📚 More Than Words: What I've Learned at the Literacy Coalition

It's been a journey stretching back to 1993, when I first joined the board of directors for the Literacy Coalition. After six years of service, I moved into the office part-time, eventually stepping into the role of Executive Director in April of 2000. Two and one-half decades later, working with adults who have low or no reading skills has taught me profound lessons—about education, trauma, and the incredible resilience of the human spirit.

Here are some of the most impactful things I've learned (in no particular order) since starting this work:

The Faces Behind the Struggle

When I first started, I pictured the students who acted out in my own school days—the "class clowns" or "troublemakers." I was wrong. The adults we tutor were far more likely to have been the child in the back of the class, desperate to be invisible. They often felt scared, isolated, and profoundly different. Their low literacy was rarely a rebellion; it was a deep, silent struggle.

The Echoes of Trauma

Illiteracy is a problem that often echoes through generations. Many of our students carried the weight of home trauma—ranging from abusive or absent parents to parents who couldn't read themselves and thus couldn't offer school support. I’ve tutored individuals with severe brain damage from childhood accidents and others who witnessed devastating personal tragedies. Their learning ability is profoundly affected by life experiences, demanding that we take the time to truly understand their history before we can teach.

The Great Divide: Learning to Read vs. Reading to Learn

The third grade is a critical pivot point: the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. For those struggling with basic reading at that stage, school becomes exponentially harder. By fifth grade, many of my students had mentally checked out, frustrated and simply waiting for the day they could quit entirely.

Reframing "Learning Disability"

Up to 80% of students struggling with reading are labeled as having a "learning disability." They hear that term and internalize it as a personal failure. I've often thought a better term might be a "teaching disability." Too often, educators are either not equipped to teach in a way that aligns with how these students learn, or they are too overwhelmed to devote the necessary time. I’ve learned that when you provide a caring tutor, a few resources, and no time constraint, our students absolutely can learn and succeed.

The Power of One-to-One Tutoring

The human brain is fascinatingly diverse. Attempting to put students with similar goals into a class often leads to disappointment. One student may master a skill quickly while another struggles, only to then rapidly learn something the first student found difficult. This variation reinforces why one-to-one tutoring is so incredibly vital to our mission—it allows for a personalized approach that honors their unique learning pace.

Trust, Self-Esteem, and the Mindset Shift

Progress hinges on two things: trust and self-esteem. It's difficult to make real headway until they trust their tutor. More importantly, they must actually believe success is possible. The major breakthrough is when we help them change their mindset from "I can’t do it" to "I can’t do it YET!"

Redefining Literacy and Poverty

Working here has made me realize that we are all illiterate in most things in this world. My ability to read three books last month doesn't make me smarter than a mom skillfully figuring out how to feed her children on a near-empty budget. We simply have different skills—I can surf the internet, but I can't rebuild an engine. Ultimately, I've learned that the poverty of hope is far more devastating than any other kind of poverty.

Finally, while we provide our tutors with research-backed curriculum, I’ve found that a regimented approach is not always the best way to teach. Tutors often develop wonderfully creative, custom methods that lead to impressive breakthroughs. And in a beautiful twist, I've discovered that helping a student gain new skills changes my life just as much as it changes theirs.

This journey has been a testament to the fact that with dedication, empathy, and personalized teaching, we can rewrite lives.

What aspect of literacy work would you be interested in learning more about?