November 26, 2002 Feature
Story
"Reading
for All Learners Program" Helps Nation’s Children
Learn to Read
 It’s
what most Americans take for granted each and every day, yet
what millions of school children struggle with the first three
or four years of their educational careers: the ability to read.
Reading is a part of everyday life for almost all people, but
statistics show that many school children are not getting the
proper start they need in developing this basic skill. Alan
Hofmeister, director of the Center for Information Technology
at Utah State University and the Reading for All Learners Program
(RALP), is leading a charge to combat this problem.
From Harlem to Puerto Rico to the White Mountain Apache Indian
Reservation, RALP is helping struggling students learn how to
read and helping them get their lives on track.
And history and statistics show that the program works.
Since its introduction in Harlem, for instance, RALP has been
aiding educators in reversing the trend of poor reading achievement.
During the 2001-02 school year, the average Harlem elementary
school student increased his or her reading level by 1.1 grade
as a result of an after-school tutoring program where RALP was
used as the central curriculum.
According to Karin Binner, executive director of the tutoring
program, 96 percent of the students improved by at least half
a grade level, while almost a quarter of the students improved
by a grade and half.
RALP is a program designed around 140 "little books"
that students read in succession, each book building upon the
skills developed in the previous one. The program relies heavily
on small group interaction as the mode of instruction. As its
name suggests, it is designed to help all children develop reading
skills, regardless of social class, learning ability or geographic
location.
"Our program is designed to help young children get a jump
on reading no matter who they are," Hofmeister said. "We
believe that if you can give school children this basic skill
early on, not only will they have a head start in their education,
but they are less likely to exhibit anti-social behavior later
in life."
Hofmeister added that anyone can develop a reading program,
take it to a private or high performing public school and have
success. Instead, he looks for challenging areas of the nation
in which to test his program.
"You’ve got to be able to go into the toughest places
and deliver," he said. "It’s a real test for
us."
Hofmeister seems to have a knack for finding those tough areas.
Over the past five years, RALP has been introduced in Harlem,
Puerto Rico and several Native American reservations where achievement
test scores plainly showed young children were struggling with
reading.
"In many school districts, achievement scores are highly
related to the income level of the neighborhood," Hofmeister
said. "For instance, in low-income areas like Harlem and
on the reservations, more than 20 percent of elementary students
end up in special education programs. And the only reason it’s
just 20 is that the law won’t allow anymore to be placed
there."
Hofmeister’s latest effort to overcome such statistics
involves the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.
The Center for Information Technology at Utah State University,
the Cache County School District in northern Utah and the Apache
Reservation are collaborating to help one another. This three-pronged
effort is yielding benefits on all sides, Hofmeister said.
First, the reservation is getting much needed help with the
education of their children. According to Hofmeister, the White
Mountain Apache Reservation faces many struggles.
"The National Bureau of Indian Affairs reported last year
that not one of the grade school students on the reservation
was reading at grade level, so administrators and teachers went
on a nationwide search for solutions," he said. "Since
kids weren’t getting the basic skills of reading and writing,
later in life they found the world had little to offer them."
According to Hofmeister, the reservation has one of the highest
unemployment rates in the nation. He also said that due to limited
educational and employment opportunities, suicide rates are
very high.
School officials on the reservation are now counting on RALP
and the Center for Information Technology staff to help change
this picture. Already, teaching aides have been trained and
are ready to help the full-time teachers implement RALP. Since
the aides are drawn from the local population, they give the
schools and the program a link to the community that proves
vital to the program’s success.
The second prong of the effort involves the Cache County School
District. Diversity is on the rise in this northern Utah district
and administrators are preparing for potential diversity issues
before they arise. Since the district implemented RALP five
years ago, it has the program running smoothly and can serve
as a good model for other districts trying to implement the
program.
"The Cache County District is our model school for the
reservation," Hofmeister said. "As the two districts
interact, Cache administrators get a chance to view diversity
up close as they immerse themselves in another culture for a
week or two on site and communicate with the reservation for
years to come."
Apache administrators were invited to northern Utah to observe
RALP in action in Cache County schools in January 2002, and
Cache administrators then had a chance to help on the reservation
as the program was implemented in the Apache schools in March.
Since then, several visits have been made by personnel from
both districts.
Last, Utah State students and staff are benefitting from the
cooperative effort. The Center for Information Technology has
two interns working on the project. Thomas Johnson is getting
hands-on training in his major, business information systems,
and also handles much of the marketing duties for the project.
Emilee Call is learning strategies for use in special education
and is also working on a project to get RALP into public libraries.
In short, all three entities are benefitting from this effort.
None of those involved has lost sight of the ultimate goal,
however.
"Everyone cares about the kids," Hofmeister said.
"That’s what this program is all about."
In an effort to make the program more widely available, RALP
is a non-profit operation. It is available to school districts
and individual families alike for a small fee that only covers
the cost of production.
"This is really non profit," said Hofmeister. "Cost
effectiveness is the key. If you’ve got a great program
but it’s very expensive, you’re still discriminating
against the group that needs help the most."
As Hofmeister and his staff continue to seek those groups and
help them through the implementation of RALP, it seems quite
certain that more and more American children will be able to
take reading for granted just like the rest of the nation often
does.
Contact: Alan Hofmeister (435) 797-3718; hofa@cc.usu.edu
Writer: Justin Smart (435) 797-8286; justin.smart@usu.edu
Photo
by Paul Barker, Deseret News
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