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It is a critical time for a student in their primary and secondary levels of schooling to develop an interest in and a habit of taking the initiative to read.
Every student has their individual perspective on reading and what makes them pick up or push away from a book. That, in turn, can affect their next move with incorporating reading into their lives. Students are already exposed to reading in the classrooms, but what about those that want to take it to the next level? Or those that may halt to take that next step towards creating a long-time relationship with reading?
Reading programs are intended to ignite that desire to read in young students. They’ve been put in place in some learning institutions to cater to students who may either need help with reading or just need an outlet to build that fundamental knowledge and carry it on with them in their pursuit of higher education.
Reading Partners, a national non-profit that serves 12 regions across the US, works with students in grades K-3 who are six months to two and a half years behind in reading. Trained community volunteers and AmeriCorps members tutor the students one-on-one in the schools.
The organization was established around 1999 in Oakland, California and focuses on the individualized needs of students in order for them to see more progression in their reading skills. Kimberly Benavides is the executive director for the North Texas chapter, offering reading and writing assistance to children in Dallas and Fort Worth schools.
Based on her previous experience as a principal and her time working for Reading Partners, Kimberly has noticed how more students gravitate to books with characters that look like them and situations that they can relate to based on their cultural background and upbringing. A student can be involved in a high-quality reading intervention program that is offered, but if there aren’t materials that grab the child’s attention, it can make it more difficult for them to want to move forward in their reading journey.
“We really are a social justice nonprofit that is interrupting systems and systemic racism through literacy,” Benavides said. “We work really hard to make sure that our students can see themselves in the stories that they read,” Benavides said.
Benavides cited although the nation has progressed in the books that are available to students, what could really give the extra push a student needs to go the extra mile with reading could be inclusive resources outside of the classroom in regular stores and in households, so students can not just see the characters that align with them just in school.
“I do see schools opening doors to community partners, to help provide books that maybe aren’t in the district curriculum, or aren’t in the state curriculum that have more representation for students who have been, you know, systematically marginalized by the education system.”
In the findings of a report conducted in September by the Education Trust, books for grade school students with historical and social references are oftentimes tampered with and seen through a single lens, in turn, disconnecting students from the book and what helps them find purpose in reading it.
Students of color might find limited or negative portrayals in these stories, contributing to the repelling stance they feel they have to take against books.
A student’s struggling efforts combined with the detaching feelings towards reaching can push them back even further in their journey.
Rebecca Clark in her TEDxGatewayArchWomen, spoke on how she allowed her imagination at an early age to help envision as many possibilities for herself. She wrote a children’s book in 2017 called Witty Kids, where it follows a young African-American girl who sees herself becoming anything she thinks of whether that’s an astronaut, a chef, a painter, etc.
“Kids need that type of representation in books in order for them to believe in themselves,” Clark said in her talk.
Seeing people of color in more than just roles that may be inferior or suffering can not only spark the student’s love for reading but also motivate students to have faith in their own reading capabilities, even with some of the racial challenges that they may face.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals mentioned how “when students read texts about people who look like they do and share their beliefs, customs, and history, they can be inspired.”
The disparities that some students of color face and the constant fight for equal representation and academic encouragement fuels many reading programs as the fight proves to be far from over with the gaps in education for some students.
Carol Goglia with Dallas’ Catch Up and Read shared how this reading program, which focuses on preparing teachers with evidence-based literacy practices and providing after school tutoring to first through third grade students in reading and writing, came about after their founder visited an elementary school and noticed how often the students of color, “a population facing compounded barriers to success from generational poverty and systemic racism”, was falling behind with reading.
Goglia cited that their organization learned from 2021 test results from McKinsey & Company that students in majority Black or underserved schools were six months behind in reading, which is two to three months behind white and high-income students.
“When someone can read, they can more likely succeed in school and life,” Goglia mentioned.
Those involved with reading programs encourage action outside the classrooms as well, with stores like Walmart and Target needing to incorporate more books for parents and children to take home to continue to develop their love and desire to read.
“I am seeing now over the past five years really an uptick and like an improvement in the types of books that we’re putting out there, just in access to more books, but we’re still not there, we can still do better,” Benavides said.
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