Making Connections: Boys & Girls Club Promotes Literacy

In 2024, reports found that only 28 percent of Texas students scored proficient in reading, falling behind the national average of students at that age. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Permian Basin is working to promote literacy and help children improve their reading skills through its new program, DysConnections.  

Through the DysConnections tutoring program, students are showing up to sessions ready, engaged, and motivated, and are not only gaining confidence as readers, but as learners.  

With two sessions a week taught by certified educators (most of whom are Midland ISD teachers), the program strives to close critical literacy gaps. To teach the program, educators must be a certified reading specialist, a TIA Master Teacher, or a certified academic language therapist (CALT). Currently, the program has three teachers, two of whom are TIA teachers and one with their CALT.  

This Boys & Girls Club program has seen tremendous success and tracks progress made with each of the participating students. For example, a student started in January 2025 at just 10 percent competency in reading two-syllable words and completed the program in May 2025 at 100 percent. The same student saw similar success in other categories such as phonological awareness, high-frequency words, reading words, and spelling.  

Students are given a baseline assessment before the program starts and are monitored every six weeks. Based on their results, the curriculum is adjusted to ensure progress. The DysConnections team also communicates with parents about their students’ progress and achievements.  

The program started in 2024 with 16 students and grew to 32 participants in 2025. Funding received from Scharbauer Foundation’s 2025 fall grant cycle will go toward adding additional seats to each of the Midland Boys & Girls Clubs for this tutoring program.