READING PARTNERS HOSTS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION AND DISD SUPERINTENDENT
December 16, 2013
Commissioner of Education and DISD Superintendent will visit leading national literacy program, Reading Partners, at South Dallas school site to read with students and observe one-on-one tutoring model in action.
Dallas, TX – December 13, 2013 – National education nonprofit Reading Partners announced that it will host Commissioner of Education, Michael Williams, and DISD Superintendent, Mike Miles, at Roger Q. Mills Elementary School in south Dallas on Monday, December 16 from 11 a.m. to noon.
Working in schools in under-resourced communities, Reading Partners transforms a dedicated space on campus into a Reading Center, complete with evidence-based curriculum, a library, and teaching tools. Williams and Miles will visit the Reading Center at Roger Q. Mills Elementary School to read with students and observe Reading Partners’ early literacy intervention tutoring program. They will be joined by DISD Trustee, Lew Blackburn; Executive Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School Feeder Pattern, Jennifer Span; Roger Q. Mills Principal, Candee Martinez; Reading Partners Dallas Executive Director, Kaitlin Guthrow, and an invitation has been extended to School Board President, Eric Cowan.
Reading Partners collaborates with teachers and principals to identify students reading six months to two and a half years below grade level and provide them personalized literacy instruction. Williams and Miles have taken notice of this proven, one-on-one model and are interested in exploring ways to expand the efforts of Reading Partners.
Principal Martinez states, “The Reading Partners program is an integral component to improving the reading success of our students at Mills by providing reading interventions beyond the classroom. Additionally, our students are exposed to excellent role models that build positive relationships with our students.”
In the 2012-13 school year, 90 percent of Dallas Reading Partners students increased their monthly rates of literacy learning. Students enrolled in the program on average more than double their rate of learning in reading.
Guthrow states, “Aided by a strong partnership with DISD, we’re working to ensure all of our students – no matter their background – have the skills they need to read on grade level. The support of Williams and Miles will help us achieve our goal of serving 650 students this year.”
To achieve our goals, our number one priority is volunteer recruitment. Please visit www.staging.readingpartners.org to learn more about Reading Partners and how you can help a child experience the joy and power of reading.
About Reading Partners
Reading Partners is a national nonprofit that provides volunteer-led, one-on-one literacy tutoring to K-5 students at low-income elementary schools. Reading Partners has an 89% success rate improving students’ reading skills. At each school site, Reading Partners transforms a dedicated space into a reading center and recruits a corps of 40-100 community volunteers who work directly with students. Volunteers are trained and supported by site coordinators to use a highly structured and research-validated curriculum to work one-on-one with students who have fallen behind in reading. To learn more, visit www.staging.readingpartners.org.
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Contact:
Kaitlin Guthrow, Executive Director
972-523-6702
kaitlin.guthrow@readingpartners.org