Adult Education

Dallas Farmer always dreamed of owning his own auto repair shop. He has a knack for taking things apart, figuring out how the pieces fit together, and making them work. But when he couldn’t read auto repair manuals, he couldn’t pass the tests he needed for certification. And when Farmer realized his reading problems were also interfering with his ability to help his kids with homework, he decided to take action.

How do you reach the 70 million adults in America in need of literacy education when most cannot attend a class because of a job, a lack of transportation, or childcare? If you are the Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA), you tap the popularity of television and develop fun programs with celebrities, athletes and actors to capture viewer interest. You include topics that teach useful skills, like reading a lease or comparing cell phone plans, and you broadcast widely to accommodate non-traditional schedules.

Every other Monday night, in a temporary office located in the Waltham (Mass.) Hospital, a one-of-a-kind Board of Directors convenes. The issues before the board on this night are typical of many social service agencies: the cost of tuition for the workshops they offer; the success of recent outreach efforts; the development of parent councils in the local schools; the new accounting software. But the board itself isn’t at all typical.