The Adolescent Literacy Programs served by this website are operated by six community-based organizations listed above. Each organization brings their own unique approaches to youth development and literacy enrichment. Click on the icons above to learn more about the full range of programming that they provide. Click on the name of each program in the drop-down list to learn more about their specific approach to afterschool adolescent literacy programming. This website is designed to showcase and support their work. The Department of Youth and Community Development's (DYCD) Adolescent Literacy Program is a partnership with six community-based organizations to operate after-school adolescent literacy programs in 8 New York City public middle schools and 1 center-based site. These innovative programs use a range of educational approaches to help struggling 6th, 7th and 8th graders develop reading, writing, and oral communication skills in an after-school setting. Program staff work closely with school leadership to identify children whose reading test scores and teacher observations demonstrate a need for academic intervention.
DYCD's Adolescent Literacy programs use diverse strategies ranging from more traditional direct instructional techniques to embedding literacy instruction within contexts such as technology and drama to engage youth. Middle school students who lack a strong literacy foundation are much more likely to become high school drop-outs, as noted in the Carnegie Foundation report “Reading Next: A Vision for Action and research in Middle and High School Literacy.” DYCD's Adolescent Literacy Program is addressing the needs of this demographic – dubbed the “missing middle” – by targeting young adolescents and working with them for up to three years to ensure they are prepared for a successful high school experience.
The Literacy Assistance Center(LAC) is a non-profit professional development and technical assistance organization dedicated to building the capacity and improving the quality of adult literacy and out-of-school youth programs. LAC provides technical assistance to eight afterschool literacy programs funded by DYCD.