About Us
Vision
At Portland Reading Foundations (PRF), our vision is to help all at-risk students learn to read proficiently by third grade, so they have access to educational opportunities and lifelong achievement.
PRF identifies primary-grade children most at risk for failing to learn to read and intervenes with evidence-based, multi-sensory reading instruction.
Why Reading Matters
Reading is a key to educational success. Children who struggle to learn to read are at risk for failure in school, diminished employment prospects, and possible dependence on public assistance. Research shows that a child who is behind grade level in the third grade is unlikely to graduate from high school.
After third grade, school curriculum changes gears. No longer learning to read, students are expected to read to learn—to use their reading skills to acquire new knowledge on a variety of subjects. According to the Children’s Reading Foundation, “up to half of the printed fourth-grade curriculum is incomprehensible to students who read below that grade level.”
By the time standardized tests are administered in third grade, it is too late to help struggling readers prepare for the more advanced curricula to come. The Portland Reading Foundations is committed to identifying children who need extra help learning to read as early as the first grade, intervening with proven, proactive instruction to bring them up to speed.
The Reading Team model
Portland Reading Foundations uses an innovative Reading Team model to achieve quantifiable results in reading skill improvement. PRF trains two parents from within each participating school community—including bilingual parents to more effectively reach children who do not speak English at home. These Parent Tutors work alongside one of our Senior Reading Specialists (typically a retired teacher with best-practice literacy training). The parents, who are mostly unemployed or underemployed mothers, earn a competitive hourly rate and gain professional skills. After completing a fully compensated, twenty-five hour training program, each parent works with eight students from the younger grades. The combined team of one Senior Reading Specialist and two Parent Tutors support a total of twenty-two students over the course of a year.
Our Program Gets Results!
Portland Reading Foundation dedicates approximately 7% of direct program costs to performance evaluation of students. In addition to tests administered by the schools themselves, Portland Reading Foundation uses a battery of specialized pre and post tests to identify reading challenges and to track individual students’ progress. First graders participating regularly in the Portland Reading Foundation program typically make one to two years progress on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Children in third grade and above often make slower progress because of poor self esteem, poorly developed reading skills that must be “remediated,” and reliance on a “guess and go” approach. Portland Reading Foundation has documented effectiveness with many readers in later elementary grades. Last year at Chief Joseph a 4th grader made 2.2 years growth in spelling and 1.9 years growth in reading of isolated words. At Humboldt, a 4th grader made 1.7 years growth in spelling and 2.5 years growth in reading isolated words.
Resources
Early Warning: Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction. (National Reading Panel.)
[1] National Research Council. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Edited by C. Snow, S. Burns, and P. Griffin, Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.