The early literacy problem is solvable
Yet, every year, 2/3 of the Bay Area’s low-income kindergarteners arrive at school already behind. The educational need is unprecedented, but the solution is right at our fingertips – in the communities themselves!
245,000
That’s the number of Bay Area K-3rd graders who are now behind grade level in literacy after Covid. Studies show if those students don’t catch up by 3rd grade, they’ll already be four times less likely to graduate high school.
Together, we can close the early literacy gap in the Bay Area
Community Reading Buddies is an innovative double-impact program developed by Aspire Education.
1. We train middle and high school students in leadership & communication skills. 2. We then pair them with young students behind in literacy.
Thanks to this system we’re able to more than double our young readers’ literacy progress over eight weeks.
The most cost-effective early literacy solution in the Bay Area
For every $300, we’re able to pair another youth mentor and young reader together and provide social-emotional training, digital literacy platform, and twice-weekly coaching.
In only 8 weeks, CRB readers make
4 months of progress in literacy
For many of our students, it is the very first time they’ll be on grade level in literacy. For K-3rd graders, this is the critical indicator of long-term educational success.
The solution our communities need is found in the communities themselves
We train our youth mentors in leadership & communication skills
85% of long-term career success depends on soft skills. After soft skills training and their mentorship experience, 96% of youth mentors demonstrate growth as leaders and communicators according to an adapted Youth Leadership Life Skills Development assessment.
We invite them to a community of support and pair them thoughtfully with a younger reader
Twice a week, they join 25 other youth virtually for a 15-minute training before breaking out for an hour of literacy activities with their buddy.
Their lessons are selected and guided through an award-winning digital literacy platform, BookNook
With every fun literacy activity they complete together, the platform collects data to tell the youth mentor and our team what lesson each reader can most benefit from next.
In only 8 weeks, our young readers make 4 months of literacy progress. That's unreal!
Young readers double their pace of literacy growth while with us. In fact, when you factor in cost, you will not be able to find a more effective, cost-efficient intervention anywhere in the Bay Area.
To reach the tens of thousands of Bay Area students who need us, we need your help
After considering 211 organizations, the grant-making organization Impact 100 chose Community Reading Buddies for their 2021 award, which has allowed us to triple our reach.
But to sustain that expansion, we need help.
You can be a part of the solution.
We have the young readers
We have the youth mentors
But as a small grassroots organization, we don’t yet have the capacity. You can help us get there.
Our Partners Include:
1,420
young readers
SINCE 2013
1,558
youth MENTORS
SINCE 2014
3,953
BOOKS GIVEN
AWAY SINCE 2015
20,623
1:1 READING HOURS since 2015
Become Our Partner Today
The costs of most other early literacy programs to achieve the same results is $1,500-2,500 per student.
Cost of Community Reading Buddies:
$300/pair
1 youth mentor + 1 young reader
DID YOU KNOW?
One-on-one, interactive, customized lessons are the most effective tool for developing early literacy & language skills.
CRB’s curriculum is aligned with the five core elements of the Science of Reading, including:
- Phonological Awareness
- Phonics
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
The program also brings tremendous value for our youth mentors. Through our Positive Youth Development Approach, our youth mentors are trained in and developed in:
- Leadership
- Confidence
- Communication Skills
96% of youth mentors demonstrate growth as leaders and communicators.
