Literacy First

Meet Lindsey, an Early Literacy Coordinator who supports the implementation of our literacy intervention at Capacity Building Model schools.

Lindsey has over 20 years of experience serving Title I schools in East Austin as a first-grade teacher, elementary reading and math intervention teacher, and dyslexia specialist. She also was a district-level elementary literacy coordinator before joining the Literacy First team.

In her current role she provides coaching, professional learning, and program coordination support to our Capacity Building Model sites. Lindsey enjoys working with people who share a passion for ensuring every child receives quality literacy instruction.

In her free time you’ll find her spending time with her family and four dogs, supporting local musicians, checking out vintage cars at a classic car show, or catching a baseball game.

Lindsey believes literacy is essential because is gives every student the power to understand their world, express their ideas, and access opportunities.

It was an eventful school year for Literacy First! We want to take a moment to celebrate the successes this past year brought. Here are a few of the highlights we’re excited to share:

📖 Literacy First tutors taught 2,285 students foundational reading skills across all program locations.

🌱 We made progress toward sustainable growth goals by collaborating with two new school districts and six new schools.

📚 After several years of development and testing, we released a new version of our Spanish early literacy curriculum, Alma del lector.

🥇 Our program was recognized by What Works Clearinghouse from the Institute of Education Sciences as a Tier 1 (strong evidence) intervention.

📊 Our program efficacy was also validated in a new study published in Reading and Writing journal.

🅰️ We successfully completed our current AmeriCorps Texas grant cycle and applied for another round of funding through 2029. We also shared our AmeriCorps expertise with Chattanooga 2.0 as they navigated their first federal grant funding AmeriCorps Volunteer positions in Tennessee.

🧑‍🏫 Thanks to our friends at Chattanooga 2.0 we began working with The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to welcome pre-service teachers to the program as tutors.

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 And in Hamilton County Schools and Elgin TX Independent School District, experienced tutors implemented our reading intervention in small groups, a service which we hope to offer more widely in the future.

These achievements and innovations have us feeling grateful for our strong network of Literacy First champions (we couldn’t do it without you all) and excited for what’s to come next school year!

While our tutors teach students how to read, they often learn valuable lessons from their students in return. Charleye, a former tutor, worked with an eager-to-learn student named Damien. One day during their lesson, Damien made a mistake and Charleye noticed that his attitude quickly changed from excited to deflated.

Charleye adapted to Damien’s needs and began incorporating daily affirmations at the start of their lessons. This practice helped Damien build confidence, and he started talking to himself with more positivity. Charleye shared that “although he had difficulty reading, Damien remained his joyful and confident self. Damien taught me to always smile, talk nicely to myself, and never give up.”

Read Charleye’s full reflection on working with Damien on our blog: https://ow.ly/p4Cf50Z6Mxb

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Literacy First staff recently joined our collaborators at Georgetown ISD for an end-of-year celebration. They met with tutors, district staff and leaders who have made the program possible over the past year and a half. Together, they recognized the paraprofessional tutors for their hard work and celebrated the positive student outcomes achieved through Literacy First tutoring this school year.

The school year has officially come to a close and we’re excited to celebrate another year of student progress in reading! Literacy First tutors supported over 2,000 students at 51 schools this year. Here are a few of our favorite moments from the school year.

Last week our 31st cohort of AmeriCorps Volunteers gathered to celebrate the end of the service year. Our staff shared gratitude for their service and celebrated the positive impact they had on the students they worked with this year.

Tutors played board games, colored, and wrote down words of encouragement for future Volunteers. They ended the day by meeting one last time as a group with their coaches and reflecting on their experiences in the program.

Thank you to all our AmeriCorps Volunteers for your service!

Join our team at the Charles A. Dana Center as the Associate Director of Evidence, Impact, and Learning—design and lead high-quality evaluations, manage data systems, and support continuous improvement in math, science, and early learning programs. Apply now: https://www.utdanacenter.org/who-we-are/work-with-us

Today is officially the last day of the service year for our AmeriCorps Volunteers! 🎉 Thank you to all of our AmeriCorps tutors who dedicated their time and skills to supporting students and improving education outcomes in our Central Texas community.

Our team looks forward to welcoming many of our Volunteers back in September for another year of service. For those moving on to new adventures, we wish you the best of luck. Congratulations to all on completing your service!

AmeriCorps Central Texas

Please join us in congratulating Literacy First tutor alum Skylar Joseph for being recognized as an Austin ISD Teacher of Promise! This award acknowledges Skylar’s exceptional work and potential as a first-year teacher. Skylar shared how her time as an AmeriCorps Volunteer tutor influenced her path to become an educator. She said:

“Literacy First truly shaped the teacher I am today. Through the AmeriCorps Segal Education Award, I was able to fund my education degree while working full-time as a literacy tutor in the program. Those two years gave me hands-on experience teaching foundational reading skills and showed me the power of structured, explicit literacy instruction.”

“When I began applying for teaching jobs, I specifically sought out kindergarten and first grade because I felt confident in my ability to teach students how to read. I fell in love with a school that due to leveling, was going to have a combined kindergarten/first grade classroom. My principal told me later it was due to my Literacy First experience that she knew I was the teacher for the job!”

“My Literacy First experience didn’t just prepare me to teach—it gave me the confidence and instructional foundation to lead a reading-focused classroom successfully from day one.”

Congratulations, Skylar! We are thrilled to hear you are using the skills you practiced as a tutor every day in your classroom. Thank you for your AmeriCorps service and for continuing to serve your community as a dedicated educator!