Be An Advocate

Organizing Advisory Groups

Your legislator may be interested in working with a group of Reading Recovery and early literacy professionals on an ongoing basis. You may be able to serve in such a capacity and to identify other individuals to serve as well. You can work with the receptive legislator to organize the group around the issues of mutual interest to you and the legislator. Your goal should be to have the advisory group as a resource upon whom the legislator may call for information and opinion as issues related to Reading Recovery and early literacy arise in the legislative process. In this way you can maintain an ongoing relationship with the legislator on an as needed basis.

Some things to consider in establishing an advisory group include the following:

• Be sure the people selected for the advisory group want to participate.
   
• Provide balance in representation so that all sides of the early literacy issues will be aired.
   
• Keep the size of the group small – five to six people in a district may be sufficient.
   
• Plan for informal meetings with the legislator two or three times a year.
   
• Keep the meeting simple – brief presentations on issues of current interest and include a variety of topics designed to educate and inform the legislator.
   
• Help the legislator become the advocate for Reading Recovery by providing accurate information and excellent case examples.
   
• Respect the legislator’s time constraints.
   
• Be sure to follow up with a thank you letter to the legislator and his or her staff, including any promised information and a summary of the key ideas discussed in this meeting.
  
  [Adapted from Sharbaugh (1998).]

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