Just last year, roughly four out of five Asheville-area Black children tested below grade level in reading proficiency.  My guests today are Ashley Allen and Jess McLean, co-executive directors at Read 2 Succeed, one of a handful of Asheville nonprofits supplementing the reading education happening at under-resourced schools. Read 2 Succeed is particularly focused on closing what it calls “the race-based opportunity gap—not an achievement gap—through community-powered literacy programming.”

We talk about how a white-centered approach to education perpetuates the gap. We work through different methodologies, including the controversial “Whole language” approach. We also about Read 2 Succeed’s board working through its own mission drift and get into the details of how its tutors work with schools and children.

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