Addressing special needs of children in a multicultural community when implementing literacy tutoring
Abstract
Children in a multicultural setting may have special needs that require approaches that are different from other tutoring programs. This practice describes the Miami Reads program and how it addresses tutoring children from poor and limited-English speaking backgrounds by forming community collaborations, improving communication with non-English speaking parents, and matching tutors to students by common language. Excerpted from Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's So That Every Child Can Read.Issue
Miami, Florida, is a multicultural community with many recent immigrants. Sixty percent of the population speaks English as a second language. Almost a quarter of K-5 students are classified as "limited-English proficient," and some students are not literate in their native languages. Students are in need of ESL (English as a second language) tutoring; however, the children need individual attention. Miami Reads seeks to address the need for individual ESL instruction by leveraging the strengths of community agencies.Action
The following activities have contributed to the success of Miami Reads:- Rallying agencies whose respective strengths complement each other.
- Colleges provide tutors paid with federal work-study funds, as well as provide expertise in assessment and evaluation from their research departments.
- Public schools give release time to reading specialists to spend six weeks designing the tutoring curriculum.
- The local PBS station (WLRN-TV) supplies materials and staff members for instructing parents and teachers on how to find high-quality children's programs and materials for subsequent activities.
- Reaching out to parents by using their native language in correspondence.
- Matching tutors with students who share the same native language.
- Committing to a one-on-one tutoring curriculum. The individualized attention a student receives from this type of tutoring is considered critical to success.
- Designing and implement a tutoring curriculum that is easy to use.
Citation
Potter, Jana, Judy Blankenship, and Laura Carlsmith. So That Every Child Can Read... America Reads Community Tutoring Partnerships. A Review of Effective and Promising Practices in Volunteer Reading Tutoring Programs. Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, April 1999. pp. 24-25.Outcome
The individualized one-on-one tutoring leads to a comfortable learning environment in which the children experience increased self-esteem and learn at a faster pace than they would without the extra help. The director of the Center for Community Involvement at Miami-Dade Community College believes that the experience of community service causes the tutors to discover career goals and become more focused in college.Evidence
Evaluations of children in the tutoring program have shown that their learning pace is increased by the one-on-one, individualized ESL instruction. Some of the students who were illiterate in their native languages were even able to surpass the native speakers in reading skills assessments.Posted On
September 19, 2000Resources
See the document, Miami Reads: A Model of Success in a Multicultural Environment.Source Documents
Related Practices
Related sites
America Reads: Principles and Key Components