Rescate Lector (Reader Rescue) is a reading reinforcement program for children in their second year of primary school who belong to the poorest and lowest performing sectors of the IX region. Fundación AraucaníAprende works with subsidized primary schools (municipal and private), which have consistently achieved low learning outcomes in the SIMCE test, and whose teachers make an explicit commitment to educational improvement.

The initiative started independently in 2009, and the following year it signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education to reach 2,000 4th grade students. Rescue Reader provides personalized support to 2nd grade elementary students, gathered in small groups of 4 to 8 people during class hours. To identify children, there is a diagnosis that determines their initial reading speed. The main innovation of the program lies in the hiring of retired teachers who have worked in the first cycle of primary school, to train the team of “Rescuers”. Each of them is assigned a group of children in a specific school. The agreement defines that the tutor will be paid CL$1,100 for each word that the child increases in reading speed, until reaching a minimum of 90 words per minute.

Students attend sessions during 5 weeks of work, which may vary depending on the initial reading level. They are cared for by the “rescue” teacher in a quiet space independent of the classes (library, teachers’ room, computer room, etc.). Hours of operation must be established by mutual agreement among the management of the establishment, the teacher in charge of the children in the school and the rescue teacher. In order to verify that the children participating have reached the minimum required reading speed, an external professional carries out the evaluation when the rescuer estimates that the child has reached the minimum number of words per minute. Once the child has reached the minimum number of defined words per minute, the student exits the program and the teacher is paid.