Ten parents and caregivers from six first-grade families at Barrett Elementary School graduated from a five-week pilot program of a family literacy academy that will become a model for implementation across the state.
Called Coaching a Better Reader (CBR), the program is designed to enhance literacy learning for kindergarten and first-grade students by training parents and caregivers to tutor their scholars at home. The program was developed via a partnership between the Alabama Reading Initiative’s Family & Community Involvement Team, Central Alabama Literacy Council, and South Baldwin Literacy Council.
The program involves weekly one hour sessions where parents and caregivers learn teaching strategies for supporting their students’ reading outside of the classroom. The program also supports the families with tailored reading improvement plans and literacy facilitators and provides refreshments and teaching materials at each meeting. Some participants can become “literacy ambassadors,” who provide peer support to other families.
The program culminated in Family Empowerment Day, held today at Barrett, where participants celebrated their success and received certificates commemorating their achievements.
Among the attendees at Family Empowerment Day were Alabama State Board of Education Representative Dr. Yvonne Richardson (District 4) and Vice President Dr. Tonya Chestnut (District 5), Birmingham Board of Education Members Mary Boehm and James Sullivan, Birmingham City Schools Chief Academic Officer Dr. Pamela Williams, and Barrett Elementary Principal Tarja Lawson, along with other BCS staff members and Barrett Elementary faculty and staff.
