Literacy volunteers have big impact locally

Connecticut has the widest education achievement gap in the nation. In 2013, according to the Connecticut State Department of Education, 48 percent of children in grades 3 and 4 in the Hartford area are reading below grade level.

Literacy volunteers are changing those numbers. This month, 100 returning volunteers and 30 newly trained reading mentors from the Hartford Jewish Coalition for Literacy (HJCL) will begin reading with students in six towns in the Hartford area. Studies continually show that one key predictor of reading success is how much time a child spends reading and repeated reading, in a focused setting. This skill-building is what reading mentors are training to do.

 

HJCL volunteers complete a half-day training to become mentors. HJCL then pairs these adults with at-risk children in preschool and elementary school, where they read together a half-hour a week for 10 weeks.  During the 2012-2013 school year, the Coalition served 295 children and conducted 4200 reading sessions at a total of 13 schools.

 

The Coalition boasted an incredibly high success rate for the 2012-2013 school year: 84 percent of children who worked with a reading mentor performed at average, above average or excellent levels based on teachers' year end evaluation of test scores and overall progress.

 

HJCL has three signature programs: Preschool Pals is designed to help children who enter Kindergarten without the background of conversation, life experiences and books vital to becoming a reader. Volunteers read with children in their classrooms and after school.

 

The Elementary Express program boosts literacy levels in children in Kindergarten through third grade.  Sessions are broken out into reading aloud, shared reading and independent reading.  

 

Reading Buddies gives Jewish Day school students from a chance to mentor Kindergarten students in Hartford and Bloomfield for about one month in the Spring.

 

While there is no one secret to successfully turning the numbers around, Marge Swaye, chair of the Hartford Jewish Coalition for Literacy (HJCL), says each year the Coalition performs a rigorous analysis of its work to assess their impact and strategize for the coming year. The Connecticut Council for Education Reform also notes in its executive summary that although progress has been slow, it is the continuous, measurable successes that are key.

 

 

The three volunteer opportunities are programs of the Jewish Community Relations Council, the public affairs voice of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. HJCL is an Affiliate of the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy. Major funding is provided by the Jewish Community Foundation, SBM Charitable Foundation, and the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation and the Samuel Roskin Trust at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

 

For more information, please call 860-236-READ (7323) or email hjcl@jewishhartford.org