The Literacy Lab

The Literacy Lab’s mission is to provide low-income children with individualized reading instruction to improve their literacy skills, leading to greater success in school and increased opportunities in life. We do this by implementing the Reading Corps program, which provides children from age 3 to grade 3 with daily, research-based literacy intervention. Read More

• About Us
  We place rigorously trained tutors in preschools and elementary schools to help students age 3 through grade 3 develop the literacy skills needed to become proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade. Our tutors serve for an 11-month term throughout Washington, DC, Richmond, VA, Hampton, VA, Danville, VA, Baltimore, MD, Springfield, MA, and Kansas City, MO.  Tutors are supported by a multi-tiered coaching structure and receive ongoing professional development. In return for their service, tutors receive a modest living stipend, an education award, and basic health coverage.
  
  Our Pre-K tutors work closely with a lead teacher and a teacher’s assistant in a single classroom for the entire school year. They lead structured whole-class, small-group, and one-on-one interventions. Throughout the day, Pre-K tutors also embed essential skills into classroom rituals. These include literacy-rich transition activities (Ex: singing rhyming songs) and affirming, vocabulary-rich verbal communication.
  
  Our K-3 tutors serve at one school for the entire year and have the opportunity to support several teachers. Each day, they tutor the same 15-18 students in a one-on-one setting using 10 structured, scripted early literacy interventions that complement and support what’s already being taught in the classroom.
• Our Impact
  91% of Pre-K participants grow enough to become Kindergarten ready in literacy by the end of Pre-K. Our students in grades K-3 receive an average of almost 90 sessions of one-on-one support in one school year. Our full-time tutors have fidelity rates of over 95% on assessments and over 90% on most interventions. Fidelity scores are calculated from standardized observation checklists completed by coaches. 88% of school partners report that The Literacy Lab had a positive impact not only on students receiving services, but also on the literacy levels school-wide.