Author Archives: Miles Hawthorne

Augusta Literacy Gains in the 2025-2026 school year gave families, educators, and community partners a useful set of local reading measures to study. During that school year, the Community Foundation for the CSRA invested more than $250,000 in its Literacy Initiative, which supported programs reaching more than 1,200 children in the Augusta and broader CSRA region. Those figures do not prove that one program alone caused every reading improvement, but … Read the rest

Building Strong Readers became a clear federal signal on September 9, 2026: reading instruction, early intervention, and local literacy systems were treated as urgent education priorities, not side projects. The U.S. Department of Education announcement stated that nearly 70% of U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders could not read proficiently and that twelfth graders had the lowest reading scores ever recorded as of that date, according to the federal literacy announcement.… Read the rest

Reading Recovery remains one of the better-known early literacy interventions used with first-grade students who need intensive reading and writing support. For families and school communities, the most useful question is not whether one program can solve every reading concern. The better question is what the evidence shows, where the evidence is limited, and how schools can use short-term intervention data alongside broader K-4 literacy measures.

As a literacy coach, … Read the rest

Philadelphia adult literacy is not only an adult education issue. It reaches families, workplaces, schools, health decisions, public services, and the daily confidence people need to read forms, help children with homework, use technology, and plan next steps. Beyond Literacy, often called BeLit, has become one of the most visible local programs responding to that need, and recent attention from city and state leaders has made the scale of the … Read the rest

The adult literacy crisis in Philadelphia is not only an employment issue or a classroom issue. It is a family issue, a school-readiness issue, and a community issue. When adults have limited reading, English language, numeracy, or digital skills, everyday communication with schools, employers, health providers, and public agencies can become harder. For young children, that can also affect how often reading feels natural and supported at home.

Beyond Literacy, … Read the rest

The READ Act impact is best understood as a push toward clearer state literacy planning, not as a single law that instantly raises reading scores. For families of young children, the most useful question is practical: has the law helped states put stronger reading systems in place for screening, instruction, teacher learning, and support for students who show early signs of difficulty?

The federal READ Act was enacted on December … Read the rest

On August 24, 2026, Connecticut was awarded a five-year, $10 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research program. The Connecticut Literacy Grant was designed to expand targeted reading intervention, with integrated positive behavioral supports, for K-3 students who have significant reading difficulties, according to the state announcement from the Connecticut State Department of Education.

For families, teachers, and community literacy partners, the award … Read the rest

Massachusetts Literacy Grants moved from policy promise to district-level action on August 6, 2026, when the state awarded nearly $24.7 million to 71 school districts and one educational collaborative through four PRISM grant programs. The funding was designed to support evidence-based literacy instruction from pre-K through grade 12, with attention to instructional materials, educator learning, and reading outcomes across schools.

The award sat within Massachusetts’ Literacy Launch work, which had … Read the rest

The Wyoming Literacy Law is now in effect, giving families, teachers, and districts a statewide framework for K-12 reading instruction, assessment, intervention, and educator training. Signed on March 6, 2026, and effective on July 1, 2026, the law sets expectations for evidence-based language and literacy instruction across public schools while also calling for parent or caregiver involvement when students need extra reading support.

For early childhood and elementary literacy, the … Read the rest