The organization's mission is to ensure that all students gain the literacy skills they need to become successful, confident, and yes...joyful readers!
Americorps reading tutoring program -joyful readers recruits and trains americorps members to serve as high-dosage reading tutors for philadelphia public school students who need additional support to read on grade level. The program is based on the extensive body of research that identifies high-dosage reading tutoring as one of the most effective education inteventions available to students. In the 2024-25 school year, the organization provided high-impact reading tutoring to 991 students in 18 philadelphia schools. External research on the joyful readers program has continued to find that students' reading growth outpaces the growth that would be expected in a typical school year. Joyful readers students are not only improving in reading, but also making meaningful progress towards closing the gap between their assessment scores and the national median score of students in the same grade between fall and spring. Most graduates from the joyful readers americorps member cohort report that their next step involves pursuing a career in the education field, helping joyful readers to contribute to a diverse pipeline of educators who will continue to serve students after their term of service.