Recently, the San Diego Council on Literacy interviewed and
filmed 14 adult literacy students for a short video to be
released this fall. In the video were nine women, five men and
two teachers. Seven were white. Four were black. Three were
Latino. Two had learned English as a second language. One was a
nurse. Four earned college degrees. Two earned degrees before
they became literate. What many of these learners had in common
was that, somehow, they slipped by all of us, either by being
made invisible by others, or by successfully, of their own will,
making themselves invisible over a period of 12 school years.
Some parents, teachers and administrators knew that something
was wrong with the reading progress of these students but did
not, for many reasons, intervene. Many years later, these
students found the courage to ask for help from the affiliated
programs of the San Diego Council on Literacy. Today, we know
that we can, statistically and with unfortunately good accuracy,
determine who will succeed and f