Children who are reading behind grade level need additional intervention support. The Cougar Tutor Program was created in 2017 as part of a larger effort, called the Third Ward Schools Initiative, aimed at helping more students in the community read at or above level by the end of third grade. Since then, the program has expanded beyond the Third Ward.  

The goal of the initiative is to ensure that every student is reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade. A key strategy is the Cougar Tutor program, in which University of Houston (UH) students are specially trained to provide one-on-one and small group, in-school reading intervention to striving readers in designated classrooms throughout the school year. 

Through the Cougar Tutor Program, UH students are hired, trained, and placed in elementary classrooms within high-need school, identified by the district as top priority campuses for growth, to serve as literacy coaches and tutor students in small groups or individually, to build their vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and other reading skills. Cougar Tutors spend 12 to 15 hours each week in a designated classroom. Tutors receive hourly pay for service and gain experience, while the students they work with build a trusting relationship with a caring adult and develop stronger literacy skills. 

During the 2024-2025 academic year and funded by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Phillips 66, 40 Cougar Tutors served 9 elementary schools, throughout the Houston Independent School District (HISD), Alief Independent School District, and the Tejano Center- Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success, and provided 12,480 hours of tutoring.