Read Better Be Better
Be Excellent, Be Kind.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In 2014, Read Better Be Better (RBBB) was founded by Sophie Allen-Etchart in Phoenix as a response to Arizona’s literacy crisis. The state is ranked 48th in the nation for preK-12th education. Currently, 59% of 3rd-graders in Arizona are NOT proficient in reading, making many students unable to make the necessary transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” However, with proper reading intervention, there is an 89% chance that students who can read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade will graduate from high school, irrespective of socio-economic status.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Read Better Be Better
Read Better Be Better (RBBB) was founded by Sophie Allen-Etchart in 2014 as a response to Arizona’s literacy crisis. The state is ranked 47th in the nation for PreK-12th education. According to 2021 AzM2 ELA assessments, 65% of 3rd graders in Arizona do not read at grade level and are often unable to make the necessary transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” by 4th grade. However, with proper reading intervention, there is an 89% chance that students who can read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade will graduate from high school, irrespective of socio-economic status.
RBBB’s mission is to connect young readers and youth leaders to inspire a love of literacy and learning. Since 2015, RBBB has served over 7,500 students and currently provides programming to 66 schools in 10 districts in Maricopa and Pinal counties, as well as several community-based organizations across the state.
Where we work
Awards
40 Under 40 2017
Phoenix Business Journal
Common Good Challenge 2023
Arizona Community Foundation
North Star Award 2022
Education Forward Arizona
Affiliations & memberships
Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence 2020
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Each school site can serve up to 32 students. Numbers are reported by academic year.
Average percentage gain on standarized reading comprehension tests
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Numbers reported are average percentages - as more students enroll in program, the average stays between 15-25 percent improvement. Numbers are reported by academic year.
Number of students report they understand what they read better than they could before programming.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers are reported by academic year.
Average percentage improvement in reading comprehension, as reported by teachers.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Numbers reported are average percentages - as more students enroll in program, the average stays between 10-40 percent improvement. Numbers are reported by academic year.
Number of students at or above a 90% attendance rate
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers are reported by academic year.
Number of students who reported they had never volunteered for anything before, and would volunteer again in the future.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers are reported by academic year.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Volunteer hours are completed by middle school students. Numbers are reported by academic year.
Number of books read by students during programming
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Read Better Be Better
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers are reported by academic year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
RBBB measures its success according to six, measurable outputs.
Short-term outputs:
1. Improve school attendance (measured by school attendance data with grade average as control).
2. Increase enjoyment of reading for 3rd graders (measured by pre-/post- self-evaluation: The Reader Self-Perception Scale).
Mid-range outputs:
1. Improve reading comprehension and concentration for 3rd graders (measured by Galileo testing with grade average as control and by 3rd grade teacher pre‑/ post‐evaluation).
2. Increase sense of personal responsibility for 8th graders (measured by 8th grade pre-/post-self-evaluation on the Social and Personal Responsibility Scale).
Long-term outputs:
1. Develop better learners for 3rd graders (measured by Education Outcome Measures).
2. Prepare college-ready leaders (measured by Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies).
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Read Better Be Better is an after-school reading comprehension and leadership program designed to help students become better readers, leaders, and learners. RBBB partners with Arizona school districts and community organizations to provide both in-person and at-home programming.
The organization’s in-person, after-school program serves 2nd – 4th grade Readers who have been identified by their teachers as needing targeted reading intervention. Readers are paired for a semester with middle-high school Leaders who improve their leadership skills while helping their Reader improve their literacy skills. The Leaders are provided with ongoing training in implementing reading strategies, leadership, and coaching skills by RBBB Program Coaches, many of whom are education majors. Together the Program Coaches, Leaders, and Readers work to improve concentration, reading comprehension, and the enjoyment of reading.
The organization’s at-home program, RBBB At Home, is for families with a 2nd–4th grade student and a middle or high student in the home. Students work through the RBBB curriculum in the home, improving two key strategies that support reading comprehension: asking questions and making connections, all while forming meaningful relationships and forging a love for literacy.
Every RBBB session begins with the Leaders and Readers greeted at the door by the Program Coach with a handshake and a snack. The Readers choose a book from an RBBB library of 25 diverse and representative titles. The Leaders read the book aloud first. Next, the Readers read the book aloud with the Leaders modeling how to write observations and thoughts about the book on sticky notes, which they attach to the pages.
The Leaders read the book to the Readers once more to reinforce comprehension, this time with the Readers writing sticky notes with their connections and observations. Throughout, the Leaders pay attention to the Readers’ efforts and reward their Readers’ hard work by promoting them on a progress chart. After 45 minutes of reading, round-up starts during which the Leaders share something their Readers did well during curriculum.
Following this, the Readers choose how to spend the remaining 45 minutes from one of two program components: Be A Better Thinker (puzzles or board games) or Be A Better Reader (extended comprehension activities). These choices have been specifically researched for their ability to focus attention and improve concentration, two cognitive skills that promote engagement and train working memory, both of which drastically improve reading comprehension. In 2022 RBBB, served 3,151 students in the Spring, Summer, and Fall 2022.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Read Better Be Better program consists of a proprietary, research-based curriculum designed to help students develop the foundational skills needed to become engaged self-learners. Every detail of the curriculum is backed up by educational research, which ensures that the skills students build and strengthen during RBBB will be engrained in their everyday lives, and continue to help them throughout the rest of their educational career. Those who implement this curriculum can be confident of the impact they are having on the student’s academic achievement.
Numerous studies find that cross-age peer tutoring is beneficial for both the younger and older grade participating students. Some studies also found that participation in these programs boosts views of oneself as a reader and leads to less negative thinking about reading.
In order to meet the community’s needs, RBBB’s program was developed within the framework of the Arizona State Literacy Plan to strategically and uniquely address the critical issue of 3rd-grade literacy in the state of Arizona and complement rather than duplicate the services already available in the community. The Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence has approved all RBBB sites as consistent with the Arizona Quality Standards for Out-of-School Time Programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
-Participating RBBB students showed 16% more growth on reading comprehension tests over their non-participating classmates.
-89% of 3rd graders self-report that they are getting better at reading than before they were in RBBB.
-82% of 3rd graders agree or strongly agree that they understand what they read better than they could before participating in RBBB, and 80% agree or strongly agree that reading is easier for them than it used to be.
-87% of the middle schoolers self-report they have what it takes to be a good leader after participating in RBBB.
-90% of leaders self-reported that they enjoyed coming to RBBB programming.
-93% of parents reported that their student understands what they read better than they did before participating in RBBB.
-RBBB has distributed over 10,000 Family Literacy Kits to schools, organizations, and individual families, allowing long-term, at-home literacy progress.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Read Better Be Better
Board of directorsas of 10/20/2023
Rachel Aja
Cox Communications
Term: 2022 -
Sophie Allen-Etchart
Read Better Be Better
Dawn Wallace
Flinn Foundation
Artem Tretiakov
Silicon Valley Bank
Laura Ory
Education Forward Arizona
Noriana Hermes
The Young Center
Mitzi Woodmore
Experis/Manpower Group
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/11/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.