Our Work in the US
Supporting children through reading during the learning crisis and beyond.
Worldreader in the US
At a glance
We’re in the midst of a global learning crisis that predates the pandemic. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (2022), roughly 65% of children in the United States cannot read or understand a simple story. 4th-grade reading scores are lower now than in 2017, with only 35% of students showing reading proficiency. Our work in the United States supports young readers, families, and educators in under-resourced communities to get all children reading so they can reach their potential.
Worldreader has designed a reading program to get under-resourced children from pre-K through 5th-grade reading. The benefits of supporting these children will be felt for years to come.
- We achieve impact through the BookSmart reading experience, available on any device and in several global and local languages.
- We support families, educators, and communities so they can harness the power of digital reading.
- Our programs promote social-emotional learning so children can strengthen their empathy and emotional intelligence.
- We develop key partnerships to support children and promote a culture of reading across the country. We offer a combination of resources and support so that together, we can help children reach their full potential.
Working in under-resourced communities requires expertise and long-standing local leadership. We’re proud to be partnering with organizations that have years of experience in delivering reading programs and educational support to the children who need it most.
Approximately 96.1% of students at Chicago’s Richardson Middle School come from low-income families, and 30.2% are still learning English by the time they start school. Through our partnership with World Vision, we used BookSmart, incentives, and goal tracking to boost these students’ average daily reading times from 1 minute to 45 minutes.
Solving the learning crisis requires collective action. By supporting our work in Africa and around the world, you’re part of the solution. Here’s how you can help readers build a better world:
- Donate today – it takes seconds to make a gift
- Partner with us – get continued support and data insight to help readers keep improving
- Stay connected – get updates on the progress we’re making in the United States and around the world
We’re always looking for partners interested in scaling their impact in the US. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate as we help strengthen communities through digital reading.
Featured partnerships
Atlanta Habitat for Humanity
Together with Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, we're making affordable housing more accessible for families in under-resourced areas by introducing a new way for future homeowners to put sweat equity into their homes — reading on BookSmart.
It works this way: the more a family reads with their child on BookSmart, the more credits they get toward the ‘sweat equity hours’ they need for home ownership.
be their best selves, to create a unique SEL-focused book collection. Books in the My Special Word collection explore positive words, values, and behavior
My Special Word
Research shows that social-emotional learning (SEL) makes a long-term difference in a child’s life and that SEL and reading positively affect each other. Children exposed to SEL education stay longer in school, know how to recognize and manage their emotions, and communicate better with their peers.
We partnered with My Special Word, an organization that harnesses the power of positive words to encourage children to be their best selves, to create a unique SEL-focused book collection. Books in the My Special Word collection explore positive words, values, and behaviors, and encourage children to reflect on the power of words and communication.
Support our work in the US and around the world
Worldreader provides the tools, training, and resources families and caregivers need to get children reading early and often.
Give children access to thousands of books, reading materials, and engaging activities that will help them reach their potential.
Support programs focused on reading comprehension, emotional intelligence, and digital literacy skills.
Provide training and continuous support for educators, caregivers, and reading champions so they can read to and with children.
Read books in English and Spanish
BookSmart’s broad range of reading materials enables children to build all the skills that are foundational for improved reading comprehension and better learning outcomes. Our vast collections of books in English and Spanish are a great way for bilingual children to fall in love with reading.
We’re reaching children and parents on any device.
By delivering reading to children via mobile phones, tablets, Chromebooks and laptops we’re reaching them on the devices they already own – anytime, anywhere.
- 96% of families have access to mobile phones and nearly 20% of children have a phone by age 8.
- Mobile reading in the US is on the rise. Reading apps have over 100 million downloads.
- Since 2010, Worldreader has reached more than 22 million readers.
We’re working with partners to support communities across the country
Working in vulnerable communities requires expertise and long-standing local leadership. We’re proud to be partnering with organizations that have years of experience in delivering reading programs and educational support to the children who need it most.
Keep Children Reading is guided by a preeminent Advisory Council
Advisory Council members help shape programmatic strategy and advise on emerging trends in their areas of expertise.
Lonnie Johnson
Inventor/Founder and President, Johnson R&D
Andy Jassy
President and CEO of Amazon.com
Elana Jassy
Philanthropist
Anthony Marx
President, New York Public Library
Afam Onyema
CEO, GEANCO Foundation
Mary Pope Osborne
Author, Magic Tree House series
Carrie Stern Rathod
Senior Brand Director, Procter & Gamble
Dennis Scott
Commentator, NBA on TNT, and former professional basketball player
Roy Swan
Director of Mission Investments,
Ford Foundation
Photo of Sandra Cisneros by Keith Dannemiller
With BookSmart we reach readers in 100+ countries and work with partners in Africa, India, Latin America besides the United States.
Founders Circle
We are grateful to everyone who has supported Keep Children Reading. Special thanks to these individuals who were the earliest supporters of the US program. Through their generosity, Keep Children Reading will contribute to education equity efforts across the country and strengthen children’s learning for years to come.
To inquire about joining the Founders Circle, contact us at development@worldreader.org.
Anonymous
Mike Sundermeyer and Carrie Anderson
Charles and Lorie Brighton
Alan and Vic Caplan
Chris Capossela and Leigh Toner
Bill and Lynn Carr
Adam Gross
Andrew and Elana Jassy
Atul Khanna
Neen and Kirk Koenigsbauer
Dave Limp
Lauri and Greg Nakamoto
Charles Phillips
Alison and David Rich
Brian and Ann Roberts
Neil Roseman
Singer Foundation
David and Nancy Thacher
Brad and Alys Smith/Valhalla Foundation
WineDirect
David Zapolsky
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