Mission: To provide students—in communities experiencing racial and/or economic inequities—with evidence-based, culturally responsive literacy instruction as preparation for academic, professional, and personal success.

About the organization: The Literacy Lab believes that literacy is a human right and envisions a more just society where all students have the literacy services needed to unlock educational opportunities and success in life. According to the organization, investing in early literacy is one of the most effective ways to help improve individual children’s outcomes while at the same time improving schools on the whole. Founded in 2009, The Literacy Lab serves children from age three through grade three in Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia. In 2012 the organization was selected as a national replication partner for the Reading Corps model—a sustainable, research- and evidence-based early literacy intervention model—and works with school districts to help close the literacy gap by embedding full-time trained tutors in early childhood centers and elementary schools. Evaluations show that 88 percent of school partners report that The Literacy Lab had a positive impact not only on students receiving services but also on the literacy levels school-wide.

Current programs: The Literacy Lab’s reading tutors are full-time staff with approximately 60 hours of training in the Reading Corps model, including foundations of literacy, reading interventions, assessments, progress monitoring, data-based decision making, and positive behavior management from The Literacy Lab’s coaching staff. In the Pre-K model, each tutor is embedded full-time in a single classroom for the entire year to deliver developmentally appropriate literacy interventions in three formats: whole class instruction, small group intervention, and one-on-one intervention. In the K-3 model, each tutor is embedded full-time in one school for the entire year and serves a caseload of 15 to 18 children across grades K through 3, delivering one-on-one interventions to each child for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. 

The Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship creates opportunities for young men of color and increases representation in the field of education by providing recent high school graduates with a year-long, residency-style experience providing literacy support to pre-kindergarten students while receiving robust coaching and professional development.

Website: Visitors to The Literacy Lab site can learn more about the organization’s history and values; read about how the literacy gap leads to the opportunity gap and its impact from kindergarten to adulthood, and where the organization currently partners with school districts. They also can explore a day in the life of a Pre-K tutor, apply to become a tutor, or make a donation.

Funding: The Literacy Lab is supported by individuals, foundations, public charities, corporations, government agencies, and program service revenues.