Only 35% of APS third graders read proficiently. A new program hopes to change that.

As students return to class, Atlanta Public Schools is launching a new approach aimed at helping more of its youngest students become confident readers.

The Accelerated Literacy Model is beginning this school year at Heritage Academy, Emma Hutchinson Elementary School, Fred A. Toomer Elementary School and Tuskegee Airmen Global Academy.

The initiative comes as only about 35% of APS third graders are reading proficiently. It will serve students from pre-K through third grade, the foundational years when children transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

APS spent approximately a year and a half studying literacy approaches across the country before developing the new model. Students will receive at least an hour of literacy instruction each day, along with dedicated intervention time targeting their individual needs.

The four schools are also adding educators with specialized training in literacy. Instruction will be rooted in the science of reading and incorporated throughout the school day, including during writing, science and social studies.

"If we get the foundational skills of reading into children so they are fluent and comfortable with all of those skills, you can't stop them from reading," Toomer Elementary Principal Caroline Brown said.

Brown said helping children become confident readers before fourth grade can affect more than their academic performance. Students who know they are falling behind may withdraw from class, attempt to avoid school or act out to hide their struggles.

"If a student enters fourth grade confident that they can read, then they don't have to develop behaviors that help them withdraw from class," Brown said.

Teachers will also receive professional development and weekly planning time to examine students' work and adjust instruction. Community organizations, including the Center for Puppetry Arts, are expected to help students see how literacy skills are used creatively and in different careers.

Brown said she hopes evidence from the program will eventually help APS expand the approach to more schools across the district.