MM is an incentive-based reading program with more than 1,200 Fort Worth ISD students participating at three elementary schools. The program rewards students with prizes for reaching each of “Maven’s Milestones:” Ascent, Afterburner, Approach and Call Sign Maven. Each milestone represents a specific number of points that the students earn by reading books and passing online quizzes. The goals of the program are to increase elementary school reading levels, improve standardized testing results and encourage students to become lifelong readers. 

IP first introduced MM at Washington Heights (WH) in 2010, expanded into Cesar Chavez (CC) in 2013 and most recently added Van Zandt Guinn (VZG) in 2016.  All three participating schools performed better year over year, and each school had at least 50% of total students make it to the highest reading level.

“The fact that each school has 50% of the total students at the highest reading level is very encouraging” said co-founder Justin Hernandez. “We’ve seen over time that this leads to higher reading comprehension and higher pass rates in standardized testing. For example, 60% of Washington Heights’ fifth grade students made it to the Maven reading level. They also had the highest reading comprehension score since tracking began in 2012 and a STAAR pass rate of 86%, the highest pass rate we’ve seen to date.”

Additional metrics include:

• 50% of students at VZG and CC made it to the highest reading level (VZG increased from 16% the prior year).
• WH and CC 5th grade students STAAR pass rate improved to 86% and 85%, respectively, the highest pass rate to date.
• WH 2nd graders are currently reading at grade level. Just five years ago, 2nd graders were reading one full grade level below.
• CC 3rd graders performed the strongest out of all grades and all schools, and 3rd grade reading comprehension has increased 80% in just three years.