The Gilland family celebrates reading wins thanks to Literacy and Justice for All
For some kids, learning to read comes naturally, but for others it takes guesswork, frustration, and a lot of practice. According to the Gilland family, quality, trained teachers and the Literacy and Justice for All program have made all the difference.
Beth Gilland is raising four children in the Marietta City Schools district, and all have dyslexia and ADHD.
“My fight for my kids has been, ‘Please teach my learner to learn to read in the way he learns.’ That didn’t happen for a long, long time,” she said.
She saw the biggest difference after United Way of Greater Atlanta introduced Literacy and Justice for All in Marietta City Schools in 2021.
Literacy for every type of learner
Literacy and Justice for All creates an ecosystem approach to fostering literacy skills, with school systems at the center. We partnered with Marietta City Schools to hire 40 additional reading specialists. Students work with specialists and homeroom teachers to use the Science of Reading curriculum, which breaks down reading into manageable steps.
Beth worked in education previously. In her experience, at first educators only learned how to teach reading in a way that catered to a small group of people, leaving others without a strong foundation.
She noticed the difference immediately when the reading specialists came in – and so did Neal Dean, the first of her children to benefit from the program.
The year United Way of Greater Atlanta introduced Literacy and Justice for All in Marietta City Schools, the district saw literacy gains more than five times the state average on the Georgia Milestones. And Neal Dean, then in third grade, made the largest reading level growth out of everyone in his class.
“They were able to break it down into these smaller steps,” explained Beth. “Instead of it being a big disappointment, just an overall feeling of ‘you cannot read that,’ we celebrated smaller victories in learning to decode words. Breaking it into smaller bite-sized pieces so that kids understand, and they can grow in what they learn, makes all the difference.”
“This program really does give a fair playing field”
Today, Neal Dean reads not just for school, but for fun – he even asked for a book series for Christmas from his grandmother.
It never happened that way with his older brothers. Seeing their sons unable to keep up with their peers, the family tried an outside tutoring center, that Beth says was both expensive and ended up turning them off reading for good.
“When you talk about Literacy and Justice for All, I believe this program really does give a fair playing field,” said Beth. “So many of us can’t afford to send kids to tutors every day after school. It can cost a mortgage. But before, it felt like that was the only solution they were going to get in the school system. But the children now really do all get good instruction.”
According to Marietta City Schools Superintendent Grant Rivera, the partnership with United Way has changed every elementary classroom, every school, and every home across his district. Now his district is a model for literacy instruction for the entire State of Georgia.
“When you know better, you do better and this partnership with United Way has helped us better understand how we do better around literacy,” he said. “Our teachers now understand the pedagogy and the science of how to develop a reading brain in such a way that we help every child reach their fullest reading and writing potential.”
Ultimately, for the Gillands, it goes beyond reading scores in school – it’s about how their children feel about themselves.
“One of my biggest concerns for my kids is that the inability to learn to read would dampen their spirit or hurt their psyche,” said Beth, “But Neal Dean doesn’t. He knows he’s unique. He knows his self-worth.” And above all, he knows he’s a reader.
United Way of Greater Atlanta initiatives like Literacy and Justice for All are made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. Join us in expanding this work, so ALL students across Greater Atlanta can become strong learners, and consider giving today.