Impact

How many scholars have you supported so far?

Though we’re less than a year old, we’ve partnered with over a dozen scholars in Washington DC.

How many books have you donated?

To date, we’ve donated over 500+ books to our scholars.

How do you track success?

Scholars entering our program receive an initial intake. We use the Lexile framework for reading as a primary resource to assess reading level. We partner with the scholar’s literacy educator to continue to monitor reading test scores.

Why a focus on scholars from BIPOC communities?

Children’s early vocabulary skills are linked to their economic backgrounds.

  • By 3 years of age, there is a 30 million word gap between children from the wealthiest and poorest families.i

  • 34 percent of children entering kindergarten lack the basic language skills needed to learn how to read.ii

The first three years of schooling are a critical time to learn the basic skills needed to tackle a more advanced curriculum yet many who enter fourth grade struggle with reading.

  • 65 percent of fourth graders read at or below the basic level.iii As curriculum advances, these children will fall behind.

There are significant gaps in reading achievement by race and income.

  • By the time children from low-income families enter grade school, their proficiency in reading has already become an issue.

  • 47 percent of fourth graders from low-income families read below the basic level.

  • 82 percent of Black fourth graders scored below the proficient level, as do 77 percent of Hispanic

    and 80 percent of American Indian fourth graders. iv

Source:

i. Colker, L. J. (2014). The word gap: The early years make the difference. Teaching Young Children, 7(3): 26–28. http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/the-word- gap;

ii. Council on Early Childhood. (2014). Literacy promotion: An essential component of primary care pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 134(2): 404–409;

iii. National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card: A First Look: 2013 Mathematics and Reading. http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ subject/publications/main2013/pdf/2014451.pdf;

iv. datacenter.kidscount.org