About Us

A Way With Words and Numbers is a community-based non-profit program that teams undergraduate students from the University of Missouri (MU) with local children to improve their struggling literacy and mathematics skills. MU graduate students coordinate the program’s services and guide the undergraduates as they tutor the young learners. The program improves young learners’ academic and social achievement while benefiting the professional development and civic awareness of the student tutors as well as site coordinators.

Serving the Community

The program currently provides tutoring in all 19 public elementary, all 3 middle schools and 3 community sites in Columbia, Mo. The community sites include after-school programs (Moving Ahead and Boys & Girls Club and the Columbia Public Library.) Student tutors are assigned to school classrooms and community sites to provide an extra set of hands during reading or math lessons. The tutors help 2,500 learners annually.

Fast Facts

• 2,500 Children and adults tutored annually
• 300 Undergraduate and graduate tutors
• 20 Graduate student site coordinators
• 25,000 MU student tutoring hours

Funding Sources

A Way With Words & Numbers is sustained by federal dollars that are earmarked for university community service work study projects. The funding supports the programs’ students — it provides work study stipends for graduate student site coordinators and stipends for some of the program’s student tutors.

There is currently no funding to support the program’s administrative oversight and, over the last three years, federal funding has been reduced by half. As a result, the program had to reduce its number of work study students and currently cannot meet the region’s demand for tutors. 

Private gifts can support the expansion of the program and will help attract the best student tutors and coordinators.  

Area schools and organizations currently ask for more tutors than the program can provide, as they recognize its value. A Way With Words & Numbers helps learners stay at the appropriate academic level and prevents them from falling behind each year. In order to satisfy the need for more tutors A Way With Words & Numbers needs additional funds.

Testimonials

• 89 percent of teachers whose students participate in the program say it improves student attitudes about reading and/or math.
• Nearly 100 percent of these teachers endorse the program. 
• School administrators say that in many cases, A Way With Words & Numbers’ tutors are the only assistance schools are able to provide to children who need extra support in these high-need subjects.

For more information

Rob McDaniels
Director, A Way With Words & Number
University of Missouri
573-882-9370
McDanielsR@missouri.edu

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