How it Began
The America Reads Challenge is a grassroots national campaign that
challenges every American to help all our children learn to read,
including English Language Learners and students with
disabilities. America Reads sparks collaborations between
entire communities - schools and libraries, businesses and
community groups, religious institutions, universities,
college students and senior citizens - to work together with
teachers and parents to teach our children to read.
Our Mission
The America Reads Office in the Department of Human Development and
Learning at ETSU recruits, hires and trains college students to
provide one-on-one and small group reading instruction to children
in the region who read below a third grade level.
Our program provides local children and youth personalized tutoring
needed in order to excel in reading thus boosting their confidence,
motivation and overall academic achievement. Educators
receive needed assistance in their efforts to ensure student
success as tutors complement and reinforce classroom
instruction. We also conduct
Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 visits
to stress the importance of reading. A literacy event is held
each year with a school or community program to showcase literacy
skills , encourage children to read, provide books to the children
and to promote literacy awareness to parents and community.
Why the Need for America Reads Challenge?
Research shows us that more than nine out of ten children
can learn to read, yet national assessments show that a significant
number of children are not reaching their reading potential.
68% of fourth grade public school students in the United States
scored below proficient reading level in 2009.
Tennessee results show that 72% scored below proficient reading
level.
Reading proficiently by the end of third grade (as measured by NAEP
at the beginning of fourth grade) can be a make-or-break benchmark
in a child's educational development.
Three quarters of students who are poor readers in third grade will
remain poor readers in high school, according to researchers at
Yale University.
Students with relatively low literacy achievement tend to have more
behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades and higher
rates of retention in grade.
The National Research Council asserts that "academic success, as
defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable
accuracy by knowing someone's reading skill at the end of third
grade. A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader
by that time is unlikely to graduate from high school.
Low achievement in reading has important long-term consequences in
terms of individual earning potential, global competitiveness, and
general productivity.
The world economy demands a more educated workforce, and
grade-level reading proficiency is the key.
All information obtained from the The Annie E. Casey Foundation
report
EARLY WARNING! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade
Matters (2010).
How it Helps
Research demonstrates that tutoring increases a child's reading
achievement, confidence and motivation, in addition to a sense of
control over his or her reading ability. (Cohen, P.A., Kulik,
J.A., Kulik, C.L.C., 1982; Lepper, M.R. and Chabay, R.W., 1998;
Topping, K., and Whitely, M., 1990; Merrill, D.C., 1995).
