The University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee is conducting a mentorship program entitled Building Literacy through Mentorship in which the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee students mentor students from Tuttle Elementary, Gocio Elementary, and Booker Middle schools.  The program is designed to strengthen the students' reading interest and attitudes toward learning. They also have an Inquiry-Based and Experiential Learning IBL/EBL Program for Grade 7 students at Booker Middle School.  The programs are supported by the Henson Fund Initiative (HFI).

Primary Purpose/Outcomes:

  1. Assess growth in Tuttle Elementary, Gocio Elementary and Booker Middle School students' interests and attitudes toward reading.

  2. Identify how the program impacts college-age mentors' attitude toward literacy and lifelong learning.

  3. Measure how the program impacts students learning in ELA and Social Studies (use of grades, test scores, observational data from teachers, learners, families and USF Mentors).

  4. Identify how the program impacts civic engagement for learner participants (use of observational data from teachers, learners, families, and USF mentors; project evaluation rubrics, peer/mentor observations and exit tickets.

DENISE CANTALUPO    denise.cantalupo@sarasotacountyschools.net

RACHAEL O'DEA   rachael.o'dea@sarasotacountyschools.net