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LR/RI produces a bulletin roughly every two weeks in order to inform area practitioners of news, events, and calls for participation and also as a forum for posing questions, issues and discussion topics. The current bulletin is posted below. To read previous bulletins, go to Bulletin Archives.April 9, 1998 Bulletin #40 Dear Colleagues, This bulletin contains notices and reminders of upcoming meetings, events, workshops, and a fellowship application. For details, or to post information, please contact LR/RI or phone 863-2839.
Janet Isserlis ____________________________________________________________ NOTICES PRACTITIONER WRITING GROUP: Practitioners are invited to meet, write, and give feed-back in a supportive environment on Friday, May 8 at 1:15 PM at Dorcas Place, (270 Elmwood Avenue, Providence). Participants have agreed to bring writing to share, and invite others to do the same (although everyone is welcome - with or without writing). ESOL sharing/discussion group: Tuesday, April 14 at 3:00 PM. Genesis Center, 620 Potters Avenue, Prov. Please join us to explore issues around language and culture, and ongoing concerns. Sharing/discussion group for educators with an interest in intergenerational learning will be held at 2:00 PM at IIRI, 645 Elmwood Avenue, Providence. This session is a wrap-up of the conference held in January and an opportunity for participants and interested others to come together, reflect on the conference and ongoing work in intergenerational learning. EFF discussion group - Tuesday, April 21 at 2:30, RIDE, (255 Westminster Street, Providence). Follow up (or catch up) on the evolution of the Equipped for the Future standards and role maps. Information about EFF appears on the National Institute for Literacy's website (http://www.nifl.gov) or contact Bob Mason at 222-4600, ext. 12180 for more information. Sharing/discussion group for educators with an interest in learning disabilities Friday, April 24 at 3 PM, at the International Institute of Rhode Island. Louise Cherubini and Phyllis Leventhal's A Roadguide to Understanding Learning Disabilities was shared at our last meeting; those present agreed that the material is well worth presenting again. We hope that more people will join us to talk about the Roadguide and to share other concerns and questions around learning disabilities. Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities, sponsored by the Adult Training and Development Network and the post secondary Education Disability Unit at the University of Connecticut. May 21, Hartford Marriott, Farmington, Conn. Regular fee is $95; discount available ($86) for three of more individuals registering together from the same institution. Information: LR/RI or call (860) 524-4046. Sharing/discussion group for educators with an interest in women's issues in adult education will be on Wed., May 6 , 3 PM at Sandy Petruzzi's house, 61 12th Street, Providence.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: HRIC English for Work Program - ESOL with a workplace-centered content at IIRI. Students should be 18 years or older, currently employed but in need of more English skills in order to advance in the job; or unemployed and looking for work. International Institute of RI, 645 Elmwood. The program began on February 17, and continues through to early June. Class hours: Monday through Thursday 9:30 - 11:30 AM or 7 to 9 PM. Registration is ongoing; contact Julie Fischer 784-4607 for information and/or to register.
ItÕs not too late - Frank Symonds participated in a learner summit held at Highlander Center in Tennessee, representing RI adult learners. Costs for the trip were not cov ered by summit organizers; if you are able to make a contribution to FrankÕs travel ex penses (estimated to be about $500), Donna Sherman will handle donations through LVA-RI. Please make checks payable to LVA-RI, with "Highlande"Ó in the memo, and send to LVA-RI, 260 West Exchange St., Suite 201/2, Prov., RI 02903. LVA will see that funds reach Frank as part of the literacy communityÕs effort to support his partic ipation during this event. For more on the summit, see LR/RIÕs learners' page. On Thursday, April 23, from 2 - 4 PM, WSBE/Channel 36 will receive Integrating technology in the ABE/GED curriculum, a teleconference demonstrating how technology plans progress from words to implementation in adult education settings, and how adult edu cators use technology to improve in struction and strengthen learning for ABE/GED students. Through case studies and discussions with teachers and curriculum specialists, learn why teachers and learners think technology is important; how they began using educational tech nology, over came barriers, and how teachers are integrating educa tional technologies into classroom activities; also see examples of technology-based learning activities. WSBE is located at 50 Park Lane, Providence. LiteracyLink has launched a redesigned and expanded web site; www.pbs.org connects to resources for adult learners and educators, and includes: "PeerLit", a searchable database of reviewed instructional Web sites; "GED Links," information on the GED test and contacts for GED preparation; and "Other Resources," an annotated list of other literacy related Web sites. LiteracyLink is a joint project of the PBS Adult Learning Services, the National Center on Adult Literacy of the University of Pennsylvania, Kentucky Educational Television, and the Kentucky Department of Education, funded by the US Department of Education through the Star Schools program. Now in its 2nd year, Literacy Link is constructing a unique multimedia approach to adult literacy instruction that combines on-line interactivity and computer technology with video. Information - jphillips@pbs.org or (703)739-8600. On-line electronic workshop: "But I'm Not a Therapist: Literacy Work with Survivors of Trauma" continues with workshop facilitator Jenny Horsman whose research has shown that violence has profound impacts on women's ability to learn and to meaningfully participate in literacy programs. Participants are looking at the research together, searching for ways to improve practice and programs to respond in ways that support all learners. Information,workshop registration is available at http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/women.html If you need assistance with access to the discussion paper and/or to the internet, please contact LR/RI.
Chat Online with Experts in Language Education Delta Systems Co. Inc. and the Center for Applied Linguistics will provide free live professional development events on the Internet for ESL/EFL educators. Using chat room applications, participants will be able to have real-time discussions with experts Jim Crawford, Jim Cummins, Tamara Lucas, and Catherine Snow. All you do is show up at your computer and join in with your questions and comments. The format for each event will be a one-hour chat session followed by four days of bulletin board discussions with the speaker. These bulletin board discussions will be available on the Web 24 hours a day for you to read and respond to. TO PARTICIPATE Visit CAL's Web site (http://www.cal.org) or Delta's Web site (http://www.delta-systems.com) for more information on each session and instructions on how to participate. For additional information, contact Chris Montone at chris@cal.org or call 202-429-9292 ext. 270. Schedule of speakers/topics: Tuesday, April 14 8:00-9:00 pm EST, "Q & A on Two-Way Immersion" with Liz Howard and Chris Montone More and more schools around the nation are turning to two-way immersion education to preserve immigrant students' native language while promoting their English development, and to foster second language skills in native English speaking students. Two-way immersion is catching on like wildfire, but a program will only be as good as its implementation. Is your school doing it right? Come chat with two CAL researchers and find out for yourself! Tuesday, April 21 8:00-9:00 pm EST, "How to Respond to English-Only Initiatives" with James Crawford Research information, guidelines, or strategies for countering the movement against native language instruction.
Good sports for a great cause - celebration and auction to benefit the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Thursday, April 30th, 5 to 8 PM, Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet, 60 Rhodes Place, Cranston. Tickets $10 - adults, $5 - kids, free under five. Reserve tickets by April 24th. Information: RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence - 467-9940 12th annual Carnival Ball, International Institute of RI's annual celebration to benefit education and social services provided through IIRI. Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet, 60 Rhodes Place, Cranston. 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Information: 784-4630 Visual Mathematics Workshop is an intensive 20-hour workshop designed specifically for adult basic education teachers to help explore mathematical concepts and problem solving in the ABE, GED classroom, and for ABE/GED/ESOL teachers to create opportunities for all of us to access math meaning through visual models. The workshop will be held on June 22-24 at Brown University. Cost is $200. Brochures are available at LR/RI, and registration is due by May 1st. Information is also available on line at http:www.std.com/anpn/visualmath.html Resource available: From John Comings, on the NLA list: The National Library of Education has released David Boesel's Educational and Labor Market Performance of GED Recipients, which provides an excellent synthesis of all of the research on the GED. Copies can be obtained by calling 1-800-424-1616.
Career Awareness Fair for Women: Tuesday, May 12, from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM at the Providence campus of CCRI. Explore careers in the skilled trades, technologies and manufacturing. Students, women in search of a career, career counselors, teachers, social service providers and anyone interested in learning more about nontraditional careers for women are encouraged to attend. Hosted by CCRI New Careers for Women Project and RI Women in Nontraditional Careers (RI WIN). For more information, call 825-2300. Graduate level course at Providence College - Of interest to people working with learners with special needs/learning disabilities, EDU 556-G1 Individual Intelligence Testing, meets Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4 to 7:15 PM, and involves a survey of psychological measurements dealing with the construction, administration, scoring and interpretation of various mental tests, beginning late in June. For information, please call 865-1800. Registration begins June 1st. GED this summer - CCRI offers these courses: LINCOLN campus: Mondays/Wednesdays, from 4:30 to 7 PM, May 18 to July 13 and Tuesdays/Thursdays, May 19-July 7. Warwick Campus Tuesdays/Thursdays, May 19- July 7. Fee of $85 includes testing and materials; register at least a week before classes. For more information call Community Services at CCRI, at 333-7070. The Balancing Act Gone Awry: Women and Burnout Syndrome - A workshop addressing the issue of women who do too much, subsequent pressures, expectations and demands, the burnout that can result and methods that social workers (and others) can utilize to help others out of this burnout syndrome. With Candice J. Burnett, ACSW, LICSW, BCD and Deborah J. Ripley, MS, Friday, April 24th, 9 to 11:30 AM NASW Office 260 West Exchange Street, Providence. NASW members, $30, non-members, $40, students $20. Information: call 274-4940.
From Esther D. Leonelli, Community Learning Center, Cambridge: 3rd Annual YALD Spring Lecture Series Free and Open to the Public 1998 Adult and Adolescent Reading and Learning Disabilities, Sponsored by the Mass. DOE Young Adults with Learning Disabilities Project, Community Learning Center, SCALE (Somerville), Adult Literacy Resource Institute and Boston Region SABES - Friday, May 1 Increasing Automaticity, Fluency, and Word Retrieval; Insights from the Tufts NICHD Project Theresa Deeney, M. Ed. Project Director Tufts University - Friday, May 8 Written Expression Overview; a sequential and structured approach to teaching writing Joyce Goldweitz, Project Read Instructor, The Language Circle Enterprize - Friday, May 15 Phonological Awareness: Why Is It Important? How Can We Help Students Acquire it? Joseph K. Torgessen, Ph.D., Director for the Study of Reading and Reading Disabilities, Florida State University - Friday, May 22 Wilson Reading System Overview; A Structured, Multisensory, Phonics Based Approach to Teaching Reading Barbara Wilson, Director, Wilson Language Training Sessions will be held from 3:30 to 5PM at the Central Square Library, 45 Pearl Street, Central Square, Cambridge (Adjacent to Municipal Parking Garage) For information / travel directions please call: Ashley Hager, Community Learning, (617) 349-6363, 6367. Refreshments served before each lecture from 3:00 to 3:30
100 Ways of Seeing Retreat Reflect Renew with colleagues around New England. July 15-17, Room and Board Provided, Sponsored by the Adult Literacy Resource Institute/Boston Regional SABES Center. A retreat offering adult basic education staff 3 days in the Massachusetts Berkshires to seek perspec tive on our work through reading, writing, talk and play. A teacher who participated in the first retreat and helped in planning the second wrote, "When we set out to design staff develop ment programs, we typically isolate one segment of the human experience. We focus on our identities as workers, as staff members, as teachers. This is often quite effective. Teaching and learning, how ever, require us to draw upon more than our knowledge of specific teaching methods or strategies." Thus the retreat is a very different kind of staff development. In the past, participants have done self-portraits, investigated pond life, spun believable lies, done dramatic interpretations of working conditions, and connected all of these experience to their beliefs about teaching and learning. Participants have spoken highly of the effect on their outlook: Simultaneous workshops and free time activities will be structured around the talents and ideas participants suggest in their applications. For more information, call Martha Merson, Steve Reuys, or Maria E. Gonzalez at 617-782-8956.
Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative (Federal Register: April 1, 1998 [CFDA# 84.314A]) Purpose of Program: To enable States to plan & implement statewide family literacy initiatives under the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Initiative activities must be conducted through a consortium of State, local, & other institutions, organizations, or agencies. Eligible Applicants: State office or agency. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 29, 1998. Available funds: $1,000,000. Note: Under this program, States receiving grants must make available non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to not less than the Federal funds provided under the grant, as required by section 1202(c)(2) of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Grantees may not use funds awarded under these grants for indirect costs either as a direct charge or as part of the matching requirement. Estimated range of awards: $100,000-$250,000. Estimated average size of awards: $200,000. Estimated number of awards: 5. Additional information: A waiver of reporting requirement, invitational priorities, selection criteria, a contact, & other information are available in the Federal Register notice. Additional information available online at: http://ocfo.ed.gov/gophroot/4fedreg/1grantann/040198a.txt The complete application is available online at: http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg/grantann/040198a.pdf
Come join the International Institute of Rhode Island for a four-day session which covers Windows 95 & Microsoft Word 97: 9:00am -12:00pm, Monday through Thursday, 645 Elmwood Avenue, Providence. Fees: $50 (extra charge for textbook) Call 784-4612 to register or for more information
The Literacy Leader Fellowship Program is an annual competition at the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), funding innovative, creative individuals to carry out projects that benefit the national adult literacy field. Priority will be given to proposals addressing one or more of these needs: developing leadership in adult learners; expanding the use of technology in literacy programs, improving accountability in literacy programs and raising public awareness about literacy. Applications are due May 27th, with awards to be made on August 31. Complete information is available online at http://www.nifl.gov/activities/fllwhome.htm, or contact Julie Gedden at NIFL (202)632-1515, jgedden@nifl.gov, or contact LR/RI. CHECKING IN WITH THE FIELD Summer courses? Professional development? If you have any information about summer courses (aside from the notice for GED classes at CCRI on page 3), please contact LR/RI so that we can publicize these program offerings while people are beginning to plan for the summer months. Also, if you have any interest in participating in informal computer drop-in sessions, or other professional development activity, please call me at 863-2839. BULLETIN - Do you want to continue to receive the bulletin? Have you had enough? Do you know of someone else who would like to receive the bulletin? The bulletin is available (and archived on-line), as well as via regular mail, email and fax. If you would like to change the way you receive it (if, for example you now have email and would prefer to receive it that way), please contact me. The bulletin is the best way I know of to keep everyone informed of issues, programs and events, but it will only benefit from increased input and distribution across the state and region. I welcome your suggestions, writing, information. Thanks.
Stats resource available: The State of Literacy in America: Estimates at the local, state and national levels, is now available, free of charge from the National Institute for Literacy. While the use and abuse of statistics can be daunting, the volume is of interest - it projects literacy abilities and problems on local levels using the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) as a basis for these estimates. For a copy of the publication, call 1-800-228-8813.
REMINDERS: Resource available: Teaching and Learning with Internet-based Resources, by Susan Cowles, is available in hard copy or on line at http://www.nifl.gov/susanc/inthome.htm From the on-line introduction: "Literacy students, instructors, program administrators, and other life-long learners are all in the group moving along the information superhighway. Some people have been running for a while; others are just starting down the road. Beginning to use the Internet can sometimes seem as grueling as participating in a marathon. This short course is designed to make the jour ney as informative and enjoyable as possible." To order a hard copy of the document, please call 1-800-228-8813. Susan Cowles is a Literacy Leader Fellow for 1996-97; this document is her fellowship report to the National Institute for Literacy.
HEALTH AND LITERACY: From the NIFL-FAMILY listserv, for agencies working in collaboration with health care agencies: Pfizer Inc. is inviting applications for two $50,000 grants. One will support research and the other will support programs to improve health literacy. Any individual or organization involved in health care delivery is eligible to apply, and the grants may be used to fund existing projects or programs. The application deadline is April 30, 1998. Information: contact Charlene Landis, Pfizer Inc. 235 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017; 1- 888-457-3033.
from previous bulletins: LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION ON-LINE (from Fran Keenan at the Center for Applied Linguistics): http://www.StateServ.hpts.org provides current and exclusive state legislative information on welfare reform & immigrants. The 1996 welfare law rewrote the rules for immigrants, originally cutting $24 billion in cash, medical, and food stamp benefits. Although $12 billion in SSI benefits were restored in 1997, states are still challenged by the cost shifts from federal to state and local safety net programs, and are determining whether and how to serve particularly vulnerable immigrant populations. State legislation is summarized by cash assistance, medical assistance, nutritional assistance, and naturalization. Also available on-line are the Project's popular new series of issue briefs "Welfare Reform & Immigrants." Currently posted are briefs on: State Trends, Nutritional Assistance, and TANF. The website was launched by the Health Policy Tracking Service at NCSL. StateServ also provides information on state policies and legislation in the areas of adolescent health, HIV/AIDS, and youth access to alcohol. The website is supported with grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Ford Foundation. For more information on StateServ, call The Health Policy Tracking Service at 202-624-3567 or e-mail them at: info@hpts.org. For more information on Welfare Reform & Immigrants, contact Ann Morse, Immigrant Policy Project, (ann.morse@ncsl.org) or Jeremy Meadows (jeremy.meadows@ncsl.org). We welcome your comments. (The IMMIGRANT-NEWS-L distribution list is a service of NCSLnet, the Electronic Information Network for State Legislatures. National Conference of State Legislatures. For information on NCSLnet services send a blank e-mail message to: NCSLnet-Info@ncsl.org).
AIDS RESOURCES ONLINE The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1s national AIDS clearinghouse is located at http://www.cdcnac.org. It's Up to Us: An AIDS Education Curriculum for ESL Students and Other English Language Learners, by Henry Lesnick, is available on line at http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/homepages/lesnick/AIDS. AVERT, AIDS Education and Research Trust, a British site, is at http://www.avert.org/ World AIDS Day is observed on December 1st, but the need to work on appropriate educational strategies around HIV and AIDS prevention education persists year round.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING AND ACCESS TO THE INTERNET How is the internet being used in adult education? What are some helpful uses, and how do we sort through the huge amount of material available on line? Susan Gaer is interested in helping programs link to one another, and has been doing so through an email project homepage on-line, at http://www.otan.dni.us/webfarm/emailproject/email.htm. If you have or know of similar learner work on line, please contact Susan at SusanG2@aol.com. As well, David Rosen (who in addition to advocacy work, has done a great deal of work on and research into using the internet) has asked that we have a look at the inquiry maps on the Adult Literacy Resource Institute1s home page. As he explains, "[a]n Inquiry Map is a group participatory research process on a topic of high interest to the group. Participants (in this case, adult learners) make their own questions, and then set about finding answers to them. The Inquiry map is a process which is never finished. Many of the questions go unanswered, are only partially answered, or have only one answer given where other points of view are possible. So, there is room for other participants to join in the process at any time, to add their answers, their comments on the answers already given, and questions which they might also choose to research." Questions, answers and comments can be posted to David Rosen <DJRosen@world.std.com>, and he'll add them to the inquiry map. So, it keeps on being an inquiry process with each new person who reads and adds to it. He welcomes additions of questions and answers; as you may know, many internet sites run threaded conversations on a variety of topics. The ALRI sites are: http://www2.wgbh.org/MBCWEIS/LTC/ALRI/I.M.html and http://www2.wgbh.org/MBCWEIS/LTC/ALRI/IM3.html (How to make inquiry maps). The LR/RI website has added a page about technology and learning as well. The page consists of the beginning of a discussion about the ways in which technology can be used interactively -- is the screen just a big flashy workbook, or is there more to it? Your comments can be sent by email, fax or regular mail, and will be added to the page to continue the conversation.
and also from previous issues:
Workshops available - During the past few years I've worked with a team of women from around Canada, through the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women, on Making Connections: Literacy and EAL Curriculum from a Feminist Perspective. The curriculum was developed for learners in basic education and English language programs. A series of workshops have been developed and are available to anyone in the area with an interest in learning more about incorporating the curriculum and its approaches into their own work. Please contact me (Janet) at LR/RI for more information and/or to schedule a workshop. Information about the curriculum is also available online at http://www.nald.ca/canorg/cclow/EAL.HTM. While the cost of the curriculum document itself is $20, there is no charge for the workshops.
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