Mayor Taveras Visits 'Leyendo,' Bilingual Volunteer Initiative to Boost Third Grade Reading Levels

Community volunteers deliver reading intervention and mentoring to 51 ELL students.

Mayor Angel Taveras today visited Carl Lauro Elementary School to observe Leyendo, the City's service-based initiative to boost literacy skills for Providence students who are not reading on grade level and speak a language other than English at home.

The year-long program enlists approximately 25 bilingual volunteers to tutor and mentor 51 second- and third-grade English Language Learners (ELL) students at Carl Lauro Elementary School who have been identified as struggling readers. During the summer months, each student will participate in an academic enrichment activity matched to their background and interests to combat learning loss.

"Leyendo is an important part of Providence's plan to reach our Citywide goal of increasing third-grade reading proficiency to 70 percent in 2015," said Mayor Taveras. "Almost half of all households in Providence speak a language other than English at home, with Spanish language speakers making up the overwhelming majority. Leyendo serves our students growing up in bilingual households to improve literacy at a critical point in their lives and increase community engagement."

Leyendo builds on an existing reading intervention program run by Inspiring Minds, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes volunteer tutors and mentors to help the school district's neediest students. The initiative is part of Providence's All-America City award-winning grade level reading mobilization plan, Providence Reads.

Research shows that one of the most important predictors of school success and high school graduation is reading proficiently by end of third grade.

Children not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. Low-income students who read below grade level at the end of third grade are up to 13 times more likely to drop out of school without a diploma than proficient readers.

Leyendo is funded by a $25,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' 'Cities of Service' initiative which has awarded a total of nearly $1 million to implement high-impact volunteer strategies in eighteen cities across the country, including Providence.

The program employs approximately 25 volunteers, but is still recruiting bilingual volunteers.

For more information or to apply, contact Lindsey Spenser at lspenser@inspiringmindsri.org or Brandi Jackson at bjackson@inspiringmindsri.org.