As part of a recent onslaught of budget cuts, The Little Rock School District may be forced to eliminate a successful reading program.
Ignite! Reading is a one-on-one tutoring initiative that uses the Science of Reading to teach basic reading skills. That's a curriculum that emphasizes learning to sound out words, or phonics.
Last year, first through fifth-graders who had reading skill gaps across the district were given one-on-one instruction, 15 minutes a day, with a virtual tutor. 2,000 students at 13 schools took part in the program. Students enrolled in the program last year spent, on average, 24 hours with their tutors over the course of the 2023-2024 school year.
“What we know from the research,” Jessica Sliwerski, CEO of Ignite! Reading, said, “Is that many kids need additional targeted practice to ensure that they learn to read.”
By all accounts, the program was improving reading scores. Sliwerski says you can see the progress when you break reading scores down by grades.
She says 100% of the students in the program began with “foundational gaps," meaning they didn't have basic reading skills needed to progress through school. Sliwerski says students should have mastered “foundational reading skills" by the second grade. She says, overall, the program has tripled foundational reading skills across the district
For example, when starting the program 42% of kids had gaps in kindergarten reading skills. A year later, that number is down to 12%. Sliwerski says the students lagging behind could be suffering from learning differences like dyslexia. She said 75% of kids have moved up a grade level in reading. When the program started, 15% of kids were working on second grade skills. This has more than doubled to 41%.
The LRSD was forced to cut about $16 million from its budget this year. Ignite! Reading costs the district $5 million annually. A PowerPoint released by the district showing where the cuts will come from listed Ignite! Reading as a “supplemental program” on the chopping block. It won't factor into the $16 million, but cutting or shrinking Ignite! could help the district's financial future.
LRSD Superintendent Jermall Wright is concerned about Arkansas LEARNS, a law gives state money to private schools in the form of vouchers. The voucher eligibility is set to increase in the coming years.
“I do know that more families will take advantage of those,” Wright said. “Which will siphon more students away from our district which will mean less money. So, we may be here next year talking about having to cut another $4 or $5 million.”
Wright agrees that Ignite! Reading is successful, as did several school board members when shrinking the program was last brought up at a board meeting.
“We are actively looking for some additional grants,” Wright said, explaining that he hoped to keep the program going for first-graders who are at least two grade levels behind in priority schools.
Sliwerski says it “gives her hope” to see the LRSD try to maintain the program. She says there is always going to be a percentage of kids who need more assistance. But she also understands the reality of the district's financial situation.
“When kids don't learn to read on time, then schools are allocating money in subsequent years to intervention after intervention after intervention,” she said.
“Learning to read is so core to everything else kids do in school.”
