Over the last 11 years, the Literacy Action Center, a traditional community-based adult literacy organization that focuses on educating English-speaking adults with low functioning literacy skills, has seen a transformation in the enthusiasm of the learners. The Literacy Action Center is also a learner-centered organization driven by the wants and…

We obtained data from 124 volunteer instructors in adult literacy, using an instrument developed to assess what the volunteers knew about providing reading instruction to adults. Results showed that volunteers with bachelor's degrees or higher and those who had teacher's certificates were significantly more knowledgeable about providing reading…

This study analyzed the relation between volunteer tutor training and reading instruction in 4 adult literacy programs. The data focus on tutors' choices of reading materials and strategies for assisting in the development of comprehension and word identification skills. Tutor training did not always transfer to practice, and it did not always…

Volunteer participation in adult literacy programs can be encouraged by (1) stressing the goals of helping individuals and long-term social value, (2) gearing expectations to students' abilities and progress, (3) emphasizing pragmatic methods to achieve students' goals, (4) stressing teaching methods adapted from daily interaction, and (5)…

Librarians in Stamford, Waterbury, Syracuse, and Southbridge (Massachusetts) are all involved in a program called Literacy Volunteers of America. This private nonprofit agency has one overriding concern, and that is to help adults and teenagers who are inadequate readers, or "functional illiterates." (Author)

More than 50 percent of the world's adult population is unable to read or write at all. Since many of the tutors of adult illiterates have not had training in the teaching of reading, this booklet was written to introduce these tutors to the practical aspects of an area which has a vast literature of its own. The eleven sections in the booklet…

Materials are provided on an adult right-to-read program for Collin County developed by the Allen Independent School District Community Education department. Narratives by the district coordinator, program director, and volunteer director set forth administrative considerations, general guidelines, information on evaluations and tutor training, a…

The Ryedale Adult Literacy Paired Reading Project pairs tutors and adults with reading difficulties. In the Ryedale program, tutees choose reading material that is within the tutor's readability level. The tutor and tutee read aloud together at the tutee's pace until the tutee has made enough progress to read aloud alone. When tutees feel ready,…

The Library Rural Literacy Outreach Program targeted to ten rural communities in the Fresno County, California, Free Library district is reported. The sites were chosen based on inquiries from volunteers in those communities and support for the program by the branch library staff. Goals of the program were to provide literacy services to adult…

This booklet contains suggestions for creating an effective, "custom-made" local unit of volunteers, using the educational and social action resources of the community for volunteer training. The suggestions are tailored to fit the flexible mode of operation of Church Women United in a wide variety of communities. The statements related…

This booklet was developed to offer practical advice to those in charge of, or attempting to develop, a small literacy program. The guide is organized in nine narrative sections that provide information on the following topics: beginning a literacy program, assessing the need, program structure, building a program, financing a program,…

An adult literacy course at Harvard University's Extension School trains professionals and volunteers who teach reading to adults. This 1-semester course consists of weekly lectures and workshops along with a supervised practicum. Students need not be accepted into a degree program to enroll. Clients are self-referrals who pay no fees. Students…

As an evolving program of action research, this Project for Adult Literacy focused on the complex problems of adult illiteracy and its mitigation in a major urban community (Boston, Massachusetts). It was undertaken to teach reading; assess the use of volunteers in adult literacy education; evaluate two reading methods for use with adult…

This handbook grew out of the experiences of the teachers and students at the Read/Write/Now Adult Learning Center, a community-based literacy program in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is both a documentation of the experiences of the program and a guide for teachers. The four sections of the handbook contain a number of modules, each of which…

The Horry County, South Carolina, Reading Crusade, a joint effort of the Literacy Council and the school district, was begun in 1979-80 with the intent of raising the literacy level of adults. The school district's Adult and Community Education Department provided office space, telephones, lab space, salaries, and mileage for the coordinators. The…