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FEDERAL WORK-STUDY UPDATE

October 1, 1997

A MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR CAROL H. RASCO

The Back to School season is in full swing, and spirits and expectations are always high as a new school year begins. I hope your work on the America Reads Challenge is proceeding well, and hope you won't hesitate to let us know what we can do to be of further assistance to ensure that every child can read well and independently by the end of third grade.

UPDATES VIA EMAIL

As we mentioned last month, we are sending these monthly updates to all the schools which have taken the Challenge. In order to make sure this information is timely, we want to send these updates to the appropriate person and electronically or via fax. If you haven't already done so, please email your email address and fax number to Marsha Adler at San Francisco State University at mnadler@diana.sfsu.edu or fax your email address and fax number to her at (415) 338.6885. Thank you!

UPDATE ON AMERICA READS CHALLENGE LEGISLATION

The America Reads Challenge Act continues to be pending in Congress. The initiative has been fully funded at $260 million in both the House and Senate Committee versions of the appropriation bills. The funding, however, would not be available until Fiscal Year 1999, and would be dependent upon authorization of the America Reads Challenge Act, or a piece of legislation consistent with the goals and concepts of America Reads, by April 1, 1998.

The Senate voted on the appropriations bill last week which included this funding. However, their bill also included an amendment which would take appropriations funding for many programs that serve K-12 students and establish a block grant. This funding would be allocated to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) who would determine how it would be used. If this amendment is accepted in the final Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill, America Reads would not receive separate funding for its programs.

The House will continue to consider their version of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill this week. The House version does not have a Block Grant amendment pending.

The Majority on the House Education and Workforce Committee is still expected to introduce a legislative alternative to the America Reads Challenge Act, but to date it has not been introduced.

FEDERAL WORK-STUDY

Over 760 colleges and universities have signed up to support the America Reads Challenge through the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program. An informal focus group was conducted on September 12 for all the schools in the Washington, D.C. area to see what they most needed from the America Reads Challenge to produce high quality programs. We hope to conduct three additional informal focus groups around other regions of the country. However, if you have thoughts, suggestions, needs or criticisms, please don't hesitate to contact Dr. Marsha Adler, San Francisco State University, mnadler@sfsu.edu at 415.338.6879; Janet V. Green, Department of Education at 202.401.8888; Dr. Marilyn Smith at the Corporation for National Service 202.606.5000x138.

Here's a look at two America Reads Challenge FWS programs:

At the summer Read*Write*Now! pilot site in Baltimore, 26 University of Maryland-Baltimore campus graduate students worked full time - 40 hours each week - participating as tutors in the Super Summer Camp, a program that served 450 children. What makes their participation unique is that they are all graduate students in the health sciences -- medicine, dentistry and social work -- and often find it difficult to participate in these types of programs because of the internship demands required of their intense study demands. The student tutors were able to condense their financial aid commitment into an 8-week period to work with children from 20 schools, all located in high poverty areas. Tutors spent one hour each morning working on intensive reading plus an additional 30 minutes in the afternoon in the "love of reading" session during which the Read*Write*Now! Activity Guide was used.

Another exciting program this fall is taking place through a partnership between Miami-Dade Community College, three other colleges and universities, and the Dade County Public Schools. A total of 205 students from Miami-Dade CC, Florida International University, University of Miami, and Barry University have completed tutor training, and are working this fall in 34 schools and 6 after school programs across the county. The tutoring manual - America Reads/Miami Reads Tutoring Guide - was produced by the Dade County Public Schools and is a terrific resource. Copies are available by contacting Bob Exley, Assistant to the District President, at (305) 237-7027.

Please tell us about your America Reads program. We would be pleased to share your description via this newsletter and the listserv.

Visit our web site to see if the other colleges and universities in your community are signed on to the America Reads Challenge. If not, recruit them! The Response Form is posted at on our web at: www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/Newsletters/970917-3.html.

THE PRESIDENT'S COALITION FOR THE AMERICA READS CHALLENGE

The President's Coalition for the America Reads Challenge was launched to provide private and public organizations the opportunity to support volunteer reading efforts by involving their members in activities that fit with their desire to ensure that every child read well and independently. President's Coalition members commit time and resources to building community coalitions for literacy by supporting existing literacy programs and developing new ones where needed, and by recruiting learning partners to work on reading with America's young children from birth through third grade.

And, please remember, your institution is automatically considered a member of the President's Coalition because of your participation in the FWS program of the America Reads Challenge.

Here's a look at how some members are creating partnerships to help families and communities meet the goal of the America Reads Challenge:

The American Booksellers Association has partnered with Scholastic, Inc. and the Association of Booksellers for Children to distribute some 100,000 free copies of Rosemary Wells' new book Read to Your Bunny. The project is designed to encourage parents to read to their very young children. Participating bookstores will distribute the books to parents and guardians of young children as part of the Prescription for Reading Partnership, in response to President Clinton's America Reads Challenge. Read to Your Bunny is a picture book that demonstrates the simple message that reading to a child is an important part of daily activities. The promotion runs from November 1997 through March 1998.

Scholastic, Inc. has also partnered with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA) to produce a poster encouraging parental and community involvement in children's education. Posters have been mailed to all classrooms that subscribe to Scholastic magazine and all bilingual education grantees. A limited supply is available through the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1-800-321-NCBE.

Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of Two-Year Colleges (1,100 campuses and 145,000 honor students), has committed to a two-year service focus on America Reads starting with their annual meeting in the spring of 1998. They will provide members with printed materials that include background information on the America Reads Challenge, a list of terrific ideas for implementing programs at the chapter level, a Q&A sheet about why the Challenge is needed, and a resource list of national organizations and programs.

A complete listing of President's Coalition members is available on the America Reads Challenge web site at www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/arc-pmem.html.

If you'd like information about the President's Coalition for the America Reads Challenge, call Ms. Billie Rollins, America Reads Challenge at the U.S. Department of Education at (202) 401-3069.

REMEMBER...

You'll find up-to-date information about the America Reads Challenge plus tutoring materials including READ*WRITE*NOW!, READY*SET*READ, JUST ADD KIDS, the PARTNERS TUTORING PROGRAM GUIDE, and two publications in Spanish, ACTIVIDADES PARA DIVERTIRSE LEYENDO Y ESCRIBIENDO for children age birth through grade 6, and JUGANDO CON PAPEL for children 5 and under, on the U.S. Department of Education's site.

For additional information about the America Reads Challenge...

The America Reads Listserv is a forum for interested parties to discuss questions and best practices regarding America Reads programs. A listserv is a mailing list of people who communicate about a common interest through Internet e-mail. The America Reads Listserv was created for colleges, universities, students, experts and practitioners in the field of literacy to share best practices, publications, curriculum, ideas on how to mobilize for this effort, federal work-study and financial aid issues, etc.

To subscribe:

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

The America Reads Web Site contains an overview of the Challenge, how to get involved, questions and answers, legislative update, research, examples of tutoring and parent involvement programs, READY*SET*READ and Read*Write*Now! publications, and Federal Work-Study information. http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/

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