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FSU reading researchers report large short-term gains after high-school-to-kindergarten tutoring pilot
Summary
Florida Center for Reading Research presenters told the Leon County School Board that a 9-week pilot that trained high-school tutors to work one-on-one with kindergarten students produced measurable gains: 0% of the participating kindergarteners met grade-level reading standards at the start and 47% were meeting or exceeding standards at the end of the pilot.
Representatives from the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University told the Leon County School Board on May 12 that a multi-year partnership with the district is producing promising results in early-reading work and teacher support.
Dr. Johnson, the FCRR presenter, said the partnership has four priorities — reading, early learning, exceptional student education and college-and-career pathways — and described a focused pilot at Kate Sullivan Elementary. "In just 9 weeks, what we saw was that 0 of these children were meeting grade level standards when we started. By the end, 47 percent," Dr. Johnson said, describing the outcome of a program in which 26 high‑school tutors worked with 15 kindergarten students for about 12 extra hours per student on average.
Dr. Denise Dennis, who led the observational study component, told the board the biggest influences on faithful implementation of the district’s UFLI curriculum were reading coaches, administrator messaging and district trainings. "Teachers believe UFLI is a curriculum they can trust because it has a research backing," she said.
Presenters described other work stemming from the partnership: an ESE-focused observational study, a middle-school adolescent-literacy professional learning series, a pilot (H2E) that paired high-schoolers with kindergarteners for targeted interventions, and development of dashboards and resources to help families and counselors plan CTE pathways. Dr. Perez Felknor outlined plans for studying school climate and professional development aimed at reducing classroom disruptions and supporting adults in schools.
Board members praised the partnership and its documented impact. Board Member Daryl Jones urged communications staff to publicize the results broadly so the community can see documented gains. Superintendent Hannah said the district will continue refining the partnership and explore grant opportunities to scale promising pilots.
The FCRR team encouraged further evaluation and proposed writing grants to expand the high‑school-to-kindergarten tutoring model and other interventions. The board had no public speakers on this item; the presentation closed after a brief board exchange and thanks to the FCRR team.
Next steps: presenters asked the district to consider expanding the pilot and to collaborate on grant applications to scale successful components.
