Happy Birthday, Read LA!!

It’s Read LA!’s Birthday – Let’s Celebrate!

One year ago today, Families In Schools launched Read LA! – a campaign to ensure that all of Los Angeles’ children can read and thrive. We set out to build a movement to end the literacy crisis that impacts almost 70% of third graders from low-income communities in Los Angeles and across California.

While that statistic deserves no celebration, we celebrate the accomplishments that have set the foundation to help remedy an educational injustice in our city and state.

Here’s our top ten list of milestones we’re celebrating. Click the links to learn more.

1. Launched Read LA! on November 14, 2023, with over 100 education, civic, and parent leaders joining.
2. Released The Literacy Crisis in Los Angeles and Beyond: A Problem We Can and Must Collectively Solve, a report to raise public awareness of the literacy crisis.
3. Formed the Read LA! Coalition, a group of powerful community organizations and advocates working to lead the campaign.
4. Forged a collaborative partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), working together to promote evidence-based literacy instruction and engage families to support their kids at home and school.
5. Hosted, in partnership with LAUSD, a series of community learning sessions for parents about how children learn to read and how to support and advocate for them.
6. Launched the Literacy Ambassadors leadership program, equipping parent leaders to reach elementary school parents with tools and strategies to support and advocate for their children at home and at school.
7. Joined a statewide early literacy coalition and co-sponsored AB 2222, a bill designed to align literacy instruction & instructional materials with evidence-based practices.
8. Mobilized broad support for AB 2222 from 16 bipartisan legislators, 70+ advocacy and non-profit organizations, 25 districts, and 1,100+ leaders and parents statewide.
9. Elevated the literacy crisis as measured by 52 media mentions (with FIS featured) and recognition of the crisis by House Speaker Rivas and Education Committee Chair Muratsuchi.
10. LAUSD revved up its efforts to align early literacy instruction to the science of reading, which its leadership team, Supt. Carvalho, Dr. Estrada, and Dr. Baez had begun taking steps to address. Over the past year, LAUSD provided professional development training to 100% of its elementary teachers and adopted CKLA, a science of reading-aligned curriculum and materials. Compared to other CA districts, LAUSD students achieved the largest increases in reading from 2022-23 on the CA Smarter Balanced Assessment.

Each of these accomplishments strengthens the foundation of our work as we work toward our goal of 70% of third graders reading on grade level by 2030. As we celebrate this first anniversary we are especially inspired by LAUSD’s commitment to elevating literacy as a priority and grateful for our partnership on behalf of students and their families.

For nearly 25 years, Families In Schools has championed family and community partnerships as a key strategy. Read LA! has given us the opportunity to demonstrate the power of such partnerships and the impact we can achieve when we work together.

Thank you to those who supported, believed in, and joined the Read LA! campaign to ensure children have a fundamental skill needed for success in school and in life – the ability to read. For that we are eternally grateful, especially to our funders, FIS Board of Directors, Read LA! Coalition, community partners, FIS staff, and families.

In just one year we’ve accomplished much, but we have more to do and much further to go. But we have laid the foundation and are building a social justice movement. We hope you will join us.

Happy Birthday, Read LA!!

Sincerely,

Yolie Flores

President & CEO, Families In Schools