The Alexandria Tutoring Consortium is an interfaith 501 ( c) (3) organization working in partnership with Alexandria's Faith Community, the City, the Community at Large and Alexandria's Public Elementary Schools to recruit, train and match volunteers from congregations, community groups, businesses and Alexandria City employees to tutor kindergarteners and first graders in literacy skills.
To provide the foundation for future learning success by helping ensure all first and second graders in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) can read at or above grade level by the end of second grade.
In 1996, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) launched the Primary Initiative with the goal that all students in ACPS would be able to read and do math at grade level by the end of second grade. When the Rev. Gary Charles, then pastor of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, heard about the Primary Initiative, he joined with Herbert Berg (then superintendent of ACPS) and Steve Rideout, (then Chief Judge of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court), to start a program that united local faith communities and elementary school principals, teachers, and reading specialists to provide reading tutors to first and second grade students in the public schools. They named the organization Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC). Today, in order to meet the need for volunteer tutors expressed by ACPS, we have expanded our recruiting base beyond our supportive member congregations to include any individual who wants to tutor, community groups and businesses, and, through Mayor Euille's Initiative, Alexandria City employees.
In 2006, ATC incorporated and received tax-exempt 501c3 status. As a result we are able to receive tax-deductible contributions from individuals, organizations, businesses, etc. to support our work.
The need for tutors is great. In spring 2011, 25% of third graders in the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) did not reach reading proficiency on Virginia's 2011 spring test. According to the Casey report, those 262 children are now on the "dropout track" because they will not have the necessary skills to engage in language and higher learning activities in 4th grade and beyond. The National Research Council states that "academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone's reading skill at the end of third grade."
An additional challenge is that each year about 25% of Alexandria?s children enter kindergarten not having attended preschool and so need extra help in order to catch up on literacy skills with those who do.
Therefore, there will be many kindergarteners and first graders in the Alexandria City Public Schools this fall who are "at-risk" of not being able to read at grade level by third grade.
And, research shows that if students do not "learn to read" by the end of third grade, they will have difficulty "reading to learn" in fourth grade and beyond.
However, first-graders who receive intensive, targeted intervention, even those who have the most difficulty reading, can reach grade-level reading by the end of second grade. With early intervention, more than 90% of children can read at grade level, or better!
To increase the percentage of children reading at or above grade level by the end of second grade is the mission of the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium. Please join us in fulfilling this mission. There is no greater gift to Alexandria's future than generations of children empowered with the ability to read.
To increase the percentage of children reading at or above grade level by the end of second grade is the mission of the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium. Please join us in fulfilling this mission. There is no greater gift to Alexandria's future than generations of children empowered with the ability to read.
ATC tutors work one-on-one primarily with ACPS kindergarteners and first graders. Each kindergarten student is tutored two 15 minute sessions a week and each first grader two 30 minute sessions a week.
Volunteers may tutor once or twice a week. Once-a-week volunteers may find their own partner or ask to be paired with another tutor to ensure the weekly commitment to each child is met.
Tutors may also sign up for two consecutive time slots and work with more than one student back to back.
All volunteers will be provided with an orientation to the school and will receive training from ACPS and have access to books and materials provided by the school. Tutors who work in schools with the Book Buddies program are provided with lesson plans and materials customized to each child's specific needs. Those tutoring kindergarteners also receive training and are given general guidelines and materials appropriate for all children selected to participate in the Reading Readiness program.
Tutoring takes place at the school during school hours. The goal is for tutoring to begin in September for year-round school Mt. Vernon and to continue through June. The goal for all other schools with ATC programs is to begin tutoring in early October and tutor until Memorial Day.
Tutors are expected to try to find substitutes when they are unable to tutor. At the beginning of the year volunteers will be provided with a schedule for your school that includes the names and contact information for the Book Buddies liaison or Reading Readiness contact person, the teacher and the volunteers tutoring in your program. If your tutoring partner is not available to substitute for you, please contact another volunteer on the list to see if they can and then, please be open to tutoring for them if they need a substitute.
All registered volunteers will receive an ATC Volunteer Handbook on-line in September. If you prefer the Handbook be mailed, please call 703-549-6670 ext. 119 to make that request. The Handbook will be sent to returning volunteers as they register and to each new volunteer when the application and references have been received.
Selecting the Students to be tutored
Kindergarten and first grade classroom teachers and school reading specialists identify students in need of help with reading. They use a pre-assessment instrument which measures the grade level of the student's reading. At the end of the year a similar post-assessment instrument is used to measure student progress.
Scheduling Tutoring Sessions
An ATC volunteer kindergarten coordinator and the ACPS Book Buddies Liaison, who is a reading specialist, match tutors with selected kindergarteners and first graders. Tutoring sessions take place at mutually convenient times for student and teacher during the school day. If you can only tutor one session a week and are not able to find a friend or colleague for the second session, school Book Buddies liaisons can help arrange tutoring partners. We strive to find an appropriate placement for everyone who wants to participate.
Results
With over 170 volunteers last year, ATC tutors helped 183 ACPS children selected for its programs improve their reading proficiency.
Of the 142 first graders in the Book Buddies program, 85% reached their literacy benchmark on Virginia's spring 2011 reading test. In the kindergarten Reading Readiness program at George Mason, all 14 children tutored reached their Spring 2011 literacy benchmark on the state test; at Patrick Henry, 13 of the 14 children tutored reached their literacy benchmark. For a complete report of student progress, please see the latest edition of ATC's Annual Report which can be found on the home page.
Volunteers
ATC has a variety of volunteer positions. Brief descriptions are below to provide you with a sense of who you may come in contact with through your involvement with the program.
Tutors are the core of our program. Tutors serve by themselves or as part of a team working with a kindergarten or first grade student to improve the child's literacy skills.
Congregation/Community/City Coordinators promote ATC and recruit and support tutors within their faith community, community group or workplace.
School Book Buddies Coordinators are reading specialists employed by ACPS. They arrange for orientation to their school, assign tutors to specific students, schedule tutoring sessions, and generally serve as a resource person for tutors.
Board members are responsible for the overall policy and direction of ATC, and delegate responsibility of day-to-day operations to the staff and committees. Board meetings are open to other interested parties. See 2011-2012 ATC Board of Directors Roster.
Other volunteers are welcome. Please contact Executive Director Gwen Mullen at the ATC office - 703-549-6770 ext. 119 - to find out what additional help is needed at the particular time you call.
For more information, contact:
Gwen Mullen, Executive Director
Alexandria Tutoring Consortium
323 S. Fairfax Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-549-6670 x119
FAX: 703-549-9425 Contact us by Email
We welcome your feedback.
