Proven Results

EVERYBODY WINS! Works

Formal evaluation of Power Lunch reinforce the program’s positive impact on participating children.
One mentor, One child, One book at a time.

In two independent evaluations, one under the auspices of the US Department of Education and the other by Loyola University of Chicago, Power Lunch emerged as one of very few programs documented to effectively impact low-income students in reading comprehension, motivation and achievement, as well as overall academic performance, classroom behavior, self-confidence and social skills. Comparing Power Lunch student groups (treatment) with non-Power Lunch groups (control), information was collected from teachers, students, reading mentors and standardized test scores.

Results include:

  • More than twice as many Power Lunch students improved their academic performance compared to control group students.
  • By the program’s conclusion, 55% of Power Lunchers often or always enjoyed reading, well above the 31% of non-participating students.
  • 35% of Power Lunch students improved or very much improved their attention span
  • 94% of Power Lunch teachers and volunteers reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the program.

In addition, EVERYBODY WINS! evaluation data is compiled and analyzed annually. These studies prove that when adult mentors read once a week, one-on-one with a student, those children improve across multiple reading and academic related behaviors. Recent results include:

  • 64% of all Power Lunch students scored high enough on state standardized tests to be immediately promoted to the next grade, nearly twice as many as the 38% of non-Power Lunchers.
  • More than 87% of Power Lunchers improved their reading comprehension.
  • 94% of treatment students improved their vocabulary versus only 84% of control students.
  • More than 5 times as many Power Lunch students improved their classroom behavior versus the control group.

The American Literacy Gap

This literacy gap emerges early and, without intervention, widens. Only 50% of low-income 4th graders read at or above the basic level compared to 79% of their middle-class peers, according to the Department of Education’s 2007 Nation’s Report Card.1

In EW! cities, the disparity is even more stark. Among 4th graders eligible for free or reduced lunches, 71% in Washington, DC read below the basic level according to 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data; in LA and Chicago, 67% and 60% of low-income 4th grade students cannot read at the basic level, respectively. 62% of low-income Atlanta 4th graders read below the basic level.2

The implications of the growing literacy gap extend beyond the walls of our classrooms. According to Dr. G. Reid Lyon, Chief of Child Development and Behavior at the National Institute of Health, “surveys of adolescents and young adults with criminal records indicate that at least half have reading difficulties, and in some states the size of prisons a decade in the future is predicted by fourth grade reading failure rates.”4

EVERYBODY WINS! programs continue to help bridge the literacy gap. Proven to increase reading-related skills and attitudes, the Power Lunch program has a real and measurable impact on low-income elementary students. EVERYBODY WINS! USA strives to provide Power Lunch reading mentors for 100,000 students nationwide.

Just the Facts

In the U.S., 18% of children (13 million) live below the federal poverty line.5

On a typical school day, 17.1 million students receive free or reduced price lunches, categorizing them as “low-income.” To qualify for free/reduced lunch, a child’s household income must be at or below 185% of the poverty line.6

Low-income children hear only 1/2 to 1/3 as many spoken words as children in more affluent households.7

Among U.S. adults with below basic reading skills, 51% are unemployed.8

$500 billion: Annual cost to the U.S. economy of children growing up poor, a result of eventual lower productivity and earnings, higher crime rates and health costs.9

1 Lee, J., Grigg, W., and Donahue, P. (2007). The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2007 (NCES 2007-496). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.
2 NAEP Data Explorer. U.S. Department of Education, NCES. 23. Jan 2008. National Center for Children in Poverty. 2. Feb 2007. http://www.nccp.org/pub_cpt06a.html
6 ”Child Nutrition Fact Sheet: National School Lunch Program.” Food Research and Action Center. 2. Feb 2007. http://www.frac.org/pdf/cnnslp.PDF
7 Hart, B., & Risley T.R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
8 Kutner, M., Greenberg, E., Jin,Y., Boyle, B., Hsu,Y., and Dunleavy, E. (2007). Literacy in Everyday Life: Results From the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2007-480). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.
9 Holzer, H., Schanzenbach, D., Duncan, G., & Ludwig, J. (Jan, 2007). The Economic Costs of Poverty in the United States: Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.