Partners In Print
Overview
The Partners in Print program provides a supportive environment where parents can discover how to help their children learn to read. A team of Reading Recovery teachers developed the Partners in Print program in 1990. The Reading Recovery program provides individual tutoring for low-achieving, first-grade children, but teachers wanted to extend that assistance. Partners in Print currently exists in schools around the world.
Operations
The Partners in Print workshops help the parents of children in kindergarten through second grade. Partners in Print developers discovered that the program could be most effective geared toward teaching children in lower grades. Most young children learn to read between the ages of five and seven.
- The program meets once a month (per school) from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- The presentations differ each month.
- Parents and their children may attend one or all of the meetings.
- Partners in Print provides the schools with all necessary materials to promote the program (i.e., fliers, advertisements, posters)
- Partners in Print allows the schools to pick which dates works best for each meeting.
Sponsors
The Commonweal Foundation, a foundation that supports educational programs and projects that aid disadvantaged youth, and the University of Maryland partnered together to present Partners in Print workshops to several Prince George's County and Montgomery County elementary schools.
Participants
The Partners in Print programs success results from the help of several different teams:
Primary Leadership Unit
The primary leadership unit works to develop interest in a parent-involvement program and recruits, organizes and plans teams.
- Reading Recovery teachers
- Title and Chapter-One program coordinators
- Reading specialists
- Administrators
- Classroom teachers
- Parent Teachers Association
Volunteers
America Reads would not exist without the student volunteers who directly volunteer their time to teach in the participating schools.
- Through the help of America Reads, University of Maryland student volunteers practice the workshops and present to the schools.
Planning Team
The team of parents and teachers plans a series of meetings to prepare program implementation.
- They introduce the workshops.
- They demonstrate proper reading techniques to use with children at booths at the meetings.
- They close the meetings.
- They help with setup, refreshments, hospitality and evaluation.
Results
From the program, everyone becomes "partners in print - partners in education."
- Children learn that parents and teachers will help them read.
- Parents learn how to help their children read.
- Teachers learn how to share their knowledge.
Program Goals
- Parents and teachers share the joy and responsibility of reading education
- Parents have the training to help their children read.
- Parents can make a difference in their children's lives.
- Teachers and parents learn how to work together to increase children's confidence and success in reading.
- Schools develop a parent-involvement program.
- Success in one school will prompt other schools to adopt the program.
- Children, teachers and parents receive the benefits of a long-lasting parent-involvement program.
- The materials can be reused to continue to help children.
- Children become better readers.
- Test scores in schools rise.
- Parents stay involved in their children's education.
- Children learn how to read at home, not just at school.
- Successful reading starts at home.
- Children learn how language works from their parents.
- Excited and eager parents motivate children to read.
- Children become readers for life.
- Parents who read with children provide positive influences toward reading.
- Life-long readers succeed in any life career.
Conclusion
As a result of Partners in Print children take on many responsibilities.
- Children become campaigners.
- Children's excitement about parental involvement in the program inspires their parents.
- Children become teachers.
- Parents learn about their children (i.e., personalities, likes, dislikes, modes of learning).
- Children become active participants in their own learning.
- Children can take the information and use it for all subjects.
- Children become partners.
- Children take responsibility for their education with parent and teachers.
- They gain confidence in reading.
- They demonstrate skills at home and in school.
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