ACE Reading

This project began in 1995 in Philadelphia’s urban schools, expanding to Honolulu in December 1997, and to many other locations since. An important recent change is the name: ACE Reading (Actual Community Empowerment). The original name, Reading Rescue, was too easily confused with Reading Recovery, a program with different values. Our program is primarily designed to support schools in low income communities where there are high levels of need and limited resources.

The ACE Reading project addresses the needs and challenges of literacy of children with disabilities and other disadvantages through best practices in reading instruction, the innovative uses of media technology, especially video and computers–and through mentoring and community support. The purpose of the project is to advance and evaluate multiple variations of ACE, addressing a broad spectrum of interrelated needs at organizational and individual levels by: (1) teaching vital reading skills to children of all ages; (2) supporting these students to believe in their ability to succeed and to enjoy reading; and (3) training parents, high school students, and other local people to work within the school system to improve all children’s education. ACE Reading continues to develop in low-income areas where 50% to 80% of children are reading below grade level.

Principal Investigator: Peter Dowrick