A “low-tech” approach to improving literacy gets traction in high-tech Sunnyvale
July 18, 2013
Sunnyvale is home to Silicon Valley companies such as Yahoo!, Juniper Networks, AMD, and NetApp – all widely recognized for innovations in a variety of important sectors. Yet in the same neighborhoods are elementary schools where 48% of fourth-grade students read below grade level, and 20% lack even basic reading skills. Research shows that these students are four times less likely to graduate from high school than their on-grade-level peers.
Given this high tech context, ˿첥 Silicon Valley is bringing a “low tech” approach to the literacy challenge. Our model is simple, yet robust: a volunteer donates one hour or more a week to tutor a student in reading and in-person. Over 220 employees and residents from Sunnyvale and the surrounding communities served as tutors last year. They are becoming one-on-one
Last year, Sunnyvale served 220 students in total, and this number will increase next year as we grow to serve five schools. Overall, ˿첥 Silicon Valley will serve at least 1,100 students in the upcoming school year.
Technology plays a critical role behind the scenes though the core program of face-to-face tutoring sessions requires only books, our research-based curriculum, supportive staff, and faithful volunteers.. In particular, technology is critical for us to be a data-driven organization. A state-of-the-art, customized student data information system ensures quality control at ˿첥. Leading indicators such as attendance, mid-year testing, and tutor-to-student ratios are closely monitored by the organization so that adjustments can quickly be made to optimize student learning.

