Literacy program partnership proves mutually beneficial
February 21st, 2005
Families in west Louisville and students at the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development are benefitting from a partnership to improve children’s literacy.
The partnership places students from the College of Education and Human Development in the field where they work directly with children at Christ Temple Christian Life Center to assess and improve their literacy skills. They also work with the children’s parents to help them become active participants in their children’s education.
It all began four years ago when Bishop Michael Ford, pastor of Christ Temple, sought a U of L presence in west Louisville. He first had the idea of offering his outgrown church building as the foundation for a west Louisville campus. The downturn in the economy made that idea unfeasible, but Bishop Ford didn’t give up.
Then his work as chairman of the university’s Louisville Urban Trust, a group that looks for ways U of L can be a resource in community collaborations, brought him in contact with Bernie Strenecky, assistant to the vice president of student affairs for international service learning and professor of teaching and learning.
Strenecky had experience taking university students and faculty members into communities. He oversees the university’s service learning program in Belize, in which experts and students from U of L work closely with and advise Belize counterparts in community development projects. Students in his courses had done past work in the community to assess children’s literacy levels. Bishop Ford and Strenecky began to talk.
Their discussions led to the development of a literacy program based on Strenecky’s previous experiences, but with one difference: The Christ Temple program also would include parents.
Bishop Ford knew it was important for the literacy program to do more than just reach the children.
“We told the parents in our church from the beginning that if they wanted to enroll their children in the literacy program, they would have to be a part of the program themselves,” he said. “If the parents don’t know how to help, there is only so much that their children can acquire and attain.”
Work began two years ago. That first year, U of L offered a summer practicum at Christ Temple for remedial reading teachers to help the children develop their reading skills. U of L graduate students worked one-on-one with the children to assess the their reading levels and diagnose any problems they were experiencing. They also worked with the children’s parents.
“I would sit down with the parents and ask them what topics they would like to discuss,” said Rose Johnson, one of the graduate students. “They would let us know their areas of concern, and then we would have wonderful, deep conversations about how they can help their children.”
Such conversations included role playing scenarios that helped parents know what to expect during a parent-teacher conference and what they could do at home to help improve their children’s reading.
Johnson said she was pleasantly shocked by the parents’ enthusiasm throughout the program’s duration.
“Normally, as a teacher, you run across parents who are very defensive and don’t think you care about them,” she said. “With these parents, we had 100 percent participation. The parents do care, but just don’t know how to help. To know they were concerned about the same issues we are as educators was refreshing and encouraging.”
More U of L education students worked with families at Christ Temple last fall, and indications are that the program is a success for all involved.
“I have received feedback from parents who say that their students are reading more and getting better grades,” said Bishop Ford. “It has been wonderful to see reading abilities improving and attitudes toward reading changing.”
The program also has influenced the U of L students. Johnson’s experience has inspired her to pursue her Ph.D. in administration leadership and help establish similar programs with children and parents.
“Just seeing the difference the program made in the lives of one student and one family has made me want to do this for the rest of my life,” she said.
“This is truly a community initiative that provides our students an authentic education,” Strenecky said. “There is no comparing the kind of education they receive when they are working with real people with real issues in the community where they live.”
The program has gone so well that it is expanding to include mathematics assistance for children of Christ Temple starting this summer, Strenecky said.
The ultimate goal is for the university to expand this program to other parts of the community and develop similar programs in other subject areas to meet other community needs, he said.
U of L already is in discussions with Christ Temple to set up a technology center that would provide its members training to help close the digital divide common among low-income families. This interdisciplinary program would include U of L students in education, engineering, communication and political science.
“We at the university are obligated to provide outreach to address the issues and problems that are important to the community of which we are a part,” Strenecky said. “We are hoping to match the university’s strengths to the community’s needs for future projects that will enhance the quality of life throughout Louisville.”
