Taking Cues from Charleston

After an article published last year in Charleston's Post and Courier revealed that nearly one in five students entering ninth grade could not read above a fourth grade level, the Charleston School District decided to take action. Making literacy a top priority, they implemented various programs and ideas in an attempt to address this important issue.
Different kinds of programs popped up across the district. Partnerships were created with the College of Charleston and the Citadel, with graduates and undergraduates received credit for assisting in low-income schools, providing extra teaching for students who needed help in reading. A sixth-grade academy was also opened for students who were below reading level. Students in the academy spent extra time at school, had 2 mandatory tutoring sessions a week, and took both a reading intervention and a math intervention class. Literacy specialists were hired at some high schools, and a literacy plan was approved for this coming school year.
The changes seem to be working. A recent article in the Post and Courier stated that the district has seen a drop in the number of students who are at or below a fourth grade reading level, with the numbers being one in seven now instead of one in five. The district plans to continue to track this progress to ensure that the new literacy tactics are working.
What do you think? Could we implement some of the same programs and plans into Lancaster County schools? If so, what? Or do you have another idea that you think could help? What can we do to improve literacy in the Lancaster area?

Fighting Illiteracy 2

We've been talking about fighting illiteracy in the Lancaster community. We want to thank all of you who have responded to our last post. We appreciate your ideas, and we're excited to get this conversation going. If you haven't responded, we urge you to share your ideas with us by clicking on the "comment" box below. You can make your responses anonymous, so please let us know what you're thinking!

One of the suggestions that keeps popping up is a need for groups in the area to partner up and work together to fight illiteracy. While some people think we've done a good job identifying who needs services, it's putting those services into action effectively that seems to be a bit of a stumbling block. Some of you have suggested that things would be smoother if groups worked with one another on literacy initiatives.

So how do we go about getting these groups to work together? What are the benefits of them working with one another, and how do we let them know that their partnerships could be beneficial to the community? What else can we do to make this a more literate area? Let us know what you think by commenting below!