A profile of a Community After School Tutorial Success Program: A community and volunteer effort

Ohio Reading Teacher, Summer 2002 by Jackson, Jacqueline L, Hosch, Rita M

a. One-on-one (individualized instruction)

b. Content skill centers (students rotate in tutorial areas according to content needs)

c. Small group instruction

d. Grade level grouping (1-5)

e. Sibling/peer tutoring

All tutors instruct the students for a session lasting one and one-half hours. The remaining time involves parent and child sign in and out, prayer, snack, and clean-up. Extensive one-on-one tutoring is possible because of local university education majors involved in a required service learning experience. University special education students also assist with the instruction of children who are learning disabled and with other low achievers having academic difficulties. Program activities depend greatly on community volunteerism. Volunteers are solicited through local newspapers and posters displayed in various neighborhood schools, universities and centers.

Staff, Tutor, Volunteer Responsibilities

Pre-planned daily logs, lesson plan guides, report cards, and teachers' graded papers all influence the choice of strategies used by the tutors to instruct each child. Daily logs and lesson plan guides indicate strategies used by the tutors to instruct each child in his or her area of need. The intermediate students (grades 3-5) are tutored specifically in science, citizenship, health and mathematics. The students' primary difficulty is often in language arts and reading skills. Literacy instruction includes word usage, decoding, vocabulary extension, sentence structure, and paragraph building. Students in the primary grades (grades 1-2) are often most lacking in writing, phonics, and reading comprehension skills. Because the primary groupings have had the fewest number of children, they are usually able to receive one-on-one tutoring. End of the year academic records and grades have indicated that students were positively impacted by the insturction they received through CASTSP.

Other CASTSP Supervised Projects

The following three CASTSP projects have been particularly successful, although only the Friday Family Fun Night is an ongoing event:

Friday Family Fun Night

Friday night's programs include academic remediation, recreation, family involvement and a complete meal. Presenters introduce community resources and share current educational best practices. There is also discussion of issues that are important to parents and other caregivers, with handouts related to discussion topics. Figure 1 has a list of last year's topics:

The Parent-Home Connection: Homework in a Bag

Through grant funding, a dictionary, books, calculator, and calculator skill sheets were distributed to individual students. Students also received a book-bag of school supplies for homework assignments in order to encourage parental involvement and increase student academic achievement. The homework bag connected the home, school, and the CASTSP.

Youth Expo

For the last event of the school year, the talents of community youth in elementary, middle, and high school are showcased. The event ends with dinner or refreshments.