Team Read Programs
After-School Reading Tutoring
Team Read pairs teenage tutors with 2nd & 3rd grade struggling readers. Elementary students are typically reading 1-2 years below grade level when they begin the program. They are paired with carefully screened and trained teen tutors who help them develop critical literacy skills—vocabulary, comprehension and fluency—and support them in guided reading practice. Elementary students love working with their "cool" teenage tutors. Tutors can choose to work for community service hours, deferred college tuition or receive hourly pay.
Research demonstrates that it is critical for students to be reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. Reading is the most fundamental academic skill children need in order to be successful in school and life. Students who are not able to read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade are 4-6 times more likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers.
Tutoring pairs meet after school two days a week in tutoring sessions that are supervised by certificated teachers and structured to ensure that students maximize their reading time. Team Read’s literacy intervention takes place during that small window of time that can make the difference between academic success and failure.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Successes
For 15 years, Team Read has demonstrated success. Our students outperform comparison groups and more than half of the students in the program jumped 1.5 or more grade levels in reading after one year of tutoring. This is significant, since this population of students had not averaged a full level of progress during each of their first few years in elementary schools. Principals consider Team Read to be a key strategy to helping their students achieve reading success.
The impact on our teen tutors is also significant. Tutors and their parents consistently report positive impacts from their participation in the program.
Needs
Team Read is a literacy intervention that Seattle schools rely on to provide their most academically at-risk students with literacy support outside of the school day. We serve 375 students at 12 elementary schools annually. A $1,400 donation will provide a year of one-on-one reading tutoring for 1 struggling reader – this includes tutoring materials and supplies, tutor compensation, transportation home, site supervision, snacks, program evaluation and staff oversight.