Starting a Campus-Based Literacy Program: Ten Easy Steps

An online trainingSCALEUNC-Chapel Hill

Session Goals

Prepare you to organize, gain support, and implement a literacy tutoring program.

Ten Easy Steps:1. Form a planning committee

2. Identify campus partners

3. Identify community partners

4. Locate seed money

5. Identify program coordinator(s)

6. Recruit tutors

7. Identify a tutoring model

8. Design training and reflection schedules

9. Design a program evaluation

10. Form an advisory board

Step One: Form a planning committee

• Assemble a diverse group of stakeholders

• Include campus partners

• Include community partners

Planning Committee Work

• Develop a mission statement with goals and program philosophy

•Develop work-plans and a timeline for activities

America Reads at UNC-CH

Through active supervision and ongoing

training, UNC-CH’s America Reads Program strives to increase the reading levels of local children from pre-k to fifth grade, increase university students’ involvement in the community, and strengthen the

partnership between the university and the

community.

Step Two: Identify campus partners

• What department will house the program?

• Where will the program be housed physically?

Desk

Phone

Computer

Storage space

Copier

Meeting space

Step Three: Identify community partners

Community Partners May Include• Schools• Community centers• Homeless shelters• Literacy experts• Evaluation experts• Private businesses• Public officials• Faith-based organizations• Citizen leaders

Step Four: Locate seed money

Ask local companies for grants to purchase re-usable materials.

Books

Dry erase markers

Dry erase boards

Magnetic letters

Step Five: Identify program coordinator(s)

• Campus staff coordinator?

• Student leader coordinator?

• One coordinator or a corps?

Job description should include responsibilities such as scheduling, planning transportation, planning trainings, serving as liaison to the community, and collecting data.

Student Leaders

Several student leaders divide all the aspects of coordinating the tutoring program.

UCLA's Project Literacy

Staff and Student Leadership

Program coordination and supervision shared by a campus staff member and student leaders.

Coach Mentors (Supervisors)

Coach Mentor (Coordinator)

Step Six: Recruit volunteer and work-study tutors

Recruit On Campus

• Financial Aid Office

• Fraternities and sororities

• Campus community service organizations

• Service-learning organizations and classes

• School of Education

• School of Social Work

Flyers

Listservs Orientations

Step Seven: Identify a research-based tutoring model

For Children

National Reading Panel• Phonemic awareness• Phonics instruction• Fluency• Vocabulary• Comprehension

The International Reading Association’s Summary of the National Reading Panel’s report

A full-text introduction to Evidence-Based Reading Instruction: Putting The National Reading Panel Report Into Practice

For AdultsNational Institute for Literacy and The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy • Phonemic awareness• Word analysis• Fluency• Vocabulary• Comprehension

Literacy Practitioner

National Institute for Literacy

Step Eight: Design a training and reflection schedule

Training

And

Reflection

Initial training

Ongoing training

TopicsDates

Attendance

Step Nine: Design a program evaluation

• What program aspects will you evaluate?

• What instruments will you use?

• When will you collect data?

Step Ten: Form an advisory board

Advisory Board Composition

• People from planning committee

• Stakeholders from campus and community

• Experts in the field

Review

1. Form a planning committee

2. Identify campus partners

3. Identify community partners

4. Locate seed money

5. Identify program coordinator(s)

Review

6. Recruit volunteer and work-study tutors

7. Identify a research-based literacy tutoring model

8. Design a training and reflection schedule

9. Design a program evaluation

10. Form an advisory board

Your SCALE online training is complete!

Read. Write. Act.