Its core program, which she designed, uses a reading comprehension curriculum that focuses on building reading skills and encourages kids to want to read. The program targets third-graders in low-income communities in Maricopa and Pinal counties, serving 11 school districts in 10-week sessions each semester.
Currently, Allen-Etchart projects 89 schools will participate in Read Better, Be Better this fall, and that number will increase to 99 schools by spring 2023, serving nearly 8,000 students. One-one-one reading sessions are held after school for 90 minutes, twice a week from 3:30 to 5 p.m. During the hour-and-a-half lesson, the student and their volunteer teacher read selected books to each other and discuss the content. The exchange includes an element of storytelling, in which the third-graders express and make notes about their own interpretation of the text. And when the reading tutor is a student from the same school district, it’s a winning literacy combination. The third-graders who participate in Read Better, Be Better are mentored by eighth-graders, a piece of the programming that not only improves literacy, but fosters leadership and volunteerism skills in the older kids, according to Allen-Etchart.
The curriculum is simple by design, but the value of respect and professionalism is mandatory. Tutors meet and walk the third-graders to the library for their reading session, take attendance, and also take a moment to send well wishes to students who are absent.“
It’s important that you build a space of magic like Disneyland so that you set the expectation from the outset of how I’m going to treat you and how we’re going to treat each other,” says Allen-Etchart. Internal metrics suggest 89% of the readers believe they understand more what they’re reading as a result of participation in Read Better, Be Better—and therefore, probably will graduate high school per industry research.
"It has a tremendous impact on society. Those who graduate high school are more likely to be meaningfully employed and are less likely to be engaged in the criminal justice system or need additional support,” she says. “If you think you read better, you’re going to choose to read more often. And if you read more often, you’re going to get better. ”And that’s the fairytale arc Allen-Etchart believes occurs with Read Better, Be Better.“
There’s nothing more satisfying than a kid who goes through a program and says they now go to the library and choose their own books,” she says. “You don’t get to do that if you don’t have the skills. But it also takes fostering and time. There’s some magic in our program that makes that happen.”
