Mini-Grant Program 1996

Background

Marin Literacy Program has provided literacy instruction in Marin County since 1985. In 1993, the Program's Families For Literacy Coordinator in collaboration with and funding from the California State Library, established F.A.T.H.E.R.S., a family literacy project for incarcerated men at San Quentin State Prison. It was such a dynamic success that the prison staff asked Marin Literacy Program to provide additional literacy help. After conferring with the prison, a peer tutoring program seemed most beneficial.

In prison, opportunities to develop new tools to turn life around are rare, and the challenges to take advantage of those opportunities are immense. LOW literate men especially have often previously failed at traditional classroom education, and participating again brings the potential for a repeat of the humiliation. One-on-one tutoring provides the opportunity for learner centered instruction, tailored and directed by the learner. Both tutor and learner partners improve their reading and writing skills, both gain the pride and skills in working out an equal partnership. All participants gain dramatically.

Collaborating Partners and Agencies

Marin Literacy Program: staff, training, project development, materials
San Quentin Prison: space, inmates as peer tutors, internal promotion
SLRC Regional Center in San Jose: materials, staff development

Description of the Project

The California Department of Corrections is a large, complex institution and prisons are made for incarceration rather than education. They are made for maximum security and control. For the first few months, the Peer Tutor Training was conducted at the "Ranch", a lower security location for less permanent inmates. Although the education staff was supportive and enthusiastic, the process of getting into the Ranch, finding a location for the trainings, and connecting with inmates who might be interested in training to be tutor, might go well one day but fall apart the next.

Although the men said they enjoyed the training classes, only one man who completed training was actually interested in being a tutor and he was soon released from prison. The program seemed destined to crumbled. At this point the F.A.T.H.E.R.S. Program Coordinator, Jane Curtis, suggested she might be able, because of her previous success, to help with the system that seemed to be hindering rather than helping.

After several meetings, a clear agreement was signed that delineated services to be delivered by Marin Literacy Program, and facilities, equipment and systems to be provided by San Quentin. The trainings were moved to the main line where there was an available classroom, the men had more supportive schedules, permission to attend was more possible, and the location was proximate to a long-term population who could attend and then tutor for a longer time.
The "Ranch" tutoring program modified into more of a class. Four or five men attend at any one time, working on different projects with the help of a trained volunteer peer tutor. They, as learners work independently with the tutor during the three hour class.

The San Quentin State Prison Project was made possible by the SLRC Mini Grant. Marin Literacy Program is waging a campaign to find funds to support the program on a continuing basis.

Success of the Project

The continued success of the program is evident in the inmates who are already signed up for the next training, and the men who return for the In Services offered twice monthly. Not only is the progress of their learners a frequent topic, but how much the tutors themselves are learning is clear. Without the funds from SLRC, Marin Literacy Program could not have established the Peer Tutor Training at San Quentin. It was the willingness of SLRC to believe that prisoners have a right to improve themselves and improve their lives upon their return to society and their families that offered. Bill Lane the Superintendent of Correctional Educational Programs has nominated the San Quentin Peer Tutor Training Program for an award as best program in a prison in 1996.

Anecdotes

Potential tutors are asked to fill out a questionnaire in application for the tutor training. In the section "Please write eight to ten sentences about why you would like to be a peer tutor” the need and the reason for the powerful success this program has in the lives of the participants becomes apparent.

“I would like to help others who have difficulty reading and writing to improve these schools. I would also like this class so I might improve on my own reading and writing levels. Also to learn skills to interact with others in a positive way." James.

"I like working with people, also to tutor someone would be like tutoring myself and build my reading up and other skills." Andrew

"I believe that reading is an excellent way to enlighten yourself to the truths of the world. Therefore if we become enlighten people, the world would be a much better place for us all, so I believe in helping someone to learn to read. I will be helping them, myself and the world." Titus

"I would like to be a peer tutor because I like to help people learn and grow. I feel that education is falling apart and no one wants to help those people that have some sort of learning disability. Instead the teacher ignores the problem and move on and don't help that person, they just push them through or out right flunk them. We all need tutors in our lives. We can all teach each other and tutor each other. Learning is a two way street." Anthony