| For Immediate Release: Febuary 18, 2008 |
For more information, contact: Sarah Priestman, 202-478-6159 spriestman@experiencecorps.org |
Think Tank Study Shows Experience Corps
Makes a ‘Significant Difference’ for Students
Center for American Progress Calls for Corps Expansion to Help ‘Principals of Struggling Schools Looking for Extra Help’
Panelists at the Center for American Progress forum, The AmeriCorps Role in
Education Reform
Left to right: Kim Glodek, EducationWorks; Jessica Graham, Citizen Schools;
Ayanna Rutherford, Sports4Kids; Shirley Sagawa, Center for American Progress;
Stephanie Wu, City Year; John Gomperts, Experience Corps.
WASHINGTON, DC – Preliminary new research finds that Experience Corps – and five other programs that receive federal AmeriCorps funding to do work in struggling public schools – make “a significant difference building a positive environment for learning, help students achieve,” and serve as “a cost effective way to improve the quality of education and supplement overworked teachers.”
The Center for American Progress, a think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action, last week released early findings of their study on the impact of AmeriCorps members on students and schools. Experience Corps is one of the largest AmeriCorps grantees engaging older adults as members. Of the 2,000 Experience Corps members aged 55+, about 600 receive AmeriCorps stipends.
The Center’s report calls for the expansion of Experience Corps and the other AmeriCorps programs that work in schools “to make this resource available to principals of struggling schools looking for extra help.”
While the programs receiving AmeriCorps funding work to improve a school’s climate, provide students with positive role models, increase opportunities for students to receive individual assistance and help engage the community and families in public education, the report notes that “none operate on a large enough scale to really boost school success for the millions of students who could benefit from more attention than a classroom teacher can provide.”
The six programs cited are Experience Corps, Sports4Kids, Citizen Schools, City Year, Communities in Schools, and EducationWorks.
John Gomperts, CEO of Experience Corps, joined other leaders in education and national service to discuss the preliminary research at The AmeriCorps Role in Education Reform, a forum hosted by the Center for American Progress on February 13.
“So many Experience Corps members become highly skilled tutors and want to stay on for years,’ Gomperts explained. “But current term limits – now set at two years – restrict how long they can receive AmeriCorps stipends. If older AmeriCorps members could serve longer terms, we’d see more Experience Corps members in the classroom,” Gomperts said.
“These programs are playing important, largely unsung roles that support efforts of principals and teachers in providing a positive environment for learning,” writes Shirley Sagawa, a visiting fellow at the Center. “As Congress considers the reauthorization of the National and Community Service Act, it should target new resources to struggling schools to realize the potential of this underutilized resource.”
Other speakers at the forum included William A. Schambra, director, Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, Hudson Institute; Robert Balfanz, research scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University; AnnMaura Connolly, senior vice president for public policy and special initiatives, City Year; Dan Cardinali, president, Communities in Schools; Kim Glodek, director of school safety projects, EducationWorks; Jessica Graham, corporate partnership manager, Citizen Schools; Ayanna Rutherford, Program Manager, Sports4Kids; Stephanie Wu, senior vice president of Academy, Program & Service, City Year and Alan Khazei, founder & CEO, Be the Change, Inc.
For more information on the Center for American Progress study, go to http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/02/americorps_study.html
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Experience Corps, an award-winning program, engages people over 55 in meeting their communities' greatest challenges. Today, in 19 cities across the country, 2,000 Experience Corps members tutor and mentor elementary school students struggling to learn to read. Independent research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, and enhances the well-being of the older adults in the process. Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.
