I.A. Richards' work continues to pay dividends

By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

By the time she was in kindergarten, Jennifer Swanson knew how to read.

"I never had to struggle with it," she said. "I was never intimidated by reading."

But Swanson, a sophomore from Princeton, N.J., and Cabot House, knows that reading is a challenge for many children. That's why she recently signed up as a reading tutor through the House and Neighborhood Development (HAND) program. Last week, she started at the Fletcher School in Cambridge.

"I think the most important thing you can do is teach someone to read, because everything takes off from there," she reflected.

Swanson is among dozens of Harvard College students who are working to combat illiteracy in the Boston area. Three public service programs -- HAND, Phillips Brooks House Association, and Harvard-Radcliffe Little People -- plan to start or expand existing reading tutoring programs this spring or next fall.

They are part of a national movement, championed by President Clinton, to dramatically increase the number of children reading at their grade level by the end of third grade.

One component of the "America Reads" campaign is to have college students tutor through federal Work-Study grants. As a result, some of Harvard's tutors will earn wages for their involvement.

"Many Harvard College students already work with elementary school children on a volunteer basis; our students are very public-spirited," said Director of Student Employment Marcy Homer. "This initiative will allow students on financial aid who might not have the chance to do community service to follow their hearts -- and get paid for it."

Specialized training and ongoing support and supervision will be an essential component of Harvard's response to the America Reads Challenge, according to Judith Kidd, assistant dean of Harvard College for public service.

"Any child can benefit from the attention of a caring college student," she said, "but to be an effective reading tutor requires additional training and time commitment."

Kidd has agreed to sponsor free training for all Harvard students participating in America Reads. Training will be developed in consultation with the Graduate School of Education's Literacy Lab and will incorporate feedback from the two America Reads pilot programs underway this spring.

Harvard has also joined task forces being organized by ReadBoston, an area advocacy group seeking to establish minimum standards for training and a unified voice for participating institutions of higher education.

President Neil L. Rudenstine serves on the executive committee of ReadBoston, which hopes to enlist the services of at least 1,000 area college students by the fall, when the America Reads program officially begins.

Students as Teachers

Harvard's tutoring programs will reach out to children from preschool to sixth grade.

This spring, for example, HAND is launching a pilot program that will send reading tutors into three Cambridge elementary schools -- Fletcher, Cambridgeport, and Morse -- in conjunction with the nonprofit Cambridge School Volunteers.

About 150 HAND members already assist as tutors in Cambridge schools, and they are being joined by 20 newly trained reading tutors, according to HAND administrator Jessica Steigerwald '90. They will work both during school hours and after school.

'"I'm hoping that HAND can be effective in helping children want to read, learn to read, and love to read," she said.

Steigerwald said HAND will not identify those students who are receiving Work-Study funds. "You're a HAND Reader first, whether you're being paid or not."

Meanwhile, the Phillips Brooks House Association is also organizing a pilot America Reads program, sponsored by Harvard's Work-Study office.

PBHA has about eight programs that provide reading and other tutoring to children in area housing developments and communities, such as Academy Homes, Newtowne Court, and Chinatown. The Work-Study money will strengthen these programs by allowing them to incorporate additional participants, according to PBHA President Roy Bahat '98.

Some critics argue that the Work-Study program turns volunteering into a job, but as far as Bahat is concerned, "I think if it enables a student to serve who wouldn't be able to otherwise, it's undoubtedly a good thing."

A third literacy program has been developed by a new public service organization, Harvard-Radcliffe Little People, which targets early childhood development.

Little People volunteers currently work in all 10 Head Start classrooms in Cambridge as a part of the group's early reading program, the Harvard Emerging Literacy Project (HELP). These volunteers read, talk, and do artwork with low-income children, most of them 3 to 5 years old. The program hopes to participate in America Reads next fall.

Chandler Arnold '98, who co-founded Little People with Elizabeth Haynes '98, said HELP volunteers serve as role models and mentors to these youngsters, who are thirsty for attention and praise.

Tutoring children who have endured many hardships in their short lives can be eye-opening, Arnold noted.

"At college, it's easy to get wrapped up in your coursework and grades," he said. "When you go to work with these children, it gives you a lot of perspective. Sometimes I think I'm learning more from the children than they're learning from me."

Work-Study Support

The Work-Study program enables hundreds of financially challenged Harvard undergraduate and graduate students to obtain office, research, community service, and other part-time jobs around the University. Twenty-three percent of Harvard undergraduates receive Work-Study aid.

Normally, the employer pays 40 percent of a student's paycheck and the federal government foots the balance. For students who do community service, the employer pays 25 percent.

To encourage college students to join a national network of reading tutors, President Clinton changed the rules so that 100 percent of a tutor's wages can come from the federal government. The pay rate for the spring is $7.50 an hour.

To make matters even better, Harvard expects to receive an 11 percent increase in Work-Study funds next year, according to Homer.

Homer, whose Student Employment Office will administer the Work-Study component of the program, applauds the America Reads concept.

"From the very beginning, I thought this was a great idea," she said. "College students love to work with kids, and kids love to learn from college students."