Literacy Education
Changing Lives Through Literacy
We are facing a literacy crisis in the United States that affects us all. Few skills can kindle a person’s success in life as much as literacy. The ability to read, write, and comprehend has far-reaching social, economic, and generational impacts. At Groves Learning Organization™, we’re building literacy that ignites confidence and closes the achievement gap.
Approximately one-third of 3rd-grade students in Minnesota are falling significantly behind their peers who are reading at grade level.
What Is Literacy?
Most people answer quite simply that literacy is the ability to read and write. While this is true (in fact, it is the exact definition of literacy found in many dictionaries), literacy is much more than a person’s ability to read and write. We can expand this definition by adding the ability to spell, listen, and speak, which are also important components of literacy. However, true literacy encompasses the ability to combine letters, words, and sounds to create meaning and the ability to comprehend and analyze information.
Globally, 6 out of 10 children and adolescents lack minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics1
Literacy Is Empowering
Literacy is essential to understanding and interacting with the world around us. The ability to read, write, and comprehend empowers us to learn and improve our quality of life. Groves Learning Organization works with students who are struggling with literacy to develop the skills that enable comprehension and critical thinking.
“Literacy is the first step towards freedom, towards liberation from social and economic constraints. It is the prerequisite for development, both individual and collective. It reduces poverty and inequality, creates wealth, and helps to eradicate problems of nutrition and public health.”
– Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO
The Groves Literacy Framework®
The Groves Literacy Framework, which was developed at Groves Academy®, uses curriculum based on the Science of Reading and is rooted in decades of literacy and brain research. We know that students learn best when instruction is direct, sequential, multi-modal, and addresses individual strengths and challenges. Over 90% of new Groves Academy students (grades 2-8) see growth in Oral Reading Fluency in their first year.
Our Approach to Literacy Instruction
Groves Learning Organization builds literacy for students who experience learning challenges and helps all students ignite their confidence to succeed using evidence-based reading instruction. By immersing ourselves in the science of reading, we are continually at the forefront of proven literacy instruction methods. Our passionate approach is sequential and multi-sensory, allowing students to master and then build upon each new skill at their own pace.
Our staff engages in continuous professional development, including reading the latest research on the science of reading. We are particularly interested in what cognitive scientists uncover about how the brain learns to read in both emerging and struggling readers (including students with dyslexia). As new research emerges, we continue to adapt our teaching to reflect these insights and improve literacy instruction for all.
1United Nations. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals: 2019 Report. (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/)
