization that collaborates with local public schools and mobilizes community volunteers to provide students in under-resourced schools with the proven, individualized reading support they need to read at grade level by fourth grade.

Reading Partners transforms a dedicated space into a reading center, complete with a library and teaching tools managed by a full-time AmeriCorps member or staff member. Reading Partners collaborates with teachers and principals to identify students reading behind grade level, and provides them with personalized literacy instruction.

2015-16 Results

Reading Partners prides itself on running a program that is both highly effective and transparent. In that spirit, the nonprofit organization issues annual impact reports spotlighting national-level performance as well as performance results in all 14 of its regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2015-16 school year have recently been posted on readingpartners.org and include the following highlights and many more.

  • In the New York City region:

    • 920 students at 17 partner schools were matched with over 1,000 community volunteers who delivered a total of 30,330 tutoring sessions over the course of the year.

    • Among Reading Partners’ youngest students in New York City, 92% mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.

    • Based on survey responses, 99% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 98% of volunteers were satisfied with their experience.

    • Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in New York City here.

    • Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

“We are so grateful to our volunteers for dedicating the hours necessary to support struggling readers,” says Maris Goodstein, Executive Director of Reading Partners New York City, “We are thrilled about our strong results from last school year and to be a part of the upswing that New York City saw in overall ELA performance on state tests.”

More Volunteers Needed in the 2016-17 School Year

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2015, only 21 percent of low-income students nationwide, and 36 percent of students overall, are reading proficiently by the fourth grade. This means that nearly nine million low-income elementary school students are still learning to read when they should instead be reading to learn. Without developing the reading skills needed to read on grade level, kids won’t have an equitable chance to succeed in school or in life. In fact, 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.

New York City has one of the largest school districts in the United States with over one million students, and only 21% of low-income fourth graders can read at grade level.

In the 2016-17 school year, Reading Partners aims to match nearly 1,300 community volunteers with nearly 1,000 struggling readers in New York City. 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.

When asked about the experience of volunteering with Reading Partners New York last school year, one volunteer said: “Being able to tutor a child who is struggling with reading is so rewarding –  especially to see them progress with each lesson. It really encourages me to continue coming back each week. It is also powerful to connect with the same student each week, because it helps build trust and makes it easier for the students to have confidence.”

The impressive student results highlighted above and in the corresponding impact reports would not be possible without the generous participation of thousands of community volunteers. To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit readingpartners.org/volunteer today.

 About Reading Partners

Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. The national nonprofit organization will provide proven, individualized literacy tutoring to more than 11,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia in the 2016-17 school year. Visit readingpartners.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn,Twitter, and Facebook, to learn more.

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