| | The Schools of Hope Literacy Project is the culmination of a 1995 civic journalism project by the Wisconsin State Journal and WISC-TV that studied issues crucial to education. Led by the United Way of Dane County, RSVP of Dane County, and the Madison Metropolitan School District, a team of AmeriCorps* VISTAs works in twenty local elementary schools to match volunteer tutors with children in need of help with reading. We have some opportunities for math tutoring, also. | Our mission is to increase the third grade reading scores of lower income students and to decrease the racial achievement gap. Recently, the school district reported that the percentage of African American and Asian students scoring at proficient or higher on reading tests has more than doubled since the 1997-98 school year, with similar gains for Latino students. In fact, based on 2004 reading scores, there is no longer a racial achievement gap among students in the lowest performance level. Among reasons cited by Superintendent Art Rainwater for this remarkable improvement are the efforts of "hundreds of volunteer tutors in the Schools of Hope initiative." | Please explore our site, and contact us with any questions. Thank you for your interest! |  | |
