Experience Corps Bay Area

Experience Corps Bay Area was established in San Francisco in 1998 by Aspiranet, a state-wide organization dedicated to supporting children and families. Over the years it has expanded to cover Oakland, Berkeley and now San Mateo County. Our scope has grown from a single elementary school to 25 partner schools. At present, more than 215 volunteers are serving over 3,200 Bay Area school children.

THE CHALLENGE

Despite Bay Area efforts to build reading skills, the need for effective early reading intervention persists.  More than 23,000 San Mateo County students are at risk of academic failure and other life challenges because they’re not reading at grade level by the end of third grade. The shortfall in reading proficiency is especially pronounced among low-income children.

ECBA IMPACT

ECBA is a research-driven, results oriented program that provides extensive training to all volunteers and on-site support at our partner schools.

According to the 2014-2015 ECBA evaluations:

• 73% of students who received sustained tutoring accelerated their learning such that they are reading at grade-level by the end of the year!
• 99% of teachers said our volunteers' impact on students was very positive.
• 100% of our volunteers were satisfied with the training and guidance they received.

Beyond literacy support, our volunteers also become mentors to their students. Our training provides both insight and tools to our volunteers to help them guide children towards positive social behaviors, increased motivation and the ability to learn.

"I have been given the opportunity to not only tutor reading and literacy skills but also promote social-emotional skills, as in helping students cope with difficult emotions and relate those feelings to me"

- Robert M., Experience Corps Volunteer, Washington Elementary, Oakland