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	America Reads Challenge Resource Kit

Welcome!

Welcome to the AMERICA READS CHALLENGE Resource Kit. The materials in this kit were assembled by the U.S. Department of Education to help new America Reads Challenge community sites plan and implement literacy programs for children from birth through elementary school. The Resource Kit includes the following materials, organized within 12 tabs:

The America Reads Challenge

Background information on the America Reads Challenge and related initiatives:

• America Reads Challenge Overview
• What is the America Reads Challenge Initiative?
• What Is READ*WRITE*NOW! and How Does It Fit Into the Challenge?
• What Is the Federal Work-Study Program and How Does It Fit Into the Challenge?
• What Is the Role of the Corporation for National Service Programs In the America Reads Challenge?
• What Is the National Voluntary Test and How Does It Relate to the Challenge?
• What is the Reading Excellence Program?
• What is the President's Coalition for America Reads?
• What is AmericaCounts?

Meeting the Reading Challenge

A picture of where our students currently stand nationally and internationally in reading, and information on children's skills in reading and writing that most children can do by specific developmental periods.

• Fact Sheet: Where American Children Stand In Reading Nationally and Internationally
• Checkpoints for Progress for Families and Communities
• Checkpoints for Progress for Teachers and Learning Partners
• Ideas At Work
• Start Early, Finish Strong
• The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Report Card
• Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
• Starting Out Right

Getting Started

Basic information on how to start and implement an America Reads Challenge community tutoring program:

• Community Resources Model for the America Reads Challenge: Who Can Help and How?
• Members of the President's Coalition for the America Reads Challenge
• Directory of National and State Literacy Contacts
• National Directory of Head Start Programs
• Regional and State Child Care Liaisons and Child Care and Development Fund Contacts (HHS)
• Even Start Family Literacy Program Contacts: Coordinators and Program Sites
• Goals 2000 Parent Centers
• A Compact for Learning: An Action Handbook for Family-School-Community Partnerships
  • School Home Links Reading Kit
• America Reads Directory
• Simple Things You Can Do
• On the Road to Reading
• Learn about Federal Work-Study
• Sustaining Funding for Your Community Coalition
• How to Get Books
• How to Work with the Corporation for National Service (Senior Corps, AmeriCorps)
• Types of reading interventions for America Reads Challenge sites
• Sample Letters to Invite Families, Teachers, and Caregivers To Participate In or Learn About Your Site Activities.

Children Who Most Need Help

How to include children who most need help in reading and how to provide services that can improve their reading skills:

• Tip Sheets for Finding and Serving Children That Most Need Help in Reading
  • Tip Sheet: Including Title I children in community reading programs
    
  • Tip Sheet: Including children with disabilities in community reading programs
    
  • Tip Sheet: Including bilingual children in community reading programs
    
  • Tip Sheet: Including migrant children in community reading programs
    
  • Tip Sheet: Including children in early childhood in site activities, for children from birth through age 5
• Briefing Paper from National Information Center for Children and Youth With Disabilities (NICHCY) on Reading and Learning Disabilities

Recruit, Train and Honor Tutors

How to recruit tutors who can make a difference and train them so they can do their best job:

• Evidence That Tutoring Works
• The READ*WRITE*NOW! Partners Tutoring Program
• America Reads Challenge Principles and Key Components for High-Quality America Reads Challenge National Service Program Initiatives
• Read With Me
• How to Find Federal Work Study Tutors
• So That Every Child Can Read...America Reads Community Tutoring Partnerships
• Reading Helpers: A Guide for Training Tutors
• Linking Education and America Reads through National Service (LEARNS)
• Certificates of Recognition

Federal Work-Study Tutors

Information specifically geared for the Federal Work-Study tutor and their community.

• America Reads Challenge: College and Universities Federal Work-Study web page
• How to Implement an America Reads Tutoring Program and a Family Literacy Project at Your College
• Federal Work-Study and Community Service: How to Meet Your Federal Work-Study Requirements
• How to Find Federal Work-Study Tutors
• U.S. Department of Education's America Counts Initiative
• LEARNS: Linking Education and America Reads through National Service

Starting a Summer Reading Program

Information on why summer reading is important and ideas about how to start a summer reading program:

• 'Summer Reading Fun', the America Reads Challenge Summer 2000 web page
• Kids! Take the Summer Pledge!
• "A Smarter Summer"
• "A Smarter Summer" in Spanish
• Evidence That Tutoring Works
• Read*Write*Now! Online Book Reports
• Recipes for Summer Fun
• Article: Building Effective Programs for Summer Learning, Peter Johnson, America Reads Summer 2000 Intern, Yale University.

Resources

Materials for students, tutors, families, caregivers, and teachers to help children read well and independently:

• America Reads Challenge Resources, Publications and Research
• Reading Resources

Using the Media

• A Guide to Working with the Media
• Press Release Writing Tips
• Sample Press Releases

Evaluating Your Work

• Making Information Work for You

Liability Issues

Note

• Managing Volunteers Within the Law
• Negotiating the Legal Maze to Volunteer Service

America Reads Challenge Resource Kit