September 6, 2017

Reading Partners Los Angeles Area delivered strong student impact results last year and aims to do more

For Immediate Release

Contact:         

Laura Zachar

Executive Director, Reading Partners Los Angeles Area

505-264-8803  |  Laura.Zachar@readingpartners.org

READING PARTNERS LOS ANGELES AREA DELIVERED STRONG STUDENT IMPACT RESULTS IN THE 2016-17 SCHOOL YEAR

The early literacy nonprofit looks for more community tutors in 2017-18

(Pasadena, CA) September 6, 2017 — In the 2016-17 school year, Reading Partners continued to build on its history of successfully advancing early literacy in the Los Angeles area 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.

2016-17 school year 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 Los Angeles area:

  • Nearly 700 students were matched with 792 community volunteers at 13 partner schools who delivered a total of 23,723 tutoring sessions over the course of the year.

  • Among Reading Partners’ youngest students in the Los Angeles area, 97% mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.

  • Based on survey responses, 100% of principals report improved school-wide reading progress, 100% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 96% of volunteers were satisfied with their Reading Partners experience.

  • Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in the Los Angeles area here.

  • Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

“We are thrilled with our students’ performance results from last year, and we couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Laura Zachar, Executive Director of Reading Partners Los Angeles Area. “We couldn’t have done it at all without our amazing volunteer tutors who give one hour a week to change a child’s life!”

Calling all volunteers for the 2017-18 school year

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 1,000 community tutors with 720 struggling readers in the Los Angeles area. 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.

“I love being a Reading Partners volunteer,” said Elissa, a volunteer tutor at Washington Elementary School. “I’ve seen so many improvements with every child that I’ve had.”

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.

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About Reading Partners
Reading Partners empowers 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 provided proven, individualized literacy tutoring to nearly 45,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit readingpartners.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, to learn more.