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| 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, please 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 June 24, 2011
Bulletin
#381 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 the AEPDC or leave a message at (401-863-2839). 
Janet Isserlis
NOTICES -
– in
addition to events listed here, a recently updated list of events
(including workforce development workshops, new practitioner New website for the Rhode Island Adult Education Community. Connect with us and let us know how you like it! http://riaec.com/default.aspx Recruiting New England ABE, GED/Adult Diploma, and ESOL Teachers for Professional Development Strand on Engaging Young Adults in Learning September – December 2011 - Free of charge Goal: The overall goal of the New England Adult Education PD Network is to build the capacity of ABE, ASE/college transition and ESOL providers to offer the highest possible quality instruction and related services that enable adult learners to meet their educational and life goals. Major Topics Covered: 1) Teaching the Millennial Generation 2) Evidence-based practices for engaging young adults in learning Teaching basic and classroom management strategies; Using social media and technology to engage youth; Principles of effective youth-adult partnerships 3) Program design options and policy considerations – optional webinar geared to administrators Modes of Delivery: Four-week, facilitated online course (8 hours) Face-to-face, interactive workshop (6 hours) Webinars (6 hours) Virtual community of practice (4 hours) and Readings (2 hours) Stephanie Korber is the Director of Youth Education at Center for Literacy (CFL) in Philadelphia. She provides professional development opportunities for teacher and program administrators. Stephanie designed and taught two online courses: Young Adult Education: Strategies and Materials for Ensuring Success and Young Adult Education: Program Design. She is also the lead author of the Toolkit for Serving Out-of-School Youth with Low Literacy Levels published by the Center for Literacy. This opportunity will be coordinated in Rhode Island through the RI Adult Education Professional Development Center (the PDC For questions and more information: Jill Holloway at jholloway@ric.edu or at 456-2833 To Register: Contact Jessica Ortiz at jortiz@ric.edu a flyer containing more information is here (word doc). Tool for adult education referrals in Rhode Island - An interactive referral website for adult education services in RI: http://groups.google.com/group/rhodeislandreferrals. Find profiles of adult education agencies, post class openings or request help with a student referral. Please update your agency's profile information, and if your agency is not listed, contact Karisa Tashjian at ktashjian@yahoo.com to have your agency added to the list. This site is open to all agencies who provide services (educational, social service, etc.) for adult education students in the state. You only need a Google account to access and post information. If you need help setting up an account, please contact KarisaTashjian or Bernice Morris at BerniceM@pha-providence.com. The RI Citizenship Consortium invites you to a free informative session on the naturalization process Thursday, July 7th, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Weaver Library, 41 Grove Street, East Providence, All are welcome. Join Officers of the USCIS Rhode Island Field Office to learn how to prepare to become a United States citizen. USCIS officers will be available to answer questions and you can observe a mock interview. Educators from the Consortium will be available to provide information on where and how to study for the English and civics examinations. For information call 401-455-8185. the same session, in Johnston: The Citizenship Public Education and Awareness Initiative promotes awareness of the rights, responsibilities, and importance of United States citizenship, and the free naturalization preparation resources available to permanent residents and immigrant-serving organizations. Please join us to learn about this important initiative: USCIS 1543 Atwood Ave. Johnston, RI June 29, 2011 11:00 AM For more information: Dana Bradley—Community Relations Officer: 617-565-4952 Paula Grenier—Public Affairs Officer: 617-565-4953 learning opportunity: RIRAL TRANSITION TO COLLEGE – Monthly Information Sessions TTC is a partner in the RI Statewide Transition to College (RI TTC) initiative and a natural segue for GED, EDP, and Advanced ESL students prior to post-secondary education. Information Sessions start at 10:00 am. Please allow 2 -3 hours. Do not bring children. July 9 (or by appointment) 175 Main Street Pawtucket (2nd floor/ Pawtucket Visitor’s Center/DLT) Contact: MarieCrecca-Romero@riral.org Telephone: 722-9800 or 487-9566. TTC is a comprehensive college preparation program to prepare you for college. It includes a Free College Reading class (ENGL 0850) at CCRI in Providence; student success, career exploration, and mentoring workshops; academic writing, basic math, and pre-algebra; computer lab and tutorials; academic advising, support services, and registration for college; college application and financial aid preparation. OVAE Connection archived online at http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/ovaeconnection/index.html – weekly bulletin from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education; to subscribe directly, please contact ovaenewsletter@ed.gov or online http://www.edgov/about/offices/list/ovae/index.html from OVAE connections, 16 June, 2011: Last October, the White House launched the Skills for America’s Future (SAF) campaign. The purpose of SAF is to connect community colleges with businesses to create pipelines from the classroom to the workplace. It is designed to help workers find better jobs and companies to find the highly educated and highly trained people that they need in order to prosper and remain competitive. On June 8, at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Va., President Obama announced several new commitments by the private sector, colleges, and the National Association of Manufacturers, to help make these business/education partnerships a reality: A new resource on the Internet enabling workers to determine the jobs for which their skill sets make them eligible across the country; A new initiative for high school students to start their degrees at 3,500 participating schools; and new mentoring programs and scholarships for those considering careers in engineering. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/08/remarks-president-skills-americas-future-manufacturing-event The president stated, ―Through these efforts, we’re going to make it possible for 500,000 community college students—half a million community college students—to get industry-accepted credentials for manufacturing jobs that companies across America are looking to fill. Because the irony is even though a lot of folks are looking for work, there are a lot of companies that are actually also looking for skilled workers. There’s a mismatch that we can close. And this partnership is a great way to do it. June 23, 2011" New Report Recommends Approaches to Increase the Number of Adults With Postsecondary Credentials The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) recently released the report Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Creating a Competency-Based Qualifications Framework for Postsecondary Education and Training. It focuses on developing a structure that allows adult students to receive credit for the education and training they receive in the labor market. This approach would increase the likelihood of their earning postsecondary credentials. The report has three key recommendations for establishing a competency-based system for measuring learning and awarding postsecondary credit: · Create a national, competency-based framework for U.S. postsecondary education that includes certificate-level workforce education and training. · Reduce institutional barriers between credit-and noncredit-bearing education. · Link data systems to provide a more comprehensive picture of student learning outcomes. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Giving-Credit.pdf learning opportunities LL-U Training Workshop: Developing Oral Proficiency in Adults Learning English June 25, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm CAL adult ESL education staff are working with ELL-U, a professional development network for educators working with adult English language learners, to provide workshops and training on topics of interest to the field. Miriam Burt and Sarah Young will facilitate an ELL-U training event in June. Visit the ELL-U website to learn more and register. Adult Multiple Intelligences and Differentiated Instruction June 28–August 22 Online chats during Lessons 3, 4, and 5 Research conducted by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy shows that instructional practices inspired by Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory resulted in high levels of authentic instruction and student engagement. Integrate your understanding of Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory with the power of differentiated instruction in this facilitated, eight-session course. You’ll learn how to apply MI theory and differentiate instruction for all levels of adult basic education and English for speakers of other languages. The facilitator will guide you as you develop your own MI-based lessons. Upon completion of this course you will be able to: Apply the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) to design learning activities that match your learning objectives Use varying methods of differentiated instruction (DI) that address different skills and interests of your learners Apply knowledge of your own MI profile to your classroom teaching Produce and reflect on a lesson or unit using both MI and DI Required Text: Viens, Julie and Silja Kallenbach. Multiple Intelligences and Adult Literacy: A Sourcebook for Practitioners. (New York: Teachers College Press, 2004. Copies of the required textbook can be obtained from the publisher, Teachers College Press (TCP), the publisher at http://store.tcpress.com/0807743461.shtml. The cost is $28.95 per copy. Course Format and Schedule: facilitated, online During this eight-week course, you will engage in self-paced activities and readings, as well as asynchronous discussions with the facilitators and course participants. Three synchronous chats will be scheduled during Lessons 2, 3, and 4. Course Overview: Download at http://professionalstudiesae.worlded.org/pdf/midi_overview.pdf. Course Facilitator: Wendy Quiñones Estimated Completion Time: 40 hours Fee: $249.00 (negotiated group rates available) Registration: Complete and return the registration form, which you can download at http://professionalstudiesae.worlded.org/pdf/midi_reg.pdf. Payment must be received prior to enrollment. Registration is limited to 20 participants. Cancellation policy: World Education reserves the right to cancel the course if the minimum number of registrants is not met by June 21. Number Sense: Teaching About Parts and Wholes (facilitated): July 12 to Aug. 19, facilitated by Mary Barbara Hanna Teaching students how to estimate, do mental math, and use calculators will help them to better understand how to use numbers. This course focuses on how to help adult students answer key questions: When is it necessary to have an exact answer, and when is an estimate sufficient? When calculation is necessary, which tool is appropriate to use? This course examines how students develop and apply number sense and provides lots of teaching strategies and activities that you can use right away. By the end of the course, you will be able to: help students choose the right computation tool (estimation, mental math, calculator, paper and pencil) for a problem, compare and contrast two ways to help students understand fractions and their equivalents, design math activities that use estimation, mental math, and reasonableness strategies. http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6503 Course Fee: $179 Group discounts available Call (888) 528-2224 ext. 221 or email prodev@proliteracy.org for more information Questions? Please e-mail prodev@proliteracy.org access other ongoing self-paced online courses (available at no cost) here: http://207.10.202.20/home/ from OVAE connections - to receive the weekly OVAE Connections Newsletter, email your subscription request to: ovaenewsletter@ed.gov LINCS Offering Online Professional Development Modules Four online professional development modules that have been part of the Learning to Achieve program are now available at no cost through the Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS) Regional Resource Centers. Learning to Achieve is an OVAE initiative designed to build state capacity to increase the achievement of students with learning disabilities . Register for the free modules at: http://mp.cls.utk.edu/. The modules are: Learning to Achieve: Accommodations is a 60–120 minute module about testing and instructional accommodations appropriate for individuals with learning disabilities. Learning to Achieve: English Language Learners is a 60–120 minute module that identifies testing and instructional accommodation considerations for non-native English speakers. Learning to Achieve: Neuroscience is a 60–120 minute module about the neurobiology of learning in general as well as its application to learning disabilities. Learning to Achieve: A Professional's Guide to Educating Adults with Learning Disabilities is a 30–60 minute module providing an overview of the popular research-based online publication of the same title. a discussion summary of a guest discussion with Dr. Stephen Reder on Understanding Adult Literacy Growth with Various Measures and Time Scales http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/readwrite/11Growth_summary THE CHANGE AGENT An Adult Education Newspaper for Social Justice Issue 23: Staying Safe in a Toxic World Looking for something to bring to class? Try this one-pager (PDF) from the current issue of The Change Agent. When students browse through the magazine, they often seem drawn to this article. Why? The story is relevant to their daily lives. There are surprising and interesting facts. There is a chart that inspires them to think about how they can take action. Use the writing idea in the second-to-last paragraph of the article, and you'll have an inspiring and engaging lesson plan that touches on a whole range of skills and builds a feeling of self-efficacy. Find more engaging articles, lesson plans, and student writing at http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent. (Note: all our materials are available on our website, but if you don't have or remember your password you must register first! Go to http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent/esubscription.htm)If you have not yet donated this year, please consider making a donation. We appreciate (and need!) your support. Best wishes, Cynthia Peters Editor, The Change Agent brief, interesting article: The relative benefits found for students with and without learning disabilities taking a first-year university preparation course - Maureen J. Reed, Deborah J. Kennett, Tanya Lewis, and Eunice Lund-Lucas Active Learning in Higher Education 2011;12 133-142 http://alh.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/2/133 via Donna Brian, moderator,Workforce Competitiveness Discussion List. (note; if you have problems accessing the full text, please contact lrri@brown.edu) Announcing the EFF Online Mini-course Teaching Listening and Speaking Strategies in Adult ESL being offered in June 27 – July 12th 2011 Register: http://guest.cvent.com/d/sdq6p6 – other summer EFF Online Course are also available EFF online courses provide participants one-on-one attention from a content-expert facilitator, and are designed to be completed on your own schedule in 8-10 hours over just 2 weeks. Cost - $189 per person/course - Course completion certificate and CEU credit available. Specifics of this ESL offering follow: EFF online mini- courses available this summer: Dare to Compare: An Introduction to Proportional Reasoning July 5 - 19th Registration Deadline: June 17th Building Reading Fluency with Adult Developing Readers August 1 - 15th Registration Deadline: July 22, Vocabulary - Teaching Word Meanings August 15 - 29th, 2011; Registration Deadline: August 5th, 2011 For more information on these courses see the Course Descriptions or contact us via eff@utk.edu $189/person for each Summer 2011 online course - check/money order/purchase order only. Group invoicing available. Registrants will be invoiced at time of e-mail confirmation, payment (or proof of payment processing) must be received before course start. Information on Course Assignments and Completion information: http://tiny.cc/rrbyu Please review our Course Technical Requirements before registering! http://tiny.cc/enzhp For questions about these or other EFF services please contact us: eff@utk.edu or visit our web site at http://eff.cls.utk.edu/ Preparing for Work: The EFF Work Readiness Course - Professional Development for Instructors in Adult Education and Workforce Development July 27-28, The University of Tennessee Conference Center Knoxville, TN Find more information and register online today at: http://www.cvent.com/d/ndqh4s Training fee: $695 per person Participants will receive a copy of the newly revised teacher’s guide and student manual and a master copy of student materials on CD. Please contact Anna Bogle with questions at abogle@utk.edu ELL-U is a free, innovative online training and professional development community for adult ESOL professionals. This Web site provides users with a variety of learning activities and social networking opportunities designed to create a community of professional practice focused on improving ELL instruction. ELL-U's first online course, Second Language Acquisition: Myths, Beliefs and What the Research Shows, is available online. The course consists of four sections that can be completed independently. Each section will take about 20 minutes to complete and provide opportunities for extended learning activities. To register for the course, visit the Online Courses page under the Academics section. Registered users can access the course learning page to chat with other participants and engage with the course's author, Dr. Martha Bigelow, through ELL-U office hours. The office hours will take place online and are an opportunity for participants to ask questions. Once you've completed the course, please complete the online survey and check out additional ways to interact with the ELL-U community. http://www.ell-u.org/member/login Changing the way we teach math to adults – Kate Nonesuch's manual for teaching basic math to adults, at http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/mathman/mathman.pdf; if you’re so inclined, follow Kate on twitter at http://twitter.com/KateNonesuch read all about it: the Times in plain English http://www.thetimesinplainenglish.com/wp about persistence - online, from Ronna Magy, ronnawrite@sbcglobal.net: Dear Colleagues, I'm attaching a link to a paper I wrote recently on learner goal setting and learner persistence which will I hope will contribute to our discussion. In the paper you'll find several suggestions for classroom strategies for learner persistence and learner goal setting which can be used at the beginning of the term and throughout the school year. http://futureenglishforresults.com/materials/Author%20Articles/RMagy_Monograph.pdf Work documented by Barbara Piccirilli Alsabek and Nancy Fritz – read and learn: http://www.nelrc.org/persist/instruction_evid_h.html Audio webcast: THE FREEDOM RIDERS AND LESSONS FOR TODAY with The Rev. Dr. James Lawson who helped coordinate the Sitdown strike in 1960, Freedom Rides in 1961, and the Meredith March in 1966. While working as a pastor at the Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis, he invited Dr. King to Memphis & played a major role in the sanitation workers strike of 1968. Dr. King called Lawson - the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world. - and - Diane Nash, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who participated in the sitdown strikes in Nashville and rode the freedom buses into Alabama and Mississippi where she endured mob violence & imprisonment. Later, she was hired by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) & was a major organizer for the 1963 Birmingham campaign. Fifty years after the freedom rides, on this anniversary Building Bridges looks back at & learns anew how the freedom riders organized and mobilized to dramatically alter the very functioning of the state and what we can emulate today in the face of increasing repression by undemocratic forces who seek to unravel fifty years of gains ushered in by the freedom riders. To download or listen to this 28 minute program, go to http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/51955 or http://www.archive.org/details/TheFreedomRidersAndLessonsForToday - from the weekly bulletin of The Centre for the Study of Education and Work. CSEW brings together educators from university, union, and community settings to understand and enrich the often-undervalued informal and formal learning of working people. We develop research and teaching programs at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) that strengthen feminist, anti-racist, labour movement, and working-class perspectives on learning and work. For more information about CSEW, visit: http://www.csew.ca. funding opportunities - large and less large Grant opportunity: Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's 2012 National Grant Competition for programs supporting the development of literacy skills for adult primary caregivers and their children. Organizations must meet the following criteria for grant consideration: The organization must have current nonprofit or public status and must have been in existence for two or more years as of the date of the application. The organization must have maintained fiscal accountability. The organization must operate an instructional literacy program that has been in existence for at least two years and must include one or more of the following components: literacy for adults, parent education, pre-literacy or literacy instruction for children pre-k to grade 3, intergenerational literacy activities. The foundation will award approximately $650,000. No grant request should exceed $65,000. Applications are due September 9, 2011. To learn more, visit the foundation’s Web site for instructions and application guidelines. - grants posted on the National Institute for Literacy website: http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/lincs/search/gsearch/dbsearch.cgi?action=Show%20Results - 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. employment opportunity: The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) is hiring a Supervisory Education Program Specialist (GS-1720-14) to serve as the supervisor of the Division of Adult Education and Literacy’s Accountability Team. The vacancy announcements are scheduled to close on July 1 OVAE is recruiting from all sources for the position. Prospective applicants are expected to possess: knowledge of performance management systems, knowledge of Management Information System (MIS) design and implementation, knowledge of fiscal grant administration, and experience analyzing legislation and policy documents. For complete information on the position as well as guidelines for the application process, please visit: http://lincs.ed.gov/position06-2011. Jobs for Change "seeks to spark a nationwide movement toward careers in the nonprofit, government, and social enterprise sectors" – online at http://jobs.change.org/ 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 janet_isserlis@brown.edu 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. RI DLT's Rhode Island Red job search feature draws job postings from ALL local jobs boards (except Monster.com). To access this resource visit RI RED http://www.dlt.ri.gov/rired/ -- under quick menu click job search; choose location search criteria, provide job title or other criteria. Source codes are listed at the bottom of the page
Unemployment
lifeline – from the AFL-CIO,
with locally-searchable links to resources http://www.unemploymentlifeline.com/
online / resources available from the PEN weekly newsblast, June 3, 2011: Put test score data in its rightful place Linda Darling-Hammond concedes that teacher evaluation systems in this country are broken. She quotes an LAUSD veteran: "I have had administrators who never came into my classroom for formal observations or asked me for anything more than the initial planning/goal sheet. I have had administrators observe a formal lesson and put the feedback sheet in my box without ever having spoken to me about the lesson, and I have had years where I am just asked to sign the end-of-the-year evaluation sheet [without being observed]." Yet value-added measures are not the answer, Darling-Hammond says. Test scores are "notoriously unstable," and a teacher typically looks more effective on value-added measures with more privileged students, and less effective with students who are low-income, new English learners, or who have special education needs. Tests are focused on multiple-choice questions that assess low-level skills. And if teachers are ranked against each other, the collaboration that characterizes great schools will likely be replaced by competition, stopping the sharing of expertise. "Smart evaluation will put test score data in its rightful place -- as a small part of a much more comprehensive picture of what teachers do to foster engaging and important learning with all of the diverse learners we need them to serve well," writes Darling-Hammond. Read more: http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=E730EFBA-86ED-11E0-B74E000C296BA163&id=8&dir=NEXT&aka=0 Related: http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=4104DE22-8618-11E0-B74E000C296BA163&aka=0 to subscribe to the newsblast or to read it online: http://www.publiceducation.org The Media Library of Teaching Skills (MLoTS) has a new Adult Secondary Education/GED classroom video, Writing: the Five Paragraph Essay, with Clinton Massachusetts GED teacher, Brenna Kane and some of her GED students. We have other Adult Secondary Education, ESOL/ESL, Family Literacy, Numeracy, Reading and Writing classroom videos, and we link to over 70 adult education videos made by others. MLoTS is the "go to" web site for adult education professional development videos, a "video window on other teachers classrooms." You will find copies of a lesson plan aligned to state curriculum frameworks and standards, upon which each lesson was designed, and questions for you and other adult education teachers to use in professional development discussions. If you only have a half hour for professional development, you and other teachers at your program could download a discussion guide, view a streamed or downloaded video and discuss it. Each short, edited, authentic classroom video ranges from two to 15 minutes. With permission, the videos can be incorporated in online or face-to-face professional development courses and workshops. MLoTS, now over four years old, is free; It is the only such video collection devoted exclusively to classroom and tutorial learning for adult education professional development. I hope you will have a look at http://mlots.org, and that you will add your comments and questions to the video web pages. In some cases, the teachers in the videos will respond. [Note: some versions of the Internet Explorer browser may not be able to be used to view the videos. We suggest you use a Safari, Firefox or Chrome browser, all free and easily downloaded. See http://mlots.or for links to downloads of these browsers.] We eagerly await your comments on the new GED essay writing video, and others. - David J. Rosen, President djrosen@mlots.org The Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework, now available, includes a competency-based curriculum framework and related assessment and learning material resources that help adult learners transition to their goals of work, further education and training, or independence. It provides practitioners with guidance and support to make closer connections between literacy programming and the skills, knowledge, and behaviours learners need to reach their chosen goals. http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/eopg/oalcf/index.html http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/eopg/publications/OALCF_Curriculum_Framework_Mar_11.pdf from the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL): Certifying Adult education students: A survey of state director of adult education certificate programs in use This 16-page Information Brief reports on the use of certification systems, as reported by state education directors, to validate student attainment in adult education and workforce skills programs. The survey was administered and analyzed by CAAL Senior Advisor Garrett Murphy from June to November 2010. It provides a partial snapshot of usage at a fixed point in time and was intended to help identify issues for CAAL to examine in a future invitational Roundtable on the topic. CAAL's work in this area is funded by the AT&T Foundation the Dollar General Corporation, the Joyce Foundation, and The McGraw-Hill Companies. http://www.caalusa.org/StudentCert.pdf Work after prison: One-year findings from the transitional jobs reentry demonstration is the first major evaluation of the multi-year "Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration" project funded by the Joyce Foundation. MDRC is the lead evaluator in a team that includes the Urban Institute and the University of Michigan. The project focuses on programs that provide temporary subsidized jobs, support services, and job placement help. The project's purpose is to test transitional jobs as a promising approach to regular paid employment for ex-offenders and other disadvantaged groups. The 278-page report describes how the program was implemented--with more than 1,800 men assigned to it in four cities (Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Paul). It also looks at results in terms of employment and recidivism in the first year following entrance into the program. A key general finding is that transitional jobs, as currently designed and operated, do not sufficiently help people get or retain permanent jobs, nor do they have an impact on recidivism. Only about one-third of the participants was employed in the formal labor market at the end of a year. However, it is seen as a positive indicator that about 85 percent of the men assigned to the program actually worked in an income-subsidized transitional job, reflecting genuine eagerness to work. And the evaluators are inclined to think that subsidized transitional employment programs could be effective if they were strengthened with components that provide basic and workplace skills instruction and if better job- and post-placement services were built in. The project will be followed up for one more year with further results after which another report will be issued. full repoirt: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/570/full.pdf This report is also available as a 14-page executive summary: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/570/execsum.pdf Opening Doors to Student Success A Synthesis of Findings from an Evaluation at Six Community Colleges - Susan Scrivener and Erin Coghlan http://www.mdrc.org/publications/585/overview.html Khan Academy - have you seen this? http://www.khanacademy.org/ Developing oral proficiency of adults learning English – resources from CAL http://www.cal.org/adultspeak/ The U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education’s (OVAE) Division of Adult Education and Literacy has a new quarterly newsletter - Adult Career Pathways (ACP) News is a part of the department’s effort to provide technical assistance resources that will revolutionize the quantity and quality of available career pathways instructional programming for low-skilled adults. Browse headlines available in this issue below, and view the whole article and newsletter online: Resources from the Field ACP News will be devoted to highlighting resources of value to local practitioners. This first issue features recently published resources that have been recommended by the Technical Working Group (TWG) members. U.S. Departments of Labor and Education Partner on Career Pathways Technical Assistance Initiative The Career Pathways Technical Assistance Initiative is directed at strengthening career pathway systems for low-skilled adults and dislocated workers. Knowledge is Power - ProvPlan Invites You to Take a Closer Look at Census 2010 http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=5qk7mzeab&v=001qwhULkbmHDtNFUfHfpFZNJtf-NJdp5pUGyVTleegoV6kfIc5JeElD7t4g5JZKkyXSoyHwvyoyRK7OdZn4ENkYrZ3YI25Zl-LoMSkkAyH5fLVliwVXED1y5bJZ_4c4Nkk11S_TQT-7ygS10SNI5leSg%3D%3D updates form the National Coalition for Advocacy: http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2d6768592c02f5717ce038fa8&id=d2dadf552b fact sheets from the national Coalition for Literacy: http://www.ncladvocacy.org/ffadult.html and http://national-coalition-literacy.org/advocacy/AdultEducationSupportsNationalPriorities.pdf Teaching ESL to Adults Classroom - Approaches in Action MaryAnn Florez and Betsy Parrish, ESL consultants A SERIES OF 8 TRAINING VIDEOS View online for free or purchase DVDs at minimal cost In spring 2010, the New American Horizons Foundation, with the help of ESL training specialists MaryAnn Florez and Betsy Parrish, produced its first two teacher training videos, set in real classrooms led by expert teachers using evidence-based practices. They were titled Lesson Planning for Life Skills and Building Literacy with Adult Emergent Readers. Six more videos are now available, and you can view online for free and/or own the complete set of eight videos on three DVDs at a minimal cost ($5.00 for materials per DVD plus shipping). The new titles are: Growing Vocabulary with Beginning Learners, Working with a Multi-level Class, Developing Listening Skills with High-intermediate Learners, Teaching Grammar in Real-life Contexts, Cultivating Writing Skills at the Intermediate Level and Developing Reading Skills for Intermediate/Advanced Learners http://www.newamericanhorizons.org The New American Horizons Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to making adult ESL courses more widely available and affordable. Its current priority is to develop high-quality teacher training resources for adult ESL. did you know? a listing of research and evaluation projects, and other initiatives funded through OVAE: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/englit.html The proceedings for the 2009 LESLLA (Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition) Symposium in Banff, Alberta, Canada are available at http://www.leslla.org/files/resources/Conference_Proceedings_FINAL_Aug12.pdf. Thanks to Theresa Wall and colleagues at Bow Valley College for putting them together. Reflect 13 - special report on employability; teaching composition and using poetry; classroom-based research as Continuous Professional Development; a phonics debate; how statistics can confuse rather than clarify; how television is being used to reach adult learners in Ireland; teaching in secure hospitals; prisons – creativity space and books for new readers; the Reflect approach and ESOL; and the role of care support workers in developing the literacy, language and numeracy skills of clients with learning difficulties and disabilities. http://www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_details.asp?ID=179# Rhode Island Employment Disability E-News, newsletter from the Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities, available at: http://www.ric.edu/sherlockcenter/onlinepublications.html the Math Bulletin, developed by SABES http://www.sabes.org/resources/publications/mathbulletin/math-bulletin-june2009.pdf Good geography refresher...and good mouse skill practice as well. http://jimspages.com/States.htm from Kate Northcott, Director, Student Literacy Corps Webster University line: LessonWriter.com is a free website where teachers can copy, paste and submit any text (an article, essay, story, etc.) and create comprehensive, standards -based lesson plans and student materials in minutes. LessonWriter is a simple, fast and free way to use authentic, high-interest content to motivate students while delivering the explicit language instruction that ELL's need in both English and content-area classes. There are advanced features that can differentiate instruction for multilevel classes and class tracking features that will automatically scaffold lessons. http://www.lessonwriter.com Lots to do at the library Providence Public Library's calendar of events: http://www.provlib.org/calendar.asp National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy, dedicated to conducting research and development projects to improve literacy, numeracy, language and related skills and knowledge. On this site you will find information on all our activities, including: Research and development projects http://www.nrdc.org.uk/projects.asp Creative routes to specialist teacher qualifications http://www.nrdc.org.uk/creativeroutes The Voices on the Page storybank is now live! Read all of the 640 stories here http://www.nrdc.org.uk/voicesonthepage.asp Research reports and reviews http://www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=329 Latest e- newsletter http://www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=671 News and events http://www.nrdc.org.uk/news.asp google literacy site: http://www.google.com/literacy/ 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 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/trainin Maine's adult education conference, June 21-23, Colby College, Waterville, ME; registration due by June 14. for information, please see links at http://www.maineadulted.org/staff/ 17th Annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) Conference July 20th through 23rd, 2011 Francis W. Parker School, Chicago, Illinois Conference Theme: We Are Each Other's Harvest learn more: http://www.ptoweb.org LESLLA 2011 registration now open Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA) for Adults is an international forum of researchers who share an interest in research into the development of second language skills by adult immigrants and refugees with little or no schooling in the home country, low levels of literacy in the native language, and limited proficiency in the language of the new country. LESLLA'ss goal is to share empirical research and information that will guide further studies on second language acquisition for the adult immigrant population with limited formal education. This research, in turn, is meant to influence educational policy development in all those countries where immigrants settle and are likely to need educational support. http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ci/LESLLA/default.html VALUEUSA's 7th National Adult Learner Leadership Institute October 9 - 11, 2011, in Sacramento, California, Featuring Danny Glover as guest speaker. more information - http://valueusa.org VALUEUSA is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening adult literacy programs in the United States through learner involvement and leadership. VALUEUSA is governed and operated by current and former adult learners. VALUEUSA is the only national organization run by students of adult education. HOSTED BY VALUEUSA in partnership with the California State Library 2011 National Refugee and Immigrant Conference Call for Conference Workshop Proposals We are pleased to announce the 2011 National Refugee and Immigrant Conference: Issues and Innovations to be held in Chicago on November 7-8, 2011. The Save-the-Date flyer and Call for Conference Workshop Proposals are posted at the conference website http://www.thecenterweb.org/alrc/refugee.html. Please contact losheff@cntrmail.org if you have any questions about proposal submissions. -Sue Barauski , Judith Diamond, Lynn Osheff - Adult Learning Resource Center, 2626 South Clearbrook Drive Arlington Heights IL 60005 Direct: 224.366.8632 The National College Transition Network at World Education invites you to submit a proposal for its fifth annual national conference on Effective Transitions in Adult Education to be held on November 14 - 15, 2011 in Providence (Warwick), RI. The conference is geared towards adult and postsecondary educators and administrators. The proposal submission deadline is June 10, 2011. Please visit http://collegetransition.org/conferences.national2011.callforpresenters.html for the submission guidelines and to access the proposal form. Do feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 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 street yoga - Through the teaching of free yoga, meditation and wellness classes we seek to help homeless youth increase their physical, emotional and spiritual strength, stamina and flexibility so they can better meet their own core needs. We work closely with those service providers striving to help homeless youth secure safe housing, nutritious food, accessible health care, employment, clean clothing, educational choices and human dignity.
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