Education
BY CHLOE YOUNG
GISD expands reading intervention
The impact
More than 2,200 students participated in the Literacy First program in the 2024-25 school year, 84% of which exceeded the expected growth rate for their grade level, data shows. Last school year, Literacy First screened nearly 11,400 students, with 60% of students qualifying for intervention.
More Georgetown ISD students may receive additional support in reading next school year as the district works to continue raising literacy rates. In January, Georgetown ISD piloted the Literacy First early reading intervention program at Cooper and Frost elementaries. After seeing improvements in elementary students’ reading performance, GISD will expand the program to Williams, Purl and Mitchell elementaries this school year, GISD of icials said. Literacy First is an initiative through the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The educational center creates curriculum and professional learning to remove barriers and improve access to education,
“We have to, by third grade, help every student read and write on grade level, because if kids feel con dent as readers and writers, their chances of success in middle school and high school go up exponentially.” DEVIN PADAVIL,
More than half of students screened at Frost and Cooper elementaries have quali ed for Literacy First intervention, according to the organization.
GEORGETOWN ISD SUPERINTENDENT
Thirty students have participated in the Literacy First program in GISD: 20 at Cooper
teachers, Literacy First Director Claire Hagen Alvarado said. It focuses on serving students in kindergarten through second grade at primarily low-income schools, Hagen Alvarado said.
Elementary 10 at Frost Elementary
according to the center’s website. The Literacy First program trains
paraprofessionals to serve as reading tutors and provides professional development for
As of late April, nine students had graduated from the program by reading at grade level.
SOURCES: GEORGETOWN ISD, LITERACY FIRST COMMUNITY IMPACT
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