The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s young readers. Past recipients of this award include Carmen T. Bernier- Grand, SMART (Start Making A Reader Today), and Curtis Kiefer. This year, we are honored to present this award to Reading Results. Nominations for the 2021 Oregon Book Awards special awards will go online in August.
Reading Results is a non-profit organization that provides a reading intervention program to low-income students and students of color in Portland, OR. With the understanding that a student’s development relies heavily on literacy, Reading Results has made it their mission to assure that young students finish the 3rd grade at reading level.
Reading Results was founded in 2000 by a volunteer group of teachers, initially serving 35 students. This year, Reading Results added two schools to their roster for a total of 20 schools and 800 students served.
Reading Results matches a team of tutors with a group of 18 to 22 first, second, and third graders. Each student works with a tutor one-on-one at least three times a week for 30 weeks during the school year. Each student receives individualized instruction that meets their specific needs.
At each school, a Reading Results team is made up of a program site manager, a senior tutor, and two parent tutors. Parent tutors are recruited from the community to ensure that the program is culturally-responsive and sends the message to students: “You are important. Your community cares about you and your future.”
In addition to their 30 week tutoring program, Reading Results hosts two school-wide family literacy events at each site every year. These events provide families tools and resources to support their young readers.
We thank Reading Results for 20 years of service to the Portland community and for their commitment to our children’s success. Here are some words from their nominators:
“Reading Results has been an outstanding partner at our school, from initial discussions about setting up the program, to establishing schedules and communication channels, to ongoing intentional evaluation of student performance. Reading Results’ partnership at schools like ours has helped shape the progress we are seeing in the literary skills of our youngest learners. In addition, they work to engage, empower, and educate families from our community…” –Jill Sage, Principal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School
“We know students transition at the end of the third grade from learning to read, to reading to learn, so it is a critical benchmark for both literary and future success. Reading Results helps drive this success for local students.” — Katie O’Dell, Programming and Outreach Director of Multnomah County Library
