Contact LR/RI
| The Rhode Island Adult Education Professional Development
Center produces a bulletin roughly every
two
to three 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. To receive the bulletin via email, contact LR/RI. To learn more about professional development opportunities, please contact the RI AEPDC at (401) 456 -2838 or (401) 863-2839 December 18, 2007 Bulletin #257 Dear Colleagues, A longish bulletin, probably the last of the calendar
year. Best wishes for peace, good health, some measure of joy and
wellness to you and yours.
Janet Isserlis
ESOL share Wednesday, January 23, at 3:00 pm, Genesis Center, 620 Potters Avenue, Providence. Please bring ideas and questions. This is an open discussion group – practitioners with an interest in adult ESOL are all welcome to attend. The focus of this session is on goal setting for ESOL learners at all levels. Goal setting for what purposes? Learning disabilities is the topic of a new issue of Focus on Basics, available at http://www.ncsall.net (click on "Focus on Basics" near the top of the right column). Articles range from neurology and dyslexia to legal issues related to serving students with learning disabilities, to best practices shared by skilled teachers, to three states' approaches to serving students with learning disabilities, to addressing needs of ESOL learners, to technology, to transitions to college, to changing practice at the program and classroom level. - Barb Garner, Editor Rhode Island PBS and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary & Secondary Education – The Adult Education Division invites GED instructors who did not participate in the Enhancing GED Instruction Through the Use of Video Streaming pilot project to request teacher and student passcodes needed to create individual video streaming accounts. Individual video streaming accounts will give GED instructors and students access to the 39 episodes of the GED Connection series and the practice quizzes and student home assignments created during the pilot project. These accounts will also give instructors and students access to 5,000 full-length videos and 50,000 clips of indexed curriculum over the Internet in subjects such as life science and biology, earth and space science, physical science, chemistry, social studies, math, language arts and reading, health and prevention, general science, and early childhood in addition to curriculum-based videos and clips in Spanish. Through these accounts, GED instructors will be able to access samples of lesson plans, teacher guides, student activities, state correlations, images and clip art, and historical events, can create pratice quizzes and student home assignments online, use written prompts, and access thousands of samples of educational materials for teaching and learning. Furthermore, GED instructors will be able to join the Discovery Educator Network, request free training, and earn free CEUs. GED students will able to use the library of images, visit the student center, take practice quizzes, and complete student home assignments online. GED instructors in Rhode Island interested in receiving this service, at no cost, please send e-mail to education@RIpbs.org - Lourdes Pichardo, Assistant Instructional TV Director, 50 Park Lane, Providence, RI 02907 Rhode Island PBS (401) 222-3636, ext. 382 Network News is the newsletter of the CAELA Network, a project funded to provide technical assistance to practitioners working with adult English language learners. Since 2004, the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has operated the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition. This project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, was created to help states build capacity to promote English language learning and academic achievement of adults learning English. CAELA staff has worked with 24 states to help them improve their capacity to provide systematic, sustained, quality professional development to practitioners working with adult English language learners. CAELA's work with the adult English as a second language (ESL) field will end in March 2008. The need for high quality instruction for adult English language learners is significant. Due to the continuing increase in the number of immigrants in many states, there is an increased need for qualified personnel to work with adult English language learners and for systematic and ongoing professional development and technical assistance to increase learners’ achievement. In July 2007, ED initiated a full and open competition to provide an ESL center for adult education through September 2010. CAL was awarded the contract in September 2007. This new project, the CAELA Network, will help states increase their capacity to provide more effective professional development to those who teach adult English language learners. From September 2007 to September 2010 the Network will: - Continue to develop and maintain a searchable repository of research-based information on adult English language acquisition - Publish resources, including an online course for adult ESL instructors, topical briefs, and quarterly newsletters for use by teachers and professional developers - Develop a framework for quality professional development that states can use to enhance English language instruction for adult learners, and provide training and technical assistance to states. EL/Civics Online: Integrating EL/Civics into Adult ESL Classes - free professional development opportunity for teachers and volunteers now available at http://www.elcivicsonline.org. Participate in these EL/Civics online courses and learn to assist students in all of these areas as you incorporate EL/Civics into adult ESL classes. EL/Civics Online includes special tutorials on Lesson Planning and Adapting Materials and provides you with your own personal Information Center, which allows you to keep your lesson plans, reflections, links, and resources in one convenient place. The development of EL/Civics Online is funded by the U.S. Department of Education/Office of Vocational and Adult Education and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Office of Citizenship. The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers was prepared for professional developers and training staff to use in training novice and experienced teachers of adult English language learners. This guide contains resources for preparing and implementing professional development activities such as coaching, peer mentoring, study circles and workshop for local program staff. It also provides information on using the CAELA Web site as a resource for professional development activities; and references for additional training materials. Topics selected for inclusion in the CAELA Guide are based on the needs articulated by the 24 states that participated in the CAELA initiative – funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education - to increase state capacity for providing professional development to local adult ESL program staff. The materials were developed, piloted, and revised over a 3-year period (2004–2007). To access the complete guide in pdf format, go to http://www.cal.org/caela/scb/CAELAGuide.pdf To access sections of the guide in pdf format, go to http://www.cal.org/caela/scb/guide.html Finally, the focus of the guide is on providing technical assistance on the content and strategies practitioners need when teaching adult English language learners, rather than all adult learners. - Miriam Burt Center for Adult English Language Acquisition Adult ESL Teacher Credentialing and Certification by JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall, Genesis Ingersoll, and Jacqueline Lopez. - What are the certification, credentialing, and other requirements for adult ESL teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia? To answer this question, the authors of this brief collected information through telephone conversations with a range of individuals involved in adult education in the states. This brief describes efforts to professionalize the workforce of adult ESL educators, including efforts to certify or credential these teachers; discusses the qualification requirements for adult ESL teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia; and makes recommendations on steps for states to take to professionalize the field. http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs.html upcoming events: The New Practitioner Orientation (NPO) is designed to provide an overview to the adult education system, its policies and priorities, to practitioners new to the field and/or new to Rhode Island. Two-day sessions are offered for staff working 15 hours or more in adult education programs, and one-day sessions are offered for part-time (up to 15 hours) staff. Topics include accountability, assessment, characteristics of adult learners and practitioners, systems and structures and policies relevant to adult education. 2008 two-day sessions: Saturdays: February 2 and 9, 2008 9:30 am – 4 pm Fridays: February 29 and March 14, 9:30 am – 4 pm one day sessions: Friday, January 18 9:30 am – 4 pm and Saturday, March 22 9:30 am – 4 pm To attend an NPO session, please contact janet_isserlis@brown.edu. Transition to College is designed to serve non-traditional adults returning to academic life. This comprehensive program prepares students for college success with career exploration, instruction in reading, writing, math, and computer skills, and mentoring workshops. In addition, the program provides academic advising and counseling and assistance with financial aid and college application preparation. Students experience the college environment by taking a class together at the Community College of Rhode Island; as needed, to ensure success, they receive support and tutoring from TTC instructors. During success workshops, students learn to better understand themselves through the Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment and other activities designed to build confidence in their ability to succeed in college. Finally, they develop a personal, academic, and career life-plan. Upon completion of TTC, students who apply are matched with an individual mentor who guides them through their first semester of college, and often beyond. Two evening sessions and a new weekend program are offered in the spring and fall. This college preparation initiative is funded through the Nellie Mae Educational Foundation and the Rhode Island Department of Education. The program meets at 175 Main Street Pawtucket, RI. For more information, Anyone interested in attending the Transition to College January Evening session should call 722-9800 or contact Sharon Pontarelli by email at pontarellis@aol.com. The Learning Disabilities Work Group is in the process of collecting ideas for the successful teaching of adults who have low literacy skills. We welcome your ideas for strategies, materials, lesson plans and resources that have been useful to you in teaching adults who are reading in the EFL levels 1 and 2. Please send your ideas to Nancy Fritz at Nancy@gencenter.org and she will share them with the LD group. Call for Writings by Adult Basic/Literacy Education Students -- Writers must be adult literacy/basic education students attending classes or working with a tutor. Women's Perspectives #3 (2008) / Women & Money : http://www.litwomen.org/perspectives.html Women's Perspectives #3: Women and Money will showcase writings by adult literacy/basic education students across all levels. Student writers are encouraged to reflect and to write on the theme of women and their experiences with finances, class, security, income, and other everyday issues related to women’s lives as affected by money. Criteria for Selection: Originality, Creativity, Clarity, and Relevance to the theme. All forms of writings accepted. Original artwork about this theme will also be accepted. Lesson Planning Ideas & Worksheet also available: http://www.litwomen.org/perspectives.html Why participate? * Students have an opportunity to share their creativity, opinions, insights, and courage with a national audience. * Student writings make a significant contribution to supporting student leadership and peer role modeling. * Students whose writings are selected for publication, and their teachers, will receive a printed copy of Women's Perspectives. * Some writings will be selected to receive Honors or Honorable Mention Awards. (Awards will include partial scholarships to attend the WE LEARN Conference and/or cash award.) All students who send writing will receive a certificate of participation. Deadline: January 18, 2008 from Thursday notes, December 6, 2007 Spellings, Justesen Participate in BMENA Meeting - Secretary Margaret Spellings and Assistant Secretary Troy Justesen participated in the Third Ministerial Meeting on Education of the Broader Middle East and North Africa countries November 21–22 in Bonn, Germany. The BMENA initiative is a wide-ranging partnership between G8 countries and those of the Middle East and North Africa. The meeting facilitated the exchange of strategies and policy information in career, technical, and adult education to encourage new approaches to workforce education, expand public-private partnerships for literacy, and strengthen economic development. ED Launches Doing What Works Web SiteThe department (ED) recently launched its Doing What Works <http://dww.ed.gov> Web site to help educators identify and make use of effective teaching practices. The site contains practice guides for teachers and other educators with examples of ways to implement the practices to promote excellence in education and improve student achievement. Materials on literacy and high school reform will be added. Some material on the site, such as strategies for English language learners, may be adapted for use with adults. You can submit your e-mail address on the site and receive information updates as they become available. Find the adult education resources if you're able. http://dww.ed.gov/disclaimer.cfm?%5B/index.cfm?%5D Ohio - Hubs for Distance Learning Ohio offers an adult education distance learning option http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=959&ContentID=14912&Content=38427 at five distance learning hubs approved by the state's Adult Basic and Literacy Education office to provide distance instruction to their own students and students referred by other adult education programs. Hubs sign partnership agreements that specify how information about student progress will be shared among programs. 3 programs have been approved to offer distance English language learning, two of which are distance hubs that serve English language learners from referring adult education programs. http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=959&ContentID=14912&Content=38427 <http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=959&ContentID=14912&Content=38427> Rose Tilghman, an integral part of Thursday Notes, retires in December with 21 years of federal service, 17 of them in the Division of Adult Education and Literacy. She played a critical role in posting material on the Web, produced time-sensitive material for conferences, and unfailingly was a team player in a broad range of projects. Congratulate Rose at rose.tilghman@ed.gov. Joe Perez now will distribute Thursday Notes. from Thursday notes, December 13, 2007 Standards-in-Action States Meet in D.C. Twenty-six representatives of six pilot states participating in OVAE’s Standards-in-Action project met here last week to focus on new materials and processes that translate adult education standards into curriculum and instruction. The 18-month pilot program involves states committed to standards-based education reform including Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas. Standards-in- Action is designing and testing new professional development techniques. Processes and products will help organize curriculum around state adult education standards and use curriculum, instruction, and assessment to improve student performance. Feedback from pilot participants will help refine these products for dissemination to other states in 2009. Free Resources For ELL or Family Literacy Programs Raising Children in a New Country: An Illustrated Handbook <http://www.brycs.org/> and the accompanying Toolkit for Working with Newcomer Parents designed for English language learning can be downloaded from Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BYRCS). The handbook, using basic English texts and communicative illustrations, helps teach American norms and requirements for parental involvement in children’s schools, meals and nutrition, street and car safety, disciplinary techniques, and other activities. The toolkit is designed for teachers, caseworkers and counselors helping refugee families learn English and adapt to American culture. It includes a wealth of Web links to additional resources. BYRCS is a joint project of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is supported by the Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.brycs.org/ Joyce Campbell, Gloria Shade Retire Joyce Campbell, leader of the Monitoring and Administration Team (MAT), which is responsible for state plans, monitoring visits, and negotiating performance levels with states, retires January 3 after 34 years of federal service, primarily in adult education. Gloria Shade, long-time member of the Accountability Team (AT), which is responsible for grant awards, state reports, and the National Reporting System, retires January 3 after 40 years of federal service. Assistant Division Director Dan Miller will manage the MAT while a search is under way for a new team leader. Donna Gedeon donna.gedeon@ed.gov will take over Gloria’s job. Congratulate them at joyce.campbell@ed.gov and gloria.shade@ed.gov respectively. learning opportunities Reading Assessment Webcast, Part 2 - From Assessment to Practice: Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults Part 2: Specific Instructional Strategies for Fluency and Vocabulary, January 11, 1:30 - 2:45 Please join us on Friday, January 11, 2008 for Part 2 of "From Assessment to Practice: Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults" webcast. This follow-up webcast will focus on specific instructional strategies for two other components of reading, fluency and vocabulary. The presenters will show how all four components provide a natural framework for assessing adult students' reading ability, and how assessment results can lead seamlessly to a program of instruction to improve students' reading. http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/assesspractice2/webcast0111.html This 70-minute webcast is part two for the webcast presented on September 28: From Assessment to Practice-Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/assesspractice/webcast0928.html. The main purpose of the first webcast was to present a compelling rationale for the use of research-based principles for adult reading instruction. The presenters used two components of reading, word analysis and comprehension, as examples to illustrate research-based practices, focusing on specific instructional strategies derived from the research. For more information, please contact info@nifl.gov or call 202-233-2025 or online at: http://www.nifl.gov/.  online learning opportunity: The School for International Training's Teacher Training and Professional Development Institute provides professional development courses and workshops for teachers involved or interested in teacher training and supervision. Some Institute courses are taught on the SIT campus in Brattleboro, Vermont; others are taught entirely on-line and can be taken from anywhere in the world. The School for International Training may grant a Certificate in Teacher Trainer Development upon successful completion of six Institute courses. At least one of the six courses must be taken on the Brattleboro campus. Final awarding of the certificate requires approval from all course instructors. http://www.sit.edu/ttsi/ or contact Janet Severance by telephone at 802-258-3581, by email at janet.severance@sit.edu or fax: 802-258-3147. The Ed.D. in adult education, delivered primarily online (along with one-week summer residencies) and designed to combine a strong theoretical base and practical applications to promote effective practice in the field. Our students come from various backgrounds including, K-12, Higher Education, corporate, the military, and other settings where understanding adult learners, and designing, facilitating, and administering effective programs for adults is an essential part of their current or future responsibilities. http://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/academics/edd/adult_ed/ Introduction to Family Literacy, ADTED 456 and Interactive Literacy: Parents and Children, ADTED 458. Courses reflect the latest research on early literacy and parent involvement, adult learning and family literacy. January 23 - April 23. http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/FamilyLiteracyCertificate.shtml. The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) Providence teaches parents who wish to improve the lifelong health, safety and learning of children, how to become practiced change agents for the next generation. This 20-week long course reinforces parent involvement in the civic arena with an emphasis on leadership and understanding how to impact change in Providence. We are accepting applications until approx. December 14th. Please encourage people to submit applications ASAP so that we can schedule interviews. The class runs from Jan-June 2008, every Weds. evening from 5:00-8:30pm and is FREE, with dinner and childcare provided. For more information go to http://www.ripolicy.org/plti/ or e-mail PLTI Providence Coordinator Ina Anderson inalouiseanderson@gmail.com. or call 521-3120 ext. 105. PLTI is being launched in Providence thanks to the work of the PLTI Design Team made up of volunteers who work with parents, children, government and in neighborhoods, and with the staff support from the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council and the Prairie Avenue Revitalization Committee. If you are interested in serving on the design team to help organize PLTI, please let me know. - Ina Anderson PLTI Providence Coordinator Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative (RIFLI) 2007-08 schedule of classes. An English version and a Spanish version of the schedules are available at http://www.rifli.org . Classes are offered in Cranston, East Providence, Pawtucket and Providence. Questions? Please contact Karisa Tashjian, Literacy Program Coordinator 401-455-8185 funding opportunities - large and less large - other grants from the Public Education Network: http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp - 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.php 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 employment opportunities are generally sent as they arrive via email; if you would like to receive this bulletin, and those updates by email please contact janet_isserlis@brown.edu. Substitute teaching: The Genesis Center is interested in adding to its substitute list. If you are an ESOL instructor who is interested in occasional work as a substitute, either day, evening or Saturday hours, please call Nancy Fritz or Pat Clarkin at 781-6110. Jobs in Literacy – nation wide postings on the National Institute for Literacy’s LINCS site: http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/lincs/jobs/jobs.cgi Substitute list: if you would like your name added to the general 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 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 online / resources available online training website, http://GCFLearnFree.org - a free program, funded by Goodwill Industries of Eastern NC, designed to provide learning opportunities for people so they can acquire the skills they need to be succeed. This training includes topics such as Open Office, Computer Basics, Internet Basics, and Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher. We’re currently in the process of revitalizing our computer training curriculum to include video lessons along with our text-based lessons. Just this week we launched a new project, which we call Everyday Life, geared toward adult basic education, ESL students, and learners that need to acquire functional literacy skills. Some initial lessons include how to use an ATM, complete a bank deposit slip, use bus maps, and complete a job application. Our interactive lessons are not intended to teach vocabulary and reading skills, but rather to provide learners with a safe environment where they can practice new skills without real-world consequences and the fear of failure. Our goal with these lessons was to create a realistic environment that learners would relate to. Some of the lessons are intentionally easy, and we will be adding lessons in the future to increase the difficulty level. So far, we’ve used local literacy centers as a resource and as a source of user testing. If you have a moment, please take a look at our Everyday Life curriculum and let me know what you think. You do have to create an account on our website to view the lessons; however, it is free and the only personal information we ask is your email address. We don’t share your information with others and only send information about the site if you opt-in for the newsletter. I’m interested in any feedback you have about our Everyday Life project and hope that it will be a resource you can use with your learners. - Kelly Potter at kelly@gcflearnfree.org Two new papers prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy released by the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy: THE FISCAL CONSEQUENCES OF ADULT EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT was prepared for the Commission’s December 4th meeting by a team of researchers from the Center for Labor Management Studies of Northeastern University, under the leadership of Commissioner Andrew Sum. The report studies the earnings of adults according to their level of education achievement in terms of the impact those earnings have on the fiscal affairs of the states and the lives of individuals. Appendix E of the report gives estimates of annual net fiscal contributions of adults by education attainment level for the 13 largest states. The report findings have major implications for the purposes and conduct of the nation’s adult education and literacy enterprise at all levels of service. The report should also be of high interest to state and federal polilcymakers and planners, as well as the business community. CHALLENGES IN ASSESSING FOR POSTSECONDARY READINESS was also prepared for the Commission's December 4th meeting. This Policy Brief was written by Daryl F. Mellard and Gretchen Anderson of the Division of Adult Studies, Center for Research on Learning, University of Kansas. It examines the major assessments in use today to measure adult learning gains and determine student placements – e.g., BEST, CASAS, TABE, COMPASS, ASSET, and ACCUPLACER in terms of their uses and how they well they align with postsecondary education entry requirements. Special attention is given to the GED. The authors identify several problems and challenges as well as recommendations to resolve them. The papers are available in PDF from the Publication page of the websites of the Commission and of CAAL: http://www.nationalcommissiononadultliteracy.org or http://www.caalusa.org. Both publications are also available in bound form from CAAL (contact bheitner@caalusa.org) for ordering instructions The work of the National Commission on Adult Literacy is funded by the Dollar General Corporation, The Mc-Graw-HIll Companies, Harold W. McGraw, Jr., the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and individual donors. From PEN education NEWSBLAST, December 14: ECS UNVEILS WHOLE HOST OF PUBLICATIONS AND INFORMATION The Education Commission of the States (ECS) has released three briefing memos in the hopes of setting the 2008 education agenda. ECS has also created interconnected web sites that provide a comprehensive picture of various education issues (first link), including news about what states are doing, the best publications available on particular topics and a list of other web sites with valuable information. The briefing memo focused on aligning early learning, K-12 and postsecondary systems (second link) includes information on the problems with implementing a P-20 system, but also potential solutions and ways readers can have a positive impact. Another briefing memo (third link) details how best to benchmark education to international standards, while at the same time protecting a local community’s traditional responsibility in creating a comprehensive education. The prolific ECS hasn’t stopped there, as a third brief (fourth link) discusses the 'hot issue' of the role education plays in economic and workforce development. http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/issuesEL.asp http://www.ecs.org/html/newsMedia/docs/Briefingmemo1.pdf http://www.ecs.org/html/newsMedia/docs/Briefingmemo2.pdf http://www.ecs.org/html/newsMedia/docs/Briefingmemo3.pdf The California Adult Education Learner Persistence Project - produced by CALPRO, under funding from the California Department of Education (CDE), presents the outcomes of a multi-year initiative on enhancing adult learner persistence. It addresses three distinct but related efforts on learner persistence: (1) the adult learner persistence Web site developed by the CDE, (2) a field-based research initiative (FBRI) on learner persistence, and (3) site-based study circles on learner persistence. The purpose of each of these efforts was the same: to make available to California adult educators information about current research findings on learner persistence and to invite them to use the findings to design and implement interventions to enhance the persistence of their adult learners. Together, the three efforts make up the Adult Learner Persistence Project, which is part of a larger effort—the California Research-to-Practice Initiative.An announcement of the publication is on the CALPRO Web site at http://www.calpro-online.org. To access the full document on the CALPRO Web site, click on Resources, then Publications, or to access the document directly, go to http://www.calpro-online.org/documents/PersistencePub10012007.pdf - Amy Park, CA Adult Literacy Professional Development Project (CALPRO), American Institutes for Research Research Utilization in the Field of Adult Learning and Literacy: Lessons Learned by NCSALL About Connecting Practice, Policy, and Research By Cristine Smith, Beth Bingman, and Kaye Beall This occasional paper is a summary of what the staff of the NCSALL Dissemination Initiative learned about how to connect research, policy and practice in ways that promote evidence-based practice in the field of adult learning and literacy. Go to http://www.ncsall.net/?id=26#utilization to download the paper. google literacy site: http://www.google.com/literacy/ outstanding resource: http://www.youthliteracy.ca/ - Youth Literacy work in Canada Shannon Gavin, a senior graduating from Brown this year, has developed a new website, as her capstone project in Middle East Studies, called Arab Perceptions of the United States: Video Interviews from Amman, Jordan and Damascus, Syria.You can view them, and supporting text at http://arabperceptions.wordpress.com Journal of Online Mathematics and its Applications offers articles, learning modules, "mathlets" (single-purpose learning tools), reviews of online resources, and a developers' area. Search contents of the journal by type of resource (e.g., article), by subject (e.g., number concepts, data presentation, plane geometry), or both. The journal makes extensive use of graphics, animations, video clips, and other media. Articles and other materials are peer reviewed. (Mathematical Association of America, National ScienceFoundation) http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1875 The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) - The U.S. Civics and Citizenship Online: Resource Center for Instructors is available online at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b36e663784bcd010VgnVCM100000d1f1d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=b36e663784bcd010VgnVCM100000d1f1d6a1RCRD The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), Assisting Refugees with Disabilities Program has produced a Resource Guide for Serving Refugees with Disabilities - available at http://www.refugees.org/DisabilityGuide The guide, written for refugee case managers and those serving refugees with disabilities, includes 139 pages of information about resources for serving adults and children with disabilities, housing for refugees with disabilities, assistive technology, medical resources, citizenship and disability, benefits for refugees with disabilities and more. If you have any questions or technical assistance needs, please contact Xuan Nguyen, Director of USCRI Health and Human Services at xnguyen@uscridc.org or at 202-347-3507 ext 3056. Resources from EdChange family of Web sites: A new Classism and Poverty Awareness Quiz http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/quizzes.html ; Newly designed Social Justice News Service site http://mail.socialjusticenews.net/mailman/listinfo/news_socialjusticenews.net- email-based news service, periodic email digests of links to articles related to equity, social justice, and multiculturalism from sources all over the world. New essays and links to essays http://www.edchange.org/publications.html New essays in the Multicultural Education Research Room http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers.html CAELA's online resource collection,Working with Literacy-Level Adult English Language Learners. is available at http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/collections/literacy.html The collection includes links and annotations to many resources related to working with adult English language learners, who have had limited access to formal education. - Lynda Terrill, Center for Adult English Language Acquisition, Center for Applied Linguistics, 4646 40th St, NW, Washington, DC 20016 lterrill@cal.org Radical Math is a resource for educators interested in integrating issues of social, political, and economic justice into math curriculum and classes… RadicalMath.org has the goals of raising mathematic literacy and simultaneously developing ways to address a range of community issues. The website supports educators to teach many different types of math within the context of studying social, political, and economic justice issues. RadicalMath.org also contains teaching materials on important financial topics for youth such as owning a credit card, paying for college, and avoiding subprime lenders, as well as materials on Ethnomathematics. Visit http://www.radicalmath.org/ for more or email info@radicalmath.org 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/ 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/ 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. 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 COABE and the Missouri Association for Adult, Continuing and Community Education (MAACCE) invite you to submit a proposal for presentation at the 2008 COABE National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, April 28 - May 1, 2008 at the Adam's Mark Hotel. http://www.coabe.org Learning Disabilities Association of America's 45th Annual International Conference, Hilton Chicago February 27 – March 1, focusing on research and findings in learning disabilities including workshops on Adults, Adult Education/GED, Transition, ESL, Corrections, Medical, Mental Health, Professional Preparation, Public Policy, and much more. Featured speakers include Dale Brown, Andy Imparato, Nancie Payne, Anne Ford and Harry Sylvester. Please log on http://www.ldaamerica.org/ for additional information and to view the entire program. Or contact us via email (info@LDAAmerica.org) or phone (888-300-6710) to receive the advance registration book. Multiple copies of the book are also available for distribution. WE LEARN 5th Annual (Net)Working Gathering & Conference on Women & Literacy Building Alliances / Construyendo Alianzas http://www.litwomen.org/conference.html March 7- 8, Fordham Univ. at Lincoln Center, New York, NY Co-Sponsored with WE LEARN by Fordham Graduate School of Education WE LEARN seeks presentation proposals from students (at all levels), teachers, researchers, and community activists addressing related theme issues & topics. Women continue to be separated by culture, language, literacy, geography; our differences are profound. The daily lives of women in adult basic/literacy education remain especially complex due to inequities based on race, class, gender, and other diversities. This year’s conference will explore the differences that divide women and look to ways of building alliances across those differences. DEADLINE: Nov. 30 Please apply using the Internet form. http://www.litwomen.org/conferences/2008/props08.html Sponsorship, advertiser, and exhibitor information also available: http://www.litwomen.org/conferences/2008/sponsors.pdf Registration and hotel information will be available by the end of November. Thanks. We look forward to your participation. - Mev Miller, Ed.D., Director Equipped for the Future's Preparing for Work: An EFF Work Readiness Course Training for Instructors in Adult Education and Workforce Development March 11 and 12, Nashville, Tennessee Preparing for Work, developed by Equipped for the Future at the Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, is a skills-based course designed for implementation in organizations and agencies involved in preparing their clients and students for entry level work. Each of the instructional modules that comprise the Preparing for Work course has integrated the specific SCANS tasks (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Basic Skills) and the EFF Content Standards, identified on the National Work Readiness Credential (NWRC) profile.The learning activities within the curriculum, designed to model authentic, work related experiences and tasks, provide opportunities for learners to apply the skills being taught, with an added focus on how skills transfer from one situation or context to another as individuals advance along a career path. Please Note: This training is intended for instructors and is not a training for trainers. Register on-line at: http://utk-cls.ra.utk.edu/register/eff_event.asp deadline is February 22. For more information please contact: Anna Bogle, Professional Development Coordinator, Equipped for the Future, 600 Henley Street, Suite 312 Knoxville, TN 37996 abogle@utk.edu On March 26 Bristol Community College will hold an event to recognize the power of community-based efforts. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Dollars for Scholars, the College is planning a conference entitled From Dream to Reality: Grassroots Empowerment for Student Success. The focus of the conference is on community efforts that are attempting to make a difference in student success and persistence in education from kindergarten through higher education. A recent report by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation concluded that: "High dropout rates are a silent epidemic afflicting our nation’s high schools;" a recent article in Community College Journal referred to the over 1.5 million students who failed to graduate high school in 2006 as the 'lost generation.' We know also that this problem exists on all levels of education. We invite you to consider making a presentation showcasing your own best practices of grassroots efforts. We hope to feature a number of workshops from individuals and community groups who are working in a variety of ways to combat student attrition and encourage persistence on all levels of education. We would also welcome workshops dealing with research on this matter as well as ideas for classroom practice related to this topic. The conference will also include guest speakers and performance artist Brooke Haycock from the Education Trust. For the workshop presentation form or for more information, contact Denise DiMarzio at Bristol Community College at ddimarzi@bristol.mass.edu Worlds of TESOL: Building Communities of Practice, Inquiry, and Creativity New York City, April 2-5, http://www.tesol.org/2008convention Registration opens December 3; $265 members (advanced registration) $460 non-member (advanced registration). Read, Rattle and Roll: National Community literacy Leadership Conference, Memphis, March 12-14. Conference goals: to build on the national community literacy discourse that is uniting communities and promoting the vision of 100% literacy through 100% community engagement; to demonstrate strategies that business, local government, funders and educational stakeholders can use to support the creation of highly literate communities; to share models, resources and success stories from a diverse group of coalitions, and to inspire community leaders and coalition board members through a process of enquiry nd education to build the capacity of collaborative community efforts through literacy infusion. http://www.literacypowerline.com/details2008.html A Declaration of Numeracy: Empowering Adults through Mathematics Education, 15th International Conference 2008 June 30th - July 3rd Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia CALL FOR PAPERS for ALM15 - PROPOSAL FORM is at the Adults Learning Mathematics Website http://www.alm-online.net/ DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION 22 FEBRUARY Another great conference and website is Radical Mathematics, Creating Balance in an Unjust World 2008 Conference on Math Education and Social Justice http://www.radicalmath.org/conference Long Island University . Brooklyn, NY, April 4th - April 6th 2008 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
breathe - everyday yoga at your desk. http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/everyday_yoga.html
|
