Washington Striving Readers

Washington Striving Readers is a differentiated reading intervention program for middle school students (grades 6-8) reading at least two years below grade level. The program takes two forms based on student needs: Group 1 students receive Phonics Blitz (50 lessons over 12 weeks focusing on phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency) followed by Read to Achieve (vocabulary and comprehension strategies for remainder of year); Group 2 students receive Read to Achieve only for the full school year. Classes are delivered face-to-face in small groups (up to 9 students for Group 1, up to 12 for Group 2) as a supplemental reading class in addition to regular English language arts. All classes are taught by certificated teachers hired specifically for Striving Readers who receive 70 hours of professional development including 4-day summer institute and 6 additional training days during the year, plus ongoing in-class coaching support with at least 12 visits from project coaches throughout the year.