Reading Power Inc

Mission: Mission:

Our mission is to accelerate children’s literacy learning and to develop their love for reading and writing. We envision a world where all children have a strong literacy foundation to support lifelong learning.

Program Description: Program Description:

Reading Power’s highly trained volunteer tutors provide one-to-one literacy instruction during the school day under the guidance of educational professionals. Lesson plans structure each tutoring session and are individualized daily for each student. Each kindergarten through second grade session encompasses reading, writing, and speaking to foster the promise of literacy.

Preschool
The focus of our preschool program is oral language development through high-quality literature. This program fosters the growth of children’s oral language and gives them opportunities for rich conversations. This helps to develop their listening comprehension, vocabulary, and a love of books. Our volunteers work with students several times a week in the classroom.

Kindergarten
Students in the kindergarten program develop story listening skills, increase alphabet letter and sound skills, and boost phonemic awareness and phonics skills. These early literacy skills are the main predictors of first grade reading success. Kindergarten students receive 25-minute sessions up to four times per week.

First and Second Grade
The first and second grade program aims to accelerate students’ literacy learning through a combined literacy approach. Students read texts at their individual instructional level, and a focus on developing fluency, writing and comprehension are the basis of our program. Direct word study instruction is also emphasized, including phonics and building a sight word vocabulary. First and second grade students are tutored for 40 minutes up to four days a week.

Summary
Reading Power students receive 60-100 individual tutoring sessions throughout the academic year in a dedicated Reading Power space. A caring adult’s individualized, one-to-one attention is fundamental to Reading Power’s tutoring model. Tutored students demonstrate growth towards grade-level benchmarks through accelerated learning.

Type of service
Tutoring Program
Year Started
2003
Headquarter Location (City, State)
Lake Bluff, Illinois
States of Operation
Illinois
Operation Locations
Zion, IL Waukegan, IL North Chicago, IL Wheeling, IL Palatine, IL
Most recent number of students served
250-499
Subject Offered
Early Literacy,
English Language Arts (ELA),
Reading
Grade Levels
Pre-Kindergarten,
Kindergarten,
1st Grade,
2nd Grade
Languages Offered
English, Spanish
Race/Ethnicity breakdown of tutors
American Indian or Alaska Native 1%, Asian 1%, Black or African American 20%, Hispanic or Latino 2%, and White 94%.
Setting
During School
Delivery Mode
In-Person
Tutor-Student Ratio
1:1
Number of Sessions Per Week
Four days per week
Number of Minutes Per Session
30-45 minutes
Number of Weeks Per Program
20-38 weeks
Does your program engage with parents?
Yes
Family Engagement Description

Sharing tutoring session content, Sharing at-home support suggestions, community events, literacy events hosted by schools and by Reading Power, Inc, newsletters.

Organization Type
Nonprofit
Customer Type
District, School, Student
Cost to District/ School/ Non-Profit
$0.00
Type of Tutor
Pre-Service Teacher, College/University Student (e.g. any college/university student who is not a pre-service teacher), Volunteer
Randomized controlled trial (RCT) study conducted?
No
Quasi-experimental (QED) study conducted?
No
Contact Email
jen.barnabee@readingpowerinc.org
Contact Name
Jennifer A Barnabee