Who We Serve
The Most Struggling Readers
Reading Assist serves students in kindergarten through third grade who are struggling most with reading.
Many of these students need targeted support to connect letters with sounds, decode words, and build fluency. With the right intervention early, students can build the foundational skills they need to keep learning, growing, and participating with confidence.
National Literacy Statistics
The U.S. is facing a reading crisis. National and state reading scores have remained largely stagnant since 1998, and two-thirds of students score below proficient.
The Problem
By Third Grade, Reading Becomes the Foundation for Everything Else
Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is critical because this is when students are expected to move from learning to read to reading to learn. When students do not have basic literacy skills, they can fall behind in every subject. More than 85% of the curriculum is taught through reading, which means reading challenges can affect math, science, history, and nearly every part of a student’s school day.
For students with significant reading challenges like dyslexia, traditional classroom reading instruction may not be enough. Additional factors, such as being an English language learner, can make it even harder to reach reading proficiency.
In Delaware, reading proficiency rates have been flat for more than two decades, and only 52% of students have been reading at grade level since 2015.
Who Does Reading Assist Serve?
K–3 Students With Significant Reading Challenges
Reading Assist supports students in kindergarten through third grade who are in the lowest 25% for reading proficiency. Typically, these students are struggling to connect letters with their related sounds, which can make it difficult to decode words and read fluently. Reading difficulties like these affect about 20% of students in any classroom and severely impact about 5% of students in any school.
Reading Assist also focuses on schools and communities where students may face additional barriers to reading proficiency.
Where We Serve
Since launching the Reading Assist Fellowship pilot in 2015, Reading Assist has grown to serve more than 50 elementary schools across Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC.
We continue to expand our reach across our home state and beyond, partnering with public schools, charter schools, and districts to provide structured literacy support for students who need it most.
Appoquinimink School District
- Brick Mill Elementary
- Bunker Hill Elementary
Christina School District
- Stubbs Early Education Center
- The Bayard School
- Pulaski Early Education Center
Colonial School District
- Castle Hills Elementary School
- Carrie Downie Elementary School
- Harry O. Eisenberg Elementary School
- Pleasantville Elementary School
- Southern Elementary School
- Wilmington Manor Elementary School
Capital School District
- Booker T. Washington Elementary School
- South Dover Elementary School
- North Dover Elementary School
- Hartly Elementary School
- Towne Point Elementary School
- Central Elementary School
Red Clay Consolidated School District
- Joseph E. Johnson Jr. Elementary School
- Evan G. Shortlidge Academy
- Warner Elementary School
- William C. Lewis Dual Language Elementary School
Milford School District
- Banneker Elementary School
- Morris Early Childhood Center
Indian River School District
- Long Neck Elementary School
Delaware Charter and Independent School Partners
- Academia Antonia Alonso Charter School
- Charter School of New Castle
- East Side Charter School
- First State Montessori Academy
- Las Américas ASPIRA Academy
- Sussex Montessori School
- Holy Angels School
- Odyssey Charter School
- Thomas Edison Charter School
Chester Upland School District
- Chester Upland School of the Arts
- Edgmont Scholars Academy
- Main Street Elementary School
- Stetser Elementary School
West Chester School District
- East Goshen Elementary School
Pennsylvania Independent Schools
- St. Raymond of Penafort School
- St. Frances Cabrini School
Magnolia School District
- Magnolia Elementary School
DC Public Schools
- Garfield Elementary School
- J.C. Nalle Elementary School
- C.W. Harris Elementary School
- Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School
DC Public Charter Schools
- Bridges DC Public Charter School
- DC Scholars Public Charter School
- Harmony DC Public Charter School
- Rocketship Rise Public Charter School
- Roots DC Public Charter School
KIPP DC Public Charter Schools
- Arts & Technology Academy
- Connect Academy
- Discover Academy
- Grow Academy
- Heights Academy
- Inspire Academy
- Lead Academy
- Pride Academy
- Promise Academy
- Quest Academy
- Spring Academy