University of Maryland researchers cite tutoring gains, propose county expansion of adolescent and family literacy supports

Dr. Donald DJ Bolger, co-director of the Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (MIIL) at the University of Maryland College Park, briefed the committee on MIILs work in Prince Georges County and neighboring pilot districts. MIIL provides research-based technical assistance, teacher coaching, family engagement initiatives and pilot programs aimed at translating reading science into classroom practice. "The students in that program have made, around 8 months worth of gains in those some of those early literacy skills," Bolger said when asked about Milestones tutoring outcomes.

Bolger said Milestones tutoring trained roughly 100 tutors and served about 107 students over three years, with 20'1/25 of the tutors drawn from Prince George's County Public Schools employees and the remainder University of Maryland students, and said third-grade scores in partner schools increased as those students moved into fourth grade. He also described a Food for Thought family literacy pilot and noted MIILs adolescent-literacy work (currently in pilot districts, supported by philanthropy) to address gaps in secondary literacy that state policy will increasingly require districts to address. Bolger told the committee he will provide compiled DIBELS and program evaluation data to the council on request.