Literacy First

Our end-of-year numbers are in! Here are some of the key stats from this past school year:
• 2,285 students were taught foundational reading skills with Literacy First.
• 172 tutors provided students with daily reading instruction.
• 9,881 students were screened for reading difficulties.
• 121,072 tutoring sessions delivered.
• 84% of students in the Literacy First program showed an increase in the rate of development of reading skills.

As we gather more information for our annual report we'd love to know—what other program data would you like to see?

Meet Lindsey, an Early Literacy Coordinator who supports the implementation of our literacy intervention at Capacity Building Model schools.

Lindsey has over 20 years of experience serving Title I schools in East Austin as a first-grade teacher, elementary reading and math intervention teacher, and dyslexia specialist. She also was a district-level elementary literacy coordinator before joining the Literacy First team.

In her current role she provides coaching, professional learning, and program coordination support to our Capacity Building Model sites. Lindsey enjoys working with people who share a passion for ensuring every child receives quality literacy instruction.

In her free time you’ll find her spending time with her family and four dogs, supporting local musicians, checking out vintage cars at a classic car show, or catching a baseball game.

Lindsey believes literacy is essential because is gives every student the power to understand their world, express their ideas, and access opportunities.

It was an eventful school year for Literacy First! We want to take a moment to celebrate the successes this past year brought. Here are a few of the highlights we’re excited to share:

📖 Literacy First tutors taught 2,285 students foundational reading skills across all program locations.

🌱 We made progress toward sustainable growth goals by collaborating with two new school districts and six new schools.

📚 After several years of development and testing, we released a new version of our Spanish early literacy curriculum, Alma del lector.

🥇 Our program was recognized by What Works Clearinghouse from the Institute of Education Sciences as a Tier 1 (strong evidence) intervention.

📊 Our program efficacy was also validated in a new study published in Reading and Writing journal.

🅰️ We successfully completed our current AmeriCorps Texas grant cycle and applied for another round of funding through 2029. We also shared our AmeriCorps expertise with Chattanooga 2.0 as they navigated their first federal grant funding AmeriCorps Volunteer positions in Tennessee.

🧑‍🏫 Thanks to our friends at Chattanooga 2.0 we began working with The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to welcome pre-service teachers to the program as tutors.

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 And in Hamilton County Schools and Elgin TX Independent School District, experienced tutors implemented our reading intervention in small groups, a service which we hope to offer more widely in the future.

These achievements and innovations have us feeling grateful for our strong network of Literacy First champions (we couldn’t do it without you all) and excited for what’s to come next school year!