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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 July 29, 2011
Bulletin
#384 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 from Lenore Balliro: The second issue of Program Notes, a publication of the Managing Stress to Improve Learning project at World Education in Boston, is now online. Read about teachers' and students' experiences with yoga in the classroom, creating altered shoes as art, feedback theater, and Brain Gym. Lots of cool pix, too. http://www.nelrc.org/managingstress/program%20notes%2002%20july%2021%20with%20corrections.pdf FREE Training – Enrolling Now certified nursing assistant (CNA) training – September 13 weeks of work readiness/soft skills training and CNA instruction, Home Health Aide Certificate, Resume & Interviewing preparation, CPR for Health Care Providers, 120 day temporary license issued after successful completion of training Must attend mandatory information session to apply: Wednesday, August 3rd, 10:00AM – 1:00PM CCRI Newport, Auditorium. Applications will be distributed at the end of the information session. For questions contact: Jamoya Ridgell, Case Manager, 401.848.6697 ext. 305 or jridgell@ebcap.org or Tom Costello, Project Coordinator, 401.851.1656 or trcostello@ccri.edu Newport Skills Alliance (NSA) Connecting Work-Ready RI Residents to Jobs on demand a Workforce Development Program of East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) Recruiting New England ABE, GED/Adult Diploma, and ESOL Teachers for Professional Development Strand on talk about it: Using Video in Teaching and Staff Development —A two-part discussion hosted on the Professional Development and Technology and Distance Learning Discussion Lists http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/11video_part1 Part I: The Multi-Dimensions of Staff Development—Using Videos for Instructor PD July 25 – 29 Part II: Using Video with Adult Learners August 15-19 To participate, subscribe (free): Technology and Distance Learning Discussion List Description: Join us to learn how video is being used with adult learners. While this technology has been around for some time, we will explore how the increase in access to the creation, editing, and sharing of videos through cell phone technology and social media sites like YouTube, as well as relatively inexpensive video cameras like the Flip, is making it easier and more fun to include video in instruction. We will also discuss how the use of premade video content is being used in classrooms and at a distance . Tools, techniques, and content discussed will be shared on Adult Literacy Education (ALE) Wiki as an ongoing resource. The ALE Wiki is a social media tool connecting research and professional wisdom in adult literacy education; it is supported by the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning. 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). Registration Open for 2011 Supporting Meaningful Employment Course - a Person Centered Approach to Career Planning, Job Development and Job Retention Approved National ACRE Certificate Program Course begins September 9, 2011 Center on Disabilities, RI College and sponsored by the RIDHS- Office of Rehabilitation Services. For more information about the Supporting Meaningful Employment course, please contact Vicki Ferrara, (401) 456-8092 or vferrara@ric.edu . Obtain a brochure: http://www.ric.edu/sherlockcenter/publications/sme.pdf 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. also online: resources from MN that may be helpful for teachers working with low-literate English language learners - the Study Circle Guide For Teachers of Low-literacy Adult ESL Students: http://www.atlasabe.org/professional/adult-esl The Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy has released the first of two papers slated for publication on Adult Numeracy education. ADULT NUMERACY: A READER (122 pp.) is available at the CAAL website http://www.caalusa.org/Adult.pdf and contains four papers from CAAL's January 2011 invitational Roundtable on Adult Numeracy. Included are Adult Numeracy Demand & Provision by research scholar Lynda Ginsburg of Rutgers University; Policy to Improve Math Teaching & Learning in Adult Basic Education: A Perspective from Massachusetts by Bob Bickerton, Senior Associate Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Education; Basic Skills in the United Kingdom: How It Has Evolved Over the Past Decade by Sue Southwood, Programme Director, Literacy, Language and Numeracy, National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE) in London; and More Than Rules: College Transition Math Teaching for GED Graduates at the City University of New York by Steve Hinds, Mathematics Staff Developer, Adult Literacy/GED Program and College Transition Initiative, CUNY. (CAAL's own report on its adult numeracy project will be available by September.) 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 learning opportunities free online Social Media Workshop 2011 http://larc.sdsu.edu/social-media-workshop/ August 8 – 12 Attend onsite in Califormia or online (via Elluminate) Online participants must have access to high speed Internet, head set with microphone, and web cam. Online social media tools inherently mediate communication, community building, publishing, and sharing in a plethora of languages and medias, which makes social media well-suited for second language learning and instruction. Despite their inherent functionality and intended user friendliness, social media tools don't come with a guide book for best classroom practices, teacher technology training, or proper integration into standards based language instruction. This is where principled, standards-driven intervention is needed. From August 8th to 12th, the Language Acquisition Resource Center at San Diego State University will host its annual free week-long Social Media Workshop in a blended live and online format and continue the exploration and instruction of social media for the language classroom. The workshop will provide real classroom examples and hands-on practice, through a series of language educators demonstrating their classroom uses of social media, the language learning objectives, instruction on how to use the tool, and finally an activity that allowed participants to sign up and experiment with the new tool. learn more at the link above The LINCS Regional Resource Center 1 is sponsoring several online courses this summer. What this means is that we'll be subsidizing the course fee ($249/person) for practitioners. The courses are free to participants from Region 1. The course descriptions and other details for the course available now is found below. Principles of Diagnostic Assessment and Teaching in Adult Reading Instruction--John Strucker, instructor Helping Students Stay: Exploring Program and Classroom Persistence Strategies--Andy Nash, instructor These courses are intensive, and we request that participants commit to completing the course requirements as found in the Course Overview and Schedule (see links below). Registration is limited to 25 participants per course. To register the courses, send the following information for potential participants to Leah Peterson at lpeterson@worlded.org: Title of Course: Name: E-mail address: Telephone number: State: If you have questions, please contact Kaye Beall, kbeall@worlded.org. Helping Students Stay: Exploring Program and Classroom Persistence Strategies Course Dates: August 23–October When we focus on helping students stay in programs, we address all the ingredients of program quality and effective instruction. Student persistence is, in fact, an indicator of program strength. In this eight-week course, we’ll use the six core “drivers” of persistence, identified in the New England Learner Persistence Project, to organize and review a wide range of successful persistence strategies, and to prioritize the ones that might have the most impact in our own programs Objectives Upon completion of this course you will be able to: · Summarize key persistence research · Describe six drivers of persistence · Relate the six drivers of persistence to your own personal experience · Name the strengths and weaknesses of your own program related to each of the six drivers of persistence · Identify at least two strategies that address each of the six drivers of persistence · Present a persistence plan for your own program Course Format and Schedule: facilitated, online During this six-week course, you will engage in self-paced activities and readings, as well as asynchronous discussions with other course participants. Course Outline and Schedule: Download a detailed course overview at http://professionalstudiesae.worlded.org/pdf/LPOvAug11.pdf Course Instructor: Andy Nash Estimated Completion Time: 24 hours Cancellation policy: World Education reserves the right to cancel the course if the minimum number of registrants is not met by August 16, 2011. access other ongoing self-paced online courses (available at no cost) here: http://207.10.202.20/home/ The Goodling Institute at Penn State University and the National Center for Family Literacy are pleased to offer the following post-baccalaureate professional development opportunity: ADTED 457: Adult Literacy is a three-credit post-baccalaureate course that examines adult literacy issues, research, theory, and instructional practices in the context of family literacy. The course studies the literacy needs of adults as they pertain to the roles of parent, worker, and community member. Parents' involvement in their children's education is an ongoing theme, with a focus on how to engage parents with low-level skills in literacy activities with their children at home. Research related to teaching English as a Second Language is also discussed in the context of adult and family literacy. The course begins on September 7. More information about the Certificate can be found at: http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/degrees-and-certificates/family-literacy-certificate/overview or you may contact Dr. Sheila Sherow at sms20@psu.edu. Course registration is open for the 2011-12 offerings of Teaching Adult Numeracy online professional development courses from http://www.professionalstudiesae.org. Courses are offered at $179; group rates available. Foundations of Teaching Adult Numeracy September 19 to October 31, 2011 In this foundational course you’ll learn how to keep students at the center of numeracy instruction. You’ll explore the components of numeracy, how to address the needs of students with learning gaps, how students’ styles of learning math and levels of math knowledge affect their math skills, and ways to build student’s success in learning math. You’ll plan classroom activities, test them with your students, and share your experiences with fellow teachers. Registration link: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6528 Course instructor: Brooke Istas Teaching Reasoning and Problem Solving Strategies October 31 to December 19, 2011 Numerate adults do more than calculate figures. They think about the relationships between mathematical concepts and real-life situations. They look for patterns, make predictions, and evaluate their conclusions. They can form problems, represent them, and solve them. They apply critical thinking skills. This course examines mathematical reasoning and problem solving strategies and provides numerous teaching strategies and activities that you can apply to your teaching right away. Registration link: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6508 Course instructor: Barbara Goodridge Number Sense: Teaching About Parts and Wholes January 9 to February 20, 2012 Teaching students how to use estimation, mental math, benchmarking, and calculators will enhance their conceptual understanding of numbers and what numbers represent. This course focuses on helping adult students develop number sense by addressing two 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? You’ll design math activities that are permeated with estimation, mental math, and reasonableness strategies. Registration link: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6503 Course instructor: Jean Stephens Geometry: Teaching About Shapes and Their Measures February 13 to March 26, 2012 Adult basic education students need foundational geometry and measurement skills not only to succeed in GED math, but also in the workplace. In this course, you will explore key topics in geometry, such as area, perimeter, and volume, and their importance in everyday life. You’ll look at numerous instructional activities for teaching about angles, spatial relationships, similarity, and figure transformations on a coordinate graph system. Registration link: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6511 Course instructor: Barbara Goodridge Data: Helping Students Interpret Statistical Representations March 19 to April 30, 2012 Data, or numerical information, can be described, represented, analyzed, and interpreted in various ways for various purposes. This course looks at some common uses (and misuses) of data. Learn about the measures of central tendency statistics, graphs, and probability. Through the course readings, activities, and discussions, you’ll review basic concepts and explore strategies for introducing and teaching these concepts to your adult students. Course instructor: TBD Registration link: Watch http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6500 Algebra: Introducing Algebraic Reasoning April 23 to June 4, 2012 Research suggests that math topics, including algebra, should be taught at all levels, not just when a student is ready for GED preparation. In this course, you’ll learn how to introduce algebraic reasoning to your students, and you’ll experiment with strategies for teaching numeric patterns, relationships, and functions based on real-life situations. You’ll also explore strategies to help students model quantitative relationships using graphs, tables, words, and equations. Registration link: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=6515 Course instructor: Barbara Goodridge Questions? prodev@proliteracy.org; ProfessionalStudiesAE.org is a partnership of World Education, Inc., and ProLiteracy/New Readers Press. Visit http://www.professionalstudiesae.org for a complete listing of available courses. 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) 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. Request For Proposal Posted on July 22, 2011 Deadline: August 22, 2011 (First Stage Applications) National Center for Family Literacy Offers Grants for Implementation of New Online Resources The National Center for Family Literacy is accepting grant applications from education and community organizations working to provide support for Latino and other families whose members want to earn college degrees. Made possible with funding from the MetLife Foundation, the grants are designed to expand the reach of the Family Literacy - Community College Partnership Initiative to communities and programs across the U.S. http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=346300034 - 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. 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 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 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 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 The Center for Health Literacy in collaboration with the American Public Health Association presents its second annual conference, Plain Talk in Complex Times September 22-23, Arlington, VA speakers include: Christopher Gibbons, MD, physician informatician and expert in urban health and healthcare disparities., Kevin Pho, MD, practicing physician, and social media's leading physician voice, KevinMD. Debra Roter, DrPH, Johns Hopkins professor of public health and expert in physician-patient communication. Jared Smith, of WebAIM, leading expert on Web accessibility and Christina Zarcadoolas, PhD, sociolinguist and internationally recognized expert in health literacy. Workshops: eHealth literacy, writing for the web, usability testing, design for readability, social media for engagement and outreach, and storytelling for usability. Continuing Education (CE) credits available. REGISTRATION Early-bird registration ends July 31; agenda updates: plaintalkconf.com. 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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