St. Louis WizKids is a youth-directed project which will improve student academic performance by providing access to educational tools including those available through broadband Internet. Nationally, only 32 percent of 4th graders are reading proficiently. In the 5th Ward neighborhood of St. Louis, 7 out of 10 middle and high school students are reading below their grade level, and many middle school students can't read at all.
The St. Louis WizKids project will address the problem of low reading proficiency through a student-designed learning program employing a wireless neighborhood network in tandem with offline learning experiences. The two-year project will serve 160 youth from ages 6 to 19. The project developers hope that by working in partnership with the youth of St. Louis, they will create a national model which will be applied throughout the United States to increase reading proficiency.
Participants will commit to a 15-week program during which they will form teams and earn points for completing homework, attending tutoring and completing Internet-based reading and writing projects of their own design. Support for the teams will be provided by paid and volunteer tutors. Educational software and online tools will be available in two existing neighborhood computer labs and in fifty homes.
Older students who cannot read often feel ashamed and do not ask for help. Fifty students will earn home computers and receive wireless broadband Internet access in their homes. Computers will be equipped with multiple levels of educational software so that older students may complete lower grade level reading modules privately without fear of peer ridicule.
The St. Louis WizKids project team, working with the St. Louis Public Schools, St. Louis Vision for Children, an independent evaluator and other literacy and youth development experts, will assess students' performance at the start and periodically throughout implementation of the project. A national advisory council will continuously review the project and make recommendations to strengthen the overall learning environment. The St. Louis WizKids project will involve dozens of community volunteers as tutors, readers, and technical experts.
