Values to Action to Provide a Fun and Effective Kindergarten Reading Program to Struggling Readers
Values to Action today announced it will receive a $250,000 Promise Grant from Accelerate, a national nonprofit working to make high-impact tutoring a standard feature of the American school day. Values to Action will use this grant to support schools by providing a fun and effective kindergarten reading program to struggling readers in the 2023-2024 school year.
“We are excited about the possibility of helping schools around the country ensure that every child learns to read,” said Values to Action Founder and President Tony Biglan. “We are especially hopeful that we can provide our program to children who are at risk for significant reading deficiencies.”
Every Child Reads, Values to Action’s tutoring program, uses the Funnix system to provide supplemental direct instruction along with positive motivational strategies to foster an environment that nurtures young readers. The program helps give children a strong foundation in reading early on in an effort to prevent disparities and help students succeed in school and beyond.
Values to Action will provide a limited number of schools:
The Funnix program at no cost to the school
Training and coaching of tutors
Careful assessment of children’s reading skill to document their success
$3,000 to support the school’s participation
“The evidence behind tutoring as an intervention is strong and the field is making tremendous progress, but we still need more providers with a proven track record that can also scale,” said Accelerate CEO Kevin Huffman. “Before the federal pandemic relief dollars dry up, we have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to identify these providers and ensure they are able to deliver cost-effective programs and present evidence that they get results for kids.”
Values to Action was selected for a Call to Effective Action grant because of its commitment to developing and scaling a research-backed tutoring model that improves outcomes for all students, especially those in historically underserved communities.
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About Values to Action
Values to Action is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seeking to create a more nurturing world. Values to Action is a community of scientists, clinicians, and concerned citizens that seeks to leverage behavioral science, effect change, and make the world a better place for everyone. Values to Action targets the world’s most common and costly problems, providing positive and preventive direction for communities to ensure everyone’s wellbeing.
Values to Action was founded in 2019 by Anthony Biglan, PhD, an award-winning leader of worldwide efforts to evolve more nurturing societies. Dr. Biglan’s expertise is based on 40 years of research on the treatment and prevention of psychological and behavioral problems.
For more information, visit https://www.valuestoaction.org
About Accelerate
Accelerate is a nonprofit organization, incubated and launched by the national nonprofit America Achieves, that seeks to embed high-impact tutoring programs into public schools now and for the long term. Launched in April 2022 with an initial fund of $65 million, Accelerate funds and supports innovation in schools, launches high-quality research, and advances a federal and state policy agenda to support this work. Accelerate is leading efforts to improve practice on multiple fronts, including as a lead technical assistance partner to the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS). The NPSS is a joint partnership of more than 100 organizations, The Department of Education, AmeriCorps, the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center to launch a new coalition formed to expand high-quality tutoring, mentoring, and other evidence-based support programs, with the goal of ensuring an additional 250,000 adults serve in these roles over the next three years.
Accelerate is supported by Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin; Arnold Ventures; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Overdeck Family Foundation; and the Walton Family Foundation.
For more information, visit http://www.accelerate.us.