Demetrius Lancaster has spent his professional life designing and implementing educational programs that prioritize equity, academic rigor, and culturally responsive teaching practices. A school founder, Demetrius now serves as CEO of Joy Education Foundation, where he leads the organization’s mission to address literacy inequities in underserved communities. One of five Phase 3 teams in the Learning Landscapes Challenge, Joy Education Foundation is now participating in a six-month incubator to further develop its multidimensional infrastructure solution. We spoke with Demetrius during the incubator boot camp to learn more about the past, present, and future of Joy Education Foundation.
What drove you to create Joy Education Foundation?
I’m a former reading teacher and school leader, and I worked with families during the pandemic who were looking for additional resources to support students with reading. The reality is that one out of every five students has a language-based learning disability. We have a rising tide of fourth graders who will require additional time with a reading teacher or a school tutor. So, we worked together with families to create a grassroots reading clinic that enables students — no matter where they live — to access affordable, evidence-based reading support.
I learned how to read through a partnership between a church and a Boys and Girls Club, so I know that our community partners are available, have capacity, and have assets and resources. We are creating additional tools to enable these community partners to provide focused support alongside schools and families in ways they haven’t been able to before — to provide more than homework help in the afternoon. They are able to work alongside their local school to move the needle on school reading proficiency.
What component of Joy Education are you focused on developing now, through your participation in the Learning Landscapes Challenge?
We’re working on the infrastructure to build capacity for our families, communities, and schools to work together and address unmet reading needs. We train pre-service and retired educators, along with families and community members, who match with students in a virtual classroom. These tutors provide one-on-one instruction around foundational reading skills, including fluency and comprehension. And we’re meeting families where they are by deploying transportation technology.
We use converted buses to serve as a combined bookmobile, gaming truck, and learning lab where students have full experiences around reading that are joyous and personalized. In the afternoons, we use our buses to float between Boys and Girls clubs, libraries, YMCAs — where kids can virtually access tutors where they already live. When you’re in a low-income community, you usually have to leave your community to find that type of support.
We know that not all students are experiencing the same things inside of schools. We intend to create a space for students to come to — no matter where they live — and get personalized, direct support around reading.
What is the experience like for students who step onto one of your buses?
When a student comes onto one of our buses, they’re met by a caring adult who gives them a warm greeting to make sure that they feel seen and supported. Students have access to laptops and the internet, and they plug into a virtual classroom where they see a smiling face. They see someone who is familiar, who has built a relationship with them, and who’s ready to support them. We start every session with that relationship-building, and we have assessment data on all our students to personalize and pinpoint exactly which skills they need to work on.
We also celebrate with students. For every minute that they read with us, our students get to spend a minute gaming. It creates a continuous cycle of students who are motivated to work on reading. We also do mobile workshops with families, building skills that they might continue to use with their students at home. We’ll do things like gaming and reading events, reading and gardening, story time, and STEM challenges to help families continue learning beyond the bus. Students find it fun, and families find it fun. The most important part is that we’re building relationships to help identify which students need the greatest support.
What is your long-term vision for Joy Education?
Our big vision is to create a national safety net. We know that not all schools are equal. We know that not all students are experiencing the same things inside of schools. We intend to create a space for students to come to — no matter where they live — and get personalized, direct support around reading. So our big vision is to move from our work here in Virginia to high-need communities across the United States, including Baltimore and Detroit, where we know that our students and families are waiting for this type of support.
What have you found most helpful about the challenge?
What I really appreciate about the Learning Landscapes Challenge is the opportunity to identify our solution’s component pieces, see how they fit together, and test their impact. And I really appreciate working alongside other teams who are building in different contexts and addressing different problems, but which all come back to families and students. The challenge has pushed us to think about what scale looks like and put these puzzle pieces together so that our students and their families can benefit.
Looking ahead
Over the coming months, the Phase 3 teams will continue to prototype their solutions, develop sustainable funding streams, and create implementation roadmaps. Phase 3 will conclude with a Demo Day featuring presentations in front of a live audience and judges. Judges will evaluate submissions according to Phase 3 evaluation criteria. Up to two grand-prize winners will receive $500,000 each to support implementation of their infrastructure solutions. Stay tuned for additional updates about the Phase 3 teams and their mentors.
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