About Us
Los Angeles faces a literacy crisis: more than 80% of LAUSD 4th graders read below grade-level and many will never surpass a fourth-grade reading level. Illiteracy has been shown to have devastating effects on an individual's life and society as a whole. Effects include an increased likelihood of incarceration, teenage parenthood, welfare dependency, and a drastic reduction in employment opportunities.
The Washington Post reports that in California, "correctional officials look to the percentage
of children who never make it past the fourth-grade reading level to
help them gauge the number of future prison beds to fund."
As The Jewish Federation’s strategic response to this literacy crisis, KOREH L.A. supplies the academic support and mentorship that the children of Los Angeles need to succeed in school and in life. Since 1999, KOREH L.A. has trained more than 10,500 volunteer reading partners who have helped enhance the reading skills of over 22,000 kids in nearly 150 LAUSD elementary schools and early education centers.
Our Work
- KOREH L.A. – trains volunteer reading partners to work with LAUSD K-5th grade students to help enhance their reading skills and foster a love of reading. Volunteers work one-on-one with children identified by their teachers as reluctant readers for one hour per week.
- Teen Literacy Corps (TLC) – involves high school students in the process of increasing literacy skills in elementary school children. TLC partners with public and private high schools to train teens as reading partners, who are paired with children from a nearby elementary school.
- Pre-K KOREH – trains volunteers to provide the essential one-on-one attention that enhances reading readiness in pre-school children. Volunteers are matched with children in LAUSD early education facilities, for one hour per week.
- KOREH L.A. Book Initiative – partners with corporations and individual donors to restock the empty shelves of LAUSD’s neediest elementary school libraries.
- Corporate KOREH L.A. – empowers businesses to give back to their communities by encouraging their staff members to volunteer as KOREH L.A. reading partners at nearby schools. Corporate partners include law firms, insurance companies, financial, accounting and entertainment businesses.
