MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew LaPlant
561-297-3022, alaplant@fau.edu

FAU's STAR Program Helps Struggling Elementary Students Read

BOCA RATON, FL (July 15, 2005) - Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach County Public Schools completed their first week of the Summer Tiered Approach to Reading (STAR) program last week. The curriculum was designed to create a lifelong love of reading and learning by improving struggling students' attitudes toward academics.

The Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund, whose mission is to improve public education, awarded FAU $42,580 to support this three-week summer program, which takes economically disadvantaged children in Palm Beach County and matches them in small-group tutoring sessions with master's degree-seeking students enrolled in the Effective Reading Practices course at FAU. The program is administered by several professors from FAU's College of Education.

"We have students who are dedicated to making summer reading fun for struggling third, fourth and fifth grade English language learners from Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach," said FAU professor and principal investigator Dr. Philomena Marinaccio. "We hope that by providing small-group tutoring that encourages group discussion, we will inspire these STAR students to strive for academic success that will lead to a love of reading and bring about the pursuit of a college education."

The purpose of the STAR Grant is to examine how implementing a technique called "literature circles" into the literacy curriculum affects the children's reading attitudes, as well as their academic achievement. Literature circles combine reading, writing, thinking, feeling, talking and taking action by encouraging students to get excited about literature while developing a community of learners where everyone's input is important and valued.

The STAR Program students will go on a July 19 educational field trip to the FAU Boca Raton campus. As part of the trip, Michael Patrick O'Neil, author of one of the literature selections, Fishy Friends, will share his underwater photographs and his love of Southeast Florida's unique geographic features. O'Neill will autograph students' copies of his book at the Boca Raton Barnes & Noble.
For more information on the STAR program, please contact Dr. Philomena Maranaccio at 954-236-1070.

-FAU-

ABOUT THE MARY AND ROBERT PEW PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: The Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund was established in 1998 as a supporting organization within the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin counties. Its mission is to improve public education for economically disadvantaged children in Palm Beach and Martin counties by developing, testing, and implementing new strategies for learning in classrooms, school, and neighborhoods, and to support educational enrichment programs, unavailable as part of the regular school curriculum. For more information, call (561) 835-4002.

ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY'S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION: With campuses in Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Jupiter, Davie and Port St. Lucie, the College of Education has been dedicated to the development of educational professionals since 1961. The college offers a variety of programs, including Teacher Education, Exceptional Student Education, Educational Leadership and Instructional Technology and Research. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.