“This is the most helpful service available to children. Rebecca has been amazing and has motivated Cheyenne all semester long. After tutoring last week Cheyenne would not let me stop and get her something to eat. We had to go directly to Barnes and Noble and buy her a book that is the sequel to one she’s working on with Rebecca in the clinic. She was so excited she kept running ahead of me to find just the book she wanted. I feel the center is professional in delivering a wonderful service to the community. Priceless!”
Caroline (mother of Cheyenne 4th grade)
At the Los Angeles Times Literacy Center, Tutors who are candidates in the Masters of Arts Language and Literacy pathway work with young people grades K -12. These young people are struggling with literacy in their school environments. Many have been labeled as struggling readers; most are reported by their schools to be more than one year below grade level. Most of these children come to the L.A Times Literacy Center feeling disenchanted with reading and writing. Our tutors work hard to change this with the children who come to them for help.
Tutors at The Los Angeles Times Literacy Center (LATLC) provide literacy assessment services as well as customized literacy instruction and tutoring for elementary and secondary school students who are considered by their schools and/or parents to be struggling with their growth as literacy learners. As a clinical training site, the Los Angeles Times Literacy Center prepares CSUN M.A Language and Literacy students to take a leadership role in school based, district based and community literacy programs. In addition, LATLC faculty work with community partners on literacy initiatives that better prepare school staff and community volunteers to develop the literacy skills of children and adolescents.
History
The Los Angeles times Literacy Center at California State University Northridge was named to recognize a gift from the Times Mirror Foundation. The Center has served more than 3,500 children in grades K-12 and their families during the last 16 years. In addition, more than 2,000 M.A. Language and Literacy candidates have provided supervised literacy services to children in need at the LATLC. The following are some of the goals of the LA Times Literacy Center:
- To provide professional assessments of children’s literacy strengths and needs in the areas of fluency, comprehension and listening comprehension.
- To create responsive, individual one-on - one literacy support that is supported by on-going assessments for children and adolescents K-12
- To support families by developing increased understanding of home support for literacy and by providing information related to school success
- To bridge the gap between children’s home and school literacies.
- To provide parents with opportunities to understand their children’s strengths and needs in the area of literacy and to be able to articulate them to school personnel.
- To prepare graduate students to take a leadership role in literacy programs
- To develop community partnerships that focus on literacy