A survey of twenty reading centers within the elementary schools

The development of reading centers within the schools, centers manned by paraprofessionals, is a growing phenomenon. This survey of twenty reading centers within the same suburban school system utilized interview questions of the directors of the twenty centers in order to ascertain the following information: a) the nature and scope of the center; b) the nature of the service to the children; c) the methods and materials used; d) the organization of the reading center; e) general information concerning the center and the school. Data were compiled relating to the percentage of students sent to the center, the number of hours per week spent by the child, the children to volunteer ratio, the records kept, the hardware and software used, the funding, the reading skills approaches used, and the problems encountered in the center. Eighteen centers were remedial and the most frequent users of the centers were second and third graders. Half of the centers were less than two years old; only five were over four years old. The percentage of children in the school using the center ranged from 2 percent to 40 percent. Twelve of the acting heads of the centers were paid aides; three were volunteer chairmen; four were teachers; and one center had daily leaders in charge. All centers had reading hardware; half had three or more machines. Half of the centers kept individual records and gave individual attention to the child, There were two basic orientations. The hard rare oriented centers stressed sequential workbook activity; the software oriented centers stressed individually chosen activities. Ten centers were software oriented; three were hardware oriented; seven centers combined these two orientations. It was recommended in this study that the reading specialist be put in charge of the reading center for the greater benefit to the child and for the increased effectiveness of both the center personnel and the reading specialist.