After a Year of Literacy Support, How Are Our Students Doing?
A child’s reading skills are directly tied to their ability to thrive as an adult. Completing job applications, applying for scholarships, registering to vote, and getting a car loan all involve reading! Students with strong literacy skills are more likely to have higher self-esteem, graduate high school, and earn a living wage.
Because of this, Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) believes a city that works for everyone is a city where all children are given the support they need to become strong readers. However, in Fresno Unified School District (FUSD), only 22% of our 70,000 students are reading at their grade level.
ENP’s Literacy Programs
“Teachers are doing amazing work in the classroom,” says Laqusha Locke, ENP’s Literacy Mentor Coordinator. “We want to come alongside them in any way we can to help our students learn and grow.”
Because of our city’s need for literacy support, we are working with children at elementary schools around Fresno through literacy mentoring and Read Fresno after-school programs.
A mentorship model is extremely effective in helping a child strengthen their reading skills. Our literacy mentoring program relies on amazing volunteers and college interns who work one-on-one with students during the school day. Mentors help kids practice high frequency words, reading fluency, and comprehension through booklets, flashcards, games, and writing activities.
In addition to working with kids on specific reading skills, literacy mentors serve as positive adult role models, checking in on their students socially and emotionally. This is a vital part of helping kids grow in their self-esteem and excitement for learning.
Read Fresno is an after-school program where interns work with up to 24 students in a group setting through targeted literacy intervention. Activities include whole-class read alouds, phonics, and small-group reading stations.
Is Reading Intervention Working? Here’s a 2023-2024 Progress Report:
During the 2023-2024 school year:
→ ENP partnered with 22 schools through literacy support
→ About 150 volunteers or college interns worked with children at these schools
→ 44% of all the students we worked with made accelerated progress (this means their reading levels increased by over 1 year!)
→ 48% of students in Read Fresno after-school programs made accelerated progress!
→ 15 students’ reading levels grew by 2 years!
→ ENP worked with 39 foster children at 5 school sites in collaboration with FUSD’s Project Access
One Child’s Literacy Story
Foster children are among the most vulnerable groups in Fresno with only 15% reading at grade level (FUSD Data Dashboard). At the beginning of the school year, Laqusha went to Hidalgo Elementary to pre-assess a foster student’s reading skills before he was paired with a literacy mentor. When she walked into the classroom, Laqusha could immediately identify who the student was.
The boy sat in the back of the room away from his classmates, with frustrated brows and a disengaged stare. Through the pre-assessment, the child tested at a kindergarten reading level even though he was in fourth grade.
When Laqusha returned to Hidalgo at the end of the school year, “he was a changed kid!” says ENP’s School Support team. “Not only did he make over two years of progress in his reading skills, he seemed happier and part of the class.”
The child’s teacher was so pleased with his progress and recognized the impact his literacy mentors had on his academic skills and behavior. “Most importantly,” says Jenessa, ENP’s School Support Director, “he was proud of himself and now knows he has what it takes to succeed.”
How to Support ENP’s Literacy Work in Fresno
“Most of our college interns are moving to West Fresno schools next school year,” says Jenessa. “We need more help! We need community partners and volunteers to provide literacy support at our Central and Southeast Fresno schools.”
“We can’t do this alone. Partner with us as a volunteer, donor, or partner organization. We’d love to train and equip your employees, congregants, college students, or book club friends to adopt and support one of our local schools.”
Want to join the literacy movement? Here are a few practical ways you can get involved:
Volunteer:
→ Serve at a Read Fresno after school site
→ Email Jenessa Cheema if you would like to gather a group of volunteers and support an entire school!
Give Financially:
ENP is incredibly grateful for the support of everyone who contributes to our literacy work, both individuals and our corporate partners. Special thanks to CalViva, Central California Women’s Conference, Katey’s Kids, Kaiser Permanente, Nora Roberts, and the Fresno Rotary. We can’t do this alone!
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