Family matters.
Local villages in each community support families.
Youth Success Movement is a grassroots movement — not a top-down program — that empowers families and local communities to close the Skill Gap and solve the reading crisis, one village at a time.
Our Vision
Every child in America enters school ready to learn. Every struggling reader gets the targeted cognitive and reading support they need. And every community owns the solution — because reading success is not a program we deliver from the outside; it's a movement they build from within.
Our Mission
To solve the reading crisis in the U.S. by empowering families and communities to close the Skill Gap — not through overloaded schools alone, but through a grassroots movement of neighbor-supported, family-centered action.
The Challenge — Why This Matters
The national education crisis is real, long-standing, and deeply personal for millions of families.
The Education Reality
Data from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveals a crisis that has persisted for decades without systemic improvement:
- 70% of 4th graders in the US score below proficient in reading.
- 40% of 4th graders score below basic proficiency.
- Math scores reflect similar or worse cognitive gaps nationwide.
The Human & Social Cost
When reading struggles go unaddressed, student self-esteem suffers, frustration leads to behavioral challenges, and lifelong opportunities are severely limited:
- 2/3 of 4th grade non-proficient readers end up in jail or on welfare.
- Over 70% of America's prison inmates cannot read above a 4th-grade level.
- 85% of juveniles facing trial in juvenile court are functionally illiterate.
Understanding Why Students Struggle
Traditional tutoring and phonics drills target instruction alone. But learning is a multiplication of instruction and cognitive learning effectiveness.
When two students sit in the same classroom with the same teacher and curriculum, one thrives while the other struggles. Why? The difference is not teacher quality — it's the student's learning effectiveness: processing speed, working memory, visual fixation, and emotional safety.
The Solution — The Village Model
Programs are imposed from the outside and die when grants end. Movements are created and owned by local neighbors, sustaining long-term change.
Local Village Units
Organized around elementary school boundary areas, bringing together families, volunteers, and mentors.
Family Ambassadors
Trained parent mentors who support 10 neighboring families each with brain skill drills and encouragement.
Community Councils
Parent and youth councils ensure local ownership, giving voices directly to those living in the village.
Proven Clinical & School Results
Our cognitive brain skills assessment and training methodology is backed by over 50 years of clinical development and field validation.
From 25% to 92% Reading Proficiency
In a New Orleans elementary school serving 100% low-income students, integrating cognitive brain skills and Reading Kingdom produced unprecedented breakthroughs:
- 92% of 4th graders passed state reading test (up from under 25%)
- 88% of 1st graders scored proficient or above (50% above grade level)
57 Out of 60 Struggling Students Passed
At a Louisiana public school facing immediate closure due to low performance, 57 out of the 60 lowest-performing students passed their state reading tests after cognitive brain skills intervention.
"Because traditional school bureaucracies resist scaling non-mandated cognitive training, we redesigned the entire model to deliver solutions directly to families."
It Started With a Neighbor's Daughter
Over 20 years ago, our founder's neighbor had an 8th-grade daughter who could not read. She attended one of the highest-performing districts in the state. The family had tried various private tutoring programs, but nothing worked. The school had no answer other than passing her from grade to grade.
The student was frustrated, behavior issues began to mount, and her mom knew high school graduation would be impossible without a miracle. Out of desperation, the mom spent over $1,000 at a local university for comprehensive cognitive testing. The result? The daughter scored in the 2nd percentile for working memory.
When presented with the data, school officials put her on a 504 accommodation plan. But compensations don't fix the underlying engine. The mom refused to give up and found a clinical brain training company. The training was intensive, but it strengthened her daughter's working memory and processing speed.
"With no additional reading instruction, the daughter caught up to grade level, graduated high school, and went on to college earning straight A's. The daughter told us that cognitive skill testing saved her life."
That experience inspired Executive Director G. Smith and our leadership team to spend the next two decades partnering with child development scientists, building online cognitive assessments, and creating the grassroots Youth Success Movement.