Whippletree
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Better reading instruction, and the grants to pay for it.
Whippletree helps schools move to evidence-based reading instruction, trains the teachers who deliver it, and finds the funding that makes it possible.
What we do
Changing how reading is taught takes three things: the right materials, teachers who are ready to use them, and the money to pay for both. We help schools with all three.
Choose a curriculum that follows the science of reading
We review the materials you use today, compare evidence-based options with your team, and plan a rollout your teachers can manage, one year at a time.
Train and coach the teachers who use it
Workshops for whole staffs, then time in classrooms: modeling small-group lessons, observing, and following up until new routines become everyday practice.
New York now requires evidence-based reading instruction.
Under the state's Back to Basics law, every district had to certify by September 2025 that its reading curriculum, teaching methods and teacher training follow evidence-based practice.
A New York Focus review in May 2026 found that more than 130 of the state's 713 districts still reported using balanced literacy programs. Those districts need a plan, trained teachers and the money to make the switch.
Sources: Office of the Governor of New York; New York Focus, May 2026
Where literacy funding comes from
Pick a goal to see where schools usually find the money. Every district's eligibility is different, so we check what fits yours.
What do you want to fund?
A new reading curriculum
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Federal
Title I, Part A
Schools serving many students from low-income families can use it for evidence-based reading materials and intervention.
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Federal
Comprehensive Literacy State Development
Federal literacy money that states pass on to districts, in states holding a current award.
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Foundation
Literacy foundations
National and regional funders that pay for reading programs in high-need schools.
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Local
Education foundations and PTAs
Good fits for decodable books, classroom libraries and pilot programs.
How we work together
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Review where you are
We look at your reading results, the materials you use now and what New York requires, and agree on what to change first.
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Find the funding
We match your plan to federal, state and foundation funding, then write a clear case for why your students need it.
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Put it into practice
We help choose materials, train and coach teachers, and prepare the reports funders ask for.
Meet Elizabeth
Founder of Whippletree
Elizabeth works with teachers and school leaders on how reading is taught: in staff workshops, at educator conferences, and at the small-group table with students.
She started Whippletree so schools could have one partner for both halves of the job: a literacy plan that works, and the funding to carry it out.
Based in Katonah, New York.
Why the name Whippletree?
A whippletree is the wooden crossbar that lets a team of horses pull one load together, evenly. Schools, teachers and funders get further the same way, pulling in one direction.
Talk with us about your literacy goals
Tell us what you'd like to change. We'll set up a call to talk through the plan and where the funding could come from.