Teachers College Students
Serve as Reading Tutors
to
4 Harlem Schools
TC Reading Buddies Provide One-On-One Attention While Earning
Course Credits
Forty students from
Teacher’s College, known as the TC Reading Buddies, are providing one-on-one
reading tutoring to struggling pupils at four Central Harlem
elementary schools. Each Reading Buddy works with six children
who tested in the bottom quartile of their class on the English
Language Assessments (ELA), spending 20 minutes daily, five
days a week, reading to and with each child. The children are
first and third graders at PS 123, PS 125, PS 154 and CS 200.
The New York City Agency for Child Services (ACS) has determined
that compared to other city schools, these institutions are
among those with the highest incidence of referrals for “educational
neglect” and child abuse. Children are referred to ACS
for educational neglect after 10 consecutive unexcused absences.
“Having the Reading Buddies in this school is a great
benefit to the students,” says Nadine Kellogg, the administrator
assigned gives a powerful message about reading in the world
that is very important.” And Sarah Wunsdh, a teacher
at P.S. 154 adds, “How could it not be wonderful? I need
all the help I can get!”
The TC Reading Buddies, who represent each of the nine academic
departments at the College, will receive a three-credit scholarship
for their service. The project is being funded by TC Trustee
Arthur Zankel, and will include an evaluation component to
determine its success.
“The Reading Buddies initiative is an integral part
of a holistic strategy designed to provide direct support for
improving student achievement in the TC EdZone, the area north
and west of Teachers College,” says Dawn Arno,
Director of the TC EdZone Partnership. The Partnership is
a joint effort between the College and the New York City public
school system to boost learning opportunities, expectations
and classroom outcomes for all students.
Arno, staff from the
Department of Education, and TC faculty members who have
expertise in literacy development, are providing the Reading
Buddies with ongoing training. The Reading Buddies underwent
a series of orientation sessions prior to beginning their
assignment in schools. In addition, they are required to
attend a biweekly seminar designed to provide them with feedback
on their prior week’s experiences and to provide
continuous learning opportunities and development of specific
strategies for improving the reading skills of their tutees.
“It’s very exciting to see these kids so thrilled
to read,” says David Ezell, a TC Reading Buddy enrolled
in the College’s Clinical Psychology program. “The
one-to-one time is really valuable for them and for me. It’s
particularly helpful in bringing unseen problems to light.
For example, with one child, I’ve already discovered
that the problem was poor eyesight, not poor reading skills.”
The Reading Buddies
program is also working with TC’s
Department of Psychology to secure the placement of school
psychology students in the four Reading Buddy schools, and
with ACS for the placement of four graduate social work interns
in each of the four schools. Each social work intern will have
an average caseload of 10 students, and in conjunction with
a school employee will make home visits to the families of
Reading Buddy tutees. ACS has also committed to assign a dedicated
ACS staff member to work directly with the TC EdZone Partnership
in one of the four schools.
The parents of the
tutees of the TC Reading Buddies will be targeted for active
involvement in the support of their children’s
academic lives. A series of Parent Education seminars has been
planned for April 2005 and will be held at the Conference Center
at TC’s campus at the Theresa Hotel on West 125th Street.
Plans are underway for the development of a TC Math Buddies
program, which will target the top quartile of students in
the same classes that the TC Reading Buddies now serve. #
