Reading MD is dedicated to bridging the achievement gap one student at a time. Through the creation of partnerships between colleges, public schools, and community agencies, we offer the opportunity for under-prepared Boston adolescents to get the systematic one-on-one guidance that they need in order to thrive.

In January 2005, Reading MD obtained funding for a pilot program at City on a Hill Charter Public High School to provide sixteen CoaH 10th graders with 28 hours of individualized literacy tutoring in preparation for the English MCAS exam. The success of this program -- students who participated in the two month program had almost four times the reading growth (.75 vs. .2 of a year) of students who were not tutored, and CoaH students passed the MCAS as record rates -- led to a summer school program where 99% of tutored students passed exams they had previously failed (as against 59% in standard summer school classrooms). Fall 2005 found the 25 students in another CoaH/RMD collaboration making large gains in math and reading skills as compared to their non-tutored peers, leading to a Winter program that served 74 students (results pending) and a $95,000 Balfour Foundation grant for this and future programs. In addition to its work with City on a Hill, Reading, MD provides the reading curriculum for The MATCH School’s nationally recognized summer academy and runs the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School Extension Program’s MCAS tutoring program.

Reading MD believes that the achievement gap will be closed in the trenches, one student at a time. At the same time, we believe that our low costs and documented success offer the potential of reaching and teaching every struggling adolescent reader in urban America. If you’re interested in working with us, please contact Mark Destler by email (mdestler@readingmd.org), on the web (www.readingmd.org), or by phone (617 504 6021).