Why English Literacy is Important for School Readiness
School readiness describes benchmarks children should meet before they begin primary school. These benchmarks have been designed by education researchers in order to predict future academic success. If a child meets these benchmarks, then they are likely to make satisfactory progress through primary school and beyond. If they are not school-ready, they may struggle early on and never catch up with their peers, which can have lasting effects on their educational and professional life. Because school readiness is vital to long-term success, early childhood education is an important investment not only for parents but also for society as a whole.
Achieving school readiness can be extraordinarily difficult for English language learners. For instance, because education in the US system is largely conducted in English, it is imperative that students attain a reasonable measure of early literacy before they even enter kindergarten. This aspect of school readiness can be difficult to meet in many communities that do not have the resources that English learners need. This is a critically important problem, since English language learners comprise 10% of the US student population.
GLEN World is an organization dedicated to increasing English literacy. We produce personalized educational content that is specifically designed to help English learners achieve school readiness.
The learning content in our GLEN Learn app is closely aligned with two widely used school-readiness assessments, namely, Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP) and Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP). KSEP and DRDP assessments are used by preschools in California to gauge the readiness levels of children entering kindergarten. Given this alignment, parents and preschool teachers can better utilize GLEN Learn to supplement learning for young English Learners — the content is designed from the ground up to prepare children for their academic journey as they enter kindergarten.
GLEN Learn has been developed with a research-driven learning approach, keeping students engaged with the learning material and rewarding them for their time. Our guided lessons are fun, educational, and build foundational language skills. In addition, it is designed to be used with or without supervision, making it an ideal solution for both parents and educators. Learn more about our learning content here and our mission by visiting our website.
About GLEN World
GLEN World is a nonprofit organization on a mission to scale early English literacy so that every child has access to the educational and economic opportunities it unlocks.
GLEN World has developed GLEN Learn, a research-based personalized learning app for early English literacy, designed to help children develop reading skills via a series of guided exercises, engaging stories, and rhymes. GLEN Learn’s content design is based on Instructed Second Language Acquisition research, targeting the fundamental skills required for literacy: vocabulary knowledge, recognition of sounds, and recognition of spelling. GLEN Learn’s learning modules reinforce each other as they target these fundamental skills. GLEN World also offers GLEN Books, a mobile app with a rich collection of beautifully illustrated and warmly narrated storybooks that foster a love for reading in children.
GLEN World is experimenting with safe and scalable ways to leverage generative AI to create learning content that promotes curiosity and engagement in young learners. Our first two experiments in AI-generated learning content are AI Explain and AI Tails. GLEN World’s YouTube channel features the AI Explain playlist with educational videos on the origin of important inventions and discoveries. The AI Tails playlist includes AI-generated illustrated audiobooks on topics that we hope will interest young children.
Our team includes seasoned educators, authors, animators, established graphic artists, and engineers. A unique strength is our connection with two premier research universities, the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with the close involvement of faculty with expertise spanning second language acquisition, education, cognition, engineering, and machine learning. Learn more by visiting our website.
As always, we are grateful for your support. If you like our work, please consider a donation.
GLEN World is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. If your employer has a donation match program, then that’s a great way to double your gift’s impact!