In Md., Demand for Literacy Tutors Exceeds Supply

Immigrants Aren't The Only Ones in Need

Maryland communities are seeing a growing need for volunteer tutors to help adults read and write, with an increased demand from immigrants who struggle with English and native residents who left school without mastering the skills.

In Montgomery County, the literacy council has about 600 tutors but needs 200 to 300. The county is home to about half of Maryland's foreign-born population and has residents from 86 countries. In Prince George's County, the local council has about 55 tutors and a waiting list of potential students.

Demand for tutors also has increased in Charles County, where the population is changing rapidly.

"The need is growing because of the influx of a more diverse population," Marlene Cleaveland, head of the county's literacy council, said in an e-mail.

She said that increased media attention on literacy also has made some native residents realize that they need assistance. "Individuals who may have been passed on in school are realizing their own need to reach out for help."

Free services in Charles and elsewhere rely on volunteers, who are trained by local councils and usually work one-on-one with students. Tutoring sessions are often held in local libraries.

The programs are aimed not only at those for whom English is not their first language but also at native adults who need help in reading and writing to fill out forms or read instructions and other materials at work, said Loreta Jordan, who matches tutors with students in Prince George's.

Such adults might want to help their children with homework but can't, or they might have signed up for a class to help them obtain a high school equivalency diploma and find that they can't read at the required level.

Montgomery's literacy council served about 900 people last year, among them about 70 U.S.-born adults who needed help with basic reading and writing. As of 2005, the last year for which data were available, 92,000 county residents, or about 10 percent of the population, were older than 25 and lacked a high school diploma, said Pam Saussy, head of the county's literacy council.

"Even in a county as well educated as Montgomery, and with a top-performing school system, there are native-born individuals, who, for any of many reasons, age out of the school system without having learned to read and write," Saussy said.

Students who attend the literacy council's programs also might have undiagnosed disabilities or might have had to interrupt their education because of illness or family responsibilities.

Saussy said potential students are sometimes reluctant to seek help. "When we say they are largely invisible, we mean it," she said. "I suspect that there are more who need the service than are coming to us."

For assistance or to volunteer, go to http://www.mdhc.org/programs/maryland-center-for-the-book/literary-resources, scroll down to literacy organizations and Maryland literacy councils, and click on the name of your local council.