Bulletin Archives

LR/RI homepage

Swearer Center homepage

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 23, 1999

Bulletin #67

Dear Colleagues, 

Notice of upcoming professional development events, employment opportunities, conferences and meetings. To post information, please contact me at LR/RI or leave a message (863-2839). 

Thanks.

Janet Isserlis 

____________________________________________________________

NOTICES

The Adult Education Commission will meet on Wednesday, April 28 at the State House, Room 203, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM. 

Discussion/sharing session for educators with an interest in ESOL in adult education will be held on Tuesday, May 4th at 3:00 at the International Institute of RI, 645 Elmwood Avenue Providence. Participants are invited to view (and bring) videos being used with adult learners.

Discussion/sharing session for educators with an interest in intergenerational learning and adult education will be held on Thursday, May 27th, at 2:30 PM at the Genesis Center. Practitioners returning from the National Center for Family Literacy Conference will be discussing information gathered from the conference. As well, a new report on strengthening family literacy, from the National Institute for Literacy will be available, (and/or call LR/RI to learn more about that report). 

Seventh Annual Conference On Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities, May 27 - Hartford Marriott Hotel, Farmington, CT. Primary emphasis of the conference will be on serving adults with learning disabilities and other hidden disabilities, as well as adults who have difficulty learning for a variety of reasons. Registration: $95, or $86/each for groups of three or more individuals attending from the same institution; registration deadline is May 21st. Brochures available via LR/RI, (after March 31st), or contact Debbie Kalanquin, (860) 524-4046. 

Connections through Literacy presents Dr. Susan Baum - Multiple Intelligences Theory in the Classroom: Pathways to Implementation, Saturday, May 15, 9 to noon, IIRI.Fee $10. 

Practical strategies for implementing Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences in the classroom with all types of learners. Participants will take away a set of strategies which may be adapted for all learning, including application for family literacy and learning disability situations. Participants will actively explore specific pathways for Multiple Intelligences Theory to improve reading and teaching. Deadline for registration: May 1. Questions? Call Terri Coustan, 351-4252 or email at TCoustan@aol.com. Checks payable to Connections through Literacy can be sent to Debbe Fate, LV-NRI, c/o Central Falls Free Library, 205 Central Street, Central Falls, RI 02863. 

Achieving Learner Goals: Video Technology in Adult Education - satellite teleconference, Thursday, April 29, 2 to 4 PM at WSBE, Channel 36, 50 Park Lane, Providence.

--case studies, panel discussion and interviews with learners to show how to use video to improve instruction and strengthen learning. Whether used as the core curriculum, as a complement to other instruction, or for self-expression by the learner, video is compatible with multiple learning styles because it uses sight and sound to present ideas. It also allows for fast and easy repetition of key segments. The teleconference offers a look at: the PBS series, Workplace Essential Skills, which provides pre-GED level instruction on the basics of finding and keeping a job; a review of two series for ESL students, Annenberg's Connect with English, and InteleCom's Crossroads CafÈ; the Adult Literacy Media Alliance's TV 411, a series designed to provide pre-GED level instruction organized around a specific set of viewer interests that are grounded in real-life situations, and a Star Schools Project, administered through ESD 101, Spokane, demonstrating the use of instructional TV offered via satellite and cable for GED preparation, citizenship, ESL and other subjects. Hear directly from learners about how they experience video as an instructional tool, what appeals to them about a video lesson, and how learning by seeing and hearing helps them improve comprehension and life skills. Throughout the event, participants will be encouraged to call or fax to share their ideas, experiences, and questions with the panel and with other participants watching across the country. 

Registration forms for the fifth Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conference to be held June 3-5 in New York are now available on line at http://cid.unomaha.edu/~pto; if you need hard copy of the forms, please contact LR/RI. 

New on the web site: 

The revised draft TESOL adult ed program standards on TESOL's website at: http://www.tesol.edu/assoc/bd/projects/adulted/index.html and linked to LR/RI's ESOL page. 

The Literacy Statement of Purpose developed at the Paul Simon Forum [Public Policy Institute] at http://www.siu.edu/~ppi/litrecs.html and is linked to LR/RI's advocacy page. Updates have also been added to the women's and technology and learning pages. 

INTRODUCTION TO THE WILSON READING SYSTEM A Multisensory, Structured System of Teaching, FRIDAY, MAY 7, 3:00-8:00 PM and SATURDAY, MAY 8, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM at DORCAS PLACE PARENT LITERACY CENTER 270 Elmwood Avenue, Providence

Program includes: Description of Dyslexia, identification of students, 10 Critical Points of the Wilson Reading System, Visual/Auditory/Kinesthetic/Tactile Instruction, Pretesting and Lesson Plan formats. Co-sponsored by Literacy Volunteers of America-Rhode Island and Dorcas Place Parent Literacy Center with funding from the Rhode Island Department of Education. Lunch and a light supper will be provided. No charge; pre-registration is requested. Call Joan Anthony at 273-8866 or Donna Sherman at 861-0815. 

The Providence Public Library is offering an 8-week class for English-speaking adult learners beginning May 3rd at the downtown Public Library, 225 Washington Street, Providence. The class will meet Mondays and Wednesdays, noon to 1:30 pm to assist adults with BASIC READING, BASIC WRITING, and COMPUTER SKILLS. The Library Learning Center is a first-step introduction to adult education for English-speaking beginning readers and writers. For more information, please contact Denise or Bev at 455-8041 or 455-8016. 

"In the Mix", the PBS reality series for teens, will re-broadcast "Teen Immigrants: Five American Stories" during the week of May 15. 

Viewers are invited to tape the program off-air for use as an educational resource. PBS has received positive feedback from ESL teachers who caught the show the first time around. This enlightening program allows young viewers to hear firsthand about the American immigrant experience from people they relate to best: other teens. Featuring first-person profiles of young people from Africa, China, Russia, the Dominican Republic, and Tanzania, In the Mix introduces viewers to the hearts and minds behind unfamiliar faces, helping break down negative stereotypes, celebrate diversity, and gain tolerance and understanding across lines of color and nationality. As the program educates young people on issues teen immigrants face, it also emphasizes what everyone has in common, encouraging them to interact with peers from other countries. The show's companion website, "Immigration Station", includes a transcript, Teacher Guide, additional comments from the interviewed teens, resources, a US immigration timeline, and survey [search www.pbs.org/] Different PBS affiliates will air this show at different times during the week-- please check local listings, contact your PBS station, or visit the carriage list on our website at www.pbs.org/mix. For information or to order a videotape copy of this 30-minute special, e-mail InTheMix@pbs.org. 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY The Fannie Mae Foundation is offering grants to ESL programs to expand on Fannie Mae's work with ESL instruction and homeownership. Deadline for applications is June 11. For information and a full copy of the Request for Proposals (RFP), contact Julie Ha at Fannie Mae (JHa@fanniemaefoundation.org) or (202)274-8034. 

- about the RFP: The Foundation's ESL Homeownership Initiative seeks to open the path to home ownership to ESL students. Our ESL curriculum remains available free of charge to ESL providers (call 1/800-544-9224); this new initiative seeks to fund model programs providing home-buying resources beyond language instruction. Towards this purpose the Foundation will offer grants of $30,000 to each of 4 non-profit organizations to enable them to teach ESL classes using the Foundation's curriculum, How to Buy a Home in the US, and to integrate home-buying counseling and services as a complement to the ESL instruction. Contingent upon a positive review of the first year of the program, participants will be eligible for a $15,000 challenge grant for the second year of implementation. The goal of the initiative is to develop links between ESL classes and home-buying services so that ESL students will be equipped with the knowledge, resources, and confidence necessary to become homeowners. Programs that offer students a holistic learning experience will be given special consideration. 

The ESL Homeownership Initiative is designed for organizations:

1. Offering excellent ESL instruction. ESL class providers must have at least three years of experience in successful ESL instruction. Teachers who will lead classes must have completed college-level coursework or similar training in ESL instruction for adult learners. 

2. Using How to Buy a Home in the US. A minimum of 10 hours' classroom use of this curriculum is required; it may be taught as a stand-alone class or integrated into a broader class outline. 

3. Linking ESL classes and home-buying services. ESL instruction must be complemented by the provision of significant counseling, training, and/or services directly related to the process of home-buying. Ideally, an organization with expertise in ESL instruction will partner with an organization with expertise in home-buying services to provide optimal instruction to the students. Home-buying resources may be provided in a group and/or individual setting. 

4. Demonstrating a long-term commitment to offer home-buying instruction and services to ESL students beyond the period of this grant.

Some possibilities for the use of the ESL grant funds include the implementation of curriculum, expansion of home-buying services for multi-lingual participants, down-payment assistance, or home purchase-related incentive awards for top students. This is a competitive grant program; other qualifications being equal, decisions will be biased towards those applicants whose programs provide innovative, transferable models for others to emulate.

Eligibility

Community-based non-profit organizations; primarily nonprofit, charitable organizations (i) certified by the IRS as 501(c)(3) public charities; (ii) whose activities and programs meet the Foundation's philanthropic priority areas; and (iii) are nonsectarian in nature. 

Partnership option: A nonprofit organization with ESL expertise may submit a grant application that includes a partnership with an organization with home-buying counseling expertise. Fannie Mae Foundation funds must be spent by and for the benefit of organizations certified by the IRS as 501(c)(3) public charities. One organization meeting this test must be specified as the lead organization for the receipt of grant funds, though it is not necessary that both partner organizations be public charities. The grant application should be submitted by the lead organization alone or jointly with the secondary organization. 

Geographic focus: Priority consideration for ESL Homeownership awards will be given to organizations serving ESL students in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, LA, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, El Paso, and San Jose. ESL classes must be offered through an established program with experienced and qualified teachers, as described in the grant-making priorities. Fannie Mae grant applications are online at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/partner/index.htm

The deadline for United Way Critical Issues funding for literacy has passed; however funds are available for grants proposing work in the areas of caring for the elderly, drug-free future and people with disabilities. To learn more, contact LR/RI, or Kamila Barykowsky at the United Way (401)444-0626. Applications must be postmarked or hand delivered by April 30. 

Adult Education week is scheduled for the week of May 17th, (beginning with Dr. Susan Baum's workshop, noted on page one). Information about events scheduled for the week -- including Adult Education Day at the State House and the Walk for Literacy -- will appear in the next bulletin. For more information, please contact LR/RI.

Summer technology opportunities

Technology Workshops for Teachers at The Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College

-- June 13-19: Internet and Technology-Mediated Communications: Student Writing and Electronic Portfolios; 

-- June 20-26: From Your Classroom to the World Wide Web: First Steps;

-- June 27 - July 3 From Consumers To Producers: Designing Multimedia Lessons Begin at the beginning with instructional technology 

Information is available online at http://cet.middlebury.edu/esl/, or contact Joe McVeigh, Associate Director for Programs in ESL and TESOL, Center for Educational Technology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753 Tel: 802-443-2179 Fax: 802-443-2053 email: jmcveigh@middlebury.edu

LR/RI will likely conduct its own informal drop in sessions throughout the summer as well for people wanting to learn more about using the internet and computers generally. In the meantime, if you are interested in finding out more about the internet and its uses for education, for your own interests, for whatever purposes, please contact LR/RI. 

conferences

Workplace Learning Conference - Milwaukee, May 16-18. Bringing together teachers, program planners, funders, union representatives, business people, and governmental agency representatives, sessions will be offered across four tracks: Partnerships and Linkages; Program Design and Evaluation; Resources and Technologies; and Trends Affecting the Workplace and Workers.Information: http://www.cew.wisc.edu/workplace or call 608-265-3542.

"A Woman's Place Is...in the Curriculum" conference, August 1- 5, 1999, Rohnet Park, California, focusing on multicultural approaches to incorporating women's history into the k-12 curriculum. Contact: National Women's History Project, 717-838-6000 or nwhp@aol.com .

relatively new on the website:

- An update on VALUE, the national learner organization, (go to learners), new postings on the links, women and literacy and inquiry pages, as well.

- Research Agenda for Adult ESL The National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education, in collaboration with National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy and with additional sponsorship and support from Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, has published a Research Agenda for Adult ESL. Its objectives are to provide funders with clear priorities for funding; to provide researchers with support for proposing specific projects; and to provide a focus for dis-cussion about how to improve adult ESL programs. The document incorporates feedback from learners, instructors, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers, and is available, free, from NCLE, 4646 40th street NW, Washington, DC 20016; (202) 362-0700 extension 200, or can be downloaded from NCLE at http://www.cal.org/ncle (and is also linked to LR/RI's ESOL page).

- The Key on line - Monthly newspaper for adults in Wisconsin's basic education and ESL programs.  http://www.keynews.org/(and is linked to LR/RI's learner page).

from previous bulletins: REMINDERS, RESOURCES: 

The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy has recently released a set of informative fact sheets outlining for practitioners and others the projects with which NCSALL researchers are currently engaged. Project histories, plans, and implications for practice are all highlighted in the fact sheets. Projects include studies of Learner Motivation, Impact of Literacy Programs on Adult learners, Adult Multiple Intelligences, Home Literacy Uses, Adult Development and Literacy Learning, Staff Development, Assessment, GED Impact, Health and Literacy, and Reading Diagnostics, Anyone interested in reading about one or all of the projects or anyone who may be interested in project participation information may receive copies by contacting David Hayes at (401) 331-9261. (The PDRN bulletin, including a link to the NCSALL fact sheets is also available online.

list servs: 

LEARNER is intended primarily for adult learners. LITERACY is a general list for adult literacy practitioners and others. Information on these electronic lists is below. 

LEARNER To subscribe to LEARNER, send an email message to: listserv@nysernet.org

Skip the message header and in the body of the message, type: subscribe LEARNER Yourfirstname Yourlastname All submissions to LEARNER should be addressed to: LEARNER@nysernet.org Questions regarding the list should be sent to: Beverly Choltco-Devlin Moderator, LEARNER bdevlin@dreamscape.com

LITERACY To subscribe to LITERACY, send an email message to: listserv@nysernet.org

Skip the message header and in the body of the message, type: subscribe LITERACY Yourfirstname Yourlastname All submissions to LITERACY should be addressed to: LITERACY@nysernet.org Questions regarding the LITERACY list should be sent to: Beverly Choltco-Devlin bdevlin@dreamscape.com

Welfare to work listserv: from Glenn Young - For those interested in the subject of welfare reform and learning disabilities, there has been a listserv created through NIFL. To sign up, please send a message to: listproc@literacy.nifl.gov write in the body of the message subscribe nifl-wtwld and your name. Do not write anything in the subject line and do not use any dots or dashes other than between nifl and wtwld. (Click here for more information on listservs). 

women and literacy listserv. 

To participate, subscribe by sending an email message to: LISTPROC@LITERACY.NIFL.GOV with the following request in the body of the message: subscribe NIFL-Womenlit firstname lastname Substitute your first and last name spelled exactly as you would like it to appear. For example, to subscribe to the NIFL-Womenlit list Sue Smith would type: subscribe NIFL-womenlit Sue Smith There should be no other text in the message (e.g., your signature block). It is recommended that the subject line be left blank if possible. 

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. 

David Rosen has asked that we have a look at the inquiry maps on the Adult Literacy Resource Institute's 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). 

Please contact LR/RI if you have information, questions or announcements to share with adult educators in Rhode Island. Bulletins go out at least twice a month; more frequently when there's more to share. To submit information for the next bulletin, please contact LR/RI by phone (401-863-2839), mail (PO Box 1974, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912) or email.