A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

VERMONT

VERMONT STATE COLLEGES
America Reads Contact: Karrin Wilks
P.O. Box 359
Waterbury, Vermont
E-mail: wilksk@quark.vsc.edu Internet Address: www.vsc.edu
Telephone: (802) 241-2520 Fax: (802) 241-3369

Participation: The Vermont State Colleges, a statewide system of five public colleges, have teamed up with the Vermont Department of Education and a number of other state literacy organizations to meet the America Reads challenge. Together the steering committee has recruited hundreds of college students and volunteers from the community since the program began in the fall of 1997. The colleges work with the literacy organizations to plan the effort, and together they recruit and train the reading partners who will work with Vermont children.

Tutoring: This semester, close to 125 students and other volunteers are working with young children up to the third grade. The reading partners work in local libraries, daycare centers, after-school programs, doctors' offices, and other settings.

Resources: Faculty and staff from the Vermont State Colleges are coordinating the America Reads activities with statewide literacy groups. Funding is provided from a state grant through the Vermont Department of Education.

Research: The steering Committee for Vermont's America Reads program is currently developing methods to evaluate the activities for their effectiveness.

Relations: When the program kicked off in fall 1997, the Vermont State Colleges actively promoted the effort with local media and received coverage through the state's largest newspaper and television station. The colleges are working to promote ongoing stories about tutors who have been placed in interesting settings.

-###-

[UTAH]

[VIRGINIA]