Letter of Introduction

P.O. Box 15117, Anaheim, CA 92803-5117
· Fax (714) 535-1929

"Providing Innovative Technical Support"

Getting Started

GreatStart5 Intake and Support Kit for Literacy Programs

Orientation Training Assessment Support

For Tutors, Students, Staff and Trainers

Welcome to a new, remarkably innovative approach to manage your literacy program. We have developed intake and support materials for your program to help you with recruitment and orientation of tutors and students, training of tutors, students, trainers and staff, assessment of tutors and students, and support of tutors, students, staff and trainers.

The GreatStart5Ž Tutor Training can be completed in about five hours. It can be used by programs to train groups of tutors or teams of tutors. Many programs have found they can train their tutors using the GreatStart5Ž Tutor Training using a mentor or facilitator.

GreatStart5Ž has a simple purpose: provide your program with materials and resources for intake and support activities for students, tutors, staff and trainers, so you can prepare prospective tutors and students to work together to sharpen the students literacy skills.

GreatStart5Ž is a versatile, modular tutor training video, and publications that:

Introduce prospective tutors to basic information they need to begin working with an adult learner.

Introduce previously trained tutors to the basic information available in the GreatStart5Ž Tutor Training Manual and reviews basic tutoring concepts and philosophies.

As tutors progress, we recommend they receive additional training specific to your learners and program, and introduce them to materials from your resource center.

The video modules include:

ˇ adult learning theory

ˇ how people communicate

the importance of constructing meaning when reading

ˇ the elements involved with speaking, reading, and writing English

ˇ the first meeting

ˇ developing long-term and short-term goals

ˇ lesson planning

ˇ learning styles

ˇ activities to introduce speaking, reading, word-decoding and writing skills

ˇ how to informally assess a student

ˇ working portfolios and ongoing assessment

ˇ the use of journals

ˇ developing literacy-related skills for home, work and community

What Literacy Programs Like About GreatStart5Ž

We asked programs using GreatStart5Ž to describe features they liked: ˇ People have different reasons for buying it and it's versatile enough to be used many different ways.

ˇ The training is a START, not a replacement for existing training-unless that's what the program wants or needs.

ˇ It can be incorporated into existing training, or the existing training can be incorporated into GreatStart5Ž.

ˇ It uses a Hear/Speak/Read/Write model throughout the materials and training, not an ESL/Literacy model. (As technology increases, there is more emphasis on Reading and Writing.)

ˇ It emphasizes the equal importance of the context, text and reader's experience to acquire literacy skills.

ˇ The Web site provides incredible resources for staff and tutors.

ˇ Materials can be reproduced by the program.

How can I use GreatStart5Ž in my program?

GreatStart5Ž is designed to help literacy programs with:

ˇ Recruitment and Orientation

ˇ Training

ˇ Assessment

ˇ Support

These literacy program intake and support activities and some of the GreatStart5 resources are described below;

Recruitment of Tutors and Students

The GreatStart5Ž Orientation Kit provides your program with reproducible masters for both tutor and student orientations. The kits cover their responsibilities to each other and the program and what to expect when they are involved with the program.

Training Staff, Students and Tutors

Staff

GreatStart5Ž has a guide for program managers that outlines how to begin and describes the publications and services available through our program and Web site. The last several pages of the guide is a detailed facilitator's script for the tutor training.

Tutors

GreatStart5Ž provides your program with tutor training video to introduce tutors to some of the basics, such as lesson planning, goals, how people communicate, and much more. For a complete list of what is included in each module, click on "Modules" on the left side of the Homepage. The GreatStart5Ž Tutor Training Manual with Integrated Practice Sessions provides your program with reproducible masters for the tutor training.

Students

Students need to be prepared for their work with a tutor. By conducting a student training prior to students being matched with tutors, students can learn whether they have the time to meet with a tutor, learn how to schedule, use a calendar, learn what their responsibilities will be, discover the consequences of learning, and know what they should expect during a lesson. We train tutors to be tutors. We should train students to be students.

Assessment of Tutors and Students

Tutors

Assess your tutors using one of the tutor evaluation kits after the GreatStart5Ž training. There are four of them online; two hearŕspeak students, and two readŕwrite students. There are two men, two women, and all at different levels. They are described in the READ ME file online. You can decide which tutor evaluation best matches the students in your program waiting to be matched.

Students

Student assessments vary considerably. We introduce an informal assessment your tutors can use to find out where to begin in the GreatStart5Ž materials. We discuss a sample formal assessment used by the Anaheim Public Library. We also discuss that each program may have different formal assessments. In addition, for ongoing assessment, we introduce working portfolios during the tutor training.

Support for Tutors, Students and Program Staff

You determine who receives support by providing them with your password and username.

Tutor Central

Tutors can contact us through our Web site for support. There are reference materials and more activities online for them to explore and download. For example, they can download the modules for the tutor training, or print out blank lesson plans. Copies of The Voyagers newsletter for tutors and students can be downloaded or printed out in Tutor Central

Student Central

Students can also contact us through our Web site for support. They can explore and download the same reference materials and activities online, along with information about setting up their working portfolio notebooks and downloading the student pages found in the tutor training manual. Copies of The Voyagers newsletter for tutors and students can be downloaded or printed out in Student Central

Program Manager/Trainer Central

Your program's staff has access to the same online support tutors and students have. A separate program manager password and username provide access to the program manager's area.

There are resources for inservices, answer sheets, additional publications, ideas about dealing with dysfunctional tutors, and a variety of other resources and publications, including the Tutor Evaluation Kit that will assess a prospective tutor's understandig of the tutor training.

Trainers can find a variety of reference materials, topics for potential in-services, and information about dealing with difficult tutors during the training.

Access to all the issues of GreatStart5Ž Tooter, the newsletter for program managers and trainers.

Revisions or corrections for our publications are available in this area, along with materials created at the request of our programs, such as sample student and tutor contracts, and a narrative to approach a tutor who is problematic.

Emails are sent to inform program staff of new materials and revisions available online.

How is the training designed?

ˇ There are ten modules that cover the basics.

ˇ The tutors are provided with a manual that includes information and resources for all ten modules.

ˇ The focus is on familiarizing them with the manual as the reference book to use with their students.

ˇ A fictitious student named James is used throughout the training to discuss the modules and activities.

ˇ There are about eleven practice sessions where your prospective tutors will work with information about James and practice using the manual's materials. Suggested answers are given for each practice session.

ˇ Each module provides an opportunity for your prospective tutors to list key words for that module.

We wanted to make this training as versatile as possible. This format will work with or without a facilitator. If a facilitator is used, he/she can observe the practice sessions to monitor the prospective tutors' understanding of the materials.

Answers or suggested responses are included at the end of each practice session, and key words and key concepts are included at the end of each module to give tutors and the facilitator a chance to see if they have understood the ideas introduced the module.

What are my responsibilities to the tutors in my program?

Your program is responsible for:

ˇ insuring the potential tutor understands the manual and has the skills to be matched with a student.

ˇ meeting with the potential tutor after he has completed the training.

ˇ evaluating the tutor's skill level using one of the four Tutor Evaluation Kits.

We cannot emphasize strongly enough that if a tutor cannot successfully complete the Tutor Evaluation Kit at the end of the Tutor Training, he probably does not understand the materials and concepts and should not be matched. Remember--A bad tutor is not better than no tutor at all.

Distributing the Passwords: Please remember that programs who provide their password and username to another program will be denied support services.

Tell your staff, trainers and tutors to E-mail us with any questions. Emphasize there is a wealth of information on our Web site, and they can contact us anytime by e-mail.

Your program receives one year of unlimited technical support with the purchase of your first kit. Subsequent years of support may be available for only $99.99 a year.

Video Kits or Videos? What's the difference?

The first video kit purchased ($399.99) includes the custom support package and the CD with the master publications. This is the video kit. Once it's purchased, additional videos are less expensive ($349.99) because the program has already purchased the CD and custom support package.

What if I have several sites in my program? Do I need to purchase several video kits?

We've been asked many times if the password and ID can be given to tutors and staff at other sites managed by the same literacy program.

ˇ Literacy programs with under 100 matches can purchase one video kit to provide tutors and staff with our custom support services regardless of the number of sites involved.

ˇ For literacy programs with over 100 matches that are going to distribute their password and ID to more than one location, we ask that you purchase one video kit for every two locations.

ˇ Programs with over 100 matches and one location need only to purchase one kit.

What if the DVDs or VHS tapes get damaged or lost over time?

Programs that subscribe to technical support can replace lost or damaged DVDs or VHS tapes for only $25.00.

Can I duplicate the printed materials?

Absolutely. We designed this system to be low-cost so more programs can use it. We only have one caveat. You can duplicate and distribute the materials for use within your program only. You cannot distribute any of the materials in any other way. If your program has three locations, all of which are under your direct supervision with one site director, they can also duplicate the materials for use at their site(s). Please contact us if your program has multiple sites and several site directors.

Videos and DVDs are copy protected and cannot be duplicated. If you need additional videos, they are available at a reduced rate. Please contact us for additional information.

This is a new concept and there are bound to be questions and a few "glitches" along the way. Please keep in touch so we can unglitch things!

We want you and your literacy program to be successful. We are here for you, so please contact us if you have questions or would like to discuss your program or its tutor training. Send us an e-mail anytime!

Can I give my tutors a Tutor Training Certificate from GreatStart5Ž?

We have GreatStart5Ž certificates available to programs that agree to some simple training standards. We can send the master to a GreatStart5Ž program by email.