The Transformational Tech collection highlights Cisco’s nonprofit grant recipients that use know-how to assist rework the lives of people and communities.
Children in lower-income households have restricted entry to studying supplies and experiences, like books and know-how, in response to the American Psychological Association (APA). Furthermore, children’ competency with studying ties carefully with their literacy surroundings at house–just like the variety of books within the family and the extent of curiosity in studying that folks and different members of the family present.
For 35 years, the group at Project READ-Redwood City has labored to convey literacy intervention to adults and households in our group. As the wants of the group have modified, service choices developed to satisfy these wants, starting from grownup literacy, household literacy, and youth providers. Project READ helps kids from traditionally underserved households learn to learn and develop a ardour for studying by every day and weekly tutoring, small group, and household literacy conferences and lessons.
In 2020, simply as quarantines started cancelling social interactions, Project READ-Redwood City, obtained a San Francisco Bay Area Community Impact Grant (CIG) from the Cisco Foundation. Through CIG, the Foundation focuses investments on nonprofit companions addressing crucial social challenges inside a 50-mile radius of Cisco headquarters in San Jose, California.
With CIG funding, Project READ might broaden their providers and construct a brand new, hybridized platform that supplied studying alternatives by way of webinar to satisfy the kid at house, giving them the leverage they wanted to innovate. This well timed assist introduced new alternatives, training, and know-how to extra individuals in want—making Project READ’s providers extra accessible to any pupil and household who may gain advantage from the applications they provide.
More alternatives for extra individuals
Adopting the hybrid mannequin gave college students unprecedented digital entry to uninterrupted literacy educational assist. Gil Gaeta, who’s in command of Outreach and Development at Project READ, stated, “Cisco’s grant helped us put a hybrid platform in place forever. We are 100% a hybrid learning center now, which gives us accessible learning to our families.”
Within months of faculty closures in 2020, Project READ efficiently onboarded 40 p.c of their kids by securing and distributing scorching spots and computer systems to entry their on-line platform.
Lynnette is a 3rd grader in Project READ’s Tuesday evening on-line program specializing in household literacy. She comes from a family the place Spanish is the house language. She attends a Spanish immersion program at her college and speaks Spanish about 60 p.c of the time. Through her Project READ incoming pupil evaluation, it was decided that Lynnette was studying English two grade ranges under her age-level.
Within six months of becoming a member of Project READ for one-on-one tutoring, small group conferences, word-building video games, and studying aloud, Lynnette has already elevated her studying expertise by one and a half grade ranges!
Partnerships that result in accessibility
Kathy Endaya, longtime Director at Project READ, defined that “if you don’t have [a partner] that’s an equal visionary, helping connect the dots, like Cisco did for us—it would have taken us years to accomplish.”
Soon, Project READ integrated free, adaptive studying gadgets, known as onetab, into their choices. Through this partnership with onebillion (a Cisco Global Impact Grant recipient), children can convey house pill gadgets preloaded with literacy and math studying video games modules. Project READ gives these onetabs to new college students for entry to at-home wraparound providers from the start. This course of permits Project READ the chance to take a seat down along with dad and mom and kids to clarify learn how to use the system and its influence on studying and math.
Once their hybrid platform was up and operating seamlessly, Project READ applied real-time on-line diagnostics that make the most of adaptive studying gadgets, make clear individualized on-line studying, and pinpoint alternatives for enrichment applications that have interaction the entire household within the studying course of.
Piloting success after success
Since 2020, Project READ has remained in Cisco’s CIG program, giving them the benefit of constant to construct out their hybrid mannequin throughout all applications and language acquisition applications, together with:
- A profitable Project READ partnership (with The Junior League of Palo Alto—Mid-Peninsula) launched a month-to-month mentoring program for women who’re fascinated about STEAM (science, know-how, engineering, the humanities, and arithmetic) and literacy.
- Project READ created and facilitated a digital tutor coaching.
- Their partnerships with different Bay Area community-based organizations together with Cisco companions supplied the alternatives for collaboration and shared studying to develop modern technology-based literacy options.
“We’re reaching the invisible population.” Kathy Endaya continued, “Now, we can contact teachers, let them know what’s going on, get feedback from them, tailor learning plans, and, if need be, we can adjust online tutoring.”
Across all applications in 2022, Project READ has helped roughly 900 college students and adults obtain literacy expertise by its hybrid mannequin. Project READ’s built-in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) instruction has helped 273 Okay-5 grade-level college students develop expertise round self-awareness, self-management, social consciousness, relationship expertise, and accountable decision-making. Many college students have seen marked enchancment of their studying expertise, with a mean of over two-and-a-half grade ranges in a single yr—with over 30 p.c of scholars growing their studying expertise by three grade ranges or extra!
What’s on the horizon
Project READ has a powerful listing of initiatives lined up for 2023. Gil detailed, “Our new pilots are focused on trauma-informed learning and family literacy, supporting system-impacted students and families and students who have experienced childhood trauma, specifically poverty.”
Kathy tacked on, “our SEL pilot [focuses on the] growth mindset to help students build confidence in themselves to see that they can achieve what they want academically.” This SEL evaluation software shall be utilized throughout the board and inside the new pilot program, so the Project READ group can visualize additional progress. Gil divulged that Project READ can also be “partnering with two other nonprofits to offer wraparound services that leverage technology and offer hybrid programming.”
Project READ is already on observe to influence 300 traditionally underserved college students and their households in 2023, with the purpose to extend literacy ranges, household engagement, and social-emotional growth.
This shift to a hybrid studying mannequin throughout all applications has positively impacted each Project READ and the group it serves. Project READ’s management proceed to examine new improvements and collaborations with native companions that deepen influence, broaden attain, leverage know-how to make sure entry to training, providers, and assist.
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