Sunday, January 17, 1999
Taft's reading-tutor program still on page 1
Experts foresee many problems in recruitment
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft's ambitious plan to enlist 20,000 Ohioans as volunteer reading tutors faces difficult obstacles, literacy experts say.
Coordinators of a dozen literacy programs interviewed by The Enquirer, including ones that pay tutors stipends, said they can't find enough volunteers to meet the demand for assistance.
“Even the logistics of finding and training 100 volunteers is difficult,” said Janet George, Columbus coordinator for America Reads, a federal program that helped inspire Mr. Taft's initiative. “I can only imagine what it will take to get the kind of numbers the governor is talking about.”
If Mr. Taft's OhioReads program is to be successful, reading specialists say, tutors will need proper training and materials, as well as professional support to ensure they don't become frustrated and drop out.
There also are practical considerations, such as conducting criminal background checks on volunteers and finding places for tutors and children to meet.
In other words, volunteers can't just pick a book off the shelf and start reading to a child.
Penny Freppon, an education professor at the University of Cincinnati, said enlisting volunteers is a good idea. However, tutors shouldn't take the place of professionals trained to teach children with proven reading techniques, she said.
Ms. Freppon puts teachers through an intensive nine-month series of reading courses, including weekly tutoring sessions with children. She said the state needs to spend more money to train new teachers and improve the skills of veterans.
“Asking people to volunteer as tutors is a very, very meager move toward reform and what needs to be done for teachers and children in this state,” she said. “If we could fix these problems quickly, we would have done so years ago.”
It is unclear how Mr. Taft's program will be organized or how much the state will spend to recruit, train and place volunteers. During the fall campaign, he pledged to spend at least $1 million annually supporting tutors of children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Taft doubled his campaign promise to recruit 10,000 reading tutors, but he hasn't signaled whether the program's budget will be doubled as well.
“Let's pledge today that we will not give up on a single one of our children,” said Mr. Taft, who will begin tutoring a child this week at Kent Elementary School in Columbus. “Together we will make Ohio the "Reading State' of America.”
There is good reason to do so. Research shows that youngsters who fail to master reading skills are more likely to drop out of high school and end up unemployed. One-on-one tutoring reinforces what kids are supposed to be learning in their classrooms, Mr. Taft said.
Is it enough?
Scores on standardized reading tests highlight the dilemma facing teachers and politicians.
Only 64 percent of fourth-graders passed their reading proficiency exam last year, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Under a new academic reform law, children in second grade this year will be the first required to pass the fourth-grade reading test to advance to fifth grade.
With those sobering statistics in mind, many adult literacy programs are encouraging parents to bring their children to tutoring sessions, said Nona Stricker Rhodes, executive director of the Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati.
If parents can't read, she said, it's likely their children are having problems, too.
Legislative leaders say Mr. Taft's call for volunteers is “realistic,” but experts question whether setting aside $1 million for the program is enough.
Moreover, it's unclear what kind of effect the extra money would have on the state's 611 school districts, most of which participated in a lawsuit alleging that Ohio's school-funding system has created vast disparities between rich and poor schools.
"Needs to be done right'
The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year on legislative changes intended to comply with the court's March 1997 decision that declared the school-funding system inadequate and unconstitutional.
Although reading to a child is a key building block in their development, Ms. Freppon and other experts said, it's merely one layer of their education. They caution that kids with learning disabilities need even more intensive help.
Tutors need to be trained to recognize even the smallest improvements and know when to ask professionals for assistance, said Gay Su Pinnell, an education professor at Ohio State University.
“I know this can do a lot of good, but it needs to be done right,” said Dr. Pinnell, director of a teacher-training program called Reading Recovery. “Just picking the right books can be a difficult task.”
Vacancies unfilled
Mindful of the busy schedules of most young professionals and parents, Mr. Taft is asking the Ohio Department of Aging to oversee OhioReads. The agency already oper ates a 2-year-old tutoring program dubbed STARS (Seniors Teaching and Reading to Students).
State Rep. Joan Lawrence, a Galena Republican whom Mr. Taft appointed last week to direct the agency, noted that even though the STARS program and others pay participants a small stipend, organizers have had trouble attracting tutors.
For instance, lawmakers provided enough money for 470 STARS tutors, but so far program organizers have signed up 358. The America Reads program in Columbus has only been able to fill half of its 100 positions.
“I can't imagine the state will be able to train 20,000 volunteers,” Ms. Lawrence said. “We're going to need help.”
Despite the logistical and motiva tional hurdles, tutors are confident they are helping children improve their skills and build self-esteem.
Giving time
Erin Callihan, a 21-year-old OSU education student from Elyria, Ohio, has been working in the America Reads program for two years. She reads to the two children she works with each week, and sometimes they make books together. This week they are writing poems about winter.
“Any time you can give a child is beneficial,” Ms. Callihan said. “To know there is someone who believes in them is extremely important.”
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