ReadWriteServe--Partnership for Literacy Action Initiatives brings together UNC Charlotte and community-based resources to address increasingly complex literacy needs of students and their families in the Southeastern U.S. through service, research and community-based programs that are culturally relevant and focused on community needs.

The Goals of ReadWriteServe

1. Work with community partners (schools and agencies) to advance the literacy skills of K-12 students.

2. Involve families in students’ literacy development.

3. Promote community involvement, civic engagement, and service learning among ReadWriteServe stakeholders (students, families, schools, university, & communities).

ReadWriteServe's Student-to-Student Programs bring UNC Charlotte college-students to partner schools and community organizations in the Charlotte region seeks to tutor K-12 students. These programs include:

America Reads at UNC Charlotte pairs work-study eligible college students with 2-4 elementary school students in a school for literacy tutoring. Tutors receive substantial initial training and ongoing support to tutor struggling students in reading and writing. Local partners include CMS and Cabarrus County Schools.

Literacy PALS (Partners Achieving Literacy Success) is a volunteer tutoring program that connects groups of UNC Charlotte students with schools and community organizations. Groups of college students from honor societies, social and service organizations “adopt” a school or program at which they tutor and mentor K-12 students. Local partners include the Charlotte YMCA and Seigle Avenue Partners as well as CMS schools.

Literacy PALS Plus is a work-study tutoring program like America Reads pairs work-study eligible college students with 2-4 middle school students in a school for tutoring academic subjects and literacy. Tutors receive substantial initial training and ongoing support to tutor struggling students. Local partners include CMS Schools.

Literacy for Democracy (LFD) works in economically disadvantaged communities to improve children and adolescents’ literacy and academic achievement through service learning with university pre-service teachers. Partners include First Ward Elementary School and Piedmont Open Middle School in CMS with plans to add an additional program in Kannapolis City Schools.

ReadWriteServe's School & Community Support Programs brings UNC Charlotte's expertise in literacy to schools, families and communities. These programs, which are under development, include:

FamiliesRead, FamiliesWrite (FRFW) s a family literacy support program that involves students with family members to improve reading and writing skills of K-12 students. The goal of the program is to provide families with materials such as books and activities to foster literacy within the home and to provide program support for school and community based efforts to promote family literacy.

Community Volunteer Tutor Training (CVTT) brings expertise developed at UNC Charlotte in its work with literacy tutoring programs and seeks to share that with existing volunteer program that work with K-12 students. Under development, CVTT will provide tutor training to schools, community and faith-based organizations that have existing groups of volunteers.

UNC Charlotte is located in the largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas, a region with extraordinary diversity and continued growth. Like other metropolitan areas of the United States, the Charlotte region faces the challenges globalization, urbanization, and an increasingly diverse citizenry. Literacy is a vital and complex issue that challenges all stakeholders on the region: children, families, businesses and others in the community. UNC Charlotte is the only doctoral granting research-intensive university in the Charlotte region and has the resources to work with community partners to design, implement, and sustain literacy initiatives that meet essential community needs.