TAMIU-LBV Literacy Partnership

The TAMIU-LBV Literacy Partnership mission guides the implementation of our intervention model. The Structured Literacy Interventional Model (SLIM) is a research-based literacy intervention model developed in 2023 that reinforces the National Reading Panel's Five Pillars of Reading to meet the needs of struggling readers in our community.

The SLIM Model
(Structured Literacy Intervention Model 2023 - 2024)

Educators have known for many years that early literacy development is a lynchpin of overall educational success. As school leaders look closely at high school graduation rates, they see that reading on grade-level by third grade is critical for future academic success. A student who can read on grade level in third grade has FOUR TIMES better changes of graduating high school than a student who lags behind. When emerging readers grow up in poverty, the gap is even wider. Read more about the importance of reading for graduation from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The one-on-one tutoring services provided in participating centers are intervention sessions that supplements classroom teachers' instruction. The partnership tutors' dedication allows them to become a valuable component to the success of struggling readers.

Is SLIM© bilingual, EB, or another approach?

• The SLIM model fits into a schools' bilingual education framework with no requirements that tutors speak a second language. The goal of the Literacy Partnership is to support English language literacy for students identified by schools in K-3 reading below grade level. Bilingual tutors are able to support the linguistic needs of the students by reinforcing new vocabulary.
• Spanish language literacy is an asset for local bilingual students. In 2017 Cuellar Elementary, hosted our first cohort of Spanish literacy intervention tutors. In 2022, Bonnie Garcia's Literacy Center welcomed its Spanish literacy intervention cohort. The Partnership believes that biliteracy should be embraced, encouraged, and supported to continue encouraging students to read in their native language.

How are students selected to receive tutoring?

Participating students are identified by partner school's educational personnel. Teachers and reading interventionists use performance data to select students who meet the participating criteria and would benefit from this intervention model. It is precisely this collaboration that helps make Partnership interventions efficient and effective. Students are pulled out from class three to four times a week for intervention lessons and are coordinated closely with each of the participating campuses. On average, participating students’ literacy skills grow almost twice as quickly as that of students not served.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation: (2023). Early Warning Confirmed: A Research Update on Third Grade Reading. Baltimore, MD: Fiester, Leila. Retrieved from www​.aecf​.org