(FLINT, Mich., Jan. 28, 2026) — The reading scores of first, second, and third graders at five Flint-area elementary schools saw marked improvement during the Fall 2025 semester for students who participated in the Flint Network for School Excellence Reading Rangers afterschool program. The Network is part of the Flint Center for Educational Excellence (Flint Center).
Reading Rangers is a partnership program with Springboard Collaborative, a national organization that brings teachers, parents, and students together as partners in literacy teaching and learning.
The Network expanded the Reading Rangers program in the Fall 2025 semester after outstanding results in the pilot program in 2024. Dye Elementary in the Carman-Ainsworth School District and McMonagle Elementary, in the Westwood Heights School District, were added to the three pilot program sites: the Brownell STEM Academy and Doyle Ryder Education Center, in the Flint School District, and the International Academy of Flint.
The goal of the Reading Rangers program is to improve third grade reading scores, which are crucial to future academic success. Third grade marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” and students who fall behind in reading by third grade are at a significantly higher risk of dropping out of high school.
The Fall 2025 Reading Rangers program spanned nine weeks, with two instructional days per week. During the semester, 69% of students who completed the program achieved their individualized reading growth goals, and 47% met their reading stretch goals, averaging the equivalent of 4.4 months of reading growth in essential literacy skills.
Assessment tests at the beginning of the 9-week program showed that to improve reading proficiency, 58% of students in the program needed intensive support, 20% needed strategic support, for 18% the general curriculum was sufficient, and 4% were ready for more advanced instruction.
The ending assessment at the close of the Fall 2025 semester showed that only 34% (24% improvement) needed intensive support, 20% needed strategic support, for 38% (18% improvement) the general reading curriculum was sufficient, and 8% (4% improvement) were ready for advanced reading skill development.
Overall, the numbers show that 44% of the students moved up in reading proficiency, while 94% increased their score in the same proficiency band.
“While some students remained within the same proficiency band, their progress reflects measurable growth in key foundational reading skills such as phonemic awareness and fluency, signaling positive movement toward future proficiency,” said Dr. Nina Hasty, Director of the Flint Center’s Network for School Excellence.
Student progress is measured using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), that can be used for universal screening, benchmark assessment, and progress monitoring from kindergarten to 8th grade. DIBELS scores show if students are on track, need targeted help, or significant support in areas like letter sounds or fluency.
“The success of the Reading Rangers program can be attributed to our highly dedicated teachers who analyzed pre-assessment data to drive instruction, implemented intentional lessons, and facilitated family workshops that reinforced student learning beyond the classroom,” said Hasty.
Teachers at the participating schools were trained in the Springboard methodology and participated in a team building huddle and three family workshops with parents to ensure continuity for the students.
The Flint Center will continue to expand the Reading Rangers program to more schools in the Flint Center’s Network for School Excellence in the Fall 2026 semester. “Results clearly show that early intervention can make a significant improvement in reading skills,” said Hasty. “We want to broaden that impact to all our students.”
The Network for School Excellence is one of the six pillars of the Flint Center whose focus is to drive student achievement, magnify effective solutions for schools, and confront systemic challenges that hinder school success. By utilizing improvement science and data-driven decision-making, the Network is working to radically improve academic outcomes for Flint children in school and beyond.
The Flint Center for Educational Excellence is building an educational ecosystem that works for all Flint kids by providing programs, research, and advocacy that ensure Flint kids, their families, schools, and communities thrive. We accomplish this through a cross-sector partnership to create a cradle-to-career support network connecting people, ideas and resources in tangible ways that strengthen our community through the power of collaboration. To learn more about The Flint Center, visit theflintcenter.org.
