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

National Leadership

President Clinton's 1996 call for a national crusade to ensure that all children can read engaged individuals and organizations. It also launched and strengthened federal initiatives and programs to raise student reading achievement and prepare young children to learn to read.

America Reads Challenge

The U.S. Department of Education's America Reads Challenge calls on every American to do what he or she can to help a child become a successful reader. America Reads encourages parents and caregivers to read and talk daily to children from infancy. For teachers, America Reads advocates research-based college training and high-quality professional development. America Reads also encourages community efforts to recruit and train reading tutors to supplement classroom reading instruction.

America Reads promotes local literacy partnerships between parents, schools, libraries, child care centers, universities, businesses, and nonprofit groups. It also disseminates reading research and recommends further study. Since its launch in January 1997, nearly 300 organizations, from libraries and religious groups to schools and businesses, have stepped forward to join The President's Coalition for America Reads.

America Reads unites schools, libraries, and youth and community groups to sponsor summer and after-school reading programs across the country. In 1999, nearly 2 million Read*Write*Now! Activity Posters have been distributed, in English and Spanish, to enlist parents, grandparents, schools, and communities to keep children reading during the summer. The Read*Write*Now! Tip Sheet, in English and Spanish, offers ideas for starting a community reading program.

Through the Federal Work-Study program, more than 22,000 college students at 1,100 colleges and universities earned financial aid by serving as reading tutors in the 1997-98 academic year. Many more participated in the 1998-99 academic year. By 2000, almost all of the 3,300 colleges, universities, and trade schools receiving federal work-study funds are expected to have a reading tutor program.

The Higher Education Act of 1998 included additional funding for the Federal Work-Study program that will allow more college students to earn financial aid as reading tutors. Schools and community groups can contact their local college or university financial aid office to ask about placements for work-study tutors.

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America Reads/New York University

New York University (NYU) was one of the first universities to join the America Reads work-study program in 1997. Under the leadership of its president, NYU now has the largest America Reads work-study program in the nation. More than 700 work-study tutors serve in 61 New York City public elementary schools, reaching thousands of schoolchildren through 6,500 hours of service per week.

NYU America Reads tutors also work in the district's summer school programs and as camp counselors in the "Break Away Camps" sponsored by the chancellor of the New York City schools. The counselors tutor in reading as part of their duties.

One NYU tutor, Pablo, taught a first grader named Yesenia, who had problems with basic letter sounds, to read in English. "Now that Yesenia can read beginner books all the way through, she won't stop demanding that I teach her to read in Spanish," wrote Pablo. "She wants to be the first person in her class to be able to read in two languages! Last year, for my work-study job, I handed out ping-pong balls at an NYU game room. America Reads is a work-study job that is a lot more challenging and more rewarding."

In the fall of 1999, NYU will launch the America Counts program, assigning work-study tutors to help children struggling with math.

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America Reads Tutor Training

The U.S. Department of Education, the Corporation for National Service, and the Regional Educational Laboratories provide training to community literacy leaders and federal work-study tutors.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $3 million to communities in 40 states for ongoing training of 10,000 reading tutors. The $50,000 grants support partnerships that offer high-quality tutor training to community volunteers, such as senior citizens and employees, and to college students who may volunteer or earn financial aid by serving as reading tutors. Most local partnerships consist of a university, a school, and a community group.

A 1999 report, So That Every Child Can Read... America Reads Community Partnerships, was created to share the best practices of these projects. It is available online at no charge through the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.

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The Compact for Reading: Parents as Partners

The Compact for Reading is a guide on how to develop a compact, or written agreement, among families, teachers, principals, and students. The compact describes how all partners can help improve the reading skills of children from kindergarten through third grade, including those with disabilities and with limited English proficiency. Tutors and other community members can also be partners in a Compact for Reading.

Research shows that schools with properly implemented compacts raise student achievement higher than similar schools without compacts. Principals reported greater family involvement in homework and more parents reading with children at home. Schools with the greatest need for reading progress seem to benefit the most.

The Compact Guide comes with a School-Home Links Kit to help implement local Compacts. Developed by teachers for the U.S. Department of Education, the kit provides 100 reading activities for each grade from kindergarten through third. Three to four times a week, a teacher can provide these easy-to-use activities to families to expand student learning at home and encourage family involvement in reading activities.

The Compact for Reading is published in cooperation with The Los Angeles Times Reading by 9 campaign and available free from the U.S. Department of Education.

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The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program

The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (CSRD), launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 1998, will help raise student achievement by assisting public schools across the country in implementing effective, comprehensive school reforms. Through CSRD, approximately 2,500 schools will receive competitive grants from their states to adopt comprehensive reforms that help students reach high standards in reading, math, and other areas of identified need. The legislation requires each participating school to receive at least $50,000 of CSRD assistance annually.

These reforms must be based on reliable research and effective practices. They address virtually all aspects of a school's operations, including curriculum and instruction, student assessment, teacher professional development, parent involvement, and school management. Successful reforms also take advantage of high-quality assistance from outside partners experienced in school-wide reform.

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The Corporation for National Service

The Corporation for National Service is a major partner with America Reads. AmeriCorps members operate America Reads tutoring programs and recruit and train volunteers nationwide. In just five years, AmeriCorps members have taught, tutored, and mentored more than 2.2 million children.

In addition to AmeriCorps, thousands of Americans participate in reading improvement programs through AmeriCorps*VISTA, Senior Corps, Foster Grandparents, Seniors In Schools, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and Learn and Serve America. AmeriCorps members also organize 45,000 community volunteers in elementary school reading programs.

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Even Start

Even Start is a federally-funded family literacy program. It helps break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving educational opportunities for the nation's low-income families with young children. Since its modest beginnings in 1989, Even Start grew to more than 730 projects by 1998.

Approximately 40,000 families participate in Even Start projects across the nation. More than 90 percent have incomes substantially below the poverty level, and 85 percent of the parents have neither a high school diploma nor a GED. Even Start families represent a wide spectrum of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Even Start views literacy as a legacy to be passed down through a family. The project has three interrelated goals. First, through parenting education, it helps parents become full partners in the education of their children. Second, through early childhood education, it assists children in reaching their full potential as learners. Third, through adult basic education, it provides literacy training for parents. Each component builds upon the other, creating a composite that is more powerful and enduring than any single piece.

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Head Start

Head Start, a federally funded grant program, was launched in 1965. Through age-appropriate activities, the program has helped more than 15 million young children develop the social competence that fosters language and literacy skills, such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In 1998, 830,000 children ages 3 to 5, and their families, were served in all 50 states. Ninety percent of Head Start lead teachers have a Child Development Associate credential, a degree in early childhood education, or a state certificate to teach.

A major priority for Head Start is to involve parents in the education of their children. More than 800,000 parents volunteer annually, and about 30 percent of Head Start staff are parents of either current or former students of children enrolled in the program.

Head Start also promotes family literacy. It seeks to:

• develop the skills of parents and staff in providing language-rich opportunities to children
• increase families' access to materials and activities that develop literacy
• support parents in their role as a child's first teacher
• assist parents in addressing their own literacy needs

The Early Head Start program, for low-income families with infants and toddlers, aims to enhance children's development in all areas, including language and literacy. In 1998, more than 200 Early Head Start centers served 39,000 youngsters in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In 1999, more than 100 new centers will serve 4,000 additional children. The Clinton-Gore administration has proposed doubling in five years the number of babies and toddlers reached by Early Head Start.

Contact:

National Head Start Association
(703) 739-0875
https://www.nhsa.org/index.htm

National Institute for Literacy

The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) serves as a resource for the entire literacy community. A joint project of the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, NIFL focuses primarily on adult and family literacy. In 1998, NIFL received a $5 million grant from the Reading Excellence Program to disseminate literacy information.

LINCS, the Institute's technology initiative, is a cooperative electronic network of major literacy resources and organizations. LINCS is America's only national information retrieval and communication system for adult literacy.

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A National Summit on Reading

U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley convened the first National Reading Summit in September of 1998. The Summit brought together policymakers and education leaders from 50 states and territories to disseminate the findings of the National Research Council's report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Riley also challenged each state to do more to improve child literacy.

States are now able to share best practices and model programs with each other and compare policies regarding teacher preparation and certification, standards for professional development, spending on early childhood and literacy, and other cutting edge issues.

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Partnership for Family Involvement in Education

Education Secretary Riley launched The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education (PFIE) in 1994 to bring together employers, educators, families, religious groups, and community organizations to improve schools and raise student achievement.

More than 5,000 organizations are currently members of the Partnership, from every state in the country. Employers include Hewlett-Packard, Mattell, Walt Disney, TEXACO, HBO, IBM, NBC, MTV, Scholastic, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Eastman Kodak and AT&T. Community groups include Boys and Girls Clubs, the Children's Defense Fund, YMCAs, PTAs, and Girls Scouts of the USA. Religious group members represent a variety of faiths. Many different kinds of schools are members.

The Partnership has several important roles. First it strengthens family-school partnerships through good communication and mutual responsibility for children's learning. Second, it encourages adoption of family- and student- friendly business practices. Third, it provides before- and after-school learning activities for children. Fourth, it makes effective use of facilities, schools, community buildings, and churches for children and families. And fifth, PFIE gives parents the resources, training, and information they need to help children learn, and teachers and principals the tools they need to engage families.

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PBS: Ready To Learn

Ready To Learn Television is a large network of public television stations. Supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the Ready To Learn program funds hands-on workshops to train child care workers, families, and teachers to connect PBS children's television programming with language, literacy, reading, and other learning activities.

The number of participating stations grew from 48 in 1995 to 122 at the end of 1998. This gives Ready To Learn the potential to reach 90 percent of the nation. To date, Ready To Learn training has reached more than 120,000 parents and more than 97,000 early childhood teachers and other professionals.

Ready To Learn stations collaborate with local partners, such as Head Start, Even Start, the PTA, libraries and museums. In addition, the project publishes a quarterly magazine in English and Spanish and distributes books to children.

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Prescription For Reading Partnership

Championed by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Prescription for Reading is a national partnership led by Reach Out and Read, Born to Read (of The American Library Association), Scholastic. and First Book. Launched in 1997, the program challenges booksellers, publishers, libraries, hospitals, pediatricians, health centers and others to work together to ensure that infants and toddlers who visit doctors have access to books and are read to regularly.

Among the partnership's accomplishments are:

• An increase from 150,00 to 750,00 children served by Reach Out and Read.
• An increase from 500 to 4,500 doctors and nurses trained to "prescribe" reading.
• Contributions made by Scholastic and First Book of more than 235,000 books.
• Distribution of more than one million books by participating doctors.

In support of this program, Mrs. Clinton has launched Reach Out and Read programs in Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, DC, and New York City.

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Reading Excellence

In 1998, President Clinton signed the Reading Excellence Act, the most significant child literacy law in three decades. The Reading Excellence Program awards grants to states to improve reading. The program is designed to:

• Provide children with the readiness skills and support they need to learn to read once they enter school.
• Teach every child to read by the end of the third grade.
• Use research-based methods to improve the instructional practices of teachers and others.
• Expand the number of high-quality family literacy programs.
• Provide early intervention for children with reading difficulties.

States compete for $241 million in grants. Successful states hold competitions for local school districts. The first round of grants will be awarded in summer 1999, with local grants to follow. Because low-income children experience reading failure at higher rates than other students, the funding is directed toward the state's poorest districts and schools.

Contact:

reading_excellence@ed.gov
www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/index.html

Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants

This new $75 million federal program aims to boost student achievement in reading and other subjects through improvements in teacher quality. State Grants support comprehensive statewide reforms to improve teacher quality, including systemic change to state teacher licensure policies and practices. Partnership Grants bring about fundamental change and improvement in traditional teacher education programs. Teacher Recruitment Grants reduce shortages of qualified teachers in high-need school districts. All grants are competitive.

Contact:

Ed Crowe
U.S. Department of Education
(202) 260-8460
teacherquality@ed.gov
www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/heatqp

Title I Funding

Funds under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provide $8 billion in support for elementary and secondary education. The goal is to improve teaching and learning for students who live in low-income areas and who are at risk of failing to meet challenging state standards. Of more than eleven million children served by Title I, 37 percent are in first, second, or third grade, and most receive extra help in reading.

Title I funds also assist children of migrant workers and families with low literacy, as well as students with other educational barriers such as limited English, disabilities, delinquency, neglect, and homelessness. Title I aims to help all children reach high standards.

Local schools use more than 90 percent of Title I funds for instruction and instructional support, such as salaries for teachers and aides to help children improve in reading or mathematics. Funds also may be used for professional development, early childhood programs, family literacy, evaluation, and parental involvement efforts. Additional federal funding is available to some Title I schools under the Reading Excellence Act, targeting professional development and tutoring in reading, as well as assistance with kindergarten transition and family literacy.

Contact:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Compensatory Education
(800) USA-LEARN
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/CEP/index.html

21st Century Community Learning Centers

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers are a key component of the Clinton-Gore administration's effort to keep children safe and help them learn after school. With the strong support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, approximately 250,000 children participate.

About $200 million dollars supports 1,600 Community Learning Centers in more than 460 communities in 49 states. These funds help schools stay open longer and establish or expand after-school and summer programs for children. The Centers provide academic enrichment, tutors and support; artistic, sports, and cultural activities; opportunities for children to participate in service learning and community development projects; nutritional and health services; access to technology and telecommunications; and activities to promote parent involvement and lifelong learning.

Contact:

21st Century Community Learning Centers
U.S. Department of Education
(800) USA-LEARN
21stCCLC@ed.gov
www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/21stcclc/

U.S. Department of Labor Certification in Child Development

The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT) is taking a collaborative approach to credentialling child care providers. Through BAT's partnership with the state of West Virginia's apprenticeship program, candidates who take four semesters of college courses and get 4,000 hours of on-the-job training receive certification from the U.S. Department of Labor as a Child Development Specialist.

Hundreds of providers have graduated from the program, and many hundreds more are actively pursuing completion of the requirements. Florida, Minnesota, and Maine have followed suit, with Maine requiring six semesters of college courses.

The program draws on core teams of educators, health professionals, parents, and employers. The system creates a career ladder for child care providers who earn their salaries while in the program and receive incremental wage increases as their skills, abilities, and knowledge increase. Research shows that appropriate training can enhance a caregiver's ability to develop children's literacy and language skills.

Employers report almost no turnover among participating providers, and the providers report high satisfaction with their careers. Plans are under way to launch similar projects in 10 more states in 1999.

Contact:

Dana Daugherty
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training
Child Care Development Specialist Registered Apprentice Program
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
(202) 219-5921
www.doleta.gov/bat

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Introduction Action in the States