October, 1999 Update

A MESSAGE FROM AMERICA READS FEDERAL WORK-STUDY COORDINATOR FRANCES BOND

I am delighted to be part of the America Reads Challenge staff. I arrived at the U.S. Department of Education in August after serving five years with the Peace Corps and thirty years in higher education as a faculty member, chairperson of the early childhood education, and associate dean at Towson University. The America Reads Challenge is providing me an opportunity to combine my experiences in higher education and early childhood education and parenting. Working with families, caregivers, and young children in order to provide the best conditions for reading and learning have been important to me for more than two decades.

As coordinator of the America Reads Federal Work-Study (FWS) program, my goal for this academic year is to provide information, materials, and assistance to the more than 1,200 higher education institutions that participate in America Reads and to bring on-board institutions who have not yet made the commitment. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting with you at regional meetings and national conferences. If you are in the D.C. area, please visit the America Reads office in the Department of Education. To contact me call 202-401-9965, or e-mail Frances.Bond@ed.gov.

A MESSAGE FROM AMERICA COUNTS FEDERAL WORK-STUDY COORDINATOR WENDY GOLDSTEIN

Greetings! I am pleased to be serving as the FWS Coordinator for one of Secretary Riley's newer initiatives, America Counts. It is wonderfully exciting to be a part of such a critical effort and to know that at the end of every work day that I have helped keep the doors of opportunity wide open for many of our nation's school children. I am certain that you share similar feelings of fulfillment.

In just the few months that the FWS waiver for mathematics tutoring has been in effect, over 260 higher education institutions nationwide have signed up to blaze the mathematics-tutoring trails. The positive reception that America Counts has received from the higher education community has been most promising and I hope that this academic year sees every campus employing FWS students as math tutors and mentors. What a tremendous gift this would be for our young students!

It wasn't too long ago that I was a FWS student at the University of California, Berkeley. Like many students I was torn between a desire to volunteer in my community and a need to pay my tuition. The America Counts and America Reads FWS programs give college and university students the best of both worlds--a personal sense of accomplishment and financial rewards.

I look forward to working with you throughout the year and putting into your hands high-quality information and resources that can help your programs be successful. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, or even just to introduce yourself. I can be reached at 202-401-3030, or Wendy.Goldstein@ed.gov.

AMERICA READS TELECONFERENCE ON BUILDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Please join the U.S. Department of Education and the University of Vermont for a FREE, live, interactive teleconference - through satellite or Internet – on October 18, 1999 from 1:30 – 3:30 ET.

This teleconference is designed to help schools, colleges, neighborhood centers, community organizations, religious groups, libraries, and others develop effective partnerships to improve children’s reading achievement. Learn about successes and challenges from a panel of experts and practitioners moderated by the Director of America Reads, Carol H. Rasco. Please visit http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmreads/tele/ (no longer on-line) or call 1-800-933-9712 for more details and to register.

AMERICA COUNTS TUTORING ROADMAP

The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to announce that the America Counts Tutoring Roadmap is up and running. The roadmap is an on-line guide containing suggestions and materials for building and sustaining high-quality mathematics tutoring and mentoring programs. The roadmap provides information about key program components, such as setting goals, tutor recruitment, and tutor retention.

Mathematics tutor training materials--designed along grade bands and content strands--are available to download from the roadmap. Included with these training materials are diagnostic tools to enable tutors to identify student weaknesses, as well as suggested activities for helping young students build skills and understanding.

The roadmap also highlights materials suitable for use in tutoring sessions. They include activities, videos, games, computer software, web sites, and children's literature, organized along grade bands and content strands for easy use. While some of these materials will be available at no cost through the Internet, others will need to be purchased.

To view the roadmap, please visit http://www.ed.gov/americacounts/roadmap/ on the America Counts web site.

NEA TODAY ARTICLE

The September issue of NEA Today featured an article about Judi Beam, a Michigan Reading Recovery Teacher, who tapped into the America Reads Work-Study program to provide 21 reading tutors for her school. Since the publication of the article, America Reads has received more than 150 inquiries from teachers, school administrators, and reading specialists requesting information on how their school can benefit from work-study tutors. The great response to this article further demonstrates the need and value of work-study tutors. We hope more campus/community partnerships result from this endorsement of America Reads Work-Study programs. You may view the NEA article on the NEA website: http://www.nea.org/neatoday/9909/reading.html .

COMING SOON – AMERICA READS UPDATE SENT BY ELECTRONIC MAIL

In an effort to share information more frequently and efficiently, we will be sending the Federal Work-Study Update electronically beginning in December. Please check the November issue of the Update to receive information on how to subscribe.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT AMERICA READS and AMERICA COUNTS…

Visit the newly updated America Reads and America Counts web sites (http://www.ed.gov/americareads/ and http://www.ed.gov/americacounts/). We have included updated information, new links and colorful illustrations.

Join the America Reads*America Counts Listserv, an information and discussion forum for reading and mathematics tutoring. To subscribe, simply send an e-mail to lists@lyris.etr.org and in the message area type: subscribe americareads Firstname Lastname.

Contact the America Reads Challenge office at:

400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-0107
1-800-USA-LEARN
americareads@ed.gov

Contact the America Counts office at:

400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-8200
America.Counts@ed.gov
1-877-220-9684