If you are really serious about improving the reading performance of struggling readers in your school or district, including students’ with disabilities and those served by Title I, then I have some good news for you. A scientifically based one-on-one, reading mentoring program has been getting great results in Ohio. And the wonderful thing is that it is an extremely affordable program costing between $1 and $2 per tutoring hour to implement. This is definite goodness at a time when districts are tightening their belts during difficult economic times.

The program, known as Project More (Mentoring in Ohio for Reading Excellence), has been in effect since 2002, and the Center for Evaluation Services out of Bowling Green State University has been gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data on the program for each year of its implementation. According to Dr. Rich Wilson, co-Director for the center, “Evaluation results have shown that Project MORE students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) have a made one-month reading gain for each month of structured intervention.”

Learning A–Z has had the good fortune of being part of this outstanding program. Our involvement began in 2004 when in collaboration with the principals of Project More, Dr. Jan Osborne, Superintendent of Putnam County Schools, and Amy Freeman, Project MORE Director; we developed the Reading-Tutors.com website to deliver packets of reading resources for use during tutoring sessions. When a volunteer tutor enters a school to tutor a needy student, he or she is handed a Reading-tutors packet that includes a book, a lesson, activity sheets, and a game. These packets provide learning objectives and an instructional purpose to each tutoring session.

I have personally visited Project MORE schools and witnessed the benefits Project MORE delivers to struggling readers as students meet with their mentors three to four days a week. I have also witnessed the benefits gained by those who are tutoring children. In particular, middle and high school students, serving as tutors in many of the schools are learning the value of volunteerism and community service. This truly is a program that benefits kids, parents, tutors, and the entire community.

Project MORE has demonstrated that one-on-one volunteer tutoring programs can have EARS, that is, they can be effective, affordable, replicable and sustainable. This program can be implemented anywhere in the country. If you are interested in getting more information about Project MORE contact Amy Freeman at 888.319.3560, email afreeman@pm.noacsc.org, or visit ohioprojectmore.org. I would encourage you to learn more about the project and how it can help your school or district’s reading program. The Project MORE team is a tremendously dedicated group of educators with a burning passion to help children with disabilities as well as others who struggle to read.

We want our children to be technically savvy and use online resources for education and entertainment. We know children need to be comfortable navigating the digital realm to succeed in a world without boundaries. We also want them to be safe in cyberland. But the fact is a high percentage of parents do not have a clue what their children are doing online, and many children are not safe on the Internet.

A recent article in eSchool News reporting on a multi-country survey conducted by Internet security giant Symantec Corporation noted some particularly worrisome findings. For one, parents grossly underestimate how often their children encounter online indiscretions, such as receiving requests for personal information, being approached by strangers, and experiencing cyber pranks or bullying. And no surprise, the children report spending 10 times more time online than their parents think they spend online. Shockingly, only about half of the parents have spoken to their children about Internet safety.

Opinions on how to ensure safety online vary. When CNET.com asked its readers how they keep kids safe online, the answers varied dramatically. Get rid of Internet service and cell phones in the home all together; keep computers in central locations to easily monitor usage, and unconditionally (without punishment) encourage children to ask questions about anything they see on the Internet.

We teach our kids how to cross the street safely and how to make toast without burning fingers. But we do not teach them what is and is not appropriate in a boundless virtual world. It is high time we add lessons about the online dangers lurking behind every visit to the Internet.

A good source of Internet safety advice is The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which provides Kid’s Rules for Online Safety with 10 suggestions regarding personal information, downloading files, password safety, and communicating with parents. I particularly like Rule No. 10, in which the child promises to help her or his parents have fun and learn new things online. Now that’s a great way not only to monitor online activities but also to share and learn from the experience.

I recently read a blog based on education consultant Allison Zmuda’s three ‘Myths That Haunt Students.’ Those being that (1) students see learning that comes quickly as a sign of intelligence and learning that requires effort as a sign of their own lack of ability; (2) that school and life are disconnected; and (3) that learning is an orderly process rather than a messy and ongoing struggle.

Many students think there is something wrong with them if they make mistakes. Teachers can help their students learn that most people make mistakes, sometimes every day, and that great learning can occur from those mistakes. After all, failures or accidents have led to many wonderful inventions--penicillin, champagne, Post-It Notes, and the pacemaker. Amazing.

It is equally amazing when children learn from their mistakes. Many children play electronic games. When they make mistakes, their games end. But they do not give up and quit playing. In fact, they frequently become obsessed with playing the games over and over until they master each and every challenge. That is perseverance.

Part of our jobs as educators (coaches, mentors, parents, friends, etc.) is to create safe zones for making mistakes and inspire the kind of perseverance that results in learning naturally from mistakes.

Failure and mistakes are inevitable. Character and great things are built on what we make of those mistakes. Let’s encourage children to take risks. After all, there are plenty of unrealized dreams, inventions, and discoveries.

I recently followed a three-part series in the Arizona Daily Star about social promotion, grade-inflation, and the impact on our local economy. The newspaper examined, with one school district’s permission, the grades of more than 3 million middle- and high-school students over a six-year period. The investigation took 10 months and revealed that nearly a third of students who were promoted to the next grade had failed basic courses in English, math, science, or social studies. Said one middle school teacher, “We’ve buried ourselves in students who can’t function on grade level.”

A symptom of the problem is widespread grade inflation. The students’ failure rates on state tests were greater than the rate of students who failed corresponding classes in English and math. At one school for example, 9 percent of eighth-graders failed English courses last year. However, a whopping 59% failed the AIMS (Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards) reading test. The local community college sees the effect as thousands of students enroll in remedial classes every year. “They’ve graduated from high school” said the college’s spokesman, but “it wasn’t based on competency.” Ouch.

This does not bode well for Tucson. The quality of schooling drives a capable and educated work force. The perception of bad schools may keep away families that might have moved to Tucson for jobs. With a looming need to replace retiring engineers, employers in the high-tech and aerospace sectors are concerned. Other business leaders are seeing unprepared individuals applying for entry-level positions: One executive said he’s at his wit’s end trying to find basic office workers. “They’re just not hungry to do the job and do it right.”

I want to stress that most of the administrators and teachers are working hard and are committed to creating the best possible learning environment for the students. Studies indicate that retention rarely works (and can lead to a higher drop-out rate). The teachers are frustrated by lack of parental involvement, disciplinary and attendance problems, lack of funding for early intervention programs, and systemic pressure to pass the students. Parents are frustrated when their children slip through the cracks, and administrators are frustrated when asked to accomplish too much with too few resources.

Frustration is at an all-time high. I wonder how other educators, parents, and business leaders are handling the pressure.

Links:
Sunday, May 11 – Social Promotion
Monday, May 12 – Grade Inflation
Tuesday, May 13 – Economic Impact