Ensuring systematic training for America Reads tutors
Abstract
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's resource So That Every Child Can Read...America Reads Community Tutoring Partnerships, describes START, a tutor training program in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Through a successful collaborative effort that includes community groups, public and private schools, and libraries, volunteer tutors in the program are provided with knowledge of basic literacy development, systematic training and practice, and continual assessment of their own and their students' skills.Issue
Providing volunteer tutors with the skills they need for success in literacy programs.
Action
The START Partnership includes: Montgomery County O.I.C. of Norristown, Montgomery County -- Norristown Public Library, Rosemont College, Norristown Family Center, Woodlynde School, Beaver College, the Norristown Area Schools and the Montgomery County Community College. O.I.C., the lead partner, will provide overall leadership and direction, reading specialists and project assistants, office and classroom space in the heart of the neighborhoods being served, and will act as a liaison with Norristown parents, elementary schools, and other community leaders and organizations. The Norristown Family Center will also act as a liaison, as well as providing space and publicity.
The Norristown Public Library will provide the expertise of their Head Librarian and Children's Librarian, classroom space, library resources (children's literature, tutor training material), expertise in the development of the tutoring training model, tutor training in the selection of good quality children's books and learning activities, publicity for the recruitment of tutors and learners, and expertise in parent and teacher relations.
Rosemont College and Beaver College will provide Federal Work Study students and student volunteers and/or expertise in recruiting FWS students from other area colleges. Woodlynde School will provide the Internet-based, distance education component of the START training program, including a START website, preparation of online documents, setup and monitoring of online forums or chat groups, and setup of e-mail capability for tutors.
Finally, the Norristown Area Schools will identify K-3 students who qualify for START reading tutoring, make parent referrals, and provide access to high school-age tutors, access to school reading specialists, and knowledge related to individual students needs.
START will provide tutors with basic knowledge related to literacy learning and teaching:
- How reading typically develops during grades K-3
- How reading may develop differently for some low-income students
- How to gather information about a child's current level of reading development
- How to work with a child's teacher and parents
- How to use information gathered about a child's reading ability to construct a tutoring plan
- How to teach basic reading skills
- What to teach, based on consultation with START experts, the child's teacher, and others
- How to adjust tutoring based on the child's response to teaching activities
- How to select materials to use for tutoring, including children's literature (material to be available at START, at the Norristown Public Library, and on a START Internet site)
START will also provide tutors with the supervised practice in reading that they need in order to be successful, including:
- Simulated practice
- Direct, one-to-one tutoring with a child under the direction of an experienced START reading teacher
- On-going follow-up activities as the tutor continues to work with a child on his or her reading
START's tutor training includes the following:
- Training of tutors which totals at least sixteen hours, led by reading specialists and spread over four weeks
- Training ten or less tutors at a time
- Training which includes five 2-hour classroom instruction sessions, and three 2-hour sessions of supervised practice and case studies
- Providing basic knowledge related to literacy development in young children
- Assessing the tutor's skills and knowledge throughout the training through online forums, online chat rooms, dedicated e-mail accounts, and tutor journal
- Teaching how to assess the tutee's skills and knowledge throughout the tutoring experience, and how to modify lesson plans based on those assessments
Context
Recognizing that reading is the key to learning and that research shows that students unable to read well by the end of the third grade are more likely to leave school and have fewer good options for jobs, former President Bill Clinton issued the America Reads Challenge in 1997, asking all Americans to join in the effort to improve children's reading achievement. The America Reads Challenge was a four-year grassroots national campaign that stressed the importance of communities coming together to ensure all children read well. Its premise was that everyone could join in the challenge — whether by volunteering to read with a child, participating in book drives, or supporting teachers and schools.
In September 1997, the America Reads Challenge committed funds to support selected reading tutoring programs already in existence and encourage the creation of new ones with a strong emphasis on tutor training. In June 1998, thousands of universities, colleges, community literacy programs, professional organizations and Corporation for National Service sites were invited to apply for $50,000 America Reads Challenge subcontracts. The goals of the America Reads funding were to facilitate innovation in reading tutoring and to create an arena in which to identify effective and promising practices in program development and tutor training.
John Kruidenier, educational consultant and literacy and technology specialist, proposed to the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) in Norristown, Pennsylvania, that the center form a partnership to create a local America Reads project. Located in an old mining and industrial town west of Philadelphia, the OIC serves one of the largest pockets of low-income families in the region. The community responded to the idea with plenty of willing partners: a family services center, public and private schools, libraries and two nearby colleges. START is the partnership that resulted.
Citation
Potter, Jana, Judy Blankenship, and Laura Carlsmith, April 1999. So That Every Child Can Read... America Reads Community Tutoring Partnerships. A Review of Effective and Promising Practices in Volunteer Reading Tutoring Programs. Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. pp. 34-35.Evidence
Data collected for program evaluation includes tutor satisfaction survey, tutor learning (pre- and post-knowledge survey), student satisfaction survey, and changes in student reading ability (observations, interviews, and pre- and post-tutoring reading assessments).
Results from the analysis of all data collected are to be presented in a final report shared among partners.
Posted On
May 1, 2000Resources
See START: Systematic Training for America Reads Tutors: Norristown, Pennsylvania for more information.Source Documents
Related Practices
No related practicesRelated sites
America Reads Building Literacy Through Community Partnership
America Reads:Principles and Key Components