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

How to Use this Guide

• how children become readers;
• teaching and tutoring strategies that promote reading and literacy development;
• the important role of families as children's first and primary educators; and
• building community partnerships to support literacy.

The basic information provided in On the Road to Reading will help community partners get started in their literacy efforts. Readers can learn more about reading and literacy through Web sites, books, journals, audiovisual materials, and public and private organizations that focus on helping young children become engaged readers. Many of these resources are listed in Appendix B, Resources for Tutoring Programs, and Appendix C, Organizations that Support Literacy.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• readers of this Guide;
• topics addressed in the Guide; and
• using the Guide for a variety of tasks.

We ought to commit ourselves as a country to say by the year 2000, 8-year-olds in America will be able to pick up an appropriate book and say, 'I read this all by myself.'

President Bill Clinton, Fresno, California, September 12, 1996

Readers of this Guide

Spotlight on Tutoring

Why Are Tutoring Programs Needed? Four out of 10 children in kindergarten through grade three are at-risk in terms of literacy development. Forty percent of the nation's fourth graders scored below the basic level on the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress. The majority of children who are at-risk respond to tutoring and other interventions. While fewer than one out of four children with reading difficulties have learning disabilities, 80 percent of the children who are diagnosed with learning disabilities have a disability that affects their reading skills. Interventions typically do not take place before age 9 or 10, after a child has experienced at least two years of failure in reading. By this age the stage is set for failure and it is extremely difficult for children to recover lost ground.

What Do Children Gain from Tutoring? Children with average reading skills are encouraged to progress to the next level. Children whose reading skills are below those of their peers receive individualized attention to address identified problems and gaps in development. Supplementing classroom resources allows teachers to give all children in the class more attention so everyone benefits. Children learn at home as well as in tutoring settings because tutors recognize parents as their children's first and primary teachers and encourage them to support their children's reading skills and enhance their own literacy development. Children can maintain their reading skills during the summer months. Children who are out of school for extended periods of time due to illness or other circumstances can maintain and increase their reading skills.

Topics Addressed in the Guide

Every reader has a way of getting to know a new publication. Some readers will skim it front to back; others will turn to topics of interest or those relevant to their role. After this introduction, there are five additional chapters, each of which addresses a specific topic, and four appendices. Readers can use the chart that follows to learn what topics are addressed in On the Road to Reading.

On the Road to Reading: A Guide for Community Partners

Using the Guide for a Variety of Tasks

Readers can use On the Road to Reading as a general reference guide for promoting children's reading and as a resource for carrying out a wide range of tasks related to planning and implementing literacy development programs. The following chart offers a few examples of how to use different sections of the Guide to address specific needs.

As readers become familiar with the contents of the Guide, they will find many ways to use the information, checklists, and examples to carry out a variety of tasks.

Using On the Road to Reading

[The Guide at a Glance]

[How Most Children Learn to Read]