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RELEASE ON RECEIPT
November 30, 1998
Oberlin College Students Help Elementary School Children Learn How to Read
Media Contact: Mark Graham
For more information, contact Caitlin Scott, youth-education program coordinator at the Center for Service and Learning at (440) 775-8055.
OBERLIN--Accepting the U.S. Department of Education's America Reads challenge, 26 Oberlin College students tutor kindergartners and first-, second- and third-graders in Oberlin's Eastwood and Prospect Elementary Schools. The program--coordinated by the college's Center for Service and Learning (CSL) and Oberlin Community Services--tries to ensure that every child reads well and independently by the end of third grade.
Teachers identified children who would enjoy and benefit from tutoring in reading. The elementary schoolers work one-on-one and in small groups with tutors to improve fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and writing. The tutors use a variety of texts--ranging from newspapers to homework to books to food labels--to help students learn reading skills.
The children are not the only ones learning in the program. The program gives also the college students teaching experience. More than two-thirds of the students in the program have expressed interest in a career in education after graduation.
To enhance the experience for both the tutor and the student, the program trains the tutors and engages them in bi-weekly sessions throughout the school year. Caitlin Scott, youth-education program coordinator at the CSL, and local teachers run these sessions to hone students' teaching abilities. The CSL stresses training, reflection and evaluation in all their community service programs.