Students in urban schools get big boost from pioneering tutor program

[babylonsister]

Students in urban schools get big boost from pioneering tutor program
Comprehension and other critical skills improve dramatically with one-on-one help from Experience Corps' volunteers, a new study shows.
By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the April 8, 2009 edition


Boston - Nearly a dozen children bustle into the classroom on a Monday morning, each slipping into a chair next to a waiting older adult, sharing a smile and greetings. The pairs quickly get to work, diving into the texts of their current books.

Karla Santana reads aloud to her tutor, Pat Patricelli, from "The Schoolyard Mystery." The two have worked together since fall, and the once-struggling fourth- grader now proclaims that she likes to read "because I learn things and it is fun."

Blackstone Elementary School in Boston is in its third year of working with volunteers from Experience Corps (EC), a program that engages adults 55 and over in tutoring children who lag far behind in reading. Founded in 1995, Experience Corps has grown to serve more than 20,000 children in 23 US cities.

A two-year study released today by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis finds that students with Experience Corps tutors make 60 percent more progress in critical reading skills, including comprehension, than similar children not in the program.

Perhaps even more remarkably, the results are the same regardless of gender, ethnicity, grade level, classroom behavior, or English proficiency.

"Given how hard it is to improve reading of low-proficiency students, I was really impressed with the findings," says Nancy Morrow-Howell, independent lead researcher from the university. "The numbers told us that Experience Corps has statistically significant and substantially important effects on reading."

more...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0408/p90s01-usgn.html

[Dinger]

1. We Have Something Like That Going On In Some Local Schools Around Here

It's a rural area here. They are senior citizens. They receive a stipend, and they work with elementary students, mostly in the primary grades. It works very nicely. The tutors find it very fulfilling, and its a definite plus for the kids. we don't have it in the school district I work in. In this economy, we can't afford it. Maybe there's a grant somewhere. I've never written a grant, but I have applied for and received grants for my school. Is that the same thing? I'll have to come up with a plan for my little rural school district.

[babylonsister]

2. Hi, Dinger. Here's a link on how to start a new project-maybe you

can glean some info from here:

http://www.experiencecorps.org/get_involved/start_a_new_project.cfm

And here's the link to experience corps' home page.

http://www.experiencecorps.org/index.cfm

The kids mentioned in the article have progressed enormously. This program sounds great to me.

Good luck!

[Voice for Peace]

3. The public school system should incorporate this into the curriculum for high school students

.. ie, that they get educational credits for classroom assistant work/tutoring. It would be a win-win-win.

[Progressive_In_NC]

4. So now we are advocating education as it existed pre-industrialization

I LOVE it. Each teacher should have kids in grades K-8 and then 9-12. The older kids tutor the younger kids thereby reinforcing what they learned the year before.

You also get the benefit of having kids socialize across age groups, and a cleaner working environment since 12 year olds tend to watch their mouths more around 5 year olds.

I'd vote for a progrma like this in a heartbeat. It would work much better than the cat herding we force teachers to go through now.

[Voice for Peace]

6. I agree with that kind of a classroom but I think it would be too big of a change to implement

whereas just getting the older kids into the classroom as helpers and tutors wouldn't be that hard. I've seen how the young kids -- even through junior high -- love having a "young" tutor, high school or college age, it really makes learning more fun for them & motivates them.

[babylonsister]

5. It could also encourage the older students to see the benefits

of pursuing a degree in education. Another win.

[Voice for Peace]

7. They could also work with colleges to have college students work towards teaching degree

by hands-on (for credit) working in the public school classrooms. What better preparation.

[Dinger]

8. And More Rural Areas Too (nt)