Hi Mareike,
Our nonprofit agency charges $150 for 15 weeks of instruction.  We provide 8
hours of instruction each week.  Two different classes meet for 2 hours, 4
days a week.  That works out to around $10/week or $1.25 per hour. Textbooks
are included in the cost.  Students pay the first half/ $75 the first week
of class and the other half/$75 around midterm.  Sometimes they choose to
pay more than half at the beginning.

The agency decided to charge so they could guarantee high quality
instruction and offer more hours of instruction than many university,
church, and community programs.  Charging tuition also increases
commitment.  Ocasionally tuition is a challenge for students, though most
can pay and are aware it is a great value.  We work with students to provide
extensions or volunteer 'work'/study opportunities in special
circumstances.  Students understand tuition helps contribute to costs to run
the program [room, materials, etc.] and trained [MAE-ESL or Applied
Linguistics & TESOL Certified] &/or experienced staff.  As a nonprofit
agency, funding for trained and experienced staff is sometimes a challenge
also.

Some local university and community college ESL programs charge much more,
$350+ per class and meet 2 days a week for 2+ hours.  Church, other
community college, and local Literacy Council supported programs are
volunteer based and free.

Hope that helps!
Amy Baker
HICA
The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 1:37 PM, Mareike Fitz <mareike at tetonliteracy.org>wrote:


> Hello everyone,  I was wondering whether any of you work for adult ESL

> programs that charge tuition for classes.  If so I am curious about how much

> you charge per hour and how you decided on that amount. I am looking for a

> standard for comparison of what seems reasonable.  Our program has varied

> from charging nothing at all to charging a small amount of around $2/ hour.

>  I am looking for some guidance in how to decide on pricing.

>  Mareike

>

>

>  Mareike Fitz

> Adult Program Director

> (307)733 9242 ext. 226

> mareike at tetonliteracy.org

>

>

>

>  On Mar 13, 2009, at 2:24 PM, Mona Curtis wrote:

>

>  I wanted to share how we’re addressing childcare issues in our community

> college. The main barriers we faced were a place and staffing.

>

>

>

> We had a lot of children’s furniture, toys and other materials from when we

> were a recipient of the Even Start grant, and with a little rearranging, we

> made a corner of an adult ESL classroom into a place for childcare.  This

> raised many questions among my colleagues who insisted that it was not a

> certified day care and it certainly was not .  What I found was that people

> were operating in fear and with a lack of information.  The specter of

> lawsuits looms in almost any conversation, especially in the public arena.

> So I decided to go directly to the source.  I contacted the state inspector

> for early childhood facilities. (I had met her before because we did have a

> state certified day care when we had the Even Start grant.)  She gave me a

> copy of “Rules for the Certification of Child Care Centers” published by the

> Oregon Employment Department.  Page One lists exclusions, which she said we

> qualified for in several categories.

>

> d) operated by a school district, . . . government agency

>

> e)  are operated on an occasional basis by an organization not ordinarily

> engaged in providing childcare

>

> g) provide care while the child’s parent remains on the premise and is

> engaged in an activity offered by the facility

>

>

>

> So the place is taken care of.  (more or less)

>

>

>

> Staffing has been and remains a problem.  The first thing we learned is

> that you can’t count on volunteers.  It is very rare when you have a very

> responsible volunteer.  We tried contracting with the Day Care Center

> personnel, but that was very costly.  What we have finally lighted upon, is

> the use of Work Study.  That way, students are paid, but we don’t pay them.

> Actually, this isn’t a perfect situation either, because workstudies come in

> varying degrees of responsibility as well.  It doesn’t take much for one of

> them to cancel (homework, dog’s sick, etc)  What’s been most helpful is to

> schedule more than one so usually someone is there all the time.  We have

> some other things for the workstudy to do if we are overstaffed.

>

>

>

> All in all, it has been a very thankless endeavor. The college still is not

> completely comfortable with what I’m doing nor do they see the need.  (We in

> the field know there is a need, but sometimes there is sporadic attendance

> and that doesn’t demonstrate a need to the administration.)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Mona Curtis

>

> ESL Coordinator

>

> Treasure Valley Community College

>

> Ontario, OR 97914

>

> 541-881-8822 x 316

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [

> mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov>]

> *On Behalf Of *Janet Shing

> *Sent:* Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:40 AM

> *To:* The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List

> *Subject:* [EnglishLanguage 3916] Re: Community Based ESL

>

>

>

> Hi Linda,

>

>

>

> La Campaña de Literatura contracts with professional childcare providers.

> These expenses are paid by a foundation grant through the Literacy Campaign

> for Monterey County. The Literacy Campaign conducted research on best

> practices of adult literacy programs and found that reducing barriers such

> as transportation and childcare increases student attendance. More

> information is available at http://www.cfmco.org/otherGrants.php#lit

>

>

>

> You may have identified one of the main differences between community-based

> and public education programs. Some of our local adult schools collaborate

> with family resource centers to provide childcare.  Do you have family

> resource centers in Utah?

> http://www.californiafamilyresource.org/index.html

>

>

>

> Janet Shing

>

>

>  ------------------------------

>

> *From:* englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [

> mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov>]

> *On Behalf Of *linda_c_hoffman at comcast.net

> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:07 PM

> *To:* The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List

> *Subject:* [EnglishLanguage 3912] Re: Community Based ESL

>

>

>

> Childcare is one of the biggest barriers to retention in our Adult ESL

> program. We are constantly told by the district that Board of Health and

> funding restrictions on childcare are insurmountable. How are you doing

> this?

>

> Linda C. Hoffman

> Coordinator, Adult ESL

> Ogden School District

> 455 - 28th Street

> Ogden, UT 84401

> 801-430-0641

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: "Janet Shing" <Janet at cfmco.org>

> To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List" <

> englishlanguage at nifl.gov>, pumarosa21 at yahoo.com

> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:26:37 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada

> Mountain

> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3908] Re: Community Based ESL

>

> We have a successful program in Greenfield, California. The area has a

> growing indigenous population from Oaxaca, Mexico (conservative estimates

> are around 4,000). Indigenous Oaxacans do not necessarily speak Spanish.

> There are more than twenty indigenous languages spoken in Oaxaca. These

> languages are unique; unrelated to Spanish; and sound more similar to Native

> American languages than Spanish.

>

>

>

> The majority of literacy programs in our area focus on English. Oaxacans,

> who do not have a written language, need basic skills (alphabet,

> vocalization, group learning etiquette, etc.) before tackling English. La

> Campaña de Literatura para la Comunidad began a new program in 2007 to meet

> this need. Groups of 25 adults meet at a community center in a nearby

> low-income housing complex. The class meets for two hours, twice a week, for

> two 16-week sessions, which is planned around the seasonal agricultural

> schedule. Local teachers with the help of Oaxacan translators facilitate the

> class. In addition to basic literacy skills, the curriculum includes

> sessions on health literacy (how to read a prescription, what to expect at a

> doctor’s appointment, etc.) and family literacy. The class provides

> childcare and a healthy snack. This program has had near 100% retention in

> the last two years.

>

>

>

> Paul, Thank you for sharing your information. I too would like to hear

> about other community-based programs.

>

>

>

> Thank you,

>

>

>

> Janet Shing, Program Officer

>

> Community Foundation for Monterey County – *Here for Good*, www.cfmco.org

>

> Literacy Campaign for Monterey County – *Reading is Power*,

> www.literacycampaignmc.org

>

> 2354 Garden Road, Monterey, CA 93940

>

> (831) 375-9712 x137

>

>

>  ------------------------------

>

> *From:* englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [

> mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov>]

> *On Behalf Of *carolkubota at comcast.net

> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 17, 2009 6:10 PM

> *To:* pumarosa21 at yahoo.com; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion

> List

> *Subject:* [EnglishLanguage 3906] Re: Community Based ESL

>

>

>

> Hello Paul,

>

>

>

> That is a fantastic idea.

>

>

>

> Carol

>

> Battle Creek Language and Culture Center

> Director/ESL Language Specialist

> 7 Heritage Oak Lane #4

> Battle Creek, Mi 49015

> 269-979-8432

> http://www.bclanguageculture.com

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: "Paul Rogers" <pumarosa21 at yahoo.com>

> To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov

> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 1:28:15 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3904]  Community Based ESL

>

> Several months ago I started tutoring the workers at a large laundromat

> where I take my clothes. I use my own texts and audio cds which I sell at

> cost. I also show them how to access my website.

> One of the students invited me to her house to demonstrate my website and

> materials to about 10 of her friends and neighbors. As an added attraction

> she cooked some very delicious chile rellenos.

> I also produce lessons that are aired on the local community access

> television station. So now, people are finding out about the classes by word

> of mouth.

> The manager of a restaurant wants classes there.

> One new student with an internet connection volunteered to show other

> students how the website works.

> This approach is what I call community based learning, and not only is very

> effective, but also is very enjoyable. I am eating a lot better, too!

> I am very interested to find out about similar programs.

> Sincerely,

> Paul Rogers

>

>

> Paul Rogers

> 805-258-3310

> pumarosa21 at yahoo.com

> PUMAROSA.COM <http://pumarosa.com/>

>

>

>

>

> Paul Rogers

> 805-258-3310

> pumarosa21 at yahoo.com

> PUMAROSA.COM <http://pumarosa.com/>

>

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

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> Email delivered to carolkubota at comcast.net

>

>

> ---------------------------------------------------- National Institute for

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> Email delivered to mareike at tetonliteracy.org

>

>

>

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> Email delivered to abaker at hispanicinterest.org

>




-- 
Amy Baker
HICA
ESL Teacher
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