Report: Supporting Early Readers

Posted by Philadelphia Education Research Consortium on August 6, 2018

A Scan of K-3 Literacy Practices in Philadelphia Charter Schools

Philadelphia Education Research Consortium

Authors: Rachel Comly, Ryan Fink, Monica Mielke, and Adrianne Flack • July 2018

Summary: In Philadelphia, civic and education leaders have identified early literacy programming as critical for overall education improvement. Charter schools enroll about one third of all public school students in Philadelphia. This study seeks to understand how Philadelphia charter schools support their early readers and writers, in order to contribute to knowledge-sharing across schools and identify areas for investment. Researchers invited Philadelphia charter schools and charter management organizations serving kindergarten to third grade students to identify a single representative to participate in a 30- minute interview. We interviewed 38 school representatives and charter management organization (CMO) leaders about K-3 literacy practices in their school(s). We asked these school representatives to describe their literacy programming, the strengths and challenges of their chosen program, and the additional resources that would most help their school’s literacy program. These representatives may not have listed all of their literacy practices within the interviews, and the interviews do not provide full evidence of the practices as they are implemented. However, findings from these interviews provide a view of the landscape of early literacy instructional practices in Philadelphia charter schools.

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