Data entry and phone answering are no longer the only options for University students who participate in work-study programs.
The University is now among more than 700 universities nationwide participating in the America Reads Challenge. An initiative heavily promoted by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the program provides grants that pay for work-study students to teach the fundamentals of reading in elementary schools.
"The program is really taking off," said Diane Jones, communications director of the national America Reads Challenge in Washington, D.C. "We've gotten a tremendous response from colleges across the country."
University students will tutor kindergartners and first graders at two Ann Arbor elementary schools and three in Willow Run, a town 10 miles from Ann Arbor.
Carolyn Schrodel, the America Reads Challenge coordinator at the University, said she screened more than 120 applicants for the 85 available positions. Many of the students, she said, are interested in pursuing a career in teaching.
"The students are very excited to begin," Schrodel said.
After eight hours of training, the students will tutor the elementary school children twice a week in two-hour sessions. The work-study students will continue to be trained throughout the school year.
The tutoring will be individualized, Schrodel said, and about 170 elementary school children will be involved in the program.
In future years, she said, America Reads will expand at the University.
"The program will grow both with the number of students and the number of areas we service," Schrodel said.
To fully meet the goals of the America Reads Challenge, however, the number of University students participating would have to grow to half of all work study students, which would be 1,500.
Some work-study students said that tutoring children would be an interesting way to earn money.
"That would be a lot of fun," said LSA Senior Jeremy Schroeder, a work-study student who currently works as a library assistant at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
In addition to providing community service, Schrodel said the work- study students will benefit from the experience.
"It will enhance their own education through their commitment," she said. "It's a win-win situation for everyone."
Levin said it is important that the University participates in the initiative.
"The U of M is a great role model," Levin said. "If it carries through here, it will set a wonderful example."
Some experts questioned the potential effectiveness of the tutoring program.
The outcome of the tutoring "depends on the training the college students receive before they tutor," said G. Reid Lyon, chief of the Learning Disabilities, Cognitive and Social Development Branch of the National Institute of Health. Lyon has done extensive research on developing reading skills.
"If people who are working with kids are not prepared," Lyon said, "it will not work."
Lyon said he is skeptical about the eight hours of training the students will receive before they begin tutoring.
"There's a lot to be learned about developmental reading skills, and eight hours is a very short period in which to learn them," Lyon said.