Latest in Literacy Blog
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District Leaders: Secure Your Budget For Summer and Beyond — Before It’s Too Late
Read more: District Leaders: Secure Your Budget For Summer and Beyond — Before It’s Too LateAllocate any and all funding resources before they expire! The academic year is done. The bell rang on the last day of school and your students ran out the front door. Now, they’re busy enjoying their summer “break.” But for you, the race against time only intensifies. That is to say, you’re facing looming deadlines…
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Accelerating Reading Progress with High Effect Size – Part 2: Comprehension Influences
Read more: Accelerating Reading Progress with High Effect Size – Part 2: Comprehension InfluencesRacing toward assessments, literacy leaders can strategically accelerate reading — now! In our previous article, we dipped into the deep well of research studied by John Hattie in his groundbreaking meta-analyses, called Visible Learning. Today, you’ll dive deeper into one of the most important aspects of successful literacy. In fact, it might be the most…
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State Legislators Can Help
Read more: State Legislators Can HelpThird party organizations have recognized the value of our program—in particular, firms that help state legislators understand issues and see model solutions that can be supported with bi-partisan bills that move literacy forward for summer literacy programs for elementary students. Based on a successful program we deployed in Michigan, where the state matched school funding…
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Still SO Much to Do: Fixing the Literacy Issue in America’s Schools
Read more: Still SO Much to Do: Fixing the Literacy Issue in America’s SchoolsThe Current Situation Did you know that more than 65% of kids across the country are not reading at grade level, and the number jumps to 80% for low income students? Kids Read Now’s mission of eliminating learning loss and building home libraries for every PreK-5 student in the country is more important and pressing…
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10 Ways to Explode Your Students’ Excitement for Reading!
Read more: 10 Ways to Explode Your Students’ Excitement for Reading!How do you get kids excited about books? Over my 25 years of teaching, I’ve discovered many ways to spark excitement. Here are 10 to get you started: 1. Start an After-School Book Club Invite a guest reader from the community to kick off the meetings. After the read-aloud, the kids spread out to read…
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Funding to Improve Reading
Read more: Funding to Improve ReadingWhat are the priorities in your school district? Although sometimes we get lost in athletics and safety, especially during this unprecedented time with the COVID-19 pandemic, improving reading skills across the district is the most important priority for the success of all students. Often money gets in the way of purchasing research-based programs that work,…
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Title Funded Reading Programs
Read more: Title Funded Reading ProgramsHow are Title I funds spent in your school district? This is a question that should be revisited and examined each year. Often educators are overwhelmed with the many requirements of spending Title I funds and the never-ending sales pitches for programs that can best utilize the money. The easiest decision is to continue to…
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It is the Opportunity Gap, Not the Achievement Gap
Read more: It is the Opportunity Gap, Not the Achievement GapWe call it the “achievement gap” – but isn’t it really an opportunity gap? A closer look at socioeconomic reading disparities — and how we can help your child to close the gap An opportunity gap of .8 means a testing gap of 3 years. For decades, efforts to reduce the racial divide on test…
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Grant Money for Teachers
Read more: Grant Money for TeachersEducators can be incredibly creative when it comes to learning activities. The ideas that flow from passionate teachers can have some significant impacts on education. The KIPP program is one of those ideas, as is 826 National out of California. The Freedom Writers Foundation is another group that developed from one teacher’s desire to make…
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Our Partner, The National Summer Learning Association
Read more: Our Partner, The National Summer Learning AssociationKids Read Now, a 501C(3) nonprofit, was founded in 2010 to expand summer learning and eliminate the summer reading slide. Since its creation, this summer reading program has made an impressive impact on the tens of thousands of children that have participated. They have received books that they choose weekly, encouraging them to read by…