INTRODUCTION

The impact of the pandemic on students’ literacy skills has been substantial. According to The Education Recovery Scorecard, a 2024 report co-authored by Harvard and Stanford, experts anticipate that it will take 2 years to close the 3rd-grade reading achievement gap. 

The most vulnerable learners, who were already struggling to keep up before the pandemic, have been hit the hardest. This underscores the urgent need for effective intervention strategies. The Education Recovery Scorecard highlights that the largest pandemic-related achievement gap is between high- and low-poverty districts, with students in the highest-poverty districts experiencing a sharp decline in achievement—42 percent loss of grade level for reading and up to 70 percent in math. 

Despite the willingness, effort, and talent of educators, many schools struggle to effectively serve students due to a lack of effective strategies and scalable tools. Footsteps2Brilliance™, an evidence-based literacy company, was created to solve this problem. We provide next-generation interactive digital tools to accelerate student achievement, offer real-time data, and integrate seamlessly into the classroom. 

The encouraging news is that school leaders have the potential to exceed expectations on closing the 3rd-grade reading achievement gap. By implementing Footsteps2Brilliance’s intervention strategies, student literacy growth can triple in one year, providing a pathway for students to regain, or surpass, their pre-pandemic achievement levels. 

STUDENT LITERACY SCORES GROW 3X FASTER

National data collected from the 2023-24 Footsteps2Brilliance Growth Score Report™ provided evidence that students who engaged with Footsteps2Brilliance for just 45 minutes per week experienced a remarkable acceleration in their literacy skills. In just 10 weeks, these students tripled their literacy scores compared to those who did not use the platform.  

THE GAME-CHANGING STRATEGY FOR LITERACY ACCELERATION 

At Footsteps2Brilliance we understand that effective digital tools enhance a high-quality core curriculum and amplify, not replace, excellent teaching. We provide teachers with next generation digital tools that align with their classroom lessons and facilitate data-driven, differentiated instruction. This alignment is crucial as it ensures that students are engaged in deliberate practice connected to their classroom instruction. 

The positive effects of Foosteps2Brilliance’s aligned digital tools on student achievement can be attributed to:

• Evidence-Based Approach to Literacy. By incorporating strategies from the Science of Reading, students develop critical foundational skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The curated interactive activities are seamlessly aligned with classroom instruction, ensuring that learning is cohesive and reinforces what students are working on in class. 
• Student Empowerment. Interactive game-based activities foster joyful learning and a growth mindset, helping students learn how to learn. It allows students to choose their path and pace, promoting awareness and ownership of their progress. 
• Emergent Bilingual Student Support. By allowing seamless toggling between English and Spanish, we help emergent bilingual students develop language and literacy skills in both languages, and build their confidence in language acquisition. 
• Data-Driven Decision Making. Actionable data and area of weakness reports empower teachers to utilize data effectively and tailor instruction for each student. With the touch of a button, educators can assign and scaffold concepts needing reinforcement, ensuring differentiated instruction and enhancing the overall learning experience. 

• Family and After-School Engagement. Providing caregivers with access to high-quality educational content fosters a strong school-to-home connection. This empowers caregivers to actively participate in their children’s learning. It also provides a supportive environment for students, offering opportunities for remediation and pre-teaching at home and in after-school settings.