{"id":1390,"date":"2021-05-20T19:33:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T19:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wilsonlanguage.com\/knowledge-library\/success-story\/reading-allowed\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T19:05:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:05:50","slug":"reading-allowed","status":"publish","type":"success_stories","link":"https:\/\/www.wilsonlanguage.com\/knowledge-library\/success-story\/reading-allowed\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Allowed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wilson\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0Dyslexia Practitioner Angela Marks and her growing team of\u00a0reading instructors are on a mission\u00a0to foster\u00a0literacy and\u00a0justice\u2014one\u00a0student and\u00a0one\u00a0step\u00a0at a time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2019, the\u00a0educator founded\u00a0the nonprofit\u00a0organization\u00a0Reading Allowed<\/a>\u00a0with a handful of students and teachers.\u00a0Its mission\u00a0is\u00a0to provide\u00a0specialized\u00a0structured\u00a0literacy\u00a0instruction\u00a0to children\u00a0and adults\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0greater\u00a0Philadelphia area\u00a0who struggle to read, write, and spell,\u00a0and\u00a0who otherwise\u00a0may not have\u00a0access\u00a0to\u00a0tutoring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reading Allowed operates on a sliding-scale basis, enabling all families to benefit from the one-to-one Wilson Reading System\u00ae<\/sup> (WRS) tutoring it provides.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lack of access to high quality instruction is clearly a social justice issue, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to address. If people don\u2019t have the same educational opportunities, their outcomes in life are going to be very different,\u201d shared Angela. She points to national statistics on reading disabilities and disparities, and the correlation between early literacy failure and the school-to-prison pipeline.<\/p>\n

With the support of grants and the generosity of the community, Reading Allowed has grown to nearly 30 Wilson\u00ae<\/sup> Certified Instructors and more than 100 children and adults who otherwise may not have access to explicit, one-to-one instruction.<\/p>\n

How it Began<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier in her professional career, the mother of three worked as an accountant for a large firm in London and New York. In the mid-2000s, she decided to make a change to a field she found intriguing\u2014education. Specifically, Angela shifted to reading instruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been fascinated with the process of learning to read. It\u2019s an evolving science and I was always drawn to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angela earned a master\u2019s degree in education and began her new career as a reading specialist in 2005. Yet, she felt she was \u201cmissing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI still didn\u2019t know how to help someone who couldn\u2019t read become a reader,\u201d she said. \u201cWilson gave me a road map. I was lucky enough to work at a school that brought in a Wilson Trainer for the three-day introduction to the program. After that, I was hooked. I saw that it worked and I wanted to know how to do it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angela turned to AIM Academy\u2019s Institute for Learning and Research, a Wilson\u00ae<\/sup> Accredited Partner in nearby Conshohocken, PA, to earn her WRS Level I Certification. She went on to complete the Advanced Strategies for Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) Group Instruction Course and additional training focused on Fundations\u00ae<\/sup> Level 1, Wilson\u2019s structured literacy program for first graders.<\/p>\n

With explicit, effective skills in her toolkit, Angela delighted in the gains her students made academically and personally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say enough about how Wilson helps students! For many, it\u2019s their first reading success. I\u2019ve seen the behavior changes in kids who had been acting out. Once you get them in the Wilson rhythm and they know what to expect, it changes many kids and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet given the urgency of the national reading crisis, her experience was bittersweet,<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so fortunate to work in a school where families for the most part had the resources to pay for tutoring if their children needed it. Seeing over and over again how well the students did with their reading, writing, spelling, and self-esteem was such a joyful experience. It made me so sad to realize that individual, specialized attention is often beyond the means of many families.\u201d<\/p>\n

That poignancy spurred Angela to action and she soon founded Reading Allowed.<\/p>\n

To build up her team of like-minded tutors equally determined to catch students \u201cbefore they fall,\u201d Angela contacted other Wilson\u00ae<\/sup> Certified Instructors in the area and invited them to join her mission. Tutors must be certified in high quality, evidence-based structured literacy instruction and remain up to date on the science of reading.<\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two years later, Reading Allowed is busier than ever. In fact, the shift to virtual learning over the past year enabled Angela to match even more students and WRS tutors in their own neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore COVID-19, we would meet in school, and some districts contracted with us. We also met after school, at students\u2019 homes or in the library, depending on the situation. Then we went virtual. I was hesitant at first, but it has been beyond my expectations. It really opened up our ability to serve so many more students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading Allowed partners with schools and community organizations, such as Community Partnership School in North Philadelphia. Angela and her team are ready to assist more schools and students of all ages\u2014either in person or remotely\u2014this summer and in the coming new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past year has been an odd one in many ways, but at Reading Allowed, it has been one of growth, learning, and excitement. Our hope is to partner with more schools, go into schools during the school day, and also provide virtual instruction. It really depends on the student and what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wilson\u00ae\u00a0Dyslexia Practitioner Angela Marks and her growing team of\u00a0reading instructors are on a mission\u00a0to foster\u00a0literacy and\u00a0justice\u2014one\u00a0student and\u00a0one\u00a0step\u00a0at a time.\u00a0 In 2019, the\u00a0educator founded\u00a0the nonprofit\u00a0organization\u00a0Reading Allowed\u00a0with a handful of students and teachers.\u00a0Its mission\u00a0is\u00a0to provide\u00a0specialized\u00a0structured\u00a0literacy\u00a0instruction\u00a0to children\u00a0and adults\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0greater\u00a0Philadelphia area\u00a0who struggle to read, write, and spell,\u00a0and\u00a0who otherwise\u00a0may not have\u00a0access\u00a0to\u00a0tutoring.\u00a0 Reading Allowed operates on a sliding-scale basis, enabling all families […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1391,"template":"","success-story-cats":[],"success-story-tags":[],"class_list":["post-1390","success_stories","type-success_stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nReading Allowed - 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