Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 31, 1993 TAG: 9310290156
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Almost one in five adults here cannot read or write above a rudimentary level, according to census data.
But until that inability to read threatens their job or their pocketbook, they have little incentive to do anything about it.
Most have become clever at hiding their lack of reading skill from co-workers and supervisors, literacy experts say. Frequently, a family member handles tasks that require reading.
Job loss or new on-the-job training requirements can turn illiteracy from a minor annoyance into a major roadblock.
"They get laid off, and they can't fluff into another job," said Ellen Dowell, program coordinator for Literacy Volunteers of America - New River Valley.
In such a crisis, many turn to Dowell's agency for help.
Literacy Volunteers provides confidential, one-on-one tutoring. The program also offers tutoring for English as a second language and works with slow readers enrolled in adult basic-education classes.
The need to pass the General Educational Development - or GED - high school equivalency test often prompts a call to Literacy Volunteers. Sometimes, GED teachers refer students who aren't doing well because they are poor readers.
If the program can match a student and volunteer tutor, the result can be a success story. In its 14-year history, Literacy Volunteers of America - New River Valley claims successes in the hundreds.
In some parts of the New River Valley, though, the supply of students exceeds the supply of volunteers. The organization is particularly short-handed in Pulaski County, where census figures indicate that 20 percent of adults over 25 - about 4,700 people - have less than a ninth-grade education, and more than half never finished high school.
"It's pretty scary when you consider there are two universities and a community college nearby," Dowell said.
Literacy Volunteers has three tutors in Pulaski County and a waiting list of up to two dozen students. A recent advertising campaign to recruit volunteers fell far short of its mark, generating only six potential volunteers. The program plans to hire a full-time worker to seek and train volunteer tutors.
Dowell is not sure why volunteers are in short supply, but she believes it may be related to the economy. However, she thinks the full-time recruiter-trainer will turn things around.
As part of its effort to help adults improve their reading skills, the group also works with students enrolled in the adult basic education program at New River Community College. Most enrollees are working toward a GED.
Bill Greene, who ran the adult education program at the community college until recently, already was familiar with reading problems in the New River Valley from his work with poor readers at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
Testing at the arsenal a few years ago revealed that 10 percent of the workers could not read at the eighth-grade level. More than half of those couldn't read as well as fifth-graders.
The functionally illiterate are "a lost group" unless volunteers come forward, he said.
Volunteers don't have to have a teaching background, Dowell said. They just have to be committed, go through training and spend three hours a week with their students.
Greene and Dowell agree that there's no single or simple method to teach adults to read.
"It's dog-hard work," said Greene, who has books, magazines, writing exercises and computer programs to help nonreaders.
Each volunteer uses an individual approach, Dowell said. "You do whatever works for your student."
Most tutors focus students on short-term, realistic goals, such as getting a GED or a driver's license, she said.
Students' abilities vary, but Dowell said she finds very few who can't read at all. "Most people know more than they think they know," she said, adding that tutors try to build on what students already understand.
"It's no quick fix," she said. "We'll work with them as long as we need to." The program is more successful with students who can read at least on a fifth-grade level.
Even so, a lot of things can interfere with teaching adults to read, including work, lack of a telephone or lack of transportation. Adults who had trouble in school and dropped out sometimes "have a lot of baggage from the school system" and avoid the classroom, Dowell explained. That's why the Literacy Volunteers try to work one-on-one.
Another obstacle is the stigma associated with illiteracy, especially in a rural area where everybody knows everyone else. That's why the program maintains confidentiality.
While he calls Literacy Volunteers "a step in the right direction," Greene also concedes the problem can be daunting. "It's a finger in the dike," he said, pointing out that 16,000 students dropped out of school last year while 14,000 qualified for a GED.
But Greene also believes there's a ripple effect in families where a tradition of illiteracy finally has been broken. "Every person we bring into the ranks of the literate is going to bring others through that hole."
by CNB