Hands-on coaching, professional development, and mentoring are crucial for teachers, especially those who are just starting out in their careers. It’s even more important for educators who are tasked with teaching in schools with low-income populations, where they are challenged with closing the reading achievement gap between kids from lower-income households and their wealthier counterparts. Here’s one group partnering with teachers and school leaders to improve child literacy and grade-level reading skills.

Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) partners with school districts to train and coach preschool through third-grade teachers in the most effective techniques for teaching literacy. Teachers participate in workshops, receive high-quality children’s books for their classrooms, and work with a coach to incorporate effective reading strategies into their classrooms. In addition, one teacher per grade is trained as a ‘model’ teacher to serve as a coach to peers and an ongoing resource to the school, even after CLI’s three-year program ends. The program also instructs school administrators on how best to deploy teachers and facilitate professional collaboration through practices like scheduling common planning time.

Read the full article about child literacy from The Center of High Impact Philanthropy.