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February 1999

A MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR CAROL H. RASCO

Greetings, America Reads friends!

Although February is the shortest month of the year, it has proven to be a busy one! On the 1^st of the month, President Clinton submitted his fiscal year 2000 budget to Congress. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley was prompted to state that, if approved by Congress, the budget "would help end social promotion, reduce class size, modernize schools, raise the quality of teaching, expand after-school activities, improve literacy, help immigrants learn English, and provide new pathways to college for disadvantaged students." For more information on the budget request, please visit www.ed.gov or www.whitehouse.gov, or call 1-800-USA-LEARN.

On February 8, 9, and 16 Federal Work-Study roundtable discussions were held in New Orleans, LA, Miami, FL, and Long Beach, CA. These meetings brought together area-representatives of America Reads programs to discuss issues such as recruitment, training, evaluation, and the new America Counts waiver which goes into effect on July 1, 1999. For more information on these and future roundtables, please e-mail Marsha Adler of San Francisco State University at mnadler@sfsu.edu.

Results of a national reading assessment were released on February 10, which showed that American students have improved significantly at all three grade levels tested, marking a Afirst@ for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). According to the 1998 NAEP reading Areport card,@ average scores increased since 1994 for students in grades 4, 8 and 12. Lower performing 4th-graders and most middle school students made especially significant progress. This data is extremely encouraging, but the NAEP results also show that there is still much work to be done to improve children's literacy. For more information on NAEP, please visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nrelease.shtml.

February 16^th was possibly the biggest day of the month (so far!). Secretary Riley delivered his annual State of American Education Address at California State University in Long Beach. A significant portion of the Secretary's speech was devoted to reading. He called on colleges, school districts and states to address teacher quality and make improvements in the recruitment, preparation and training of classroom teachers. It was very exciting to have the Pledge of Allegiance read by a CSU-Long Beach FWS tutor! For the full text of the Secretary's speech, go to www.ed.gov/Speeches/02-1999/990216.html.

The night of the 16^th was also the Satellite Town Meeting on Reading, which featured a panel of experts who discussed ways communities have come together to make reading a top priority. I was proud to serve with Secretary Riley and others on such a distinguished panel. For a copy of the tape, please call 1-800-USA-LEARN.

March promises to be just as jam-packed, so stay tuned...

AMERICA READS CHALLENGE RESOURCE KIT

The America Reads Challenge Resource Kit, designed to assist in the set up of an America Reads Challenge project, is now available online.

This resource includes...

• Background information on the America Reads Challenge

• A fact sheet on Americans children's performance on reading

• Checkpoints for Progress for teachers & parents

• Information on how to form a community coalition

• Tip sheets for serving children who are in the most need of help

• Information on recruiting and training volunteers

• A fact sheet on the new Reading Excellence Program

• Links to research on literacy, including the recently released report "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children"

• And more...

The goal of the America Reads Challenge is to ensure that all children become good readers by the end of the 3rd grade. One of the many ways communities are encouraged to assist is by setting up extended learning time for children, including after school and summer tutoring programs. The online tool kit contains tip sheets on how to reach and serve children most in need of help with reading. The kit will be updated on a regular basis. To view the kit, please visit www.ed.gov/americareads/.

A NEW EARLY CHILDHOOD PUBLICATION

A new publication, "Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success" was released in January. This guide, based on the National Research Council report entitled "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children," contains specific recommendations for parents, teachers, and childcare providers on how they can help children become successful readers. Every college and university signed onto the America Reads Challenge will receive a copy of this report, so please contact your campus' America Reads coordinator to see it. Or, you may view the document on the internet at www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/sor/.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!

For the second year in a row, the National Education Association is calling for every child in every community across the country to celebrate reading on March 2, 1999, Read Across America Day. Many college and university America Reads programs are setting up special events for their tutors and children.

Gillian Wilkings from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, "[we are] celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday by inviting nearly 100 elementary school kids to come read with our faculty, staff and celebrities, in our new library. The University is partnering with Baltimore Reads, Magic Me and some other local organizations. It will be wonderful!"

Priscilla Johnson from Penn State Lehigh Valley reports: "Our campus faculty and staff will volunteer their time to read to schoolchildren in neighborhood schools. We'll also volunteer our time at community agencies. As Coordinator of America Reads at the Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus, all of my tutors will read to their students that day. We did this last year and THEY LOVED IT!!"

Your campus or program might consider joining them and many other organizations to help make Read Across America a special day for children and families in your community.

For more information:

• Website: http://www.nea.org/readacross

• E-mail: readacross@nea.org

• Phone:(202) 822-SEUS

• Fax on demand: (888) 2 GET NEA

UPDATES ON NEW PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

IMPROVING READING AND REDUCING CLASS SIZE

The Reading Excellence Program, a $260 million federal grant program, will competitively award grants to States to improve reading. The Reading Excellence Program requires broad-based partnerships that include, but are not limited to parents, teachers, family literacy providers, volunteer organizations, libraries, colleges and universities, businesses, child-care providers, and professional development providers.

The purpose of the Department's Class Size Reduction initiative is to, over the next 7 years, help school districts hire and train 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size to a national average of 18 in grades 1-3. Reducing class size will help ensure that every child receives personal attention, gets a solid foundation for further learning, and learns to read independently by the end of third grade.

The Department of Education is pleased to announce the Reading Excellence and Class Size Reduction Programs Technical Assistance and Application Workshops to be conducted in March. The one-day workshops are designed to provide technical assistance to applicants for the Reading Excellence and Class Size Reduction Grants. All workshop sessions will be from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The agenda will include an overview of the grant application process and selection criteria, effective practices and a general question and answer period.

Workshops:

• March 8; Dallas, Texas

• March 11; San Francisco, California

• March 15; Washington, District of Columbia

• March 19; New York, New York

• March 25; Chicago, Illinois

• March 29; Charlotte, North Carolina

For more information or to register, please call (202) 260-8228 or e-mail reading.excellence@ed.gov.

GEARing UP for College

GEAR UP is a new program that supports early college preparation and awareness through grants to states and to partnerships between colleges and high-poverty middle schools and junior high schools that work with students to ensure that they receive the support and preparation to succeed in college. GEAR UP applications are due April 30, and applications will be available very soon. A draft application is currently on the GEAR UP website, www.ed.gov/gearup/. In March, eleven technical assistance workshops will be sponsored by the Ford Foundation to help prospective applicants develop applications for GEAR UP.

Workshops:

• March 1; Miami, Florida

• March 3;Atlanta, Georgia

• March 4;Albuquerque, New Mexico

• March 5;San Juan, Puerto Rico (NOTE - Conducted in SPANISH ONLY)

• March 8; Seattle,Washington

• March 9; Houston, Texas

• March 10; St. Louis, Missouri

• March 11; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• March 12;Los Angeles, California

• March 12;Boston, Massachusetts

• March 15; Denver, Colorado

For more information or to register, e-mail gearup@ncup.org or visit www.gearup.org/

LEARNING IN THE MORNING, IN THE EVENING, AND IN THE SUMMER!

The purpose of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative is to enable communities to establish or expand school-based programs to provide children and other community members with after-school, weekend and summers programs in safe, drug-free, and supervised environments. These Centers will provide academic enrichment and support; recreational, artistic, sports, and cultural activities; opportunities for children to participate in community service projects; nutritional and health services; access to technology and telecommunications; and activities to promote parent involvement and lifelong learning that can directly and indirectly benefit their children.

The U.S. Department of Education will award three-year grants on a competitive basis to local schools. The legislation states that schools should collaborate with other agencies in their community to set up programs, and colleges and universities could be an important partner. FWS tutors could potentially work in the Learning Center.

For more information, please visit www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/21stCCLC or e-mail: 21stCCLC@ed.gov.

CHILD CARE ACCESS MEANS PARENTS IN SCHOOL

The Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program is intended to support the participation of low-income parents in the postsecondary education system through the provision of campus-based child care services. Colleges and universities interested in setting up or expanding a child care center on campus, and who have a Pell grant disbursement of more than $350,000 for the previous fiscal year are eligible to apply for this competitive grant. The grant application is expected to be available by the end of February and will be due back in late April. For more information, please e-mail Cindy.Brown@ed.gov or call her at (202) 260-8458.

AMERICA COUNTS WAIVER

As you know, the Clinton-Gore Administration, as part of its America Counts Challenge, has expanded the Federal Work-Study Institutional-Share Waiver to include mathematics tutoring for elementary through ninth grade school children. This waiver becomes effective July 1, 1999. Efforts will soon be underway to launch a broader mobilization of tutors that will call upon Americans from all walks of life?including business leaders, scientists, health care professionals, and seniors?to serve as mathematics tutors and mentors in their communities.

To help ensure that America Counts tutoring sites establish high-quality, sustainable programs, and that FWS students and other interested tutors receive the necessary training and support to be effective tutors, the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation are currently developing an America Counts Resource Kit that will include suggestions for establishing math tutoring programs, training materials for tutors, information about demonstration sites, and nationwide mathematics-education contacts. Some pieces of the resource kit will be posted on the America Counts web site shortly. As other materials are completed, we will make them available to you.

For more information about America Counts and the National Mobilization, visit the America Counts website at www.ed.gov/americacounts, or call 1-800-USA-LEARN.

SUMMER READING 1999

Plans for the summer of 1999 are well underway at the Department of Education. A new activity poster for kids and tips for community leaders are currently being developed with the American Library Association and Reading Is Fundamental. An important aspect of this summer's activities will be to promote libraries as terrific resources for extended learning programs, camps, and RIF sites. Plans are also underway to encourage children to "link" directly with the Department of Education's Read*Write*Now effort by e-mailing reviews of their favorite books, new vocabulary words learned or other ways they're making reading and writing fun. Additional information will be provided in future UPDATES.

COALITION CORNER

Houston Eats and Reads!

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Houston READ Commission organized a community luncheon for the Houston Reads to Lead program. They invited two hundred participants in America Reads programs to celebrate literacy and reading and to consider the goals of Dr. King in terms of educational opportunity and social justice. Parents and children met local sports stars and took part in the Cooper Challenge as second time WNBA Most Valuable Player, Cynthia Cooper, provided fun reading tasks at each table.

The luncheon was sponsored by Half Price Books, Compaq Computers, AMC Theaters, Dow, Cogburn and Friedman, Whataburger, and Southwestern Bell. The local Fox station launched a new Public Service Announcement to support the Houston America Reads initiative. Other community partners in Houston include the Girl Scouts, Houston Independent School District, local adult and family literacy providers, Interfaith Ministries and the Urban League.

Houston's efforts to improve literacy have received attention beyond U.S. borders. Margaret Doughty, Executive Director of the Houston READ Commission, has been honored by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Doughty was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours List published on December 31, 1998. She has worked for more than 20 years in literacy, including service in the United Kingdom, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. Ms. Doughty will receive the award later this year at Buckingham Palace.

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Building the Bridge

California Reads is a collaborative effort between the California Department of Education, the state Eisenhower Grant Program, Books and Beyond, and others. Designed to help California elementary schools meet the goals of the America Reads Challenge, the program provides schools with a formal structure that provides training, staff development, program manuals, and additional materials. Available to children in kindergarten through grade 6, California Reads can be implemented in elementary schools, after school programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other civic organizations. Volunteer tutors with California Reads include AmeriCorps members and Work-Study students.

Children participating in the program read 30 minutes a day, five days a week with tutors or parents. California Reads uses a two-way model intended to provide schools with a vehicle to access community-outreach programs as well as an opportunity for community organizations to partner with schools. Training has taken place at over 100 pilot schools. To learn more about California Reads, e-mail the project at: booksbey@sbsd.k12.ca.us.

MORE UPCOMING EVENTS

• 1999 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 18-21, 1999, www.COOL2serve.org, (801) 581-8352.

• FWS Roundtables: San Francisco, California, March 19, 1999 and Missoula, Montana, March 29, 1999. Call Marsha Adler at (415) 338-6879 or email her at mnadler@sfsu.edu for more details.

• National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Annual Convention and Exhibition, March 20-23, 1999, San Francisco, California, www.naesp.org/nidx.htm.

• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's 3rd Annual National Conference: Leadership for Healthier Communities and Campuses, March 27-30, 1999, Seattle, Washington, www.futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ccph.html.

• 10^th Annual National Service Learning Conference, sponsored by the National Youth Leadership Council, San Jose, California, April 18-21, 1999, www.nylc.org.

• 8^th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy, sponsored by the National Center for Family Literacy, Louisville, Kentucky, April 18- 20, 1999, www.famlit.org.

• American Educational Research Association (AERA) 1999 Annual Meeting,

Montreal, Canada, April 19-23 1999, http://www.aera.net/index.html.

• Phi Theta Kappa, International Honor Society of the Two Year College 81^st International Convention, April 29-May 1, 1999, Anaheim, California, www.ptk.org.

• 1999 National Community Service Conference, sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation, June 6-9 1999, Las Vegas, Nevada, www.pointsoflight.org.

RESOURCES!

Thanks to everyone who responded to inquiries on the Listserve about the Wishbone recruitment materials. We are currently developing plans for new products, and welcome additional feedback and suggestions. Please e-mail your comments to Laura_Wood@ed.gov.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT AMERICA READS

The America Reads Listserv is a forum for interested parties to discuss questions and best practices regarding America Reads programs. To subscribe:

Address an e-mail to: majordomo@etr-associates.org
Type (in the text): subscribe americareads

Carol H. Rasco, Director, America Reads Challenge
Laura Wood, Coordinator, FWS/ARC Program
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202-0107
Ph: (202) 401-8888, Fax: (202) 260-8114
E-mail: Laura.Wood@ed.gov

Dr. Marsha Adler, Office of the President, San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132
Ph: (415) 338-6879, Fax: (415) 338-6885
E-mail mnadler@sfsu.edu

Jeff Gale, Corporation for National Service
1201 New York Avenue, N.W., 9th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20525
Ph: (202) 606-5000 ext. 280, Fax: (202) 565-2789
E-mail: Jgale@cns.gov

Toll free number for comments or ordering publications: 1-800-USA-LEARN or TDD 1-800-437-0833

For information on the America Counts Challenge:

Wendy Goldstein, U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20202
Ph: (202) 401-3030, Fax: (202) 401-9027,
E-mail: Wendy.Goldstein@ed.gov

www.ed.gov/americacounts/

Toll free number for comments or ordering publications: 1-800-USA-LEARN or TDD 1-800-437-0833