Reading Partners is ramping up innovation in 2023-24 to expand literacy access and educational equity

A volunteer tutor and a student in a reading center engaging in Reading Partners’ traditional tutoring program (Photo Credit: Reading Partners)

Local nonprofit delivered over 24,500 one-on-one tutoring sessions and over 18,600 books to hundreds of students in Tulsa last year

TULSA, Okla. – September 7, 2023  — While Reading Partners’ online tutoring platform, Reading Partners Connects, was largely developed to help support students during the pandemic, the national nonprofit organization has worked to make its online tutoring even more interactive and to broaden the reach of the program to more students through national and community partnerships.

“Reading Partners Tulsa is committed to championing universal reading proficiency for every student in our community before fourth grade,” Executive Director, Olivia Martin, said. “We partner with public school teachers, school and district administrators, non-profit organizations, local high school and college students, corporate and civic employees, and retirees to provide one-on-one, data-driven, and culturally-responsive tutoring for students across twenty-four elementary schools. Students who reach grade-level reading proficiency prior to entering fourth grade are statistically much more likely to achieve academic success, attend and persist in college, and graduate with strong career prospects. Reading is a civil right and a civic responsibility, and Reading Partners Tulsa will never tire of partnering with our generous and engaged community to support a bright future for every student.” 

Another new initiative Reading Partners has been focused on is writing and publishing original books to be used in its own curriculum. COVER to COVER is a new book series that enables Reading Partners to develop content that is aligned with the science of reading as well as the scope and sequence of the organization’s online and in-person curricula. The stories include representative characters and themes so all students can see themselves reflected in the books they read while also having the opportunity to learn about the world around them through other people’s backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences.

2022-23 results highlight the literacy progress of Reading Partners’ students

In the 2022-23 school year, Reading Partners continued to provide critical literacy support to students, schools, and communities. Each year, Reading Partners publishes reports highlighting student performance for the national organization and for each of its 12 respective regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2022-23 school year have recently been posted on staging.readingpartners.org and include the following highlights in Tulsa.

• 734 students received 12+ sessions of one-on-one tutoring

• 24,536 total tutoring sessions were delivered to those same students

• 11% of sessions were delivered online via Reading Partners Connects

• 967 community tutors supported students

• 18,605 books were distributed to students through the “Take Reading With You” program

• 83% of all Reading Partners students finished the year meeting or exceeding their primary end-of-year literacy growth goals

• 83% of K-2 Reading Partners students were developing mastery of key foundational reading skills needed to read and grade level

• 800+ students received Booked Up For Summer backpacks full of books and family literacy activities to support reading all summer

• Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in Tulsa here.

• Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

Rosemary Harris, five-year tutor and Reading Partners Tulsa Advisory Board member, continues to serve because “spending time with students is life changing for my students and for me. Reading is the foundation for all learning, and only 45 minutes a week can make a real impact. Everyone should join us!”

Volunteer support will help drive student impact in Tulsa

Heading into the new school year, Reading Partners Tulsa anticipates needing 1,250 community volunteers to support students’ literacy development. Please follow this link if you’re interested in investing one hour a week to help empower a student through reading.

Reading Partners also gets help from AmeriCorps members to train and provide ongoing support to literacy volunteers. Please follow this link if you’re interested in becoming an AmeriCorps member at Reading Partners.

A volunteer tutor and a student in a reading center engaging in Reading Partners’ traditional tutoring program (Photo Credit: Reading Partners)

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About Reading Partners

For nearly 25 years, Reading Partners has helped empower students to succeed in school and beyond by engaging community volunteers to provide proven, one-on-one literacy tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has mobilized over 80,000 community volunteers to provide more than 2.7 million individualized literacy tutoring sessions to more than 75,000 elementary school students in over 500 under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit staging.readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact and our Reading Partners Connects online program innovation, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Reading Partners is a proud AmeriCorps service partner and has been endorsed by The New York Times and featured on The TODAY Show and GMA.