State CYFAR Program Spotlight

D.C. Reads

Once a child enters the fourth grade, the pressure’s officially on. In stark contrast to previous years, the students must read directions and books, write and present reports, and conduct library research. Fourth-graders also start to feel a strong need to belong. At such a dramatic development stage, the ability to read can determine a child’s future in school, the workforce and society in general.

Sadly, a large number of fourth-grade students lack the reading skills necessary to succeed in life. In the mid-1990s, 75 percent of America’s fourth-graders were not reading at grade level, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Education. More than a decade later, the same periodic surveys show comparable results.

This national crisis is troubling on many levels. Youth ages 9-10 already struggle with major insecurities. Being labeled the “slow kid” can permanently damage their self-image. To avoid humiliation, they may act up when it’s their turn to read aloud, refuse to do homework, or cause other, more severe class disruptions. Research indicates that students who cannot read well by the third grade are more likely to drop out of school, eventually suffering economic and social disparities.

On a positive note, research also shows that early interventions to improve a child’s reading skills can produce lasting rewards. To counteract the country’s high rates of youth illiteracy, the Clinton administration launched the America Reads Challenge in 1997 with one goal in mind: To have all children reading well by the end of the third grade. In order to meet this goal, the national campaign built on the Department of Education’s work-study program by recruiting college students as tutors for children with reading difficulties.

Although America Reads has since ended, for public schools in Washington, D.C., it was worth holding onto. “The initiative was working, so we made the decision to keep it going,” says Rebecca Bankhead, project director of D.C. Reads, the University of the District of Columbia’s (UDC) youth literacy program.

A CYFAR New Communities Project, D.C. Reads mission is “to break the chain of illiteracy that ties people to poverty.” Fulfilling this mission is especially vital in our nation’s capital. More than 60 percent of D.C. residents read below the third grade level, per recent findings by the State Education Agency. Low-income African American adults make up most of that population, along with Latino immigrants. Consequently, their kids grow up with reading problems.

Over the past three years, support from CYFAR has allowed the D.C. Reads project leaders to hire more staff and to develop more diverse partnerships. Along with Bankhead and other collaborators, D.C. Reads now employs a reading specialist and program evaluator, as well as a Spanish-speaking extension agent who has played a key role in reaching Hispanic youth. Last year, D.C. Reads also formed a partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation, giving staff an opportunity to connect with parents in each ward.

To date, several inner-city schools with noticeably low reading and math scores have joined forces with D.C. Reads. In exchange for meeting space and youth participants, the schools benefit from a top-notch literacy program with proven results. In 2006, the program served more than 130 grade school and junior high students, the majority being fourth- and fifth-graders. Almost 80 percent made significant progress in their reading and math abilities, not to mention classroom behavior.

“We need people to say, ‘You’re not slow. You can read. I’m going to show you how.’”

~Rebecca Bankhead

Every child who is referred into the program must take an effective yet simple test to assess their reading skills. “They read a series of lines of words and when they get to the line where they miss say, five words, that’s their baseline reading level,” explains Bankhead. “The tutor will stop them and say, ‘You did a good job,’ and then they’ll move on to the alphabet, handwriting and other things.” 

Youth participating in D.C. Reads meet with tutors Monday through Thursday from 2-6 p.m., and Friday from 4-5 p.m., during the school year. Thanks to a mix of multi-sensory reading exercises, phonics lessons, and hands-on literacy and writing activities, the children quickly learn, retain and most importantly, comprehend, the material presented. “Usually after four months they’re almost at grade level,” says Bankhead. “Students with reading disabilities can take eight months, but no matter what, it works.”

Bankhead says the greatest challenge is convincing the children that they can learn to read, despite what they may have been told. “In school, the child with reading problems often gets stuck with a teacher’s aide who isn’t qualified to instruct reading. Even if a teacher starts working with the child, the child might think, ‘I’m slow at this, so I don’t have to try.’ We need people to say, ‘You’re not slow. You can read. I’m going to show you how.’”   

Breaking down the barriers that impede learning takes a consistent and responsive mentor. Therefore, serving as a positive role model is just as important for D.C. Reads tutors as teaching the curriculum. In many cases, poor school performance is one of several issues the children are facing. Their tutor may be the only adult they’re willing to turn to, as Bankhead points out.

“One night, this 8-year-old boy was about to walk home by himself. There was a tutor who lived in his neighborhood and I made him start walking home with her. Eventually he began to confide in her, and she found out that he was practically the parent for his younger siblings. His mother was strung out on drugs and the kids weren’t getting any meals. So we referred him to the counselor and began to see incident reports. If it hadn’t been for the tutor, we might not have learned any of this.”

Primarily college students, D.C. Reads tutors who are eligible for financial aid may receive work study funds and college credit. Moreover, they gain a practical and rigorous inner-city teaching experience. “We’ve had tutors who came into the program majoring in education, started working with the kids and decided to change their major,” says Bankhead. “And then we had one young man who was majoring in engineering, got to be a really great tutor, and decided his passion was working with children.”

All tutors, whether they’re college students or community volunteers, must receive ongoing tutor training from a reading specialist. Among other research-based topics, the tutors learn about cultural sensitivity and curriculum development, as well as how to utilize a kit designed to enhance learning.

They also discover non-threatening ways to address comprehension and behavioral issues. For instance, if a child doesn’t understand a certain word, the tutor might ask them to use a picture as a contextual clue, or to think of a word that would make sense in that sentence. Or, if a child doesn’t obey the rules, the tutor might make them the class leader, asking them to read the rules to the rest of the students each afternoon. This technique gives the child a much-needed sense of ownership and structure.
 
Prior to completing D.C. Reads, the students are retested to determine how much their reading skills have improved. Throughout the program, the program staff also documents any changes in attitudes toward reading. Real success, says Bankhead, is when youth walk away from the program not only as better readers, but as avid readers. “Every time a parent comes in and says their child is reading signs and labels at the grocery store, we know they’ve arrived!”

Noteworthy
“Literacy and Communication” is one of five outcome areas used to monitor and evaluate CYFAR Sustainable Community Projects in 2006 and 2007.

Links
UDC main page: www.udc.edu
America Reads archives: www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/index.html
Select the 2006 New Communities Project Overview for D.C. Reads at:
http://www.cyfernet.org/databases/cyfarreporting/Public/narratives/statesearch.asp