| Contact
LR/RI
|
LR/RI produces a bulletin roughly every two weeks in order to inform area practitioners of news, events, and calls for participation and also as a forum for posing questions, issues and discussion topics. The current bulletin is posted below. To read previous bulletins, go to Bulletin Archives.December 21, 2004Bulletin #192
Dear Colleagues, Calls for participation, employment,
funding,
and conference and workshop opportunities, online
and other resources. To post information, and/or to receive
the bulletin via email, please contact LR/RI or leave a message at (401-863-2839).
All best hopes for peace and justice as we continue our work into the coming
year.
Janet Isserlis
NOTICES
January 13: Dr. Joseph Torgesen: Using Data and Interventions to Leave no Child Behind in Reading 2005 RI Reading Disabilities Symposium. Registration before 12/15: $100; $125 thereafter. Contact Chris Willis (401) 742-3622 or rispamail@yahoo.com You're invited to join an online chat with Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D. on Thursday, January 27, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Named "One of America's Top Doctors," Dr. Shaywitz is professor of pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine and author of the bestseller Overcoming Dyslexia. She'll answer questions about dyslexia and other reading difficulties and is especially interested in responding to parents' concerns. It's really easy to participate - all you need is an Internet connection. This chat is offered in cooperation with The Access Center, LD OnLine, and The Partnership for Reading. - Meta Potts, Moderator 4-EFF List The International Institute of Rhode Island is seeking a committed
volunteer to teach ESOL to a group of elderly residents on the East
Side. The class will consist of 10 or more motivated students who want
to learn English one night a week (Tuesday or Thursday) for two hours (6
- 8
ESOL share - 19, at 2:30 pm at the Genesis Center. Focus: conversation activities for the classroom. Please join us. In early October, a group of adult educators met to discuss allocating professional development funding for the current grant year (04/05). We discussed various kinds of professional development activity - and how or why such activity has been helpful (or not) to us in our various roles (teachers, program administrators, professional development providers). We also brainstormed qualities of good professional development as well as possible professional development activities we could undertake. Qualities named included professional development that has depth, occurs over an extended period of time, is ongoing and supported (by program directors, grants themselves and within a culture that promotes continued learning). Possible activities include peer mentoring/master teacher exchanges,
observation of one another's classes (within and across programs), manager
shares - to discuss programmatic issues), and professional development
days, such as those provided to public school practitioners. We also
talked about inquiry and mini-grant projects, program-wide shares, book
/ article discussion groups and study circles.
While LR/RI disseminates information about conferences and professional
development activities, and also helps coordinate and facilitate practitioner
sharing sessions, it had, until this year, also facilitated practitioner-based
research projects. Given the relatively low number of
In order to allocate the funding productively (a total of $5,000), LR/R
is beginning a process whereby some smaller and larger (up to $500) stipends
can be disbursed for the range of activities listed above. Some (such
as observation within programs) are low or no cost; others
If you would like to apply for funding to undertake professional
development activity, please send by fax, email or snail mail, a proposal
outlining :
Written reports will be posted to the LR/RI website; workshops, materials that might be developed, or processes that are otherwise documented will also be shared through the website. If you have questions, please contact LR/RI. If you are not pursuing funding for a project, and would like to be a reader to help select proposals, please contact LR/RI as well. Please send completed proposals to LR/RI by January 10th. Decisions will be made and participants notified by January 31st. Work should be completed by June30th. Finally: these notes were shared as part of a handout during the October meeting, for your information. Goals: to support existing knowledge, build new knowledge, communicate
across programs and areas
Options:
Shares: EL Civics, ESOL; revive GED? External diploma? Other
topic areas?
Scheduled activity/events:
resources
Migrant Education Program available in Rhode Island. To be eligible one must be a migrant worker with children up to 22 years old, or be in need of a GED certificate. Eligible participants are those who have worked in fishing or fish processing, agriculture, fruit picking,, farming ; this work should comprise most, but not all of an applicant’s income. To learn more about this program, please contact 721-2136. For general information about Migrant Education: http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlsea/title1/mig2.html. December events at the Providence Public Library: http://www.provlib.org/branchout/current.html We are happy to announce that ALM is starting a refereed online journal, ISSN 1744 - 1803. The ALM Journal will be published twice a year. The first volume is planned to be published by the end of this year. "Adults Learning Mathematics - An International Journal" is an
international refereed journal that provides a forum for the online publication
of high quality research on the teaching and learning, knowledge and uses
of numeracy/mathematics to adults at all levels in a variety of educational
sectors. Submitted papers should normally be of interest to an international
readership. We invite contributions in the following areas:
learning opportunities Mentor Non-traditional Adults Returning to College Project RIRAL's Transition to College project is currently seeking volunteer mentors and/or tutors to support our non-traditional adult students in their endeavor to prepare themselves for the rigors of college. If you are interested in becoming a Mentor and/or Tutor, please contact Marie@transitiontocollege.org or call 722-9800. TTC is currently accepting students for the spring 2005 session.
Detailed directions and information about the program at: htttp://www.transitiontocollege.org.
Please contact Marie if you are interested in enrolling in the spring
session. Hurry, enrollment is limited.
Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) is offering a "Women at Work" workshop free of charge to labor and community organizations, and we're looking for groups to participate. Women at Work is a project of DARE's Jobs with Dignity Campaign, whose goal is to build women's leadership in the labor movement. In order to build connections between women workers and advance the issues that are important to women workers, this project conducts workshops which focus on efforts to preserve health care and to win community access to good, living wage jobs. If you'd like the DARE workshop team to come to a meeting, class, or other event and lead the 30-minute workshop, please contact Eric Larson at Eric_D_Larson@brown.edu. ASTHMA WORKSHOP AND ESOL LESSON This workshop fuses key, simple vocabulary and grammar into a lesson-like format tailored for ESOL learners. The workshop is one to one and a half hours long, and includes information about the main characteristics of asthma, its symptoms and triggers. Through a participatory and interactive environment, learners not only become aware of basic information relating to asthma, but they also learn English. This workshop can also include data on how asthma affects Latinos, and local community resources where they offer bilingual help. The workshop is free of cost and its language is applicable to all levels. This is a workshop that could easily be integrated into a health unit or delivered as an isolated informative session and lesson. If you and your learners would like to schedule a workshop, please feel free to contact me via e-mail or by phone. Thank you. - Erick Garcia, ESOL Facilitator, American Lung Association, 401.935.8736 erickdgarcia@hotmail.com
funding opportunities - large and less large
Leadership for a Changing World seeks nominations of community leaders across the country who are successfully tackling tough social problems. 17 outstanding social justice leaders and leadership teams who are not broadly known beyond their immediate community or field will receive awards of $100,000 to advance their work, plus $15,000 for learning activities that will advance their efforts. The program seeks to encourage a public dialogue that recognizes a wide variety of leaders and leadership models as authentic and important to social progress. To this end, the program includes a major, multi-year research initiative and numerous forums to bring awardees together with other leaders to share experiences, address specific challenges, and explore opportunities for collaboration. Leadership for a Changing World is a program of the Ford Foundation, in partnership with the Washington-based Advocacy Institute and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. Leaders must be nominated by someone who is well acquainted with their work and can attest to their qualifications. To learn about 2001 - 2004 awardees are, to request a brochure, or for more information on the program, go to http://www.leadershipforchange.org. Specific questions can be submitted via email to info@leadershipforchange.org, phone (202) 777-7542, or by writing to Leadership for a Changing World, Advocacy Institute 1629 K St., NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006-1629. Deadline: January 7, 2005. The UPS Foundation funds volunteer management, hunger and literacy efforts. http://www.community.ups.com/community/philanthropy/focus/main.html. The federal government's new one stop grant site: http://www.grants.gov/
The Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) announces another round of education reform grants in areas of social science research. PRACC is particularly interested in issues such as high classroom turnover/mobility and its disproportionate impact on low-income, minority, and farm worker students. However, other issues will be considered as well. To apply, send PRRAC a proposal outlining the planned research and methodology, the advocacy work it is designed to support, a budget, timeline, and qualifications of the researchers. Maximum grant: $10,000. No application deadline. http://www.prrac.org/grants.htm Funding Solutions for Small Nonprofit Organizations A collection of resources to help small nonprofit organizations fundraise including ways to motivate your board, sample fundraising letters, phonathon advice, and tips to improve your direct mail solicitation. http://www.nonprofit-innovations.com/ employment opportunities The Pawtucket School Department Adult Education Program is looking for teachers in the following areas: Citizenship; English, and Basic Writing. Classes will be held on either Tuesday and Thursday evenings or Saturday mornings depending on the teacher's schedule. To apply or for additional information, please call, fax, or e-mail Mary Parella. Hourly rate: $20.00 contact: Mary Parella c/o Cunningham School 40 Baldwin St. Pawtucket, RI 02860 Tel: (401) 729-6293 Fax: (401) 721-2137 e-mail: parellam@psdri.net Feel free to call me at home during the Christmas Vacation at (401) 253-1099. Substitute list: if you would like your name added to the list, please see contact LR/RI. The list needs to be updated so that it can function more usefully for teachers and programs hoping to work with them. (http://www.brown.edu/lrri/sub.html) Rhode Island Community Jobs (RICOMJOB) is a public e-mail announcement list that seeks to raise the profile of meaningful work in Rhode Island by helping non-profit and public interest employers publicize openings effectively. Anyone seeking a job that makes a difference in Rhode Island can join the list. Any non-profit, government or private sector employer advertising a paid position related to the public interest or community concerns can post a free job listing. Positions must be paid but may be part-time, full-time or temporary. To join the list as a job seeker or to post a job as an employer go to: http://www.ricommunityjobs.org Rhode Island Community Jobs is supported by the Swearer Center for Public
Service at Brown University and the Rhode Island Campus Compact.
If you have questions about this service, please contact us at ricomjob@brown.edu
online / resources from Barb Garner Editor: The newest issue of Focus on Basics on Workplace Education. is online, at http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~ncsall/fob/index.htm Find out whether workplace education programs continue after the initial grant is over. Read about ethnographic research in workplaces that documents that a literacy activity cannot be disengaged from the broader work task, nor be considered independent from the written and unwritten rules of the culture of a particular workplace. Read about how programs put this insight into practice. See what it takes to keep a workplace education partnership strong for more than 10 years. Find out how a workplace education program can be a fabulous marketing tool. Learn how approaches to workplace education content have evolved over time. For innovation in math, go to Washington, DC, where the paycheck received by participants in workplace education programs motivates them to learn about financial planning, investing,and home ownership. For policy ideas, read how states build identity, enhance expertise, provide financial support, increase accessibility, and promote collaborations to strengthen workplace education as part of their overall adult education efforts, and read about an experiment in making workplace education available to very small businesses. The Review, a monthly update from the Office of the Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, US Dept of Education, online at http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaereview/orev121604.html The Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy’s working paper number 7, Adult ESL and the Community College, by JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall of the University of Maryland and Ken Sheppard of the National Foreign Language Center. The main body of the report is 21 pages in length. It is a kind of primer that looks at some of the key issues in community college ESL programming. The full report contains four appendix items including profiles of exemplary ESL programs in five community colleges. A foreword to the paper notes that "ESL is one of the fastest growing
areas of need in the community college -- for two kinds of students, ESL
adults with basic literacy deficiencies and adults who were well educated
in their home countries but need help with their English skills.
Google Scholar enables searches for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as articles available across the web. Google Scholar orders search results by how relevant they are to your query, so the most useful references should appear at the top of the page. This relevance ranking takes into account the full text of each article as well as the article's author, the publication in which the article appeared and how often it has been cited in scholarly literature. Google Scholar automatically analyzes and extracts citations and presents them as separate results, even if the documents they refer to are not online. This means your search results may include citations of older works and seminal articles that appear only in books or other offline publications. http://scholar.google.com/ From VALUE:Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education Nominate Adult Learners for the Susan Green Award At the 2003 VALUE Leadership Institute, a volunteer committee presented the first Susan Green Award to Patsy Golden of Lexington, Kentucky. In addition, the VALUE office has a permanent plaque that will add the name of each new winner as the award is presented. This award is designed to recognize adult learners who exemplify the spirit of literacy advocate Susan Green. [1944 - 2002]The next award will be presented at the 2005 VALUE Leadership Institute.The committee reviews applications from all over the country. Applicants needed to meet three criteria Seeing the best in other people, Reaching out to help other people, Being a leader in adult literacy. Be an adult learner. What is the Susan Green Award? Susan Green (1944 -- 2002) was a great friend to VALUE. Susan was filled with passion and caring for the issues surrounding literacy, and for the people around her. Susan never hesitated to stop and help someone who needed a shoulder to lean on, and provided advice and wise counsel to friends across the world. Former NIFL director Andy Hartman said of her "If the field of adult literacy had a Hall of Fame, Susan should be a charter member. Susan's career included nearly a decade at the National Institute for Literacy, 12 years with the Follow Through early literacy program at the U.S. Department of Education, and four years at the White House as First Lady Barbara Bush's literacy expert. Mrs. Bush said of Susan: "Susan Green was one of my mentors in literacy. She was there with me in the beginning, when few people were really paying attention to literacy. She was passionate about it, and would have personally taught every single man, woman, and child in America how to read if she could have. She was a dear friend, a warm and loving person. She will be missed by me and all who knew her." -The Susan Green Award Committee, VALUE Below is a nomination form. Please distribute this widely, and consider
nominating an adult learner who has the determination and caring to be
the Second winner of the Susan Green Award. Nominations are due by January
10, 2005. They should be mailed or faxed to the VALUE
Susan Green Award Nomination Form
I am nominating:
(Please attach nominator’s contact information) Nominee Information
Use no more than one typewritten page to answer all three questions
below. To make applications readable, we suggest using a 12-point
Attach one letter of support from someone who knows the nominee. Include contact information for the person who wrote the letter. 1. Susan Green always saw the best in other people. Please describe
a time you/the nominee turned a bad situation into a good one by seeing
the best in the people around you. (35 points)
LPRPConnections - Discussion list about teaching practice, research and policy. The California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project and the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network are cosponsors of this new discussion list, which is open to all adult educators interested in exploring the connection of literacy teaching practice, research and policy. This includes ESL, ABE, GED, and ASE teachers, and has four primary purposes: To give practitioners a chance to discuss the relationship between adult literacy education practice and research. This includes how (and what) practitioners can learn from researchers, and how (and what) researchers can learn from practitioners; To provide a forum where practitioners can ask questions about different approaches to conducting research, and about how implications for practice and policy are generated; To create a space where practitioners can identify and discuss the kinds of research they would find helpful. When possible, list members can share information about research that has already been conducted, identify research needs, and discuss how the needed research might be initiated, and To help practitioners focus on the ways that policy decisions, including those about research, affect classroom practice. The LPRPConnections discussion list is facilitated by Erik Jacobson, veteran practitioner and Research Analyst at CALPRO/American Institutes for Research. Find more information about CALPRO at http://www.calpro-online.org/. To subscribe to the LPRPConnections discussion list, send an email message to LPRPConnections-request@listproc.otan.us and type "subscribe" in the body of the message. Literacies, a Candian journal, is available by subscription and archived online. Special sections of the website recently posted include: three oral history projects at http://www.literacyjournal.ca/oh.htm and have added a practitioner knowledge page at http://www.literacyjournal.ca/cw.htm. Getting the word out: We're pleased to invite your organization to apply now for a Google Grant, which provides a minimum of three months of free Google AdWords (https://adwords.google.com) advertising for nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status. The Google Grants program is designed to help nonprofit organizations like yours further their goals and objectives through targeted, online advertising on Google.com. Past Google Grant recipients have used their grants to publicize services and awareness, recruit staff and volunteers, promote special events, sell merchandise related to their organization or cause, and much more. There is no deadline to apply, but if you are selected for a Google Grant award, we will ask you to create your account by a specific date. So you should apply when your organization is able to take full advantage of the AdWords program. To learn more about the Google Grants program and apply, please visit our program page, http://www.google.com/grants/. http://writenet.ca/ - a website devoted to writing. The goal of Writenet.ca is to promote the use and value of writing in literacy and social/special programming. Based on years of experience working with new and/or reluctant adult writers, we believe that writing is a fun and effective way to increase literacy skills, feel part of the community and make healthy changes in our lives. A dedicated group of Writing Out Loud Literacy Instructors from across Canada has worked together to develop and build Writenet.ca as a place to find a wealth of information and support to help bring writing to your learning settings in new and engaging ways. What makes Writenet.ca different than other websites about writing? Well, in short, it's the growing community of like-minded people who recognize that writing is more than just spelling and grammar. You'll quickly feel apart of this community when you join in the dynamic and educational discussions on the Writenet.ca Bulletin Boards. Writenet.ca as is stands now, is a starting point. This space is designed to change and grow according to the needs and interests of the membership. We look forward to sharing information and learning together as we go along. Please visit the site to read about us, register for discussions and join us in this exciting learning adventure. Deborah Morgan, Writenet.ca Project 4802 50 Avenue Camrose, Alberta T4V 0R9 (780) 672-6289 Living in Poverty slideshow does the math: what does it take to live at the poverty level. http://www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour2.htm RI Foundation online scholarship directory - searchable by city/town, intended field of study, current high school, and more. http://scholarship.rifoundation.org/
Securing the Right to Learn An internationally-produced guide to advocacy- adult educators from 10 countries met to produce an advocacy guide for use by adult educators in increasing demand for adult learning at local, national and global levels and in a variety of geographical and societal contexts. http://www.niace.org.uk/projects/RightToLearn/
YouthBuild USA Learning Network has links to Web sites and full-text documents, and includes a section on "Authentic Materials/Engaged Learning/Constructivism/Contextual Learning/Project-based Learning." http://www.youthbuild.org/learningnetwork/professionaldev.html Providence Community Resource Network (PCRN) http://www.provplan.org/pcrn Spanish language version of PCRN is up and running. You can access the site from the PCRN home page, http://www.provplan.org/pcrn, or go to http://www.provplan.org/pcrnespa. The Web pages, online instructions, and the content of the database have all been translated. Civics 101 - website of the RI Secretary of State, at http://www.rules.state.ri.us/civics_101/; a high school curriculum that may be adaptable for adult learners and/or useful for initiating critical reflection about citizenship and communities. conferences and workshops - conferences and workshops are listed chronologically and are updated with each bulletin
Rhode Island - Training/events around employment issues for people with disabilities http://www.ric.edu/uap/training.html Reading Across Rhode IslandLiteracy Conference Saturday, January 15, 2005 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Community College of RI, Warwick Campus,Cost: $15/person 1. Crossing Cultures, Crossing Borders: Teaching The Kite Runner in
the English Classroom
2nd Annual (Net)Working Conference on Women & Literacy..Strengthening the Web March 11-12, Providence - Confirmed Presenters: Mary Belenky Ujwala Samant Jenny Horsman Invited Speakers/ Panelists: Sapphire Jane Sapp, Klaudia Rivera, Vanessa Sheared. EARLY Registration Deadline: January 15, (15% discount) Registration deadline: February 28, WE LEARN Membership Rate:Two-day $80.00 | One-day $45.00 Non-Membership Rate : Two-day $100.00 | One-Day $55.00 ABE Student Rate: Two-Day $15.00 | One-Day $10.00 For more details contact: Mev Miller, Ed.D., Director, 401-383-4374, welearn@litwomen.org or go to: http://www.litwomen.org/welearn.html TESOL: March 30- April 2, San Antonio http://www.tesol.org/ Literacy Changes Lives - The 14th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy, sponsored by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), to be held in Louisville, Kentucky; April 25-27, 2005. http://www.famlit.org. COABE: http://www.coabe05.org/ May 4-7, Anaheim, California. May 12: Rhode Island Adult Education Conference. Call for presenters is on line at http://www.brown.edu/lrri/conference05.html other events and conferences http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/Calendar/calendar_world.cgi TESOL worldwide calendar of events http://www.tesol.org/isaffil/calendar/index.html
from previous bulletins: REMINDERS, RESOURCES:
SABES Resource Lists Available. From Carey Reid [full message here]: As you might know, Massachusetts now has a rigorous, stand-alone ABE teacher's license. SABES, the System for Adult Basic Education Support, is a state-wide staff development system funded by MassDOE. Ö[S]months ago I asked if NLA subscribers were interested in helping SABES build resource lists, by standard, in support of teachers seeking the new license here in Massachusetts. Many of you helped out, thank you, and we've also worked with small groups of people locally to build these 29 lists, now with over 150 resources--books, articles, websites, and videos. The lists are now available on SABES's license support website at http://www.sabes.org/license. You can get quickly to the lists by clicking on the "new resources added" link under What's New, or at any time by using the resources link on the bottom of every webpage. When you arrive at the chart listing the 29 standards, click on any standard to go to the resource list we've compiled for it. The lists are annotated; with the annotations, teachers who wish to improve their knowledge and skills in respect to a particular standard can be more assured they're getting the resource they want or need. If the resource can be viewed or downloaded on the Net, we've provided a link. Additionally, we want to improve these lists, so please email me
if you'd like to suggest additions or changes. BTW, the full list
of resources is also collected in a ProCite bibliography file, so if you
use that software and would like to have your own "instant" database, let
me know and I'll email you the file. As stated earlier, SABES is funded
by the Massachusetts Department of Education. To avoid confusion,
the website is not an official DOE site but rather one of SABES's means
of supporting license-seeking teachers in our state. Links to Massachusetts
DOE webpages, however, are provided on the site.
breathe - everyday yoga at your desk. http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/everyday_yoga.html what do you think? LR/RI has had an online survey on its site forever. Previously, those who may have come across the survey were asked to copy and paste it into an email message, or to print it and complete it. Thanks to the brilliant technical support and inservice learning provided by Brown University, the survey can now be completed on line. I'd be grateful if you could please take the time to complete it. While occasional word comes back about the work LR/RI has done, this survey attempts to be somewhat more systematic in considering the work that's done and the work that needs to be accomplished. Please complete the survey at http://www.brown.edu/lrri - scroll down and click on the link to the survey. If you lack web access and wish to complete the survey, please contact LR/RI to receive one via snail mail or fax. Please contact LR/RI if you have information, questions or announcements to share with adult educators in Rhode Island. Bulletins go out at least twice a month; more frequently when there's more to share. To submit information for the next bulletin, please contact LR/RI by phone (401-863-2839), mail (PO Box 1974, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912) or email. back to LR/RI home |
