FUSD encourages parents to support students with 'Every Child is a Reader' initiative

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno Unified School District knows not all students learn the same way or at the same speed.

With the "Every Child is a Reader" initiative, district officials say help is in place to make sure students are successful.

Fresno Unified School District wants students reading and writing at grade level by the end of first grade.

That's why they've launched the "Every Child is a Reader" initiative.

"We have dedicated $100 million to our literacy plans over the course of five years," FUSD Chief Academic Officer Natasha Baker said.

Baker says each student's progress will be tracked and analyzed each quarter.

"We look at how many kids know their letters, how many kids can really understand what they're reading," Baker said.

She says doing it each quarter instead of waiting for state testing will help identify which students may be falling behind.

The district is still working on the district-wide method of intervention for struggling students, but Baker says the district offers tutoring during the day and after school.

"There's no shortage of tutoring if your child needs tutoring. They can certainly just work with their teacher or principal to do that work," Baker said.

Baker says families can also support the initiative at home.

She encourages parents to find a book they enjoy themselves.

"It can actually influence your child to do the same thing. Parents who read have kids who read because they're mirroring what you do," Baker said.

Baker says it's also important that students have access to books with characters that look like them.

"It's really up to us to find text that kids can see themselves in so that they're invested in reading," Baker said.

While Baker says the initiative is five years long, she believes it will take less time to start seeing results.

"The idea is that we'll start seeing kids reading at grade level next year," Baker said.

The district has created a web page that has all of the information about the literacy plan. You can find it by clicking here.

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