The Voluntary Improvement Program was established in 1966 to teach non-English speaking adults language skills necessary to provide for their families and fully participate in their communities. Through small group instruction provided by community volunteers, adults learn the basic English skills needed for seeking and retaining employment, providing for their basic needs and understanding American society. Students come from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds: over the past year students from Mexico, Central and South America, Tibet, Thailand, Korea and Viet Nam have enrolled in the program.

The VIP program focuses on providing services for working families with young children and income below the poverty line. The majority of these families earn less than $15,000 per year, working primarily in construction, light industry and the service sector. In addition to economic barriers, many students have not had ample opportunity for education either here or in their homelands. During the 2005 - 2006 school year, VIP served 225 students and maintained a waiting list of approximately 105 potential students.

Extensive research shows that adult language curricula should include communicative activities based on real-life situations. VIP includes lesson plans rooted in everyday work and conversation. Since adult learners often find logistical and social affective barriers more daunting than cognitive ones, Guadalupe builds a community of caring within the student body. We create small friendly groups in which each student feels supported. Additional services, including babysitting, transportation and snacks mean that students can concentrate on studies without worrying about logistics.

On average, adults maintain a 75% attendance rate. Students typically participate in the program for eighteen months or more, significantly longer than the 8 month average of comparable programs. The benefits of the program are tangible: Employers report that students are increasingly valuable to companies as a result of their improving English skills. Long-time students report increases in job opportunities and modest increases in income.

Goals designed to maximize students' learning and assist them in their endeavors to become English-language proficient, contributing members of society include:

• Improving English skills;
• Finding and retaining work;
• Earning US citizenship;
• Increasing the ability to economically provide for their families;
• Becoming contributing members in the community.
  

To help students meet these goals, programs and services are offered in a variety of formats and on varying evenings to meet the needs of students.

VIP meets four evenings per week, providing 221 two-hour sessions per year. Students attend classes on either Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday nights. Lessons are planned and classes are taught under the supervision of VIP's professional teaching staff. Of the six professional staff, five have master's degrees in English or Linguistics with an emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language and all have experience teaching in the classroom. The skills of these teachers are leveraged by the 145 volunteer tutors who deliver direct instruction to highly motivated adult students.

Classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights are on-going, and students can begin or end their enrollment in the program at any time. Using lessons prepared by the staff, community volunteers tutor small groups of two to five students. The VIP curriculum incorporates both language and life skills. Language skills are taught in the context of daily life and work. There are 90 rotating spaces available for students in the Tuesday/Thursday program.

Classes on Monday/Wednesday nights have a defined beginning and ending, and students in this program engage in a different learning format. One night, they receive English language instruction from one of the master teachers (staff) in a traditional classroom setting, capped at 25 students. On the alternate evening, students meet with volunteers in the same small group setting as Tuesday/Thursday. Students in the Monday/Wednesday program will "finish" this program at the end of the school year. Eighty students are served yearly in this program.

As part of Guadalupe's role as a community learning center, all adult ESL students are taking part in a school-wide Health and Wellness initiative, focusing on diet, exercise, safety and prevention. In response to student requests, financial literacy and citizenship classes are also offered. Additionally, students have requested new opportunities to learn about computers. A level of comfort with technology is essential in nearly every workplace, and VIP is providing students with basic computer instruction through computer assisted language learning.

Agustin is a hard worker, holding down a job at Big Lots and doing landscaping work to support his family. He was proud to report that the landscaping company for which he works had given him a substantial raise. The original raise offered was 3%, but he went to the company president and explained to him in English that he thought his improved language skills merited a higher wage. His boss agreed and Agustin received a 10% raise.

When Tien came to study English at VIP five years ago, his reading and writing skills were fairly good, but he was almost completely unable to speak. When spoken to, he would hesitate for so long before responding that people would lose patience with him. Poor English language skills resulted in poor evaluations at work. He was placed in a group with students who spoke a variety of languages so that he would not be able to rely on his native Vietnamese. The curriculum was designed to emphasize conversation. Tien completed five years in the VIP program this winter. At graduation, he addressed the assembled students with a short speech, an act he could not have imagined doing in the past. He will return to VIP in February as a tutor, helping students prepare for their US Citizenship examinations.

Elizabeth arrived in the United States with high hopes for her future. Bright and ambitious, she is good with numbers and secured a job cashiering at The Red Iguana. Her marriage began unraveling not long after she started studying English in the VIP Program. When her husband left her, she was left without a telephone or transportation. She had a close relationship with her volunteer tutor, who lent her a bicycle so she could get to work easily. She utilized VIP's van service in order to continue attending classes. Elizabeth has been promoted repeatedly at The Red Iguana, where she is now one of the restaurant managers. Two months ago, she was able to purchase her own car.

Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. (2nd ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman.
Krashen, S. (1981). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Pergamon Press.
Guadalupe Schools (2003). Summary of Student and Employer Surveys: May 2003.