!

!
!
Emma!Byrne!! !
!
Program!Director!
The!Literacy!Lab!
623!Florida!Ave!NW!
Washington,!D.C.!20001!!
!

March!29,!2015!

Dear!Sir!or!Madam:!
I!am!pleased!to!be!writing!a!letter!of!recommendation!for!Ms.!Kristina!Harkins!to!
be!recognized!as!a!Pi!Lambda!Theta!Graduate!Student!Scholar.!I!have!known!Kristina!
professionally!since!August!2014,!when!I!hired!her!as!a!literacy!tutor!in!the!Metro!DC!
Reading!Corps,!a!Washington,!D.CV!based!AmeriCorps!program!in!its!second!year!of!
implementation!by!The!Literacy!Lab.!From!a!pool!of!over!500!applicants,!Kristina!
distinguished!herself!as!a!top!candidate!for!this!position!through!her!commitment!to!
education!and!her!skills!as!a!professional.!!
While!working!as!a!literacy!tutor!in!our!program,!Kristina!has!continued!to!
demonstrate!her!professional!skills!and!ethic!of!service.!Each!day,!Kristina!provides!
oneVonVone!literacy!tutoring!to!her!caseload!of!sixteen!KV3!students!at!risk!of!reading!
failure!at!Stanton!Elementary,!a!school!in!the!District!of!Columbia!Public!Schools!
system.!Kristina!administers!standard!interventions!to!her!students,!and!through!data!
collection!and!observation,!works!with!a!team!of!coaches!and!teachers!to!develop!
individualized!intervention!plans.!Kristinas!efforts!not!only!help!these!atVrisk!students!
become!proficient!readers!by!grade!three,!but!also!help!to!increase!the!capacity!of!other!
school!interventionists!and!teachers!so!that!greater!numbers!of!students!are!receiving!
highVquality!services.!!
Kristinas!most!salient!strengths!are!her!professionalism!and!dedication!to!
education.!Kristina!is!driven!to!provide!topVnotch!services!to!her!students!and!therefore!
works!very!hard!to!master!the!Reading!Corps!interventions.!As!a!result,!she!has!a!90.4%!
accuracy!rate!on!her!intervention!delivery!and!has!one!of!the!highest!average!daily!
dosage!rates!of!all!54!tutors!in!her!cohort.!Kristina!is!extremely!dedicated!to!providing!
high!quality!services!to!her!students.!While!tutoring!in!our!program,!Kristina!has!also!

attended!classes!to!attain!her!TESOL!certification!so!that!she!can!return!to!teaching!
English!as!a!second!language!in!China.!!
I!believe!that!Kristina!is!the!right!candidate!for!the!Pi!Lambda!Theta!Graduate!
Student!Scholar!award.!Kristina!has!contributed!a!great!deal!to!the!success!of!her!
students!at!Stanton!Elementary!School!and!the!success!of!the!Reading!Corps!program!
overall.!I!am!excited!to!see!Kristina!continue!to!grow!as!an!educational!leader!and!
practitioner.!I!know!that!this!award!will!recognize!Kristinas!contributions!to!closing!the!
literacy!achievement!gap!here!in!Washington,!D.C.,!an!issue!at!the!heart!of!the!
educational!crisis!in!our!country.!!!
!

Again,!I!am!very!pleased!to!be!writing!this!recommendation!for!Ms.!Kristina!

Harkins,!and!welcome!any!further!inquiries!into!her!position!within!our!organization.!!
!
!!

Sincerely,!
!
Emma!Byrne!!
Program!Director,!Metro!DC!Reading!Corps!!