© 2006 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION (pp. 560–572) doi:10.1598/JAAL.49.7.2 JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 49:7 APRIL 2006 560 Alisa Belzer What are they doing in there? Case studies of volunteer tutors and adult literacy learners What are they doing in there? Case studies of volunteer tutors and adult literacy learners Volunteer tutors and adult literacy learners face a number of challenges as they work together. I wanted to better myself. I have two kids, and I wanted to show them that if they better theyselves they can get a good job. [I wanted] to be a model to myself and to my kids. So I can get myself to- gether and read better and write better and do math better. I want to get a good job and show my kids that it’s important to do good. (Connie, an adult learner) Why did I volunteer to tutor? Probably [it was] that they needed tutors. I’m a sucker for that. If something needs to be done—it’s not that I was looking for something to do. I get annoyed when people think that someone who volunteers doesn’t have enough to do in life. I was always appreciative of my being able to read. (Donna, a volunteer adult literacy tutor) These quotes are telling examples of the level of commitment, interest, and even passion that vol- unteer tutors and adult literacy learners bring to the instructional setting. The learners who enter adult basic education (ABE) programs are some- times referred to as “second-chance learners.” These adults, and the tutors who work with them, often make valiant efforts during this second chance to improve their personal, financial, and family prospects, while increasing their potential to function effectively as citizens, workers, and family members. The stakes are high. These efforts should be returned, on the part of professional staff and researchers, by providing the best in- structional contexts possible.Yet we know very lit- tle about volunteer-based, one-to-one instruction— a common format in programs in- tended for adult developing readers. The case studies reported in this arti- cle, based on a larger study that exam- ined the relationship between program contexts and instruction in volunteer- based, one-to-one adult literacy in- struction (Belzer, in press a), begin to address this gap by raising the following questions: What do volunteer tutors and adult literacy learners do to- gether subsequent to tutor training? What seems to influence their work? What strengths do they have, and what challenges do they face? By under- standing more about what goes on in adult literacy tutoring sessions, the findings can yield helpful implications for research and practice related to tutor training and ongoing support. Since the 1960s, when federal funding in the United States for ABE was first legislated, volun- teer tutors have played an extremely significant instructional role. Nationally, 42% of the instruc- tional staff in programs that receive federal fund- ing is volunteer (U.S. Department of Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy, 2000). No exact count is available, but when literacy councils and community-based organizations that use volunteer tutors but do not receive feder- al funds are also included, it is evident that volun- teer tutors are the majority of ABE instructors. The use of volunteers in adult literacy programs Belzer teaches at Rutgers University (10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA). E-mail belzera@rci.rutgers.edu.