Start Reading Now | 1

Start Reading Now: Closing the Achievement Gap in Grades 1-3  

September 2014

Pam Longfellow Kevin Terrell www.StartReadingNow.org

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Each year “Summer Setback” causes low-income kids to fall into the Achievement Gap, starting in 1st Grade

*  Not  to  scale  –  for  illustra/on  purposes  only  

90  

100  

110  

120  

130  

140  

150  

Sept   June   Sept   June   Sept   June   Sept  

ACADEMIC  PERFORMANCE  OF  LOWER  INCOME  VS.  HIGHER  INCOME  KIDS*  

Higher  income  kids  

Lower  income  kids  

1st  Grade   2nd  Grade   3rd  Grade   4th  Grade  

9  months  of  

learning  

Rela/ve  Academ

ic  Perform

ance  

Summer  Setback  

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A root cause of Summer Setback is the fact that most poor kids do not live in homes with books, and they simply lack the opportunity to read and learn

SOURCE:  Dr.  Janice  Wood,  University  of  North  Florida,  Success  for  All  Children  -­‐  Early  Learning  &  Literacy  Model,  2005  

AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  BOOKS  AT  HOME,  BY  INCOME  GROUP  

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Peer reviewed research shows that a simple, straightforward approach to Summer Setback yields great value in closing the achievement gap

Right  number    of  books    At  the      Right  Bme    For  the      Right  duraBon  

A  greater  effect  on  

reading  scores  than  typical  

interven/ons  –  at  1/60th  of  the  cost  

SOURCE:  Addressing  Summer  Reading  Setback,  Reading  Psychology,  Allington  &  McGill-­‐Franzen,  2010  

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•  Project Manager and consultant •  Former middle school teacher •  Former CFO for ThinkSmall, Minnesota’s leading

early childhood support agency •  Mother of 4 Minneapolis Public Schools pupils •  pdlongfellow@comcast.net •  612.387.4719

In late 2013, we began to pull together the pieces to make this research real for Minneapolis children

Pam  Longfellow,  Co-­‐Founder  

•  Management consultant, Marketing Leader and Six Sigma Black Belt

•  McKinsey, General Electric •  Engagement leader for non-profit clients in early

childhood learning and global health

•  kevin@katanaconsulting.com •  612.237.3662

Kevin  Terrell,  Co-­‐Founder  

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Start Reading Now sponsors $50 vouchers for low-income* kids in Minneapolis to buy 10 books each Summer after 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades

X   =  $50  

Start  Reading  Now  Good  for  

books!  

Good  for  

books!  

*  Low-­‐income  is  defined  as  being  on  the  free  or  reduced  lunch  program  

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We signed agreements with the key partners required to deliver the program in 2014

•  Coordinate  book  fairs  •  Transporta/on  of  kids  to  book  fairs  •  Child-­‐level  data  tracking  to  allow  us  to  understand  the  

program’s  impact  on  learning  

•  Turnkey  book  fair  opera/ons  •  Provide  grade  appropriate  book  selec/ons      •  “Point  of  sale”  equipment    •  Read  for  the  World  smartphone  app  for  parents  and  

school  system  to  track  students’  minutes  read  

•  Act  as  non-­‐profit  fiscal  agent  •  Pipeline  of  alumni  to  serve  as  field  leaders  •  20  years  of  success,  having  served  over  1,000  youths  in  

Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  and  Rochester,  MN  •  Ranked  in  top  2%  of  state’s  400  mentoring  programs  

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In June 2014 we hosted book fairs where our first cohort of 330 First Graders in Minneapolis Summer School used vouchers to buy 10 books each

LYNDALE  

NSJ  PILLSBURY  

BETHUNE  

BRYN  MAWR  EMERSON  

ANDERSEN  

FOLWELL  

HIAWATHA  HALE  

BURROUGHS  

Hmong  Intl  

NOTE:  ~90%  of  students  acending  these  targeted  schools  during  the  school  year  are  on  free  or  reduced  lunch    

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We have defined success in the short- and long-term, and we will measure specific outcomes that drive value for kids and the community

Successful  startup  •  Fund  the  purchase  of  10  books  for  a  

large  pilot  group  of  1st  Graders  in  MPS  Summer  School  program      

•  Successfully  deliver  all  books  to  all  children  by  15  July  2014  

2014  goals  and  measurements  

ConBnued  execuBon  •  Sustain  delivery  of  10  books  for  every  

child  in  MPS  Summer  School  programs,  Grades  1  to  3  for  all  three  years  

 

2015  and  beyond  goals  and  measurements  

Significant  impact,  high  value  •  30%  improvement  in  reading  scores  for  

students  who  par/cipate  in  all  three  years  of  Start  Reading  Now  vs.  similar  students  who  did  not  par/cipate  

Sustainable  community  interest  •  3  year  funding  commitments  signed  

for  all  targeted  MPS  students  •  New  loca/ons  iden/fied  

Measurement  infrastructure  in  place  •  Par/cipa/ng  students  iden/fied  in  MPS  

system  with  key  data  such  as  free  lunch  status,  home  language,  etc  

•  Reading  scores  baseline  and  data  collec/on  for  all  par/cipa/ng  students  

•  Impact  analysis  by  Lucy  Payne,  Amy  Smith,  University  of  St.  Thomas  

Future  sustaining  interest  secured  •  Commitments  for  funding  through  

2016  signed  

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After 2014 we will add a new Cohort each year until we are funding all 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. This will require ~$150,000 per year in community support

Annual  $  

Summer  2014   Summer  2015   Summer  2016  

Cohort  A  

Cohort  A  

Cohort  B  

Cohort  A  

Cohort  B  

Cohort  C  

$50,000  

$100,000  

$150,000  

Start  Reading  Now  Annual  Funding  ProjecBons  

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This program could be implemented for every targeted 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grader in Minnesota public schools for ~$4M a year

~79,000  children  in  1st,  2nd,  3rd  grade  on  Free  or  Reduced  Lunch  

 @$50  each  =  $4M  per  year  

SOURCE:  Minnesota  Department  of  Educa/on  2013  data,  41%  of  students  on  free  or  reduced  lunch;  Katana  analysis