America Reads / America Counts
America Reads is a national campaign that was initiated in 1997 that challenges every American to help our children learn to read well and independently by the end of elementary school. There are more than 1,200 colleges and universities participating in the America Reads Challenge across the country.
Building on the success of the America Reads Challenge, America Counts was initiated in July 1999. America Counts is designed to help improve student achievement in mathematics. Nationwide, there are approximately 300 colleges and universities participating in America Counts.
Dedicated Adelphi students partner with teachers to tutor students, grades K through 9, at no cost to the participating districts.
Application Details
Things to know before you apply:
- America Reads/America Counts tutors work in public school classrooms under the supervision of a teacher. For this reason, tutors do not need to be in teacher preparation programs or have prior tutoring experience. Any Adelphi University students enrolled in any academic discipline can participate in the program.
- All America Reads/America Counts tutoring is done in local public school classrooms during school hours; Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Some schools offer the opportunity to work in after-school programs, but there is no work on weekends or evenings.
- The schools are all located in Nassau County, close to the Adelphi Garden City campus. You may not request a specific school and must go to your assigned location.
- We will give you orientation and training before you start working at a school.
- You are paid for the time you do literacy work with children or the time you spend with the district teachers receiving training, planning lessons, etc. Your assigned teacher will supervise your work, offer guidance, etc. You will do a variety of tasks; work one-on-one with children, work with small and instruct large groups.
- You can begin work shortly after you have completed orientation and until you exhaust your Federal Work Study This means if you work more you could earn the full amount sooner.
- You will stay at the same school for both semesters (or until you run out of FWS money). You can request a different school in subsequent years (but few tutors do so). You can also work in this program as long as you are an Adelphi student with a Federal Work Study allotment and if your work is satisfactory.
Requirements
To participate, students must meet each of the following requirements:
- qualify for Federal Work Study. If you have not yet applied for Financial Aid, you can fill out a FAFSA form online.
- be able to fulfill a minimum time commitment of 6 hours per week during the regular public school day (8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.)
- be able to work in blocks of no less than 2 hours (excluding travel time)
- have the required documentation for hiring.
Tutors can tailor their work to accommodate their Adelphi University academic schedules provided they have available hours during the school day. Once a tutor has become established in the school, he/she may work additional hours each week if the assigned teacher agrees.
As a student, your academic work is your first priority. If you are interested in participating in America Reads/America Counts, you should consider the time requirements as you prepare your schedule.
- Regular Semester Hours Mon-Fri: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm