With a focus on helping vulnerable families in the area, Talk/Read/Succeed works to engage with the community and strengthen the education and literacy rates of children. The program partners with the Springfield Housing Authority to offer support to low income families and services to help spark more opportunities for success.

Talk/Read/Succeed is rooted in forming strong bonds within the community—between families, schools, employers, and other literacy initiatives. Further pursuing this goal, the program recently joined other local organizations in the Lectio Institute, a professional development training to optimize early literacy and education objectives through an adjusted framework.

The Lectio Institute guides stakeholders through an intensive process focused on improving the quality and results of their early learning and literacy programming services. Reading Success by 4th Grade (RS4G) brought the Lectio Approach to the Springfield literacy ecosystem. RS4G invited community partners and literacy leaders with a footprint in the city to learn more about early literacy, improvement in science, and creating and refining the literacy landscape.

The Lectio Institute upholds that “despite great promise and tireless efforts, many of today’s literacy programs, instruction, and services are not adding up to impact.” Through a different approach and analysis of goals, they work toward “unlocking the power of our collective commitment to America’s youngest readers.”

Pam Wells, the Director of Resident Services with the Springfield Housing Authority, served as the program leader for Talk/Read/Succeed’s involvement in the Lectio training. She commented on the success of the program and the opportunity for growth through new approaches to their objectives.

“The Institute gave us the tools to examine our current programming and to see how we can prioritize our programming in the future to better meet our goals,” said Wells. “I think periodic check-ins would be great so the momentum can keep increasing.”

Talk/Read/Succeed works in public housing developments and provides educational services to the area. They conduct parent training workshops, offer preschool and academic childcare, and give access to resource centers with computers and books.

With an increased focus on these resources and new framework strategies, the program plans to reach more families and help more children to “read proficiently by the end of third grade in order to give them the greatest opportunity to achieve in school and life success.”

Wells is encouraged that the early literacy training and cooperation between local organizations will benefit the lives of families across the community: “I think the information we learned will guide our decisions on future programming which will translate into greater successes within the area.”

Talk/Read/Succeed is an early literacy program located in Springfield, Massachusetts working to educate families and connect children to relevant educational services and resources. Facebook: @TalkReadSucceed

Reading Success by 4th Grade is a community-wide initiative to get all of Springfield’s kids reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. Their projects bring people together to learn, share, and advocate for early literacy in Springfield, Massachusetts. www.readby4thgrade.com  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn: @ReadBy4thGrade

The Lectio Approach: Our mission is to unlock the power of our collective commitment to America’s youngest readers. We work to ensure that all children's literacy efforts and those they serve reach their potential, and that all stakeholders see the results and impacts they intended. www.lectioapproach.com