A path toward success
Literacy Pittsburgh expands its tutor program
Literacy Pittsburgh’s latest tutoring partnerships, which will bring free instruction to elementary students in the McKeesport Area and Duquesne City school districts, are a noteworthy expansion of a laudable and successful program, hopefully setting the stage for a greater reach and influence in the city and throughout the region.
McKeesport and Duquesne City are the fourth and fifth districts to team up with Literacy Pittsburgh, joining the Wilkinsburg, Woodland Hills and Pittsburgh Public school districts. Given the program’s success in those districts, the fit was natural.
The initiative started as part of the national Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring Program, based in St. Louis, which pairs adults ages 50 and older with students who need free help beyond the classroom as they learn to read. The adults complete 12 hours of free training and pass background checks. The program started in Pittsburgh in 2001, and Literacy Pittsburgh has handled its operations since 2013.
The program, which is funded almost entirely by donations, is geared toward students in at-risk neighborhoods. Across the Wilkinsburg, Woodland Hills and Pittsburgh Public school districts, Literacy Pittsburgh has amassed a team of 150 volunteers — who contributed 13,370 hours of service with a value of $133,700 last year, according to the organization — whose efforts have made a meaningful difference in the lives of their students.
Objective standards, like reading level and grades, almost always see improvement, but so do intangible measures, such as classroom participation and involvement.
Extending the program to the McKeesport and Duquesne City districts fits with the program’s mission, as a “significant number” of students have fallen behind in reading, according to John D. Spehar, director of the program.
Though its expansion has been measured, Literacy Pittsburgh should be applauded for offering free and impactful services to students, many of whom are the victims of educational inequity.
The Oasis program’s growth will be important in the effort to reduce wide gaps that currently plague education in the Pittsburgh area. The program currently operates on a $30,000 budget, and hopes to reach as many as 350 students. Imagine what more could be done, how many more lives could be affected, if donations padded the budget (the holidays are the ideal time for generosity, after all).
Other literacy councils, in the region, throughout the state and across the country, should take note of Literacy Pittsburgh’s success. By training older adults and pairing them with young students in need, Oasis has made significant strides in improving the quality of education in three, soon to be five, school districts. This success is worth emulating.