"I really had no idea the extent of the literacy problem before taking this class. The READ Program is always looking for tutors  . . .  I don't think students understand the important work the READ Program does, and how each individual contribution can make a difference in this community."

- Vicki Hritz, Allegheny College LiteracyCorps Tutor

The primary purpose of the Crawford County READ Program is to increase adult and family literacy by ensuring that county residents improve their functional reading, writing, math, speaking and listening competencies so they may better meet and cope with adult responsibilities.

READ Program Successes for 2008-2009:

READ served 375 learners total; we enrolled (12 or more hours) 264 learners program-wide:

                        310 in the One-on-One Program, Jail, and GED Diploma Class                     

                          27 in Move-Up (Intensive instruction for welfare recipients)

                          38 from Family Literacy (intensive instruction for parents of children 8 and under)

For enrolled learners, we had a total of 14,558 instructional hours, so far.  For all learners it was a total of 16,114.9 hours.  Volunteer tutors tallied over 3,880 hours.)  In addition, parenting hours total 661 with Parent and Child Together time (PACT) totaling 792 hours.

As far as set/met core goals…            

Ø      147 learners had the goal of obtaining the GED; we know of (and have reported) 49 who have done that.  That’s 31% who set the goal met the goal. 

Ø      70 learners wanted to retain employment.  37 did that we know of which is 53%.

Ø      We apparently know of 23 learners out of 127 who met the goal of getting a job.  That’s 18%, but that says a lot about the economy right now.  Jobs aren’t easy to come by presently.

Ø      Finally, out of 29 learners who expressed an interest for going on to postsecondary education or training, we reported 6 who actually did (or are accepted to go).  That’s 21%.

In order to measure progress, reassessment is conducted on learners having around 50 hours of instruction.  Not all learners remain in the program long enough for post-testing or agree to be re-assessed.  We have post-tested 43% of enrolled learners.  An increase in an educational functioning level (EFL) is the favored outcome and another core goal of the program; this is not necessarily a “grade level” increase; oftentimes it is more than that.

For all of everyone’s hard work, this is what happened:

                          2 learners went down one Educational Functioning Level (EFL).

                        35 learners remained at the same EFL.

                        48 learners advanced one EFL

                        25 learners advanced two EFLs

                          2 learners advanced three EFLs

                          2 learners advanced four EFLs

Progress is not always reflected by a standardized test!  All learners gain confidence in their own abilities even if they are with us a short time.  Common secondary goals that are achieved include:  reading to one’s child, becoming more involved with a child’s school experience, passing the driver’s permit test, increasing responsibility at work, keeping a checkbook, improving spelling/writing and better overall comfort with the reading/writing/math process, etc.