The Greater Austin Reading Coalition

Committed to Improving Reading Proficiency

Founded in 2021, the Greater Austin Reading Coalition is a diverse coalition of nonprofit and community leaders, librarians, teachers, and parents working toward a shared vision of supporting children, grades K – 3, to ensure they are reading on or above grade level by the fourth grade — a pivotal point in a child’s reading development.

By the end of third grade, children transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” If a student is not reading at grade level, they can fall behind, and are four times less likely to graduate high school than their peers. The increased earning potential of an individual who attains a high school diploma or goes on to attain a college degree is substantially greater than those who do not have the opportunity to do so.

The coalition is convened by United Way for Greater Austin as part of the organization’s collective impact work to fight poverty.

Goals & Framework

The long-term goal of the Greater Austin Reading Coalition is to ensure that all children are reading on or above grade level by the third grade.

To achieve this, our coalition has four strategic goals that will not only build a community culture of reading within Greater Austin, but also address the barriers that many children and families face in accessing culturally relevant reading materials and building grade-level reading proficiency.

Engaged Families

Goal:
Engage and support parents/caregivers by creating a network between school campuses and community partners to increase children’s reading proficiency

Strategy 1:
In collaboration with coalition partners and local service providers, provide learning and engagement opportunities for parents and caregivers

Strategy 2:
Create a unified reading campaign to bring awareness to available online resources, tools, and apps

Community Culture of Reading

Goal:
Build a diverse community culture of reading for fun and learning, cultivating a love of books within children to support children’s reading improvement.

Strategy 1:
Distribute diverse books of choice and learning materials to children in multiple settings.

Strategy 2:
Host community events aimed at increasing literacy awareness and community engagement.

Out-of-School Time Learning

Goal:
Provide professional development training in early literacy for OST providers’ front-line staff members

Strategy 1:
Identify opportunities to provide research-based and culturally appropriate professional development to OST staff.

Strategy 2:
Increasing connections between OST providers and public libraries

Strategy 3:
Providing professional development training in early literacy for OST providers’ front-line staff members

Access to High-Dosage Tutoring

Goal:
Provide year-round high-dosage tutoring for students in grades K-3 attending Title 1 schools within Central Texas.

Strategy 1:
Scale existing highly effective tutoring programs to provide year-round tutoring services

Strategy 2:
Recruit and train community members to serve as tutors.

“Austin Public Library is excited to be an active member of the Greater Austin Reading Coalition. Our library services and resources for school-age children are designed to develop readers and empower parents and caregivers as the child’s first teachers. Along with other individuals and organizations in the community, we can find solutions to ensure all children are reading on grade level.”

Dana Conners, Austin Public Library

“We joined the Greater Austin Reading Coalition to amplify the library’s positive impact in the community and to give all young readers in our service area the opportunity to embrace the resources, services, and activities available to them through the library.”

Amanda Cawthorn, Pflugerville Public Library

Coalition Members

These organizations and individuals share a mutual commitment to improving opportunities for local children by increasing grade-level reading rates in the Greater Austin community:

You can help make a difference!

We all have the power to move the needle on grade-level reading rates in our community. All you have to do is care, engage, and act. 

Together, we can help ensure that every child in Greater Austin has the opportunity to tap into their full potential. 

To learn more, please contact:

Michelle Hutson-Crawford
Director of K-12 Education
512-225-0359
Michelle.Hutson-Crawford@uwatx.org

Stay Informed

Sign up to receive stories about our impact, news about what's happening in our community, and information about how you can make a real difference.

* indicates required
View stakeholder resources
Join our Facebook Community