For 15 years, Lead to Read KC has operated on a fairly simple belief: when a child has consistent access to books, individualized attention, and a caring adult who makes reading feel worthwhile, something changes. This year, we have more evidence than ever that it does.
Using new data from our school partners comparing Lead to Read KC classrooms with non-participating classrooms at the same schools, we found that our students closed the gap to grade-level reading at nearly twice the rate of their peers during the 2025-26 school year.
The Numbers
We tracked movement into Tier 1, meaning students reading at or above benchmark, from fall to spring.
Charter school partner:
Lead to Read class: 19% to 67% at or above benchmark (+48 points)
Comparison classes: 32% to 55% at or above benchmark (+23 points)
Public school partner:
Lead to Read classes: 13% to 41% at or above benchmark (+28 points)
Comparison classes: 13% to 28% at or above benchmark (+15 points)
Different schools with different starting points show the same pattern: students in Lead to Read classrooms gained ground at roughly twice the rate of students in comparison classrooms.
What It Means
That doesn’t mean Reading Mentors replace teachers. Far from it. Our mentors aren’t reading teachers, and we don’t ask them to be. Teachers bring the expertise and instruction children need to learn to read. Reading Mentors bring something else that’s difficult to replicate in a busy classroom: individualized attention, week after week. They sit beside one child, ask questions, listen, and simply enjoy a good book with a great kid, making reading feel like something worth coming back to.
15 Facts at 15 Years
Academic data is only one part of the story. In honor of our 15th anniversary, here are 15 more things our community made possible during the 2025-26 school year:
1. 1,703 students were paired with a Reading Mentor.
2. 2,000+ volunteers served as weekly Reading Mentors.
3. They completed 38,019 Reading Mentoring sessions.
4. We served 88 classrooms.
5. Those classrooms spanned four school districts and multiple charter schools.
6. We delivered 7,456 hours of personalized tutoring.
7. 88% of students receiving tutoring made measurable reading gains.
8. We distributed 56,625 books in high-need communities.
9. 100% of teachers and administrators said students’ attitudes about reading improved.
10. 96% said students’ reading abilities improved.
11. 95% of Reading Mentors said their students’ attitudes toward reading improved.
12. 95% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their sessions.
13. 92% said they developed a personal connection with their student.
14. Among students who told us in the fall that they disliked reading, 80% said they liked reading by spring.
15. In both sets of comparative school data we examined, Lead to Read classrooms made roughly twice the fall-to-spring progress toward Tier 1 as comparison classrooms.
During National Literacy Month, I hope you’ll celebrate these numbers with us. But more importantly, I hope you’ll see yourself somewhere inside them.
