*START Literacy Initiative launched by Goodman Community Center to combat low youth reading rates

By August Halbach, GCC digital marketing specialist

What does it take to teach a child to read? For those who grew up in the golden age of educational TV juggernauts like “Sesame Street” and “Reading Rainbow,” the answer, if not simple, is a happy recollection of fuzzy puppets and catchy songs. That picture, however, is unlikely to match the learning to read experience of recent generations.

To combat low literacy rates, Goodman Community Center created the *START Literacy Initiative, which stands for science of reading, trainings, activities, residencies and tutoring. It is a literacy initiative — not just a tutoring program or reading curriculum. It’s an example of modern community organizing around reading, something the NAACP called in 2022 “one of the largest civil rights issues of our time.”

The nation’s problem is also a Wisconsin problem. The 2023 Forward Exam, a statewide assessment designed to gauge how well students are doing in relation to the standards, cited 58% of Wisconsin’s third through eighth graders were below proficiency in their English comprehension.

“Learning to read is not a natural process for our brains,” explained Iris Patterson, lead *START coordinator and longtime Madison educator. “Reading is about learning the code. Some kids will always be better at breaking the code, but for most kids, reading takes time and a lot of ongoing support to master.”

The statistics don’t get better locally either

After fall 2023 state testing, “both Emerson and Lowell (elementary schools) had less than 10% of their Black students reading proficiently, and none of their Black children are considered advanced readers,” said Sara Nowakowski, Goodman Community Center’s vice president of mission and strategy.

According to that same test’s results reported in the Wisconsin State Journal, 66% of Madison third graders cannot read proficiently — showing the literacy problem spreads across all identities, incomes and circumstances.

“It’s not just alarming,” grieved Nowakowski. “It’s heartbreaking.”

At the beginning of her career as an elementary school teacher, Lisa Hepburn witnessed a great deal of “reading failure” among her fourth and fifth graders. Hepburn described the process as demoralizing for students and for her.

“There was an unstated acceptance that some kids would just never be great readers,” Hepburn said.

Kids who cannot read proficiently by third grade, when learning to read becomes reading to learn, are likely to struggle to read the rest of their lives. Patterson, who spent much of her career teaching elementary schoolers, called the time before third grade a student’s “reading foundation.”

If kids can’t read by that time, “how can we expect them to succeed in whatever life looks like for them?” Patterson asked.

Madison Metropolitan School District, with requirements put forth in Wisconsin Act 20 and other legislative efforts, has made strides in literacy education for students and teachers in recent years. Change, however, will need a network supporting MMSD outside of the classroom. That’s where *START can help.

*STARTing with Goodman

Beginning with youth in GCC’s elementary after-school program, *START Literacy Initiative is building the confidence and skills of some of the youngest readers. Bubbling beneath the surface is the program’s true purpose: Building an intricate web of tutors and resources that support students, schools, families and the tutors themselves.

But the biggest question on the table: Does *START’s tutoring method work? Early results are not just encouraging, they remind tutors, teachers and families alike that in every child lies a love for reading.

The six elementary schoolers in *START’s spring pilot attend the tutoring sessions as “Lit Club.” They played phonics games, won small prizes and were praised for their confidence when they took reading risks like reading a book out loud to the group. From the very first session, Lit Club was a massive hit. Those six students told their Goodman classmates all about the fun they had.

“Every time I called the students for club meetings, I had a group of kids asking if they could come too,” Patterson said.

After the pilot session ended, everyone involved — parents, students and tutors — reviewed the program on a

1 to 5 rating of each child’s reading progress. All six elementary students in the pilot left with a 5-star rating of their reading improvement, and every student had their own storybook of successes.

Letesha Nelson, Goodman’s president and executive director, feels the impact of *START’s tutoring sessions for these students and their families has been night and day. She described how one of the tutored students walked past the sign on Goodman’s Ironworks building after a tutoring session, just as he had done nearly every day since preschool. That afternoon was different though. Suddenly with pure joy, he looked up, pointed at the silver metal words and shouted, “Mom look! It says Goodman Community Center!”

In just a few sessions, *START shifted the world of that little boy into something new and unforgettable.

Fun but hard work

For youth, *START’s strength lies in the fun and individualized approach that celebrates every reading win and combats low self-esteem and self-doubt that can appear while learning to read.

Each child gets 90 minutes with their exclusive team of tutors. Every activity is evidence-based. GCC’s data shows the activities are effective, yet still fun for emerging readers.

“If you can’t make (tutoring) fun, you might as well not be doing it,” Patterson said. “If the kids feel like we’re pulling them out of a fun activity for more school, the relationship stops right there. You have to prioritize kids and what motivates them.”

For the adult tutors, *START is like a tutoring masterclass. Trained literacy volunteers are a vital resource that MMSD and school districts across the country are lacking because the structure to train tutors is unsupported, Patterson said.

*START’s goal is to add a top tutoring resource to support the curriculum work MMSD is already doing, with Goodman acting as a homebase for the program. Both Patterson and Nowakowski agreed that Goodman’s relationship with many east and north side public schools and the center’s focus on social-emotional well-being made it an ideal place to start a tutoring program.

“*START gives tutors five weeks of in-person training using a cutting-edge science of reading based curriculum,” Patterson said. “It also includes ongoing support throughout … the semester-long residency.”

Any strong reader can be a tutor, but the strength of the tutor depends on their training.

“There are programs out there that do make reading activities fun,” Patterson noted. “But *START is something entirely new.”

Playing the long game

By spring of 2025, the program plans to successfully train over 40 community members of all ages and backgrounds in effective and fun ways to teach kids to read, which supports the program’s long-term goal — becoming a community hub for literacy education. The *START team is confident in their program’s ability to make a difference.

“We’re essentially building an army of tutors and resources,” Patterson said. “It’s going to take years, but we know what needs to change and what works for kids. Right now, it’s about getting people educated on the issues (of literacy).”

The tutoring program works exclusively with struggling readers in Goodman’s elementary school programs, but that doesn’t mean the community isn’t encouraged to get involved in the crisis.

All three *START leaders, when asked what the community can do to support literacy initiatives, said educating one’s self on the realities of the literacy crisis and attending Madison-area discussions, film screenings or other events about literacy is the best way to get involved right now.

“We need people to understand that the crisis is here, but it isn’t permanent,” Patterson said. “We can change the direction we’re headed in, but we have to start now, and we have to start within our own circles.”