Locations National Sponsors AARP Experience Corps Has Proven
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Highlights (2012-13) An award-winning national program, AARP Experience Corps® engages people 27,112 students tutored 50 and older in addressing one of their communities’ greatest challenges, reading 1,737 tutors literacy. In the 2012-13 school year, 1,737 AARP Experience Corps tutors, serving 173 schools in 20 cities across the nation, provided academic tutoring and mentoring to 27,112 512,990 service hours kindergarten through third-grade students struggling to learn to read. Locations AARP Experience Corps Has Proven Results Baltimore, MD AARP Experience Corps is an evidence-based intervention with significant results Beaumont, TX from multiple independent studies. Berkley, CA A rigorous study from Washington University and Mathematica Policy Institute Boston, MA which included more than 800 first-, second- and third-grade students at 23 urban Chicago, IL schools in three cities found statistically significant reading gains for Experience Cleveland, OH Corps students.1 Evansville, IN • Students who work with AARP Experience Corps tutors for a single school year Grand Rapids, MI experience more than 60 percent greater gains in critical literacy skills when Greater New Haven, CT compared to similar students who were not served by Experience Corps. Marin County, CA • Teachers overwhelming rate the program as beneficial to their students and no or Minneapolis, MN low burden to them. New York City, NY A study from Johns Hopkins University of 1,194 children in kindergarten through Oakland, CA third grade from six urban elementary schools, found not only positive reading Philadelphia, PA outcomes for students but also positive behavioral outcomes.2 Port Arthur, TX Portland, OR • Third grade children whose schools were randomly selected for the program had Revere, MA significantly higher scores on a standardized reading test than children in the San Francisco, CA control schools. St. Paul, MN • In schools with Experience Corps, referrals to the principal for classroom Tempe, AZ misbehavior decreased by half while referrals in other schools remained about Washington, DC the same. National Sponsors Corporation for National and Community Service Deerbrook Charitable Trust U.S. Department of Justice MetLife Foundation Noyce Foundation Target Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Gain • Schools and communities benefit when older adults are engaged. AARP Experience Corps volunteers serve as tutors and role models who reflect the communities in which they live. The intergenerational interaction AARP Experience Corps provides helps build respect, caring, and civility. • AARP Experience Corps tutors receive improved physical, mental, and brain health as well as increased social engagement. According to two separate studies3, AARP Experience Corps tutors have improvements in brain health, mental health and physical functioning (including mobility, stamina, and flexibility), experience a significant decrease in levels of depression and functional limitation, increased their circle of friends, and maintained overall health longer as compared with adults of similar age. What makes AARP Experience Corps successful? Results Oriented: Produces measurable improvements for students, volunteers and schools. Tutor Commitment: Mature adults invest the time to assure reliable, consistent support for students. Rigorous Volunteer Training: Provides highly qualified tutors and mentors for students, and new skills for volunteers. Team-Based Approach: Creates peer support network which leads to improved social connections among volunteers, school personnel and AARP Experience Corps and affiliate staff. Contacts: 1-888-687-2277 Community Roots: Establishes significant presence in schools, connects schools www.aarp.org/experiencecorps and 50+ community. [email protected] 601 E Street NW Intergenerational: Students and tutors benefit from working together in the Washington, DC 20049 classroom consistently. Students show improvements, volunteers experience aarpexperience corps significant health benefits. @experiencecorps 1 Morrow-Howell, Nancy, Stacey McCrary, Song-Iee Hong, Wayne Blinne. “Evaluation of Experience Corps: Student Reading Outcomes.” George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University St. Louis. January 2009. Web. November 2013. http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/giving_back/volunteering/2012-11/evaluation-of-experience-corps-student- outcomes-aarp.pdf. 2 Rebok, George W., Michelle C. Carlson, Thomas A. Glass, Sylvia McGill, Joel Hill, Barbara A. Wasik, Nicholas Ialongo, Kevin D. Frick,Linda P. Fried, and Meghan D. Rasmussen. “Short-Term Impact of Experience Corps® Participation on Children and Schools: Results From a Pilot Randomized Trial.” The New York Academy of Medicine. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. 81, No. 1, March 2004. Web. November 2013. http://www.aarp.org/experience-corps/ our-impact/experience-corps-research-studies 3 Morrow-Howell, Nancy, Stacey McCrary, Song-Iee Hong, Wayne Blinne. “Experience Corps: Changes in Activity Associated with Participation.” George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University St. Louis. September 2008. Web. November 2013. http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/giving_back/volunteering/2012-11/experience%20corps-changes- in-activity-associated-with-participation-aarp.pdf .