Basic Adult Literacy (BAL) Tutoring Program

Some learners are best served with one-on-one tutoring because of factors such as work schedules or transportation difficulties. Others find it difficult to succeed in an ESOL classroom because of limited or no formal education. The Literacy Council provides two programs for students who need one-on-one instruction: Basic Adult Literacy (BAL) Tutoring Program and the ESOL Tutoring Program.



The Basic Adult Literacy (BAL) Tutoring Program works with adults who speak and understand English but are beginning readers and writers – adults who read and write below a sixth-grade level.



Students set individual goals, and work with their tutors once or twice a week for about an hour and a half each time.  There is no set length for a student-tutor match but it generally lasts nine months or longer.  A meeting place can be a library, community center, or any other public place. There is a one-time registration fee of $50, which includes the cost of the student’s first set of books.  Students are pretested before tutoring begins and retested after every 40 hours of instruction.