Zinc has a singular mission: deliver reading growth to middle and high school students. We won’t accept the current state of literacy in the US, with only about a third of high school seniors reaching reading “proficiency” and just 10% of adults able to read complex texts. In the 21st century economy, there are fewer and fewer well-paying jobs that don’t require advanced literacy. So the time to address America’s reading crisis is NOW.
Matt Bardin founded Zinc in 2016, and this mission is personal to him. He started off his career teaching middle and high school English in New York City and then left the classroom to found a tutoring and test-prep company. His test-prep strategy focuses on raising reading levels through conscious-reading strategies and teaching students metacognition. These approaches, and love-based learning, are incorporated into Zinc.
Matt is the author of Zen in the Art of the SAT. Read his op-ed on adolescent literacy in the Hechinger Report here.
