Students Step Up to help Boston schools

From tutoring students for tests to helping in arts programs, Boston University students can get academic credit by volunteering at public schools through the Step Up program.

Undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Education and College of Fine Arts are helping two Boston-area public schools — the William M. Trotter Elementary School in Roxbury and the Boston English High School in Jamaica Plain – as part of Mayor Thomas Menino’s program to develop local elementary and high schools.

The Step Up program, unveiled in fall 2006, is part of the mayor’s plan to team up Boston College, BU, Harvard University, Northeastern University and Tufts University with 10 public schools.

Although some schools have been reluctant to accept outside help, the schools involved with BU have been very welcoming, said Boston Public Schools university relations coordinator Ruth Shane.

Shane, the liaison for English High, said the main objective at the high school level is to help students improve scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.

“We began to learn the ways in which BU can offer support to the high school and provide professional development for teachers that will increase the likelihood of better performances [on the MCAS],” Shane said.

SED counseling and development instructor Susan Dougherty, the liaison for the Trotter School, said five SED students worked in the summer for five weeks and left a lasting impression on the school’s staff and faculty.

SED senior Eve Kantakis, one of the five volunteers, worked with second grade students to supplement her work toward an elementary-education major.

“The classroom teacher paired me up with two children who were below grade level in reading, and I would tutor them in reading, practice fluency and assist in reading comprehension,” she said.

While the majority of work at the elementary school involves tutoring, College of Fine Arts students will be going to the Trotter school Friday to help children in kindergarten. These students will receive CFA course credit.

SED interim dean Charles Glenn, who has worked with Boston public schools throughout his career, said two of his own children attended the Trotter school. Paying attention has been one of the biggest problems children face today, he said.

“In a media-saturated time like this one, it’s hard for kids to sit and listen to a story,” he said. “That is something they need to learn to do.”

The Step Up program, however, has several activities planned to address such problems.

Trotter school students received scholarships to attend the SED literacy lab every Saturday this semester to receive reading and comprehension help. Students who are part of the BU Initiative for Literacy Development tutoring program will also help at the two schools, and volunteers will work in the schools’ libraries.