Oakland Reads 2020 is an initiative supported by the Rogers Family Foundation, with a goal of having 85% of Oakland third-grade students reading at grade level by 2020. (The current district-wide figure is 42%). The initiative is part of the national grade-level reading campaign and has involved the pooled resources of, among other entities, the Oakland Literacy Coalition, of which we are a part.
The program coordinator of Oakland Reads 2020 is our very own board member Sanam Jorjani,
and here she is
, at the podium for a June 17 day-long symposium she organized, and which comprised breakout
sessions focusing on building community engagement for the initiative and on
the pillars of the Oakland program: school readiness, family engagement, school
attendance, and summer learning.
Speakers for the Symposium included
Assemblyman Rob Bonta; Ralph Smith, Managing Director of the
National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and Senior Vice President of the Annie
E. Casey Foundation; Oakland Mayor Jean Quan; and the keynote speaker,
outgoing OUSD Superintendent Tony Smith.
Read all about it here, in Oakland Local (and note the mention of CAFL at the end), and at the Oakland Literacy Coalition website.
Bob Menzimer