Tutoring Program for Adults Grant

The Tutoring Program for Adults, funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, aims to enhance adult literacy through community-based programs. It emphasizes training volunteer tutors to provide essential support in adult education and literacy activities. Applicants are encouraged to seek necessary funding to meet performance standards, with a focus on one-on-one tutoring for Adult Basic Education and ESL students. This initiative strives to improve the lives of uneducated and undereducated adults and their families in Pennsylvania.

Program Purpose
As stated in statute, the intent of Pennsylvania Act 143 Adult and Family Literacy Education Act is to provide coordination and broaden the scope of educational activities to uneducated and undereducated adults in the commonwealth and their families, including those who speak other languages, and to provide programs to those individuals who have previously been unserved.
The goals of the act include:
Increased and improved services to adult learners and their families through the coordination of funding streams and programs across state agencies; andExpanded adult and family literacy education programs so that adults and their families will function more effectively in their personal lives and as citizens and be better prepared for workforce training and employment that they may become more responsible and productive members of society
Under Act 143, adult and family literacy education providers may apply to PDE for grants to provide the following services:
Adult literacy education programs for eligible adults;Family literacy education programs for eligible parents and their children;Training for volunteer adult literacy education instructors; andAdministration, support services for learners, and outreach activities.
This grant opportunity is for programs to train volunteer adult literacy education instructors, called tutors, and support those tutors to provide instruction to students participating in adult education and literacy activities. Grantees may have community-based tutoring programs, peer tutoring programs, or both. Interested applicants should refer to Appendix F in the Adult Education and Family Literacy Program Guidelines for the requirements for each type of tutoring program.
Program Funding Requests
Applicants should apply for those funds necessary to meet the grant requirements, provide the proposed services, and meet the state-imposed performance standards and the Tutoring Program for Adults targets. The Division of Adult Education will expect successful applicants requesting higher amounts to prioritize providing intensive one-on-one tutoring services to students at Adult Basic Education (ABE) Levels 1-2 and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Levels 1-2. PDE reserves the right to adjust the actual grant award amount and contracted number of tutors of successful applicants during the grant contract approval process.