Blair leads a reading program, which is held Saturday mornings during the fall and spring and every day in June. The free tutoring program has been held at community centers in Parramore for 13 years and is staffed by education students from 麻豆原创.

On Monday, Blair spoke with Greg Darnieder, Senior Advisor to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, about 麻豆原创鈥檚 involvement with urban education and partnership with the City of Orlando鈥檚 Department of Families, Parks and Recreation.

Darnieder was in town to learn about the City of Orlando鈥檚 College Access Initiative, which focuses on helping Central Florida students pursue and earn college degrees.

鈥淭he city is proud of my program and its commitment to children and parents in Parramore,鈥� said Blair. 鈥淭he unique partnership between a college of education and a major metropolitan city can and should be replicated throughout the country鈥攊ndeed that was my message to Greg Darnieder.鈥�

To learn more about the College of Education, visit .

We would launch our Reading Camps on Saturday mornings at community centers in Orlando鈥檚 poorest neighborhood, a historic area known as Parramore. For six weeks in the fall and in the spring, and then daily throughout June, 麻豆原创 elementary education majors and graduate students provide 1 1/2 hours of level-appropriate, culturally responsive instruction in small-group settings using books donated by Scholastic Book Fairs.

The small-group approach 鈥� using a 2:1 or 3:1 student-teacher ratio 鈥� reaps benefits that can鈥檛 be replicated in a crowded classroom. According to my research, at least 33 percent of the regular Reading Camp attendees increase their reading skills by one Lexile level.

But the students aren鈥檛 the only ones being taught. While the students are learning, my assistants and I begin teaching the parents how they themselves can become reading teachers. I鈥檒l tell the eager parents packing the room, 鈥淏elieve it or not, at the end of six weeks, I鈥檓 going to teach every parent in this room how to be a reading teacher. You don鈥檛 need a college education to do this.鈥�

In working with parents, we build upon the framework of the parent-child relationship, emphasizing communication strategies that pave the way for literacy. The one habit parents must foster is talking with their children. We teach parents to ask open-ended questions: 鈥淭ell me the most important thing that happened to you today.鈥� 鈥淲hat was your favorite part of the day? Why?鈥� 鈥淲hat story are you reading in school? Can you draw me a picture about your story? Can you write a sentence about it?鈥� We also encourage supportiveness, reminding parents to let their children know how proud they are of their children.

Then we coach the parents in teaching strategies 鈥� for example, teaching sight words, phonograms and other word recognition pointers, and distinguishing between expository and narrative writing. Reading, I tell them, is a magical thing that only we humans can do. It involves sharing ideas using written symbols, identifying those written symbols, and understanding the ideas behind the written symbols. Once each of those steps has been accomplished, communication has taken place.

Communication stands in stark contrast to word calling. What we don鈥檛 want to foster, we tell parents, is a community of word callers. For instance, I鈥檓 a word caller when I鈥檓 reading Latin. I can say the words, but I don鈥檛 know what they mean. We don鈥檛 want our children to be word callers when reading English. Good readers, I teach them, use a combination of letters and sounds, combined with word structures.

Comprehension is critical to student success, as is practice. Think about your child dribbling a basketball, I tell them. Success comes only with repeated efforts. Our parents become like coaches who promote practice and correct technique.

About 112 麻豆原创 students volunteer their time each year to the estimated 220 kindergarten through fifth-grade children who participate annually. The camps become a win-win-win for all involved: a win for students, a win for parents, and a win for future teachers, many of whose students will be economically disadvantaged.

Children sometimes are hesitant, unsure of what to expect. But before long, a sense of community develops. Each week brings some extra incentive for parents and children to come 鈥� homemade baked goods, apples (because I used to like to eat apples while reading), and occasional 麻豆原创 folders or backpacks.

As I address our group for the last time, I鈥檒l tell them, in complete honesty, 鈥淚 want to tell you a story about who my heroes are. My heroes are the parents sitting in this room today.鈥� I look at the faces of the parents who have dedicated every Saturday morning to the success of their children, and I find myself wishing I could place each parent in a classroom. The six-week session ends with a pizza party, after which each family member 鈥� and future teacher 鈥� walks away with newfound confidence. Some families return.

Some children go on, sometimes to college scholarships. As for me, I鈥檒l keep coming back here week after week because I鈥檝e seen the difference we can make in the lives of students, families, and future teachers. I may be the biggest winner of them all.

Dr. Timothy R. Blair is founder of the聽麻豆原创 College of Education/City of Orlando Reading Camp Program. A professor of reading and literacy in 麻豆原创’s College of Education, he wrote this newsletter article for Scholastic, a supporter of the camps.