Every Monday and Wednesday last year, Elizabeth Tilley joined other volunteers to tutor first graders at Marion Sterling Elementary School in Cleveland. The tutoring program called STEP (Supporting Tutors Engaging Pupils) is a pilot initiated through a collaboration of The Literacy Cooperative and a group of community literacy partners that focuses on children who are reading below grade level. 

Like many volunteer tutors, Ms. Tilley has a passion for reading, language, and helping people, young and old, reach their highest potential. What makes Ms. Tilley different from the other tutors is that she has only been reading for about a decade herself.

A native of England, Ms. Tilley grew up in a blue-collar town with her parents and five siblings. Even though she never learned to read well enough to comprehend a text, she made her way through school by using attitude, copy-cat behavior and deductive reasoning. When she married a Clevelander, she moved to the United States and worked as a hair stylist until her six children grew up and left home. It was then that Ms. Tilley found herself at a crossroads.

“I needed to decide what to do with myself,” said Ms. Tilley.  “I wanted to do more.”

When she first visited Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and tried to register for a class, she realized that she wasn’t even literate enough to fill out the application forms. Ms. Tilley left Tri-C without registering for a single course, but was more determined than ever to learn. By the time she returned to Tri-C, she had taught herself to read using everything from texts from the Bible to instructions on food labels—anything she could get her hands on. She now holds an Associate’s Degree from Tri-C.

Her involvement with STEP started because of a suggestion from Tri-C Metro Campus President, Dr. Michael Schoop.

“My life completely changed when I learned to read,” said Ms. Tilley. “It opened up my worldview, which made me connect with my community in new ways, really care about what’s going on, and try to make it better.  With STEP, I can help keep a child from missing out on reading.”

The Literacy Cooperative developed STEP to help underperforming children through one-on-one, structured tutoring sessions that coordinate with the classroom curriculum. The goal of STEP is to improve outcomes by helping students acquire the skills necessary for literacy success. The STEP pilot program focuses on kindergarteners and first graders who are below grade level because research shows that children who are not reading at grade level by the end of third grade usually fail to meet grade level expectations for reading in future years.

Understanding that children learn best from well-planned and consistent tutoring sessions, STEP provides volunteers with a variety of tools to use when they meet with the children, including scripted lesson plans, materials and strategies that cater to the children’s interests, abilities, learning styles, and cultural backgrounds. The tutors use research-based methods to deliver lessons that emphasize phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. 

What Ms. Tilley likes best about the program is how it strives to establish strong, mentoring relationships between the tutors and the children. Research has shown that regular interaction strengthens assets in children that lead to improved skills and promotes teamwork and satisfaction for volunteers.

“I love that with STEP you get a chance to help a child and that satisfies your need to give back while opening up the world for that child,” said Ms. Tilley.  “For some kids, the one-on-one attention they get from the tutor may be the only attention they get and so they give back their undivided attention as well.”

The Literacy Cooperative has partnered with an evaluator at John Carroll University to coordinate a formal assessment protocol for STEP that measures the value of the initiative as an intervention that can improve outcomes for children.

Now in year two of the pilot, the program continues to work with first grade students at Marion Sterling School, but has expanded the initiative to include kindergarten students in the Euclid City School District.  Year two activities will enable The Literacy Cooperative to further demonstrate results and refine STEP for replication.

Listen to Elizabeth Tilley's interview.   

Click on the links below to read individual articles or visit our main e-newsletter page:

In this issue...

• A Message from Bob Paponetti
• Literacy Spotlight: Dr. Joff Jones, Superintendent of Euclid City Schools
• Research-Based Practices on Demand: A Quality Framework for Adult Literacy
• Powerful Nonprofit Leadership: The d Factor