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Read Right Founder Honored |
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Dr. Dee Tadlock, founder of Read Right Systems, receives the Sales Association of the Paper Industry Literacy Award from Richard Mattice (left) vice chairman of SAPI and Kevin Wassil, Chairman of SAPI. |
"Read Right Founder Honored With SAPI’s Literacy Award"
Walden's Paper Week Convention Daily Read Right Systems founder Dr. Dee Tadlock was recognized on Monday for her company’s outstanding contribution to improving literacy in the paper industry. As part of the Literacy Achievement Award program of the Sales Association of the Paper Industry, Dr. Tadlock and her company received the annual honor from Kevin Wassil, SAPI chairman, at the association’s 82nd annual luncheon. Wassil pointed out that Read Right Systems has implemented more than 50 successful Read Right employee literacy projects at Weyerhaeuser, Simpson and Georgia-Pacific, and most recently at International Paper. "Read Right is a fundamentally different approach to teaching reading," said Tadlock. "The problem isn’t the student’s lack of ability, or the dedication of the teacher. It’s the methodology for teaching reading that is the problem, never the learner. If a person can talk normally, they can become an excellent reader with Read Right tutoring." Wassil gave a broad over-view of the extent of the illiteracy problem throughout the nation. He gave a brief history of literacy efforts in the Paper Industry and highlighted a number of specific examples of the successes various paper companies have had as a result of improving employee literacy skills. Simpson Investment Co., which was awarded the first SAPI Literacy Achievement Award, had implemented the Read Right program in 19 mills between 1990-1995, helping 729 employees and 222 family members improve their reading. Last year’s literacy award winner, Weyerhaeuser Co., had implemented Dr. Tadlock’s program in 21 mills starting in 1993. In all, 4,276 employees attended information meetings and 1,181 participated in the reading program to improve their reading skills. After researching available adult reading programs, Simpson decided against asking the local schools or community college for help because these institutions were using the same methods for teaching reading that hadn’t worked for these employees when they were in school. "We wanted to find a program that would yield successful, rapid results for our employees," said Barbara Hinck, Simpson’s program manager. "We chose Read Right because it represented a fundamentally new, innovative approach to teaching reading and was supported by a strong data base showing exceptional results." A 1990 pilot program with Read Right "was an overwhelming success," said Hinck. "On average Read Right participants advance one grade level for every nine hours of tutoring as compared to the national standard for effective adult literacy programs, which is an advancement of one grade for each 100 hours of tutoring. Motivated by their rapid progress, students tend to remain in the Read Right program and achieve their goals." Weyerhaeuser became involved after Jim Collins, its director of organizational development and training, saw a 1992 TV special highlighting the Simpson Read Right program. After talking with Dr. Tadlock, the company sponsored pilot projects at its Butler, Ind., corrugated plant and another in the sawmill operations at Snoqualmie and Enumclaw, Wash. "Read Right was chosen for the pilot run at Tri-Wall because it is a different approach to reading with an exceptional success rate," said Mike Gautney, human resource/quality manager at Tri-Wall. "If a man is 40 years old and you try to teach him to read the same way he was taught in second grade, there’s a pretty high probability that he’s not going to be successful. If you are going to ask a person to try one more time it is critical that you have a program that will work." Weyerhaeuser and Simpson both have found a positive impact on improving safety through improving reading skills. "We got more involvement in safety because we had Read Right going on," said Bob Edwards, plant manager of the Weyerhaeuser Kamloops, B.C. mill. "There was something that happened to the people that went through the program that motivated them for detail," he said. "They paid attention to detail. They could read better. As a matter of fact reading became fun. Our safety record was the most improved in all of the Weyerhaeuser Canada operations the year we brought Read Right in. All in all it was a big win for us." Georgia-Pacific in Fort Bragg, Calif., also implemented a Read Right project primarily because of safety issues. Management was very concerned that they might have a serious accident because a number of their employees couldn’t understand English well. At G-P’s mill in Montecello, Miss., one of the goals was to improve literacy skills so that employees were better prepared to handle new technology and new process control computers. "Read Right was one of the best things we’ve ever done. I have never heard a bad comment about it," commented Bob Everard, manager of training and development. "It isn't just a literacy issue," says Edward P. Rogel, Weyerhaeuser VP of human resources. "As we move forward as a company, we're trying to engage the power of people as one of our core strategies…the Read Right program really fit with that strategy. It is the best tool we've been able to identify to get the reading skills our people need to enhance their participation in the workplace."
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