Through the Building Blocks to Success literacy program HCEF is now providing free access to Renaissance Learning's much respected on-line reading assessment software for their after-school programing –

Star Reading to assess the reading level of resident children and

Accelerated Reader, with its 100,000+ easily accessed children's books

– to encourage reading and improve reading skills.

The program is based on a model used in many Title 1 programs with reading assessment, reading practice (quizzes and evaluation), student incentives, parent engagement, volunteer tutoring and reading partners, and school/parent/homeless agency relationship building.

Not unexpectedly, given the circumstances of the children's lives, a great many of them are seriously deficient in reading and in reading comprehension. With Star Reading, the Learning Center staff can quickly assess a child's reading level as part of the intake process. The results are made available to the parent and can be made available to a child's public school teacher. Test results will also help the staff of an agency's after-school program to direct a child to books appropriate to his or her capabilities.

Learning Center staff, professional reading tutors as well as volunteer reading mentors encourage the children to read and to take the on-line quizzes that test how well they have understood what they've read. The Renaissance Learning software tracks each student's progress and awards points for accurate completion of the quizzes. As students accumulate points, they can "redeem" them for individual prizes of varying and appropriate value.

HCEF also celebrates the improvements of all the children participating in the reading program with special events like a pizza and ice cream party, a trip to a roller skating rink, Pirates baseball tickets, and – with the help of volunteers and corporate partners – end-of-the-school-year parties for the entire family.

For the reporting period of 8/1/09-7/31/10, 86 students took 659 quizzes with 605 of the quizzes receiving passing grades and with an average passing score of 85.2%.

That is good news. But there is more. Through this program children and youths are motivated to read, read, read and to strive for the simple prizes as proof of their measurable improvement. And not only are they now reading to their younger siblings, but they are eager to demonstrate their improved reading skills to moms and to anyone else who will listen. As important their moms are reading more themselves as well as to and with their kids.

One site administrator has written: "It's been an amazing year for our kids because of HCEF! They love working with the volunteers in the Learning Center. Now we have these fabulous reading groups!"

And a Mom tells us: "The best thing about it [the reading program] is that it helps the kids meet their quota at school. They have 25 books that they have to read [at school]. In the after-school program here [at the housing agency] they have tutors that come and help them read during those times and then they test them on the computer and we send those papers to the school to show they read. And it's helped her learning so much."

Another Mom reports: "My daughter's grades went up because she had been using the computerized reading/testing program and she learned to use the computer better."

HCEF places Reading Mentors, Homework Helpers, and Learning Center Volunteers in the participating Learning Centers, and more are always being sought as the program expands to other family housing agencies. (See Volunteers to learn how you might participate in helping vulnerable children and youth find "hope through learning.") In addition HCEF has worked with the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA) Book Mobile to provide bi-weekly service to two agency sites where the vehicle can be accommodated.

Building Blocks for Success is now available in six area sites: Bridge to Independence, Salvation Army Family Caring Center, Sojourner House and Sojourner House MOMS, Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, Sisters Place, and Womanspace East. (It's children at each of these sites whose quiz results are noted above.) In 2010 HCEF will be giving access to the program as well as staff training and the services of paid reading tutors and volunteer reading mentors to additional sites.

While we understand and appreciate that agency-based educational programming varies with the length of a family's stay, the ages of children and youth served, and the restrictions of time and staffing, we at HCEF believe Building Blocks to Success can be adapted for all models, including 30- and 60-day emergency shelters, transitional and bridge housing, and permanent housing. We do, however, expect the program's greatest impact will be at the longer-term sites.

Support for Building Blocks has come from The Pittsburgh Foundation, Ayres Foundation, Dominion Foundation, US Airways Education Foundation, John E. and Sue M. Jackson Charitable Trust, James McCandless Charitable Trust through the PNC Charitable Trust grant review committee, William V. and Catherine A. McKinney Charitable Foundation, Robert and Mary Weisbrod Charitable Foundation, Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation, and Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy Project.

(9/7/10)

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