Every Monday and Wednesday last year, Elizabeth Tilley joinedother tutors to volunteer at Marion-Sterling School in Cleveland in a pilotinitiative called STEP (Supporting Tutors Engaging Pupils). STEP atMarion-Sterling focuses on first graders who are below grade level in readingand was developed through collaboration of The Literacy Cooperative and a groupof community literacy partners. 

Like many volunteer tutors, Ms. Tilley has a passion forreading, language, children and for helping people reach their highestpotential. What makes Ms. Tilley different from the other tutors is that shehas only been reading for about a decade herself, even though she is 53 yearsold.

A native of England,Ms. Tilley grew up in a blue-collar town with her parents and five siblings.She faked her way through school by using attitude, copy-cat behavior anddeductive reasoning, though she never learned to read well enough to actuallycomprehend a text. Eventually, she married a Clevelander and moved to the United States,working as a hair stylist until her six children grew up and left home. It wasthen that Ms. Tilley found herself at a crossroads.

“I was bored and I needed to decide what to do with myself,”said Ms. Tilley.  “I wanted to do more.”

When she first visited Cuyahoga Community College(Tri-C) and tried to register for a class, she realized that she wasn’t evenliterate enough to fill out the application forms. Ms. Tilley left Tri-Cwithout registering for a single course, but she was more determined than everto learn. By the time she returned to Tri-C, she had taught herself to readusing everything from texts from the Bible to instructions on food labels—anythingshe could get her hands on. Ms. Tilley now holds an Associate’s Degree fromTri-C.

Ms. Tilley became involved with STEP after a suggestion fromTri-C Metro Campus President, Dr. Michael Schoop.

“My life completely changed when I learned to read,” said Ms.Tilley. “It opened up my worldview, which made me connect with my community innew ways, really care about what’s going on, and try to make it better.  With STEP, I can help keep a child frommissing out on all that by missing out on reading.”

The Literacy Cooperative developed STEP to helpunderperforming children and prevent reading failure through one-on-one,regular, structured tutoring sessions that coordinate with the classroom curriculum.The goal of STEP is to improve outcomes by helping students acquire the skillsnecessary for literacy success. The STEP pilot programs focus onkindergarteners and first graders who are below grade level because researchshows that children who are not reading at grade level by the end of third gradeusually fail to meet grade level expectations for reading in future years.

Understanding that children learn best from well-planned andconsistent tutoring sessions, STEP provides volunteers with a variety of toolsto use when they meet with the children including scripted lesson plans,materials and strategies that cater to the children’s interests, abilities,learning styles, and cultural backgrounds. The tutors use research-basedmethods to deliver lessons that emphasize phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,vocabulary, and text comprehension. 

STEP also strives to accomplish what Ms. Tilley likes bestabout the program – to establish strong, mentoring relationships between thetutors and the children. Research has shown that regular interaction strengthensassets in children that lead to improved skills and promotes teamwork andsatisfaction for volunteers.

“I love that with STEP you get a chance to help a child andthat satisfies your need to give back while opening up the world for thatchild,” said Ms. Tilley.  “For some kids,the one-on-one attention they get from the tutor may be the only attention theyget and so they give back their undivided attention as well.”

The Literacy Cooperative has partnered with an evaluator at JohnCarroll University in Cleveland to coordinate a formal assessment protocol forSTEP that measures the value of the initiative as an intervention that canimprove outcomes for children.

In year two of the pilot, The Literacy Coperative willcontinue to work with first grade students at MarionSterling Schooland will expand the initiative to include kindergarten students in the Euclid City School District.  Year two STEP pilot activities will enableThe Literacy Cooperative to further demonstrate results and refine STEP forreplication.  It is the hope of TheLiteracy Cooperative that STEP will be recognized as an effective tutoringmodel and subsequently adopted by organizations offering tutoring services inGreater Cleveland area schools.

For Ms. Tilley, education does not stop with her Associate’sDegree.  This fall, she started attendingJohn Carroll University in order to finish her Bachelor’s Degree and begin worktowards a Master’s Degree in non-profit management.

Follow this link to watch Ms. Tilley talk about her STEP experience:

Katherine Bulava, President
 Hatha Communications
216-357-9508