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“It's a Program That Looks Great on Paper”: The Challenge of America Reads

This study investigated former President Clinton's America Reads Challenge (1996), a political initiative aimed at improving reading achievement through nonprofessional tutoring. We examined two America Reads programs in light of components that researchers have highlighted as critical for effective tutoring programs. One program reflected Clinton's original proposal, in which he suggested that an “army of volunteer tutors” was the answer to improving children's reading achievement. The other program was tied to a national service organization, Americorps, in keeping with a revised proposal for America Reads (Clinton, 1998). The coordinators and supervisors of the two programs suggested that organizing and implementing a tutoring program using volunteers and work-study students is extremely difficult. Although America Reads provided the salaries of work study tutors, no funds were provided for supervision, materials, or tutor training. The volunteer program dissolved after its first year, while the Americorps program continues on a year-to-year basis, struggling to raise enough money to cover costs that go far beyond the funds provided by America Reads.