Reading doesn’t start in school. And it doesn’t stay there either.
It happens in grocery store aisles. At bus stops. In waiting rooms. At parks.
That’s the idea behind literacy-rich environments and it’s exactly where our Built Literacy Environments Action Team is focusing its work.
Studies show, children learn more effectively when learning material is meaningfully connected to their lives, or is related to something they already know, rather than presented abstractly and out of context
What the Data Is Telling Us
At Achieve Brown County, we do not use data just to describe what is happening.
We use it to decide where to go next.
Right now, the data is telling a clear story.
Nearly 1 in 3 households in Brown County fall into the ALICE category. These are working families earning above the poverty line but still struggling to afford basic needs like housing, childcare, transportation, food, and healthcare.
In Green Bay alone, that is about 18,000 households navigating financial stress every day.
Source: United For ALICE®. (2023). “The State of ALICE® in Wisconsin: 2023 Financial Hardship by Location in Brown County. https://www.unitedforalice.org/county-reports/wisconsin#12/44.3869/-88.2812
Graphics From: Brown County United Way
How Economic Disparities Affect Early Learning
In Brown County, 9.8% of residents live below the Federal Poverty Level.
Higher poverty rates, the harder it is to support learning at home.
Families below the Federal Poverty Level often can’t afford books, tutoring, or enrichment programs. For many high-poverty students, school is the only place they encounter books and structured reading.
1,446 students experienced homelessness in 2024
One district in Brown County saw a 69.5 percent increase in student homelessness in just two years.
Homelessness severely disrupts education by causing:
- high rates of chronic absenteeism
- increased emotional trauma
- increased barriers – transportation, school supplies, book access
- lower academic performance
- lower graduation rates
These are not just numbers.
They shape how children experience learning, consistency, and access to opportunities.
What This Means for Literacy
When we look deeper at early grade reading data, patterns begin to emerge.
Some schools are seeing significant declines:
- One Brown County Elementary School dropped 14.4 points in reading proficiency
- While another dropped from 50 percent to 22.2 percent
Others show slight improvements but still highlight gaps across the counties.
When we layer in additional data like economic disadvantage and multilingual learners, a clearer picture forms. The greatest opportunity for impact is with students who are both under-resourced and multilingual.
| Student Groups | % of Students Reading at Grade Level 2024-25 | Gap |
| Black/African American | 23% | 42 points behind White Students |
| Latino | 26% | 39 points behind White Students |
| English Learners | 17.6% | 40 points behind English Proficient students |
| Economically Disadvantage | 35% | 33 Points behind non-disadvantage students |
It shifts the question from, “what program should we run?” to…
Where should we design environments that meet kids where they already are?
Questions on the Data?
Contact Achieve Brown County Data Manager, Atithi Ghimire
From Insight to Action
This is where our Achieve Brown County Built Literacy Environments Action Team comes in.
During a recent workshop, community volunteer partners came together to move from data to design. They did not start with solutions. They started with people.
Step 1: Learn from What Already Exists
The team explored literacy efforts both locally and beyond, including free little libraries and community-based learning trails.
The goal was to ask what this could look like in Brown County.
Step 2: Center the Human
Before choosing locations or strategies, the team grounded themselves in one key question.
Who are we designing for?
- Families navigating financial stress
- Children experiencing instability
- Multilingual learners building language and literacy at the same time
This step ensured the work stayed rooted in real experiences, not assumptions.
Step 3: Let Data Guide Where We Go
With that clarity, the team turned back to the data.
- Where are resources limited
- Where are needs highest
- Where can we meet families in their everyday lives
Designing Literacy Into Everyday Life
From there, ideas began to take shape. Not large-scale programs Not one-size-fits-all solutions. But intentional, community-informed environments:
- Spaces where kids naturally interact with language
- Places families already go, redesigned with literacy in mind
- Small changes that create consistent exposure to reading and learning
The team is now working toward pilot environments, testing ideas, learning quickly, and adapting based on what works.
The Bigger Picture
This is what systems change looks like.
It is not adding more to families’ plates.
It is embedding opportunity into the places they already are.
It is not guessing where to focus.
It is using data to guide decisions.
It is not one organization doing the work alone.
It is a community aligning around what matters most.
Because when literacy becomes part of everyday environments, not just classrooms, we create more opportunities for every child to succeed.
Closing
The data helps us see what is possible.
The community helps us make it real.