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America Reads and Counts2013-2014

Annual Report

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

About America Reads and Counts

About our Tutors

Professional Development

National Literacy Action Week

Global Youth Service Day

Results

Thank Yous

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Page 4

Page 5

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Page 10

Page 13

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Page 21

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Acknowledgments

The America Reads & Counts program could not have achieved so much without our program partners. We would like to thank the following schools and organizations for their ongoing collaboration and partnership as we work to improve educational oppor-tunity in our area:

• CarrboroElementary• EstesHillsElementary• GreyCulbrethMiddle• HolmesDayCare• MorrisGroveElementary

• NewHopeElementary• SeawellElementary• UNC-ChapelHillSchoolofEducation• NorthCarolinaLiteracyCorps• ChapelHillCarrboroYouthCityForward

The following tutors contributed their time and talents:

• MichelleBraun• ShakeiaBurgin• MiaCarrington• MariaCastrillon• Amy Dingler• MarkFowler• Shaza Gaballah• KaliHackett• AliHernandez• QuentinHill• JulienneHerrera• HelenKyriakoudes

• BriannaLeary• Ashley Lee• MelodyLee• CrysAneMcCallum• KevinMcGowan• TameraMcLeod• ElsaMondragon• MilesOwens• James Paige• Joel Pinckney• Luke Ponds• Isabelle Potts

• Lydia Potts• Andrew Reckard• Josh Reed• BakerRenneckar• Jessica Scaggs• Spencer Smith• Elizabeth Szep• Asher Strickland• SarahUffman• Cindy Vallecillo• OsveliaValverde• BethWilson

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Executive Summary

ThisyearwasayearoftransitionforAmericaReadsandAmericaCounts.Becauseofcutstostateandfederalfunding,allwork-studypositionsforgraduatestudentswerecutattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill.We previously employed four to seven graduate students to assist with the America Reads program, so this year wefoundwaystoadjustwithoutthestaffsupport.Thankstotheflexibilityoftheschoolsandthepatienceofthetutors as we figured things out, I’m proud to say this year was as successful as ever.

In the report that follows you will find a detailed account of the program design, activities and evaluation findings forthe2013-2014year.Hereisjustasampletohighlightsomeoftheexcitingaccomplishmentsmadebythosewho participated in the program.

OneinteractionIwouldliketoshareactuallyoccurredwithoneofthepreschoolersatCarrboroElementarywhoIreadwithfrequently,namedMcKayla.Wewereinthemiddleofabookoneday,andMcKaylastoppedme, looked into my eyes, and said "I like to read, because it makes my brain good." Just this one line made my day and made me so excited about the opportunity to tutor, because I was helping this five year old girl recog-nize the value of reading and what it did for her. - America Reads tutor

• 36 tutor provided 4,236 hours of tutoring and training.• 87studentsinpre-K,elementary,andmiddleschoolinChapelHill,Carrboro,andOrangeCountyreceived

tutoring.• The average reading levels of student tutored the whole year increased by 1.5, and those tutored one semester

increased by .72• 5 America Reads tutors also served as AmeriCorps members through SCALE’s North Carolina Literacy-

Corps,contributingover300hoursofservicethroughadditionaleventssuchasMakeaDifferenceDay,theMartinLutherKingJr.DayofServiceBookDrive,andtheNationalVolunteerWeek.

• 100%ofparentssurveyedabouttheirchildren’sparticipationintheprogramagreed,“Mychild’swritingskillshaveimproved,”and“Mychildhasabetterunderstandingofwhathe/shereads.”

• 90% of teachers noticed a positive change in reading achievement• 90% noticed a change in attitude towards reading

To learn more about America Reads, visit our website at http://americareads.web.unc.edu,orSCALE’swebsiteathttp://readwriteact.org.You’llfindevenmorepicturesfromNation-al Literacy Action Week and Global Youth Service Day, a profile of each of our tutors, and a blogpost sharing each tutor’s story.

It was a fun year for me to see the tutees and tutors grow together. I hope you enjoy hearing about the program from the tutors and seeing the gains the tutees.

Sincerely, Allison Reavis Literacy Programs Director WoolE.BullattheMartinLutherKing

JuniorDayofServiceBookDrive

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About America Reads and America CountsHistory and MissionAmerica Reads began in 1997 when President Clinton signed the America Reads Challenge Act “to help all chil-dren read well and independently by the end of the third grade so that they can succeed in school, later in the workplace, and in life.” Initially the campaign addressed the literacy needs of children from pre-K to grade 3, as these years represent a critical period of literacy acquisition with ramifications for later learning and academic achievement. America Counts serves students from elementary through ninth grade in developing a stronger foundation inmathematics.TheAmericaReads&CountsprogramatUNC-ChapelHill ismanagedbyThe

Program DesignSCALE provides struggling students with high quality tutoring thanks to the energy and commitment of trained collegestudentscombinedwiththesupportofknowledgeablestaffwhoarededicatedtoimprovingeducationaloutcomesthroughpartnershipswithschools.Usingfederalwork-studyfunds,SCALE’sAmericaReads&CountsprogramhiresUNC-ChapelHillundergraduatestudentsastutorstoprovideclassroomsupportandindividualinstruction to struggling and at-risk students, with a focus on those who do not otherwise qualify for or receive specialized support services and interventions. America Reads tutors work with teachers, after-school coordi-nators, and administrators to provide age and school-appropriate lessons, while also utilizing a research-based curriculum to help guide their lessons. America Counts tutors provide in-classroom and after school assistance to middle school math students. Tutors provide consistent service to the schools by working with their learners at least twice a week in 40-minute sessions for 23 weeks.

Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE) and is housed within the School of Edu-cation. The program currently serves children from Pre-K-8th grade. Now in its 17th year of operation, America Reads & Counts includes partnerships with seven local schools, including one daycare. The main goal of SCALE’s America Reads & Counts program is to 1) help Pre-K–8th grade children in OrangeCounty achieve their literacy goals and 2)to serve as a model for America Reads and Counts programs around the country by providing literacy tutors trained in research-based methods.

President Clinton signs the America Reads legislation

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Meet our Tutors

Hometowns:In state 69%Outofstate 31%

Year in School:Freshman 11%Sophomore 22%Junior 42%Senior 25%

College:Arts and Sciences 72%Business 14%Education 8%Journalism 3%Unknown 3%Total majors: 24 Returning tutors 31%

Males 36%Females 64%Would apply to tutor again

93%

The America Reads & Counts program is an ideal way for SCALE to uphold its mission to support college students whowanttomakeadifferencethrougheducation.Thisyear,wehired36undergraduatework-studystudentsastutors,including5Bonnerscholarsand5minimum-timeAmeriCorpsmembers.Mosttutorsarenoteducationmajors, but all of them share a passion for closing the achievement gap. To meet all of our tutors, visit: http://americareads.web.unc.edu/for-parents-and-parents/meet-the-tutors/.

America Reads has provided an ex-cellent opportunity to show children the importance of literacy and social justice. The entire experience has been meaningful. Every time that I see my tutees, their eyes light up and they cannot wait to read. The realization that they actually enjoyed being with me was awesome. I feel that America Reads provided me with the resources to be successful.

-America Reads tutor

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Want to hear from more tutors in their own words? Checkouthttp://americareads.web.unc.edu/news-and-stories/.

“One of my tutees has had behavioralissues all year. She would constantly ask to leave and refuse to write or follow my directions. In the second semester of our tutoring, however, something changed. She was a little less disappointed when I came to get her from after school. She was especially excited to read the Arthur books available in the school library. We have read one each day for the last sev-eral weeks and she is glued to them the whole time. I even get her to read along with me. I'm so glad that I could finally get her to be engaged with reading!”

100% of tutorsagreed,“Mytutoring has made adifferenceinme,”with 56% of those strongly agreeing.

“I am appreciative of my experiences as an America Reads Tutor and feel ready to learn much of what I have learnedasateachernextyear.Myex-periences as a tutor have allowed me to interactive with students and address their individual literacy needs. Mytutees and I mutually benefited from these experiences, as I became a more effectivetutorandtheybecamebetterstudents. The support and encourage-ment I have received from the SCALE staff and other tutorswas invaluable.The many positive experience that arose from tutoring will be remem-bered in years to come.”

“ItisveryeasywhenyouareatUNCto forget about the rest of the world outside of your campus. Tutoring has given me a unique opportunity to get off campus and experience, to a de-gree, the lives of younger kids. It has also given me a better understanding of what I have been gifted with, and how I can use those gifts to help oth-ers, both in the tutoring that I am in currently and other areas of life.”

“I think that all of the interactions I had this semester were meaningful because I loved every day I went to work. At first I was a little reserved because I have never been around kids before as an adult but I realize that I love the school environ-ment so much that I want to teach when Igraduate.Bywatchingtheteacherandstudent interactions and also making some of my own I have learned that each daycomeswithdifferentchallengesandeachstudentcomeswithdifferentneedsbut that just makes it so much more ful-filling when I am able to teach them or help them understand something that they didn't before.”

“The moment I realized I made a dif-ference to my tutee was when, after only knowing me for three weeks, he called me his best friend simply be-cause I drew some pictures with him.”

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8tutorsattendedtheRead.Write.Actvirtualconference,thisyearthemed“BeyondtheClassroom:ApplyingLit-eracy to Promote Equity.” Tutors were able to attend sessions led by leaders in literacy and community practice, suchas,“FightingBullieswithBooks:UsingYALiteraturetoPreventBullyinginSchools,”“JumpstartintoSocialJustice:TheImpactonCollegeStudentsofProvidingLiteracyBasedService-LearningwithPreschoolStudents,”and“PromotingMathandPrintLiteracyasaFormofCommunityEmpowermentandLeaderDevelopment.”TutorswerealsoabletonetworkandmakeconnectionstoothereducationalleadersandtutorsintheOrangeCounty community.

Professional DevelopmentTutor Trainings and Team Meetings

Read.Write.Act Virtual Conference

SCALE provides high-quality, research-based trainings to our America Reads & Counts tutors throughout the school year. During the 2013-14 year, each tutor received at least twenty hours of training, comprised of 4 hours of initial training followed by 16 hours of required training. Tutors also had the opportunity to participate in up to 28 additional hours of training through SCALE’s 2013 Read.Write.Act. Virtual Conference and the 2014 NLAW Virtual Conference. Tutors received preliminary trainings in tutoring Pre-K learners, K-3rd grade learners, 4th-5th grade learners and English Language Learners (America Reads), and middle school learners, manipulatives, andEnglish Language Learners (AmericaCounts). Following this initial training, tutors received training atweekly team meetings. These trainings covered a wide range of topics, including behavior management, lesson planning and assessment, reading comprehension, independent reading, alternative math instruction, multiple intelligences, civic engagement, arts integration, and working with diverse populations.

93% of tutors agreed or strongly agreed, “I had sufficient support tobeaneffectivetu-tor (training, resourc-es/materials,commu-nication, etc.).

85% of tutors agreed or strongly agreed, “Team meetings helped me be-come a better tutor.”

“Oneofmyfavoritepresentationswas“FiguringOutHowthePiecesFit,”byMelissaEdwards,whotalkedabouthowtoengage students (and new English learners) in new learning settings with non-traditional materials.” - Tutor

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Bonner Scholars

North Carolina LiteracyCorps

I am very thankful that I have had the opportunity to make lesson plans- this was a new skill that I have learned (and while I found it chal-lenging initially, I am excited to have gained this skill and look forward to using it in the future)- America Reads Tutor

93% of tutors agreed or strongly agreed, “I feel more prepared for a job after graduation because of my participation in ARAC.”

88% of tutors agreed or strongly agreed, “ARAC offeredhelpfulprofessionaldevelopment tools..”

“It’s been really cool to take the basic trainings that Bonner offers that can be applied to different community roles, applying those trainings specifically to our work with tutoring and children, and be able to come back and talk to people how they applied the trainings at their work site.” - Bonner Scholar and America Reads tutor

ThisyearfiveBonnerscholarswereplacedatSCALE.Bonnersareworkstudy students through the Campus Y who commit to working with SCALE all fouryears theyareaCarolina student.Bonnersparticipate inweeklytrainings at the Campus Y in community-related topics, and then apply what they learn to best serve their partner organizations. They progress from being entry-level tutors to helping all aspects of program manage-mentatSCALE.ThisyearBonnersmaintainedtheblog,organizedstate-

wide Global Youth Service Day events, and contribut-ed expertise to leading tutor trainings.

FiveAmericaReadstutorsalsoservedasminimum-timeAmeriCorpsmem-bers with the North Carolina LiteracyCorps. These tutors completed three hundred hours of service through America Reads tutoring; additional Amer-iCorps training topicssuchasConflictManagement,SocialMediaandAd-vocacy, andProgramEvaluation; anddays of service, such as 9/11DayofRemembrance,MakeaDifferenceDay,MartinLutherKingJuniorDayofSer-vice,andNationalVolunteerWeekFortheirservice,AmeriCorpsmembersare awarded a scholarship.

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National Literacy Action Week

Literacy Fair at Estes Hills Elementary

About NLAWAllAmericaReads&CountstutorsparticipatedinNationalLiteracyActionWeek(NLAW)activitiesinFebruary2014. NLAW is a yearly event during which campus literacy programs nationwide join together to raise awareness about literacy and create change on their campuses and in their communities. America Reads & Counts tutors planned activities to demonstrate the importance of literacy to their learners and to raise awareness of the impor-tance of literacy in the community.

Attheendoftheweek,thetutorsattendedtheNLAWVirtualConference.HunterPhillips-Goodmanpresented“TheAmericanStudentServiceMovement:BuildingUpandBuildingOn,”whichcoveredthehistoryofstudent

Tutors arranged for a literacy fair for their tutees at Estes Hills Elementary.The tutees rotated among six booths, in-cluding a spellingbee station,Banana-grams, story cubes, math basketball, MadLibs,andreadingdarts(wherethetutees shot a can with the correct read-ing comprehension answer).

Great job!! The kids also thought it was great. Patty and noticed how engaged they all were. -Dawn McClendon, Site Supervisor

servicemovements, including the IMPACT/COOLconference,Bonnerscholars, and Public Allies. Lucy Lewis narrated her experience with vot-ing rights acts, from her time on the campaign trail for Charles Evers and hisrunforgovernor,andhercurrentinvolvementinMoralMondaysandwhy it is important to right for everyone’s right to vote.

84% of tutors agreed or strongly agreed, “ I have a greater under-standing of social justice and advocacy in regards to literacy.”

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Spelling Bee Fund-raiser

Movie Night: The First Grader

Tutors organized a viewing of the movie The First Grader, a film based on a true life story of a elderly Kenyan man who returns to school when Ken-yaestablishesuniversalandfreeeducation.Hereturnstoprimaryschool,where he overcomes a great many obstacles to become a student and then remain a student. After the film, the attendees discussed literacy and why it was important. Attendees had a chance to make a sign

The event received donations from Starbucks, Papa Johns, Jimmy John’s, andHarrisTeeter,whichwereusedasrefreshmentsandraffles.

Tutors organized a spelling bee to raise money to make quality social justice books for their tutees at Global Youth Service Day. They gathered attention by painting the cube on campus and pitt-sitting to sell tickets.

TheparticipantsgatheredinMurpheyHalltospellwordsuntilonlyonepersonremained.Chipotledonatedgiftcards, which were awarded to the first, second, and third place finished. All proceeds benefited the America Reads program at SCALE.

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Math Literacy Scavenger Hunt at Culbreth Middle

What Literacy Means to You Contest

When you read it lets you go to school at Hogwarts and pretend you live in district 12.-Anna Dingler

I love reading because it connects me to the people around me by allowing us to experience the same emotional journey.-Sarah Howard

TutorscreatedaFacebookpageforpeopletoshare“WhatLiteracyMeanstoYou.”Peoplesharedwhytheylovereading, posted photos of themselves reading their favorite book, quotations about literacy, good memories of reading, and links to their favorite books. These photos and quotations were then compiled to a website.

The tutors then randomly drew two names, and the winners were presented with American Express gift cards. Checkoutallofthelistingsathttps://www.facebook.com/NLAW2014.

America Counts tutors arranged a math scavenger hunt for members of the after school program at Grey Culbreth MiddleSchool.Eachtutorwasstationedatoneofsixspotsintheschool,suchastheprincipal’sofficeorthegym.Each team of two received a grade-appropriate question that showed how math was important in that area of the school.ThewinningteamreceivedgiftcardsdonatedbyElmo’sDinerandSweetFrog,andallparticipantsreceivedcandydonatedbyHarrisTeeter.

“Whathasmeantthemosttomethissemester/yearwas getting to know the students in the after school program. The students are comfortable enough now to not only come to me with questions about their homework, but questions about their life in general and issues they are having inside and outside of the classroom. These relationships that I have built have reminded me why I decided to work with SCALE and why education is so important to me. I feel as if I have helped these students grow and they have done the same for me.” - America Counts tutor

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Global Youth Service Day

Pen pals

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual campaign sponsored by Youth Service America to involve youth 25 years old and under all over the world in service to their communities, held this year on April 12th, 2014.

To add excitement and build-up to the GYSD, America Reads tutors set up an inter-site pen pals program. Amer-icaReadstuteesatonesitecraftedletterstoAmericaReadstuteesatadifferentschool.Thisyear,sixtystudentswere matched with a pen pal, and by the end of the program year in late April, tutees were able to accomplish several letter exchanges.

“OneofthegirlsIworkwith...abhorswriting.It’sherleastfavoritepartofschool,andtheveryideaofpickingup her pencil sends her eyeballs rolling to the ceiling. I’ve tutored her the entire year, and there’s not a single timewhereI’veannouncedthatwe’regoingtowritethatshehasn’tlookedatmelikeI’vebetrayedher.Butthissemester, when we decided to do the pen pals program, I saw a spark in her that I’d never seen before. I remem-berwarilyaskingherifshewantedtowritealettertosomeoneinadifferentschool,andwassurprisedtoseeher eyes light up. She grabbed her paper and sat very quietly, and after a few minutes, it occurred to me that she mightbestalling.ButwhenIstartedtoaskifshewantedtoreadinstead,shewavedherhanddismissivelyatmeand said, “Wait wait, I’m thinking of what I want to say first.” To my astonishment, twenty minutes later, Ash-ley had written an entire page without any prompting. She handed it to me dramatically and informed me that she hoped it went to a girl (it ended up going to a guy). This was the best session I ever had with Ashley, and it served as an amazing reminder that kids will work towards anything, if only we can find the right outlets for them to use.” - America Reads tutor

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Social justice stories

America Reads tutors also look forward to planning and holding the annual reading that represents the culmina-tion of tutors’ work with their students throughout the year. GYSD provides the children who participate in the America Reads program an opportunity to write, illustrate, and publish their own stories with help from their tutors. Age-appropriate books were used in tutoring sessions to provoke discussion about social justice issues relevant to our learners. These discussions led to students composing stories, which they drafted, revised, edited and published with the help of their tutors, on topics ranging from bullying, fairness, friendship, and poverty. Bywritingthesestories,tutorsintroducedtheideathatyouthcanmakeadifferenceintheircommunities.Thetutors encouraged the tutees to share their meaningful stories addressing social justice issues with their school community. This project took place in the weeks leading up to GYSD. Read the stories at http://issuu.com/americareadsunc.

“Oneofthemostchallenging,yetfun,experiencesI’vehadwiththechildrenhasbeenteachingthemaboutsocial justice and helping them create their own social justice story. Since I primarily work with 3 and 4 year-olds,Iusedthebook,RainbowFish,asatooltoshowthemsocialjustice.Iexplaineditinverysimpletermssuch as sharing, helping others and being nice. Some of them caught on right away and made a story about sharingextremelysimilartothatofRainbowFishexcepttheysubstitutedthemselvesandtheirtoysinsteadofRainbowFishandhisscales...Whileitwasachallengetomakesocialjusticeaneasytounderstandconceptfor the 3-4 year olds, it was all worth it in the end when they used their imagination to come up with cute and memorable stories.” - America Reads tutor

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Orange County Day of Reading

The students were then encouraged to take the next step by volunteering to read their social justice stories aloud tothecommunityattheFourthAnnualNorthCarolinaDayofReadingonGlobalYouthServiceDay,heldattheBinkleyBaptistChurchinChapelHillonApril12,2014.TheAmericaReadstutorsassistedwithplanning,organizing, and setting up the event in collaboration with the North Carolina Literacy Corps and several local education and literacy agencies.

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Program Results

Bader Graded Word Lists

96% of tutors agreed or strongly agree,“MytutoringhasmadeadifferenceforthelearnersIworkedwith,” with 60% of those agreeing strongly.

TutorsusedtheBaderGradedWordListtomeasurestudentimprovement.Overall,86%ofstudentstutoredforoneyear,and59%ofstudentstutoredforasemestershowedimprovementinreadinglevelsviatheBadergradedwordlist,thelargesta4.5increase.Completeresultsbysiteareshowninthetablebelow.AllHolmestuteesarelearningtheiralphabet;thus,theirachievementsarebasedonletterslearnedinsteadofBaderlevels,andarenotincluded in the total summary.

BaderLevels

Students who participated the whole year

Carrboro

(n=14)

Estes Hills

(n=5)

Holmes*(in let-ters)(n=9)

MorrisGrove

(n=5)

New Hope

(n=14)

Seawell

(n=5)

Total(excluding Holmes)(n=43)

Average change +2 +1.1 + 3.3 +2 +1.4 +.7 +1.5% of students whose level increased

93% 80% 78% 100% 86% 60% 86%

% of students with no change 7% 20% 22% 14% 40% 14%% of students whose levels decreased

BaderLevels

Students who participated one semester

Carrboro

(n=1)

Estes Hills

(n=4)

Holmes*(in let-ters)(n=3)

MorrisGrove

(n=6)

New Hope

(n=14)

Seawell

(n=9)

Total(excluding Holmes)(n=34)

Average change +.5 +.5 +5.3 +.17 +1 +.78 +.72% of students whose level increased

100% 50% 100% 33% 64% 67% 59%

% of students with no change 50% 50% 36% 22% 35%% of students whose levels decreased

17% 11% 6%

Our tutoring program is guided by evi-dence-based curriculum, and we believe in our system’s ability to produce results in aca-demic achievement and confidence. We mea-sure outcomes through several methods.

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Parent/Guardian Evaluations

“When I started the session [my tutee]was in a really bad mood and completely uncooperative. I tried motivat-inghimwithsomethingsthatusuallywork,‘Whatdoyouwanttodo/Youhavetodoworktogetintocollege.’Buteventhesethingsweren'tworkingandhewassayingthingslikehedidn'twanttogotocollegeorevenmiddle school. So I scrapped my plan and we moved locations and tried working on something completely different.Heendedupworkingbetterwiththisplanandwestartedtohaveaprettygoodsession.Then,inthemiddle of an activity he stopped me and asked if I was going to keep up with him in the future. I responded that of course I would. Then he asked me to make sure he went to college, and that if he wasn't going to his classes I needed to ‘pick him up and drag him back into the classroom.’” - America Reads tutor

Familyinvolvementiscriticaltoearlyliteracydevelopment.Therefore,itisimportantforourprogramtohavecontact with parents to evaluate changes in literacy behavior among our tutees in the home. America Reads and Countsdistributedend-of-yearevaluationsinEnglishandSpanishtoparents/guardiansoflearnerstoascertainhow the program impacted learners’ ability and attitude towards reading and writing (America Reads) and math (America Counts).

100%ofparentsagreedorstronglyagreedthat“mychildenjoysworkingwithhis/hertutor,”that“mychildhasabetterunderstandingofwhats/hereads,”that“mychildchoosestoreadmoreoftenforenjoyment,”andthat“mychild’s writing skills have improved.”

We did not receive any feedback from America Counts parents this year. The full results for America Reads are as follows.

America Reads n= 10 Strongly Agree

Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

1)Mychildasksme(orsomeoneelseinthehome)toreadtohim/hermoreoften.

20% 40% 50%

2)Mychildasksme(orsomeoneelseinthehome)tolistentohim/herreadmoreoften

40% 50% 10%

3)Mychildreadswithfewerstopsandpauses. 40% 50% 10%4)Mychildhasabetterunderstandingofwhathe/shereads.n=9

56% 44%

5)Mychild’sreadingskillshaveimproved. 60% 40% 10%6)Mychildchoosestoreadmoreoftenforen-joyment.

50% 50%

7)Mychildlikestowritemore. 40% 50% 10%8)Mychild’swritingskillshaveimprovedn=9 44% 56%9)Mychild’sconfidenceinreadinghasim-proved.

50% 40% 10%

10)Mychildhasanincreasedinterestinlearn-ing/

40% 50% 10%

11)Mychildenjoysworkingwithhis/hertutor. 80% 20%

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Tutor Pre- and Post- Evaluation

AmericaReadsTutorswereaskedtoassesseachoftheirtuteesandratetheirlevelBEFOREtutoringandAFTERtutoring as either poor, fair, good, or excellent on seven questions. A level increase would be going from one mark-er to another, such as from poor to fair, or from good to excellent. The results are shown below. n=90

Overall reading ability +.57Poor to Poor 4%PoortoFair 18%Poor to Good 2%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 10%FairtoGood 23%FairtoExcellent 0%Good to Good 16%Good to Excellent 11%Excellent to Excellent 16%GoodtoFair 0%

Reading comprehension +.51Poor to Poor 4%PoortoFair 9%Poor to Good 4%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 8%FairtoGood 27%FairtoExcellent 0%Good to Good 28%Good to Excellent 7%Excellent to Excellent 13%GoodtoFair 0%

Fluency +.49Poor to Poor 7%PoortoFair 14%Poor to Good 2%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 16%FairtoGood 22%FairtoExcellent 0%Good to Good 17%Good to Excellent 8%Excellent to Excellent 14%GoodtoFair 0%

Ability to sound out words +.58Poor to Poor 3%PoortoFair 16%Poor to Good 6%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 8%FairtoGood 22%FairtoExcellent 0%Good to Good 23%Good to Excellent 9%Excellent to Excellent 13%GoodtoFair 0%

“Literacy is important, because it is practically impossible to function within our society without being able to read and write. These are basic skills that we use every day for a myriad of things, whether it be reading directions for something, reading a ballot when voting for our govern-ment leaders, or writing a resume when looking for a job. Not being able to read and write would greatly hinder a person’s ability to be successful in life, go to college, get a good job, or simply life their life to the fullest.” - America Reads tutor

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Reading confidence +.78Poor to Poor 2%PoortoFair 14%Poor to Good 9%Poor to Excellent 2%FairtoFair 6%FairtoGood 20%FairtoExcellent 6%Good to Good 21%Good to Excellent 8%Excellent to Excellent 11%GoodtoFair 1%

Vocabulary development +.57Poor to Poor 2%PoortoFair 14%Poor to Good 7%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 11%FairtoGood 18%FairtoExcellent 1%Good to Good 29%Good to Excellent 11%Excellent to Excellent 7%GoodtoFair 0%

Overall writing ability +.62Poor to Poor 7%PoortoFair 16%Poor to Good 3%Poor to Excellent 0%FairtoFair 17%FairtoGood 30%FairtoExcellent 1%Good to Good 16%Good to Excellent 9%Excellent to Excellent 1%GoodtoFair 1%

[The tutee] is truly such a joy to work with. She went from not knowing any letters, to identifying and spell-ing three letters. We worked very hard to accomplish this literacy milestone and I am extremely proud of all that she accomplished. - Tutor

[The tutee] does an incredible job with her spelling at a very young age. She is a very precocious student and she was a pleasure to work with. - Tutor

[The tutee] has really gained self-confidence over this school year! She was gone from not talking during our time together to not wanting our session to be over! - Tutor

The fall was hard, but with the Spring brought a whole newseasoninworkingwith[thetutee]!Hisentireatti-tude changed- working really hard in our sessions and having a lot more fun doing so. I am excited for where he is at now and where he is headed! -Tutor

I have worked with [the tutee] for three years now and each year she continues to enjoy the program as well as improve! - Tutor

Becauseofthisprogram,mytutee...wasalwaysexcitedtowork and get that extra bit of practice that he could use during the day. - Tutor

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Teacher Evaluations

Teacher feedback is critical to ensuring that we are making a positive impact on learners participating in our pro-gram.Wealsorelyonthisfeedbacktoinformourprogramoutreachefforts.Wedistributedevaluationstoteach-ers to ascertain their perceptions of how the program impacted their students’ ability and attitude towards reading, writing, or math. This year, no America Counts teachers completed the survey.

Ten questions were asked to America Reads teachers. The response was overwhelmingly positive:.

Forthefirsttwoquestionsoftheteachersurvey,respondentswereaskedtoevaluatelearners’currentattitudesto-ward reading and writing (for America Reads), and toward math (America Counts) to submit answers in the form of a four-point Likert scale. Answers were as follows:

Teacher Evaluation of Student Attitudes n=19

Very Positive Positive Negative Very Negative

Toward Learning in Reading 37% 63%Toward Learning in Writing 26% 63% 11%

Teacher Evaluation of Student Change n= 19

Strongly Agree

Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree

Positive Change in Reading Achievement

11% 79% 11%

Positive Change in Writing Achievement

5% 74% 21%

Positive Change in Attitude toward Reading

16% 74% 11%

Positive Change in Attitude Toward Writing

5% 64% 26% 5%

UsingNewReadingStrategiesn=18 6% 44% 50%UsingNewWritingStrategies=18 6% 33% 61%

Forthefinaltwoquestions,teacherswereaskedtorank,onascaleof1-10,learners’overallimprovementintwoareas (1= no improvement at all, 10= could not have improved more). 16 respondents rated the overall improve-ment in reading 6.8 and writing 6.0.

Forthefollowingquestions,respondentswereaskedtoreportwhethertheyhadnoticedchangesinstudentbe-havior and attitudes related to reading and writing since beginning the program. Answers were submitted in the form of a five-point Likert scale:

[The tutee] is more willing to read with me and get new books. It’s very excit-ing to see this! - Carrboro teacher

[The tutee] doesn’t struggle as much with readinganymore.Herwriting has also improved. -MorrisGroveteacher

[The tutee] has learned many sight words and she is now decoding much better. She is positive about reading and writing and is a good student. -NewHopeteacher.

[The tutee] has loved his time with his tutor this year.Hewasjusttellingme how great his tutor is and how much he feels like he has learned. -EstesHillsteacher

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Thank YouLiteracycontinuestobeanimportantissueinOrangeCountyandChapelHill-CarrboroCityschools.Welookforward to improving our program and outreach, and to work to create agents of social change next year.

Thanks to the following organizations who contributed funding and resources this year: