A College-Community Service Program to Improve Student Reading

Service learning at LeMoyne College extends the learning of undergraduate students in teacher education beyond the college classroom while fulfilling an education department\u27s practicum requirement by assisting in the improvement of elementary students\u27 reading comprehension skills. A partnership created among Blue Cross-Blue Shield Insurance Company of Central New York-whose corporate sponsorship covers the cost of transporting tutors from the college campus to the elementary school Elmwood Elementary School of The Syracuse City School District, and Le Moyne College (BEL) provides a tutoring program for third graders who have been judged by their teachers to be less-skilled readers than many of their classmates. Each academic year, 60 Le Mayne students provide extensive tutoring in reading and writing instruction twice a week, and the tutoring is credited with changing the tendency for Elmwood\u27s New York State Pupil Evaluation Program scores to fall below the state reference point