Literacy Matters Foundation

Between 3rd and 4th grade, a child transitions from learning to read, to reading to learn.  Without the strong foundation of basic literacy skills, a child falls further and further behind.

Here are The Facts:

• For students from low-income households in Minnesota, only 1 in 3 will be proficient in reading by 3rd grade, compared to 2 in 3 of their peers from middle to upper class households.
• 1 in 6 children who are not reading proficiently by 3rd grade do not graduate from high school. 
• 75% of children who read poorly at age nine will struggle to read for the rest of their lives and fall behind in other subject areas as well, hampering career advancement and earning potential for the rest of their lives
• 85% of children in the juvenile court system are not literate.

Literacy Matters breaks inter-generational poverty by providing foundational reading and writing skills to low-income, underserved kindergarten to third grade students.  Students who don't read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school and two times more likely to be unemployed.  The cost of illiteracy is over $300 billion in lost productivity and earnings, welfare, crime, health, and other social justice problems.  By improving third grade reading proficiency, students will be more likely to graduate from high school, be employed, and move into the middle class.

Evidence-based approach + leading-edge technology

Based on the evidence-based Orton Gillingham approach, the Literacy Matters Foundation Learning Program – Mighty Doodle™ – is coupled with leading-edge technology to provide individualized, engaging, child-friendly literacy instruction in a gamified lesson format delivered on an iPad. Our Mighty Doodle™ program uses the best in Artificial Intelligence, voice, and handwriting technology to offer students a personal virtual tutor for privately learning at their own pace. The majority of students made significant gains during the school year, with many demonstrating  up to 4x greater progress on national standardized tests.

Our Results