================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 93 ISSN 1069-7799 November 4, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (168 lines) HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES READING EXCELLENCE ACT _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES READING EXCELLENCE ACT On October 21 President Clinton announced that nearly 800 colleges and universities from every state have pledged to commit work-study slots to help ensure that every American child can read well and independently. Then on October 22 the Reading Excellence Act, H.R. 2614, was approved in amended form by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Committee Chair Bill Goodling (R-PA) had introduced the bill on October 6 as an alternative to H.R. 1516, the Administration's America Reads Challenge initiative. No action has been taken on the reading legislation by the Senate, and H.R. 2614 has very little time to reach the House floor before adjournment of this session. However, bills can be carried over between the first and second sessions of the 105th Congress. Two library amendments offered by Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) were adopted by voice vote of the House committee. One would add a school or public library that offers reading or literacy programs for children or families to the list of optional members of a State's Reading and Literacy Partnership. The other would give a funding priority to applicants which demonstrate they have a contractual association with one or more public libraries providing reading or literacy services to preschool children or preschool children and their families. These two amendments were the most important (because they established library eligibility) of a package of half a dozen amendments developed by the ALA Washington Office, proposed by Rep. Kildee, and supported in a letter to chairman Goodling by Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). Most Democratic members of the committee -- Reps. Clay (D-MO), Kildee (D-MI), Owens(D-NY), Mink(D-HI), Roemer(D-IN), Woolsey(D-CA), Fattah (D-PA), Kind(D-WI), Ford(D-TN), Miller(D-FL), Martinez(D-CA), Payne(D-NJ), Andrews(D-NJ), Scott(D-VA), Romero-Barcelo(D-PR), Hinojosa(D-TX), Tierney(D-MA), and Sanchez(D-CA) -- expressed minority views taking issue with some provisions of the bill, but they "commend Representative Kildee for the two amendments which he offered to improve the role of libraries in this legislation." The committee report (H. Rept. 105-348) summarizes the purpose of H.R. 2614 -- ...to improve the reading and literacy skills of children and families by improving in-service instructional practices for teachers who teach reading, to stimulate the development of more high-quality family literacy programs, to support extended learning-time opportunities for children, to ensure that children can read well and independently not later than third grade,... and summarizes the structure of the bill as follows: The Reading Excellence Act establishes a competitive grant program for the States to obtain funds to improve the teaching of reading for Title I Schools in School Improvement and other related activities which improve the reading skills of students. Each State Literacy and Reading Partnership receiving a grant must use a portion of their funds to provide subgrants to Local Education Agencies to carry out a program of Tutorial Assistance Grants. The Act also modifies the Even Start Family Literacy Program to improve the quality of services provided to families seeking literacy assistance. Changes are also made to the College Work Study Program to encourage schools to place participating students as tutors in reading programs for children and families. Convinced through committee hearings that "fewer than 10 percent of teachers have received adequate instruction or have had enough experience in teaching reading as student teachers before they first enter the classroom," Chairman Goodling focused on improving the ability of the classroom teacher to teach reading. To receive assistance under the bill, schools "must agree to revise the way all teachers and other appropriate instructional staff within the school teach reading. Each participating school must choose a model or models of reading instruction using reliable, replicable research on reading as a model for implementing and improving reading instruction by all teachers and for all children in the school." The committee "also recognizes the need for community-based volunteer efforts aimed at providing tutoring after school, on weekends and during the summer as an effective method of ensuring that children can read by the end of the third grade. The bill includes a number of provisions to allow these types of activities, as long as the community-based organizations [and libraries] utilize methods based on reliable, replicable research on reading to provide such tutoring." In addition, "schools receiving funds must provide family literacy programs, to assist parents with limited literacy skills and their children." Schools must also from a partnership with one or more community-based organizations with a record of effectiveness in reading readiness, reading instruction for young children, and early childhood literacy. Personnel from such organizations must be trained in the same reading models based on reliable replicable research on reading as those used by the school. Priority in local funding projects will be given to local educational agencies that form partnerships with Head Start programs, state or federally-funded preschool or family literacy programs, or with public libraries (under the Kildee amendment noted above). States must reserve some funds for schools within Enterprise Communities and Empowerment Zones or Title I schools in school improvement. "Parents with children who have reading difficulties and who attend these schools will have the opportunity to apply for tutorial assistance grants to offset the cost of sending their child to a reading tutor." Applications from states will be reviewed by a Peer Review Panel of experts in reliable replicable research in reading, convened by the National Institute for Literacy, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The National Institute for Literacy is to widely disseminate materials on reliable replicable research on reading and information on successful projects funded under the bill. The bill would also amend the Even Start family literacy program and the College Work Study Program. Institutions of higher education would be required to use at least 2% of their annual work study allotment to compensate students engaged as reading tutors for children in preschool through elementary schools or in family literacy projects. Based on the expected FY98 funding of $830 million, this would mean $16 million for these activities. The normal 75% federal share of work study compensation could be exceeded or waived under the bill. H.R. 2614 would authorize $260 million in each of fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000 for grants to states for reading programs. States must use 95% of their funds in subgrants to local educational agencies for local reading improvement and for tutorial assistance. Small amounts of the total appropriated would be used for the peer review panel, a national assessment, dissemination activities, and Even Start family literacy programs. ________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================