The University of Pittsburgh's Reading Center is located on the 5th Floor of Wesley Posvar Hall. The Center is staffed by graduate students in the Reading Education program and provides literacy tutoring for students from parochial, private, and public schools in the local area.
The Reading Center provides tutoring services on a first come-first served basis during the following times:
- Spring Term (from January to April)
- Summer Term (from late June to early August)
During the Spring Term, weekly sessions take place on Saturday mornings. During the Summer Term, daily sessions take place on Monday through Thursday mornings.
The sessions are typically 60-90-minutes and take place in small group or one-to-one settings.
Application Procedures/Costs
Parents/Caregivers may apply for their child’s enrollment in the Reading Center programs by completing an application form online or through the mail. The cost per term for Reading Center is $200 per child per term (or $250 per family or children); however some accommodations for tutoring are made and determined on a sliding scale based on family income.
Students will be accepted based on the order in which their applications were received. Waiting lists are maintained and applicants will be contacted for a subsequent term if not accepted into the term that was first requested.
Download Application
More Information about the Literacy Tutoring Services
The graduate student tutors work with students in small tutoring rooms equipped with essential teaching and assessment materials. Graduate students design an individualized or small group program of study based upon a battery of diagnostic assessments that they administer to the students during the first few sessions.
Once formal tutoring begins, tutors and students work together with a variety of materials and approaches to improve reading proficiency. All assessments, lesson plans, reflections, and diagnoses are supervised closely by the Reading Center Director, Dr. Hamilton.
Workshops and conference sessions with caregivers/parents are offered throughout the course of the semester. Involvement of caregivers/parents is encouraged and caregivers/parents are invited to become partners in their child’s literacy development.
The Reading Center activities culminate each term in a Celebration of Literacy Day during which students are given special certificates of completion, a free book of their choice donated to the University by Reading is Fundamental, an opportunity to showcase something they read or wrote about a favorite book, and participate in an informal celebration of reading and writing with family and graduate students.
Caregivers/parents are provided with a comprehensive professional report detailing their child’s work and progress over the term. Reports are prepared by the graduate students who tutor the children, reviewed by the director and assistant director (who is a doctoral student of reading education), and mailed to caregivers/parents with other pertinent literacy pamphlets and information.
What about additional questions or concerns?
Contact Dr. Rebecca Hamilton, Director of the Reading Center by e-mail or phone, and/or the Assistant Director Melissa Brydon at the Reading Center’s office at 412-624-7258.
Dr. Rebecca Hamilton, Director of Reading Center
rhamilto@pitt.edu
Office Phone: 412-648-7309
Melissa Brydon, Assistant Director
Center Phone: 412-624-7258
mmb58@pitt.edu
Download Application
