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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) 863-2839 144 Bignall Street Warwick, RI 02888 October 25, 2011
Bulletin
#390 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 ESOL practitioner learning community will meet on November 16th at 3 pm at the Genesis Center, 720 Potters Avnue, Providence. Please join - our focus will be on beginning level language and literacy learning and teaching. Website for the Rhode Island Adult Education Community. Connect with us and let us know how you like it! http://riaec.com/default.aspx New Practitioner Orientation will be held on Friday, November 18th from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Rochambeau Branch of the Providence Community Library on Hope Street, in Providence. If you are new to adult education and/or new to adult ed in Rhode Island, please contact Janet Isserlis to register: janet_isserlis@brown.edu. Please register by November 14th. 15th Annual BUY NOTHING DAY WINTER COAT EXCHANGE If you have a coat to give, please drop it off. If you need a coat, please pick one up. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25 10-2PM State House lawn (directly across from Providence Place mall) rain location St Johns Cathedral 271 N Main St Providence Pawtucket Visitors Center, 175 Main St. Pawtucket On November 25th 2011 – the busiest day in the American retail calendar and the unofficial start of the international Christmas-shopping season – thousands of activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries will take a 24-hour consumer detox as part of the annual Buy Nothing Day, a global phenomenon that originated in Vancouver, Canada. Some see it as an escape from the marketing mind games and the frantic consumer binge that has come to characterize the holiday season, and our culture in general. Others use it to expose the environmental and ethical consequences of over-consumption. In Providence as part of International Buy Nothing Day, we hold a winter coat exchange on the lawn of the State House directly across from Providence Place mall. In Pawtucket the transfer of coats takes place at the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center. Events are also held at 3 other locations in RI. There are many partners for this event: community organizations, places of worship, civic, and environmental groups. Volunteers are needed to help with this life-affirming event. Contact information: Providence Greg Gerritt: 331-0529; gerritt@mindspring.com; Phil Edmonds: 461-3683; philwhistle@gmail.com Pawtucket - Arthur Pitt 724-8915; kingarthur02940@yahoo.com Other participating locations Newport – St Paul’s Church 12 West Marlborough St. 10 AM to Noon Maggie Bulmer maggiebulmer@yahoo.com 849-3537. Wakefield –St. Francis Church, 114 High Street, 10AM to noon Tom Abbott 364-0778 Barrington Bayside Family YMCA 70 West St 10 AM to noon Connie Ganley mcganley@comcast.net resources for those wishing to learn about occupy wall street: http://www.facebook.com/groups/teachOWS/ TRANSITION TO COLLEGE - A Division of Rhode Island Regional Adult Learning Next Weekend Program begins in October. If college is your goal, call today to enroll in a free program to prepare for the transition to college. TTC is a natural segue for GED, EDP, and Advanced ESL students to prepare for continuing education at the college level. TTC free College Reading (ENGL 0850) at CCRI in Providence; Student Success Workshops, Career Exploration Workshops, Mentoring, Academic Writing, Basic Math and Pre-algebra classes, Computer lab and tutoring, Academic Advising, Student Support Services, College Application and Financial Aid preparation. Info Sessions: Nov. 5, Dec. 3 at10:00 am, 175 Main Street Pawtucket Phone 722-9800 Email or call 722-9800 to register for the Information Session.mariecrecca-romero@riral.org Please allow 2 -3 hours for assessment. Please do not bring children 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. 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 last issue of the E-News (#19, August 15) is online at http://www.caalusa.org/enews.html. Readers who wish to be on CAAL's direct E-News mailing list may sign up by contacting bheitner@caalusa.org 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, issue 743, 20 October, 2011: Federal Interagency Reentry Council’s Myth-Buster Fact Sheets Assist Federal, State, and Local Providers Each year, more than 700,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons, with another 9 million cycling through local jails. When reentry fails for these individuals, the social and economic costs are high. The Second Chance Act was designed to improve outcomes for people returning to communities from prisons and jails. The act authorizes federal grants to government agencies and nonprofit organizations for a variety of services to reduce recidivism. Attorney General Eric Holder convened the inaugural meeting of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, in January 2011. The meeting brought 18 federal departments and agencies together to coordinate their efforts for making communities safer and prison and jail returnees productive citizens. Both Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and OVAE Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier attended. A second meeting was held last month, where it was announced that Congress appropriated $83 million in fiscal year 2011 for the Second Chance Act and other reentry programs. A series of Reentry Myth-Busters fact sheets has been designed to clarify federal policies that affect formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, and the employers, providers, and others who work with them. The sheets summarize federal regulations; provide guidance on how to navigate the reentry process; and clarify federal policies in areas such as prison, jail, probation, community corrections, and parole; reentry service providers; and employers and workforce development. One fact sheet debunks the myth that a person with a criminal record is not eligible to receive federal student financial aid, countering with the fact that individuals currently incarcerated in a federal, state, or local correctional institution do have some limited eligibility. Further, restrictions on eligibility are generally removed for formerly incarcerated individuals, including those on probation, parole, or residing in a halfway house. To learn more, please access: the council, the National Reentry Resource Center, the library of reentry resources, and the council’s September newsletter as well as individual or the entire series of Myth-Busters fact sheets. http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/documents/0000/1090/REENTRY_MYTHBUSTERS.pdf Free mentor/online training program for micro-entrepreneurs/small business owners with a special focus on non-traditional participants who may have barriers (language, etc.). Sponsored by Social Venture Partners of RI. Need Help Starting or Growing Your Small Business? Join the FREE Online Business Incubator (OBI) Informational Meeting, Thursday, October 27th, 2011, 6:30-8:00pm, Providence Public Library, 150 Empire Street, Providence, 3rd Floor Barnard Room. No RSVP required. The Online Business Incubator is an easy to use, free, one-stop online website with everything an urban entrepreneur needs to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to grow their micro-business and become more successful. Who? Are you a small business owner who would like to take your business to the next level? Do you have a business idea, but are not sure how to get your idea off the ground? Do you have a product but don’t know how to get it to market? Do you want to learn to use online tools to make your business more efficient? Where? It is all online (although there will be opportunities to meet with mentors and other entrepreneurs face to face). You can access the tools and communicate with your mentors from your place of business. You can set the times that are convenient for you. Mentors: OBI offers a team of high quality mentors for each participant so they can get the customized day to day sup-port they need to be successful. ¨ Roadmap of Resources: Links to community organizations that can provide follow-on resources for continued success. ¨ An Entrepreneurial Community: A network of link-minded business people who can provide support and share best practices. ¨ Tools and Templates: A comprehensive data base of some of the best, easy-to-use business resources. ¨ Easy to Use: Access the site from any computer, anywhere, anytime. ¨ Visibility: Participation in OBI can help you access new customers and get the word out about your business. Interested to apply? Contact: Kelly Ramirez: Kelly@svpril.org, (401) 272-2558, or Rob Panoff, bobpanoff@rpm-strategy.com, 617-803-0257 OBI will go live in January 2012 and basic tools and templates will be available to all micro-businesses. OBI will enroll a group of 24 micro-entrepreneurs that will be able to access intensive mentoring in addition to a comprehensive set of tools and templates January–March 2012. Low Literate CASAS Assessment Jean Marrapodi is helping CASAS field test a touch screen assessment for low-literate adults too low for the CASAS 27/28 tests. CASAS is looking for 1/3 Haitian, 1/3 Hispanic and 1/3 other students, including developmentally delayed native English speakers to get a broad range of students in the pilot. The test takes 45 minutes to administer, and needs to be done 1-1. The student description of the population for the pilot follows: Low-level literacy students’ listening and speaking skills can cover a wide range, from almost no comprehension to basic communicative competence in the life skill areas. However, these students lack the reading and writing skills needed to succeed in ESL/ELL programs. Some students may have no awareness that written symbols represent sounds, while others may have some ability to decode and to read common sight words in their native language or in English. They may never have grasped a pencil, or they may, with effort, be able to write their address or other basic information from memory. Students whose first language uses a different alphabet, such as Arabic or Mandarin speakers, may be literate in that language but still need to learn the sounds for the English alphabet. For the pilot, Jean is willing to test students at agencies in RI. CASAS is willing to train testers and loan a touch screen to agencies with a large population. Agencies with 4 or fewer eligible students should email Jean at jmarrapodi@applestar.org For 5 or more students, email Margaret Lyman at CASAS mlyman@casas.org Canada's National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) Feature of the month | October 2011 NALD is an online repository containing everything you need to support a workplace education program. Its resources include program models, learning and research materials, news about what is happening in the field, event listings, contact information and helpful websites. Feature of the Month puts the spotlight on a document, an organization, a program or a website. NALD is pleased to highlight, for the month of October, new Web-based tools that have been designed to increase the capacity of the literacy and essential skills fields to address the impact of violence on learning. http://www.nald.ca/feature, http://www.learningandviolence.net/changing.htm from the Center for Study of Education and Work at OISE in Toronto:: http://www.csew.ca. PHOTOVOICE MANUALS IN COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH Based on lessons learned over a decade of Canadian community-based research, Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence is offering its step by step PhotoVoice guide to teach others how to bring together small groups of women to capture their stories. See previous exhibits: http://www.pwhce.ca/program_poverty_photovoice.htm After training from a professional photographer, women use a disposable camera to take pictures that represent their experiences of living in poverty, and the policies and programs they would like tochange or keep. The women meet to share their pictures and talk about what the photos mean to them. Their powerful images can be showcased in public showings, to broaden awareness of the realities of living in poverty and stimulate action for just social and economic policies to improve women's lives. Order your PhotoVoice Manual for $12 using the online form at http://www.pwhce.ca/publications_order.htm, or phone (204) 982-6630. A summary of the online discussion on Using Video as Instructor Professional Development is now available: http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/11videopart1_summary The summary includes participant feedback (w/o attribution) as well as a compilation of all links shared during the discussion. The full edited transcripts are also available: http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/11videopart1_transcript Transcripts are linked by discussion threads at the top, or you can just scroll down to read the discussion in its entirety. Everything for the above discussion is housed in one accessible location: http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/11video_part1 - Jackie Taylor, Professional Development List Facilitator AALPD:http://www.aalpd.org/ 865.680.7668 Jackie@jataylor.net learning opportunities Interested in becoming a US Citizen? The Genesis Center is offering citizenship classes starting October 17th Classes are Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30-2:30pm Class fee is $35 Call Molly or Marianela for more information: 401.781.6110 1) Students should be scoring at least 215 on the CASAS test (high intermediate English language proficiency) 2) Students should be able to speak and write basic English, answering such questions as: a) What is your name? b) Where are you from? c) Why did you come to the United States? d) Why do you want to become a US citizen? Etc. 3) Questions to gauge motivation, especially regarding their commitment to the program and class schedule, commitment to test, interview, pay for their exams, etc. 4) Students should be here at least 5 years, or 3.5 years if married to a US citizen 5) Clean BCI (can be reviewed) 6) Ability to pay, or to find resources to assist them with the associated costs Announcing 3 EFF Online Mini-courses being offered in November-December. Register online http://www.cvent.com/d/fcqmhf Registration Deadline: November 11th. Each course provides participants one-on-one attention from a content-expert facilitator, and is designed to be completed on your own schedule in 8-10 hours over just 2 weeks. Course completion certificate and CEU credit available. Designed for adult educators, these online mini-courses offer immediately applicable strategies on topics targeted to the needs of adult learners. The following courses are being offered from Nov 28 – Dec 12, – Register by Nov 11th!: How Close is Close Enough?: Improving Estimation Skills (for all levels of learners) Standards-based Writing for Adult Learners: Getting Started Using Text Structure and Graphic Organizers: Strategies to Enhance Reading Comprehension For more information on these courses see the Course Descriptions http://tiny.cc/9irbm or contact us via eff@utk.edu Cost: $189/person for each course - check/money order/purchase order only. Group invoicing available. Information on Course Assignments and Completion information: http://tiny.cc/plqnw Please review our Course Technical Requirements before registering! http://tiny.cc/g850r Register online via: http://www.cvent.com/d/fcqmhf/4W Registrants will be invoiced at time of e-mail confirmation, payment (or proof of payment processing) must be received before course start. 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/ 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. 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 now archived: Please find the transcripts from our recent guest discussion on A Conversation about the GED 21st Century Initiative ™: Moving from GED® test to a career and college ready assessment system at: http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/assessment/11gedinitiative_transcript - from Marie Cora , LINCS Assessment Discussion List Moderator: I divided up the discussion into manageable transcripts according to topic. This is never easy as conversations do not lend themselves to neat chunks – I did my best I hope. In the interest of managing the length of the transcripts, I trimmed the signature lines to the person's name, and institutional or state affiliation (if these were provided). If you would like to contact any of the subscribers who engaged in the discussion, go to the archives and use the Sort function by entering the person's (Author’s) name. The complete posts are in the LINCS Assessment archives http://lincs.ed.gov/pipermail/assessment/2011/date.html You can search the archives by Thread, Subject, or Author. I rarely if ever get feedback from subscribers on discussion transcripts - their quality, usefulness, if you use them, and what for. If you are so inclined, it would make me so very happy to receive this information. As you might imagine, it's a bit painful for an assessment person to not know how she has done on her test. Thanks once again to our guests, and to all subscribers who posted and made the discussion interesting and useful. 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 funding opportunities - large and less large - 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 from the July 28th newsletter of the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy: The Font for People With Dyslexia . According to a study by the University of Twente (Netherlands), people with dyslexia read with much greater ease and get better results using a new typeface called "Dyslexie". The Twente website shows how the visual representation of letters, including orientation and shape, is altered to make the font more user friendly. http://www.studiostudio.nl/project-dyslexie/ online: from Esther Prins. Associate Professor and Co-Director Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy The Center for Rural Pennsylvania has released the final report for our study, GED Preparation through Distance Learning in Rural Pennsylvania. http://www.rural.palegislature.us/GED_DL_2011.pdf The fact sheet is appropriate for distribution to policy makers, funders, and program administrators, while the brochure presents highlights of the study. These items will soon be posted on the ISAL/Goodling Institute website. We hope you'll find these resources to be useful, 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 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 talk about it: Guest Discussion: November 1-8, How Groups Can Affect Health & Behavior Change Peer support, which is such a key component in adult education settings, is now being used more in health care settings. Having groups of patients learning together about their health needs is proving to be an effective method for improving health literacy and encouraging healthy behavior change. There are many models for this, including group medical appointments, community health workers or promontoras, and peer support groups. In this discussion with Geri Lynn Baumblatt, an award-winning specialist in health literacy and patient engagement, we will look at some different methods of peer support and explore how we can support this endeavor in each of our settings. See the discussion announcement here, along with preparation materials and subscription information: http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/discussions/healthliteracy/11groups - Julie McKinney Health Literacy List Moderator 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 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 The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is calling for proposals for concurrent presentations at the 21st National Conference on Family Literacy to be held in San Diego, California, March 25-27, 2012. Concurrent sessions are hour long sessions that focus on topics relating to literacy practices. NCFL welcomes proposals from program staff, partners, students and others interested in the field of literacy. Deadline for submission of proposals is September 30, 2011. To learn more about the conference, visit http://www.famlit.org/conference/ Submit your proposal at http://www.famlit.org/call-for-proposals/ Welcoming Rhode Island Conference Saturday, October 1st 9:00AM to 4:30PM (8:30AM Registration) Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex 182 Thurbers Avenue Providence http://www.iiri.org/enews_post.html The Welcoming Rhode Island Conference will bring together immigrants and refugees, policymakers, social service providers, youth, faith leaders, students, elected officials, government employees, organizers, researchers, business representatives, and members of the general public to kickoff the Welcoming RI initiative. The goal of the conference is to promote understanding and build community in order to make Rhode Island a more welcoming state for RI's immigrant and refugee communities. The conference will also celebrate the 90 years that the International Institute of Rhode Island has been welcoming immigrants and refugees to our state and community partners who have assisted in this mission over the years. The conference is structured to provide safe spaces for dialogue, share best practices, and strategize throughout various sectors of society such as health, education, economic development and civic engagement among others. Breakfast and lunch will be provided by local ethnic restaurants and bakeries. Cultural performances and an international photo exhibit throughout the day! 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 MATSOL invites you to present at its 40th Anniversary Conference:Lessons from the Past, Innovations for the Future, May 3-4, 2012. As we look back on the history of ESOL education in Massachusetts since MATSOL's founding in 1972, we will reflect on the insights we have gained, and highlight the best new ideas and practices to bring us into the future. We hope that you will share your ideas, effective classroom practices and research with our colleagues and fellow MATSOL members in the field of ELL/ESOL education. The conference will take place in Framingham, MA. Both days will include presentations for K-12 and adult, workplace and higher education, as well as general interest sessions; deadline for proposals is December 1. http://www.matsol.org. 2011 National Refugee and Immigrant Conference: Issues and Innovations to be held in Chicago on November 7-8, 2011. http://www.thecenterweb.org/alrc/refugee.html. 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 - fifth annual national conference on Effective Transitions in Adult Education, November 14 - 15 in Providence (Warwick), RI. The conference is geared towards adult and postsecondary educators and administrators. Please visit http://collegetransition.org/ 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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