“Music and reading are a powerhouse combo.”

M.A. Rosko, Fox 9 News

A history of impact

“If kids can’t read, they can’t succeed.” This was the simple statement that drove Bill Jones and Ann Kay to launch the Rock ‘n’ Read Project in 2014. It all began with a bus. Bill converted a retired city bus into a mobile reading lab. Outfitted with rows of computers and a singing-based TUNE into READING (TiR) software, the bus proved to be unique solution for struggling readers. “I can’t drive a building down the street…but I can do it with a bus,” Bill Jones said.

That summer, Bill drove the bus to north Minneapolis every weekday where dozens of young, enthusiastic learners jumped on at a Minneapolis Public summer school and the YMCA. The Rock ‘n’ Read bus and singing-to-read program was a fun, engaging experience. Children who sang with the program for at least 10 hours gained 1/2 year (avg.) in reading.

Next, with $600,000 in grants from the Minnesota Legislature, Rock ‘n’ Read launched a 5-year pilot implementing TiR software with 2500 students in 25 elementary schools all across Minnesota. On average, students gained one year in reading after 14 hours of singing-to-read.

Rock ‘n’ Read has now refocused on preparing children’s brains before they enter the school system by communicating current neurscientific research, teaching courses for PreK-5th grade teachers, piloting A Song a Day: Brain Prep for Pre-Readers—50 lessons for PreK-K, and launching the Zap the Gap campaign (see Zap the Gap).