Reading was never one of Daniel Jones’ favorite activities.
In first grade, he struggled with sight words and sounding out unfamiliar words. His mother, Ariana Jones, said his school told the family he needed more one-on-one reading support, and his parents tried working with him themselves. But with two older children and their own responsibilities, Jones said helping Daniel at home was not producing the progress they hoped to see.
The possibility that Daniel could be held back made the problem more urgent. His family turned to PEAK Literacy, where Daniel was assessed and paired with a tutor.
At first, Jones said, Daniel was hesitant and embarrassed because he knew he was struggling. Over time, tutoring became what he called “Miss Katy time,” after his tutor.
“He started to look forward to it because he was getting good at it,” Jones said.
Daniel's experience is one example of the individualized reading support PEAK Literacy is now working to expand. The Literacy Catalyst Project, operated by PEAK as part of Alachua County Reads, is expanding from roughly 300 participants to more than 600 this fall. Additional funding has allowed PEAK to add staff to support its volunteers and reach more after-school organizations.
The expansion is part of a countywide effort to address literacy at different stages of life.
Heidi Keegan, literacy coordinator for Alachua County Reads, said the initiative grew out of concerns about literacy achievement and disparities among students in Alachua County. Previous efforts existed, she said, but they were not coordinated across the community.
Alachua County Reads aims to prepare children for kindergarten, help them become proficient readers by the end of third grade and support adults in becoming literate, thriving citizens.
The Children's Trust of Alachua County and the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners fund the initiative. Keegan said about $800,000 supports the Literacy Catalyst Project and Alachua County Reads, including funding for staff and program coordination. The initiative also recently hired a literacy specialist.
For children who need additional reading support, the Literacy Catalyst Project focuses on intervention and remediation. PEAK works with students in settings such as after-school programs, where trained volunteers help children build decoding and other foundational reading skills they may have missed.
Leah Galione, executive director of PEAK Literacy, said effective intervention begins with determining exactly where a student is struggling. Students are assessed to establish a starting point so tutoring can target the skills each reader needs to develop.
“The biggest thing that they need to do is to be able to read fluently,” Galione said. “And so that's what we work on. Targeted intervention.”
The approach means students are not simply given the same work because they are the same age or grade. Instead, PEAK uses one-on-one tutoring to address individual gaps. Students can participate virtually or in person, and the intervention relies on consistent practice with trained volunteers.
For Daniel, that individualized attention came at a critical time.
Near the end of first grade, Jones said Daniel was still below the reading level expected by a new school his family wanted him to attend. The school agreed to reevaluate him during the summer, giving his family several more months to work with PEAK and practice at home.
Jones said Daniel’s reading level rose from about 1.6, indicating a mid-first-grade reading level, to 3.1, indicating a beginning third-grade reading level, over roughly three months. The scores came from the new school’s academic placement assessment, she said. He was able to start second grade at the new school.
When Daniel later returned to PEAK with a different tutor, Jones said the tutor noticed he was doing well and suggested another evaluation. Daniel was soon able to exit the program, freeing the tutoring time for another student who needed additional support.
“I love to share this story because my son is now a confident reader, and again, enjoys it genuinely,” Jones said.
The tutoring also gave Daniel’s family support beyond his reading progress. Jones said that as working parents, she and her husband often had to balance cooking dinner, work and helping their older children with schoolwork. Having a tutor gave Daniel dedicated one-on-one attention while his parents managed those other responsibilities.
“To be able to pass the tablet over and have someone kind of help you with that 15 minutes,” Jones said. “There’s just something unique about it being a different person than you.”
Keegan said measuring the results of the newly expanded Alachua County Reads effort will take time. Because the school year has only recently begun, there is not yet hard outcome data for the expansion. Students are being assessed to establish baseline levels and will be evaluated again at the end of the program to measure their progress.
Keegan said improving literacy is not something she expects to happen overnight.
“You have to sustain the work and continue to invest and support and adapt,” Keegan said. “So we know that this will take time, but you have to start somewhere.”
For Daniel, the change is already visible in an ordinary part of his day.
Now in third grade, Daniel keeps a pictorial Bible in the car. Jones said the boy who once preferred being outside or playing sports now sits and reads it on the way to school every day.
“He turned into a reader,” Jones said.
His relationship with school changed, too.
“Before, school was like a chore,” Jones said. “And now, he's coming home with A's and B's and throwing papers in my face and going, ‘look what I did.’”
“And that, as a parent, is everything,” she said.