Resolving the Literacy Crisis

READ USA’s research-backed, peer-to-peer Literacy Tutoring intervention trains and employs teenagers mostly from under-resourced communities to provide daily, intensive, one-to-one tutoring to elementary students from those same communities. As verified by evaluators from The Ohio State University, this unique intervention produces an average of one year’s growth in reading proficiency in as few as 12 weeks for both elementary students and teens. This bi-directional learning was intentional to elevate both populations’ literacy skills, while providing valuable workforce development skills to tutors.

READ USA’s Professional Development for Educators provides teachers and instructors with the additional training, tools, and resources they need to further move the needle on literacy in the classroom. READ USA provides this training for free to educators at various opportunities throughout the year.

Every year, READ USA brings free, STEM-focused Book Fairs to all public elementary schools, providing every elementary-aged child the opportunity to choose their own free books to keep. READ USA’s foundational concept is that Book Choice and Ownership are essential to creating a joy and passion for reading and enables students to explore and choose titles and topics that interest them most.

Through Multicultural Literacy, READ USA is committed to diversity, inclusion, and providing students with online resources and books that feature characters who look like them. READ USA also publishes a monthly children’s book series featuring fictional character Jeremy, who tells the personal stories of local community leaders. By introducing children to diverse community leaders around them, READ USA helps make diversity and representation more visible through literacy.