Reading Assist Fellows serve in elementary schools across Delaware, providing one-on-one reading instruction to students in kindergarten through third grade who face significant reading challenges. Fellows teach foundational reading skills to students who might never learn to read through traditional classroom education.
Fellows work with up to 8 students for 30-45 minutes each day and meet with an experienced coach every week for support and feedback.
Fellows begin with five weeks of full-time, graduate-level training and then are embedded into high-needs elementary schools in Delaware. Fellows transform the lives of students who may have with have dyslexia or other reading disorders.
Service Activities
Reading Assist Fellows serve full-time inside schools, providing daily, intensive reading intervention to children in grades K-3. They prepare daily lesson plans, meet regularly with their assigned coaches, and record student progress. Ongoing training and coaching support will enable the member to devise individual lesson plans based on the needs of each student. Fellows are expected to become part of their respective school communities as well as integral members of the AmeriCorps community.
Community Need Addressed
The U.S. is facing a reading crisis, with national and state reading tests remaining stagnant since 1998 and two-thirds of students scoring below proficient.
Furthermore, 82% of children from low-income households lack reading proficiency by third grade, and 85% of juveniles in the court system are functionally illiterate. By the end of third grade, 74 percent of struggling readers won’t ever catch up, and students with a language-based learning disability are more than twice as likely to drop out of high school.
For students with significant reading challenges like dyslexia, traditional classroom reading instruction often isn’t enough. Additional factors, such as being a minority or an English language learner, or coming from a low-income household, can make it even more difficult for students to reach reading proficiency.
In Delaware, Reading Assist’s proven, evidence-based approach to reading instruction makes a measurable difference for students. In just one year or less, we bring students to benchmark in foundational reading skills and accelerate the pace at which they learn. By embedding Reading Assist Fellows in schools, Reading Assist provides a solution for a school’s most struggling readers.
Additionally, Reading Assist is the only direct-service intervention program in the country that specifically targets students in the lowest 10% for reading proficiency.
Position Outcomes
Every year Reading Assist plays a critical role in the lives of dozens of struggling readers, as well as the lives of the fellows who provide their much-needed reading instruction. Children scoring in the lowest 10% for reading proficiency reach grade-level benchmarks in just one year through our reading program.
Through teaching our intensive reading intervention program, fellows make a lasting impact on their students' and lives. We typically see positive results within four months of reading intervention, and our students also regularly outpace expected grade-level progress in oral reading fluency.
Reading Assist offers the most intensive literacy training of any AmeriCorps program in the country, which can be accepted for graduate-level credit. Fellows receive a living allowance, an education award to use toward tuition or education expenses, student loan deferment, and more.
At the end of a successful year, fellows are eligible to become certified Reading Assist interventionists, and many of our fellows have gone on to pursue careers in specialized reading intervention.
Benefits
Education award upon successful completion of service, Health coverage, Living allowance, Relocation allowance (if applicable), Student loan forbearance, Training
Reading Assist Fellows receive benefits including:
- A $1,000 biweekly living allowance ($700/biweekly if part-time)
- Up to $4,500 in the form of an education award (determined by the Pell Grant) upon successful completion of 1200 service hours ($3,200 for part-time, 900 service hours)
- A $500 relocation allowance if moving 50 miles or more to serve
- Student loan deferment
- An opportunity to receive professional certification in reading intervention
- Resume-building professional experience
- Education sector exposure
- Healthcare benefits (full-time only)
*Members who are 55 years of age or older when they begin service may gift the education award to a child or grandchild.
Education Benefits
Credential or Certification
Certified Dyslexia Practitioner
Certified Reading Assist Interventionist
Skills you will gain
teaching skills, reading intervention skills, elementary education experience
Competencies You Will Develop
Communication
Demonstrate sensitivity and empathy, Listen to and consider others' viewpoints, Maintain open lines of communication with others, Speak clearly, in precise language and in a logical, organized and coherent manner
Creativity & Problem Solving
Communicate the problem to appropriate personnel, Select and implement well-considered solution
Teamwork
Derive consensus, Develop constructive working relationships and maintain them over time, Establish a high degree of trust and credibility with others, Interact professionally and respectfully with supervisors and co-workers, Stay positive and outcome oriented, Use appropriate strategies and solutions for dealing with conflicts and differences to maintain a smooth workflow
Decisions
Accepts responsibility, Anticipate the consequences of decisions, Identify and prioritize the key issues involved to facilitate the decision making process, Involve people appropriately in decisions that may impact them, Quickly respond with a back-up plan if a decision goes amiss
Tools
Operate tools and equipment in accordance with established operating procedures, safety standards, and ethical guidelines, Seek opportunities to improve knowledge of tools and technologies that may assist in streamlining work and improving productivity
Planning
Create environment of contribution, Create plan of action, schedule tasks so that work is completed on time, Demonstrate the effective allocation of time and resources efficiently, Drive decision making, Set goals
Service
Be pleasant, courteous, professional and respectful when dealing with internal and external customers or clients, Provide personalized, prompt, and efficient service to meet the requirements, requests and needs of customers, Recognize the importance of maintaining privacy and confidentiality of those being served, Understand and anticipate the needs of others, Understand the importance of one's role in the functioning of the organization