A substantial body of experimental evidence demonstrates that in-person tutoring programs can have large impacts on K-12 student achievement. However, such programs typically are costly and constrained by a limited local supply of tutors. In partnership with CovEducation (CovEd), we conduct a pilot program that has potential to ease both of these…

This article features Language Partners, an ESL program offered at the Danville Correctional Center, a medium-security men's prison in central Illinois. The program in which prisoners teach ESL classes, supported by volunteer teacher-trainers, is a learning community with immense and sometimes unforeseen value. The authors discuss reasons for…

Since January 1986, when the Illinois Secretary of State Literacy Grant Program began funding a wide variety of adult literacy programs, more than 30,000 students have sought help with reading. They have been matched with 25,000 tutors who have provided more than 2 million hours of volunteer instruction. The profiles in this booklet are stories of…

This report presents eight examples of approaches used by local providers, employers, and unions in Illinois to make basic skills programs available to workers. The programs profiled are the following: Rockford Area Literacy Council--Project READ '86-'89; Highland Community College--Literacy Outreach Program for Northwest Illinois; Waukegan Public…