Empowering Immigrant and Systems-Impacted Readers Through Rhythm

Immigrant and refugee support

South LA Antelope Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Reading is the foundation of all learning, and poor literacy has numerous quality of life and public health consequences. A long-term study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for example, found that students who were not proficient in reading by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. Poor reading at age 7 has been shown to correlate with anxiety and depression at age 9 or 11. In fact, poor literacy has been linked with higher rates of unemployment, poverty, and incarceration; increased levels of addiction; lower self-esteem; poorer health outcomes; and shorter life expectancy.
Yet in 2024, only 47% of California’s students met or exceeded proficiency standards in English Language Arts, as measured by CA’s Smarter Balanced Assessment. The numbers are even more dire for systems-impacted youth: according to EdSource, up to 85% of SI students are reading well below grade levels.

Drumming for Your Life Institute’s Reading & Rhythm is a groundbreaking program that addresses both academic and emotional barriers to literacy by integrating the neuroscience of rhythm, proven reading strategies, and Social Emotional Learning. Since 2001, our program has helped over 12,000 students enhance their reading scores by an average 52% in just 6 weeks.

During the grant period, DFYL will work with the predominantly immigrant populations at Littlerock High School in Lancaster (22% proficient in English Language Arts) and St. Alphonsus Elementary School in South LA (20% proficient), and with SI students at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall Court School in Downey, impacting up to 252 learners.

Reading & Rhythm addresses what DFYL calls, “Neurological Dissonance®” (ND): conflictual internal chatter around fears, concerns, and judgments which causes a loss of focus, emotional pain, and dissociation, along with body tension. To remediate ND, DFYL facilitators play a consistent beat on a book cover. The strong assertive rhythm diminishes anxiety and creates a neural pathway for focus and concentration. As students read aloud, they are taught to use the rhythmic sound to move fluidly through unfamiliar words, working up to passages of increasing length at gradually increased speeds. The program has been shown to improve reading fluency and comprehension, while also increasing motivation and self-esteem.

DFYL will directly impact 252 struggling readers from immigrant and systems-impacted communities, building their reading fluency, comprehension, focus, confidence, motivation, and self-esteem. As educator testimonials have shown, this growth translates into gains across all curriculum areas. What’s more, we expect participants’ improved academic outcomes and enhanced motivation for learning to positively impact their teachers, classmates, and family members.

In the long term, we hope that increased visibility from LA2050 will lead to wider institutional adoption of Reading & Rhythm. The program has proven effective in public, private, and charter schools (Pre-K-12); juvenile halls; adult reintegration, family, and wellness centers. Reading & Rhythm generates rapid results and requires no specialized equipment: learners drum on book covers. The program was successfully implemented by teachers in Amesbury, MA and London, England, underscoring its scalability through teacher training.