Learning on Track Action Team

Goal: Students are on-track for academic success at all key transition points.

key objectives

• All young people in Evanston have access to enriching summer activities
• Diverse organizations have incorporated literacy into their programming
• All children who need them have access to free or affordable out-of-school opportunities designed to support academic success

current focus

This team focused initially on 1) increasing access to books that reflect the diversity of our community; 2) encouraging reading in summer programming; and 3) increasing access to enriching summer opportunities.  Through a specially curated diverse book drive, EC2C has collected well over 1,500 new English and Spanish books reflecting our diverse community. These books have been distributed to summer camp programs and to children and families through EC2C partners and Little Free Libraries in local parks. These libraries were built by ETHS students in Geometry in Construction, installed in local parks, and curated by EC2C and the Evanston Public Library.  

Additionally, EC2C and this Action Team have worked with Evanston's Park District and other partner traditional summer camps to provide reading materials and incorporate 20 minutes of reading time into daily camp schedules, reaching over 4,500 Evanston students.

EC2C has challenged its partners to expand the availability of high quality literacy-focused summer programming to young people of limited financial means--resulting in 2017 in an increase of over 130 program slots. 

Through its work, this team has identified a significant service gap for children in kindergarten through 2nd grade. Given the significance of 3rd grade reading levels in predicting long term life outcomes, increasing access to in and out of school literacy support for this age range is a new EC2C priority.