We helped to pioneer the use of CUNY Brooklyn college students enrolled in early childhood literacy courses as literacy tutors for students in the New York City public school system utilizing Reading Go (first/second graders) and Reading Ready (kindergarteners). The pilot received significant interest from the funder community and has become a $2M+ public/private partnership (titled CUNY Reading Corps) involving students across 16 colleges who tutor New York City public school students in early reading skills – a classic example of our venture philanthropy approach.
CUNY Reading Corps currently trains preservice teachers in two tutoring programs – Reading Go and Reading Ready – pairing the tutors with K-2nd grade students. Lesson plans integrate instruction on the five essential components of literacy — phonemic awareness, phonics (decoding and encoding), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
The results for these interventions are promising. For example, for the school year 2023-24, 47% of first grade Reading Go students who were at risk at the beginning of the program were no longer at risk at the end of the school year.
For more on a strategic partnership we created between CUNY Brooklyn College, Reading Go and GO Project, see here.