Better Basics

Afterschool programs: 21st century community learning centers21st century community learning centers serve pre-k-12th-grade students in fairfield city, tarrant, and selma al schools. We advance learning and curiosity in a nurturing environment during out-of-school hours for a gamut of students residing in under-resourced communities. Academic and cultural engagement for 454+ students is provided during the school year, including small-group tutoring.

Our book distribution programs conveyed over 170,000 quality books to children, mostly in underserved neighborhoods.dolly parton's imagination library distributes free, high-interest, age-appropriate books each month. Last year, 14,600 children aged birth through five received 146,000+ books. Better Basics manages and funds dpil for jefferson and walker counties, al.better Basics reads mobilized hundreds of volunteers in single-day events to read to 13,500 students. Sites included all elementary classrooms in birmingham city, fairfield city, bessemer city, and independent school systems. Each child received a copy of the book read.books for birminghamtm is a community-wide book distribution program operating year-round. Through partnerships with grassroots organizations, we placed over 5,000 quality new books in the hands of at-risk children.book nooks by Better basicstm are mini-libraries placed in underserved neighborhoods. They are stocked with free children's books for kids to keep. We maintain these 50 structures across central Alabama.

Intervention programs: reading intervention, math interventionreading intervention helps elementary students grow phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills in groups of three to four. Ri positions students to reach grade level on state testing. Trained, certified teachers met three times per week over 20 weeks with 693 first through fourth-grade students. We extended students' reading enjoyment and skills by gifting the cohort with over 7000 quality children's books. Our reading intervention (ri) students grew .94 grade levels (almost a full year's progress across grades 1-4) in reading skills during the 20-week ri program, with many advancing multiple grade levels.mathematics intervention helped 322 elementary school students grow mathematical reasoning skills foundational to future success in stem fields in groups of three to four students during the school day. We measure student progress using the mi assessment developed specifically for Better Basics. Trained, certified teachers met three times per week over 20 weeks with 322 first through third-grade students. We extended students' reading enjoyment and skill by gifting the cohort with 3442 quality children's books. Math concepts our mathematics intervention students mastered almost doubled, growing from 38% to 75%.