Do you believe that literacy is a human right?

ABOUT THE LITERACY LAB

The education system in the United States continues to be deeply impacted by a long history of unjust policies that socio-economically disinvest in communities of color. The Literacy Lab’s mission is to address inequities by providing students – in communities experiencing racial and/or economic inequities – with evidence-based, culturally responsive literacy instruction as preparation for academic, professional, and personal success. We believe literacy is a human right. When we achieve our mission, we will have created a more just society where all students have the literacy services needed to unlock educational opportunities and success in life.

Since 2009, The Literacy Lab has worked with communities and school districts to provide evidence-based literacy interventions to more than 30,000 children from marginalized communities to master early literacy skills. By embedding rigorously trained Tutors and Fellows in Pre-K classrooms and elementary schools, The Literacy Lab strives to create a full six-year continuum of support for young readers.

POSITION

The Literacy Lab recognizes that ensuring all students have the chance to read proficiently is an urgent and critical need. Our approach is to provide Pre-K classrooms and elementary schools with evidence-based literacy intervention and full-time literacy tutors to implement the model. With the help of assessment tools, their coaching teams, and The Literacy Lab’s program staff, our tutors help their students become successful readers.

If you want to make a difference in the lives of children while gaining professional skills and experience in the fields of education, nonprofit, and social justice, a service term with The Literacy Lab may be the perfect opportunity for you!

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Tutors serve full-time for an entire academic year. At their school site, tutors implement specific early literacy interventions for Pre-K and K-3 students. Tutors also conduct weekly progress monitoring and work with a team of coaches to make data-informed decisions to ensure each child is on track to read proficiently. Tutors are a part of the school community and work to build strong relationships with students, teachers, and other staff. In addition, tutors participate in community-based volunteer opportunities and ongoing professional development sessions. Tutors are placed at school sites with one to three other tutors.

For the K-3 program, tutors will be placed in one school for the whole school year. They’ll have a caseload of 15-18 students who need targeted reading support. Using specific early literacy interventions, tutors see their students every day, one-on-one for 20 minutes. Tutors build a relationship with each student and are able to zoom in on areas where students might be struggling.

For the Pre-K program, tutors are placed in one classroom for the entire school year. Tutors are the literacy resource and will collaborate closely with the teacher and assistant teacher. Using specific early literacy interventions, tutors will be singing songs with the whole class, reading books and practicing vocab with small groups, and doing one-on-one work with a handful of students who need extra support to be Kindergarten-ready.

At a minimum, a tutor must:

Serve in a full-time capacity, approx. 8 hours/ day, Monday - Friday
Commit to a full service term (August - June)
Implement feedback from coaches and program staff
Utilize specific data-based and scripted curriculum
Participate in required professional developments, community service days, ongoing training, and other occasional required Literacy Lab events and meetings in the late afternoon/early evening

ELIGIBILITY

At a minimum, all tutors must:

Be at least 17 years old at the time of application and 18 years old by start date
Have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalency
Have served no more than 3 previous AmeriCorps terms
Be able to pass AmeriCorps and school background checks
Be a US citizen, national, or permanent resident (DACA recipients are unfortunately not eligible to apply)

Must not be registered, or be required to register, on any sex offender registry

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ANTI-RACISM

The education system in the United States continues to be deeply impacted by a long history of unjust policies that socio-economically disinvest in communities of color. The Literacy Lab’s mission is to address inequities by providing students of color with individualized reading instruction to improve their literacy skills. We believe that when young people of all races and from different economic brackets have equitable access to robust educational and professional development opportunities, they will be more successful as adults.

In addition to fulfilling our mission of ensuring that our students have the resources they need to be successful readers, we are proud to support diverse cohorts of Tutors and Fellows each year. We know that our cohorts are stronger when our Tutors and Fellows represent a number of different communities, cultures, religious backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations. Because of the systemic history of racial inequity in the teaching profession, we’re dedicated to creating opportunities for emerging educators of color. Research shows that students who have a teacher that looks like them early in their educational career are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. As over 90% of the students we serve are children of color, we know that having a representative cohort is crucial for positive long-term effects on our students.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

Reasonable accommodations can be made for applicants and selected members. Applicants requesting reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process should reach out to the Recruitment Team (recruitment@theliteracylab.org). Applicants requesting reasonable accommodations for the anticipated year should reach out to the Human Resources Team (hr@theliteracylab.org).

LEARN MORE

Explore our Year at a Glance, which includes detailed position overviews here.
Review our website here.

The Literacy Lab

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Literacy Tutor (2023-24, AmeriCorps)