About the Author:Amy Blake conducted the research for Senior Volunteers in Literacy Programs as a fellow with the Corporation for National Service. This research grant allowed Amy to extend the work she had conducted with the LEARNS (Linking Education and America Reads through National Service) project, which provides training and technical assistance to education-focused national service programs. This work with national service project directors and other volunteer coordinators, as well as educators, trainers, and researchers, provide the foundation for the study, and the energy and openness of the National Senior Service Corps staff, volunteers, and school and community partners who participated lend a unique richness and vitality to the research. She hopes that her work not only shows that volunteer tutors positively influence children's educational experiences and performance but also how seniors can be particularly valuable volunteers in schools and tutoring programs, sharing their knowledge and experience while continuing to learn and grow through their work with children, educators, and program coordinators. Amy's interest in reading and literacy stems from her previous research and writing on the history of print and the development of print culture in both America and England, which she pursued as a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Wyoming. She completed undergraduate degrees in English and Political Science at Ohio State University. For more than three years, Amy worked with the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, an educational nonprofit in Portland, Oregon. In the Education and Work Program, her research and writing focused on students' transition from school to work, addressing programs and practices that help schools and employers create strong partnerships that help student apply knowledge in real-world situations and develop new skills they will need in college and the workplace. She co-authored Balancing Life and Work, which profiles projects throughout the country that integrate the arts and humanities into students' career exploration. This publication is online at http://www.nwrel.org/edwork/humanities. With the LEARNS project at NWREL, Amy's work focused on tutoring, literacy, and other education programs. She conducted research, developed resources, and delivered workshops to help national service and similar programs develop effective partnerships with schools, organizations, and government agencies in order to better serve children and enrich their educational experience. Her interest in program management, evaluation, and locating local resources inform many of the publications and resources she developed, which include Beyond Start-up: Real Answers for Established Education Programs, Putting Research to Use: Activities to Help Children Read, Identifying Local Resources, Day One . . . in the Life of a Program Coordinator, and Wyoming: A Case Study. These can be found online at http://www.nwrel.org/learns. Currently, Amy works as a consultant and freelance writer, researcher, and editor. If you have questions or comments, she can be reached by e-mail at ablake2@uswest.net.
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