OUR MISSION:

To eliminate the literacy gap of emerging 2nd-graders who are functionally illiterate.

OUR VISION:

The Literacy Project’s (TLP) mission is to eliminate the literacy gap of emerging, under-served, second and third graders who are functionally illiterate. Our vision is to remove the impediment of illiteracy from the lives of our most vulnerable children with the help of teachers, volunteers, mentors and role models. We will strive to foster in our children the life-long love of reading, for it is the doorway to learning and achieving the American Dream.

Illiteracy By The Numbers

The Literacy Project addresses illiteracy at its earliest stage by teaching at-risk second-graders how to read. The statistics on literacy underscore the critical need to address illiteracy in the United States:

• Currently, 45 million Americans are functionally illiterate and cannot read above a fifth-grade level
• 50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level
• 57% of students failed the California Standards Test in English
• 1/3 of fourth-graders reach the proficient reading level
• 25% of students in California school systems are able to perform basic reading skills
• 85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading
• 3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read
• 3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read

(Sources: National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau)