When students come to the Literacy Council requesting instruction, they are assessed to determine their level of English language proficiency. Additionally, they list their goals. Students are then assigned to a class based on their assessment score. When students achieve mastery of that level, they then move up to another level.

When teaching adults we must be cognizant of their individual goals. Tutoring sessions are designed to address these goals — no matter the reading level or level of English language proficiency of the learner. Literacy Council Gulf Coast prides itself on being learner-centered, so by focusing attention on the student’s goals, and then by shaping practice around these objectives, we truly put the student’s needs first.

Examples of students’ goals include:

• To have better communication with their child’s school or with medical professionals
• To improve their ability to help their child with schoolwork
• To be able to secure a job
• To be promoted or secure a better job
• To obtain higher education
• To pass the U.S. Citizenship test
• To communicate with their neighbors within their community

Each year, we survey a sample of our adult students to assess their satisfaction with the program and whether they achieved their individual goals while enrolled. And each year, about 99 percent of students surveyed say they achieved their literacy goals and were satisfied with the instruction.

Prior to graduation in the summer, a rubric is administered to all children who will be attending the public school system in the fall. The following spring, teachers and principals at the schools participate in a questionnaire designed to let us know if our graduates began school ready to learn. Each year, our graduates start school average or above average as compared to their peers, an important measurement of success.