[Image] Contact LR/RI LR/RI produces a bulletin roughly every two weeks in order to inform area practitioners of news, events, and Bulletin calls for participation and also as a forum for posing Archives questions, issues and discussion topics. The current bulletin is posted below. To read previous bulletins, go LR/RI homepage to Bulletin Archives. Swearer Center ---------------------------------------------------------- homepage June 1, 1999 [Brown University] Bulletin #71 Dear Colleagues, Notice of upcoming professional development events, meetings, policy information and summer programs. To post information, please contact me at LR/RI or leave a message (863-2839). Thanks. [Image] Janet Isserlis ____________________________________________________________ NOTICES ---------------------------------------------------------- Discussion/sharing session for educators with an interest in ESOL in adult education will be held on Tuesday, June 1st at 3:00 at the Genesis Center, 620 Potters Avenue Providence. Please bring materials you've worked with and like - self-made, learner-generated and/or commercially produced - to share and discuss with the group. The Adult Education Commission will meet on Wednesday, June 2nd from 9 to 10:30 AM at the State House in the Senate Lounge. Discussion/sharing session for educators with an interest in technology in adult education -- Thursday, June 3rd, at 1 PM at the Swearer Center, 25 George Street, Providence. "Proactive Citizenship for the 21st Century," a conference presented by the Feinstein Citizenship Center of International Institute of Rhode Island, at 645 Elmwood Avenue, Providence Friday, June 4, from 9:30 AM to 3:15 pm -- co-sponsored by the International Institutes of Boston, Connecticut, Greater Lawrence, and Lowell. "Passing the citizenship test and taking the Oath of Allegiance are the first steps towards empowerment for new citizens. Registering to vote, becoming involved in civic participation and community service, being informed about issues and exercizing the right to vote provide new citizens with the skills and knowledge to participate fully in a self-governing society. This conference is about new citizens of the US and how educators can prepare them for their new role as proactive participants in our democracy." Keynote speaker is Frank Sharry, distinguished advocate and activist for New Americans, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, Washington, DC. Conference fee of $35.00 includes lunch and access to book exhibits. Workshops: Integrating civic participation and community service into a citizenship program, How to plan and carry out voter education/Mock election project, introduction to Immigration Issues, Developing a Curriculum for Citizenship, Benefits of Citizenship, Managing a Citizenship Program, Multi-level citizenship classes and useful classroom strategies, and advanced immigration issues. For more information: Feinstein Citizenship Center. IIRI 645 Elmwood Ave. Prov, RI 02907 Tel: 401-84-4611 Fax# 401-467-6530 E-mail betfos@ibm.net ---------------------------------------------------------- Friday, June 4, from 9 am to 4 pm, workshop: Principles for Effective Training workshop will be held at 260 West Exchange St., Room 206. This will be based on participatory education principles and will be presented by Darlene Goetzman of Allegheny, NY who has done work on PET as developed by Jane Vella in a number of books about training. This session will be primarily for LVA workshop leaders, but will be about general principles of training, not specifics for LVA workshops. It is sponsored by RIDE and LVA-RI and open to all. Please call Donna Sherman at 861-0815 before June 1 to register. Lunch is included. ---------------------------------------------------------- The Governor's Blue Ribbon commission on Adult Literacy will meet on Thursday, June 17, from 8:30 to 10:30 AM. Please call Marsha McDowell at 222-6700 if you plan to attend. You are invited to the Institute for Labor Studies and Research's annual dinner, with keynote speaker Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President of the national AFL-CIO. Wednesday, June 9, at 6:30 p.m. Westin Hotel, Prov. Tickets: $40. Theme of dinner: Building the Future of the Labor Movement. For information, call (401) 463-9900. ---------------------------------------------------------- Change Agent share? As many of you know, the Change Agent' s mission is to provide "news, issues, ideas and other teaching resources that inspire and enable adult educators and learners to make civic participation and social justice related concerns part of their teaching and learning." This summer, I'd like to encourage practitioners to gather informally to discuss issues of interest covered in recent articles of the Change Agent and to consider how that writing can inform our own education work. Please call if you're interested in participating so that we can find the best time[s] to meet. Inquiry Project - final meeting, sharing, celebration. Please join your colleagues on June 25th, at the Crystal Room in Alumni Hall, Meeting Street, Providence, from 9 to 3 to hear about the most recent round of inquiry projects, about to be completed. Inquiry project participants began projects in October and will be discussing their work, their findings and their learning. The day is open to all interested persons, but please contact me by June 10th, so that we're sure to have lunch for everyone who can stay for the day. A list of inquiry projects is posted on LR/RI's website. We hope you can join us. ---------------------------------------------------------- summer program -ESOL International House of Rhode Island, 8 Stimson Avenue, Providence Phone: 401-421-7181 Advanced Conversation classes meet Tuesday /Thursday from 9:30 AM to 11 AM and Monday /Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 PM; Beginning Conversation classes meet Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 11 AM. Advanced Beginning Conversation classes meet from 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM and Intermediate Conversation classes meet from 11 AM to 12:30 PM on Tuesday and Thursday. An Advanced Beginning Grammar class meets Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 A.M. and the Advanced Grammar Class meets Thursdays from 11 A.M. until 12:30 P.M. Learning English through Video for intermediate and advanced level students meets Mondays from 10 AM to Noon. An English through American History and Literature for advanced level students meets Tuesdays for 11 AM until 12:30 PM Individual tutoring sessions are also available -- times are flexible but sessions are 1 and 1/2 hour per week for 4 weeks and are $40 for six hours. Fees are normally $30 per month for classes that meet twice a week; $10 to $20 per month for classes that meet once a week. Dorcas Place will be holding summer adult literacy classes - all levels up through GED, FIP recipients only. Classes begin second week of July and go for 6 weeks. People interested should call Dorcas Place at 273-8866 and ask to sign up. - LR/RI will offer computer drop in sessions again this summer. Please contact me if you think you'd like to participate; although registration is not required to help in planning the sessions. ---------------------------------------------------------- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Position available: Literacy Program Leader S-I Full Time Duties: Develop and implement curriculum for intergenerational Ltieracy Program at branch library sites; manage and supervise programs, staff and recruit families and volunteers; research and implement new literacy initatives, tutor as needed; assist with ABE Collection development; keep appropriate records and statistics, prepare reports; other duties as needed by the literacy department. Requirements: Substantial education and/or experience in ESL. Commitment to literacy and working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds; computer literate; familiarity with both MACs and PCs; supervisory experiences, strong organizational and interpersonal skills. Bilingual candidates preferred. Salary range: $25,556-$33,192 Deadline for applications: June 7, 19999 Apply to Dan Austin, Personnel Manager Providence Public Library, 225 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903 phone: 455-8061 An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. for more specifics on Job Duties, please contact LR/RI. ---------------------------------------------------------- mailing list: If you are currently receiving the bulletin by email or fax, you will continue to do so. If you're receiving the bulletin via regular mail, please call or write to LR/RI by June 30th if you'd like to continue receiving it. As of July 1st, the mailing list will be updated. If I don't hear from you, I'll assume you no longer wish to receive the bulletin via regular mail. _____________________________ 12th National Adult Literacy and Technology Conference July 29 - 31, St. Paul, Minnesota. Keynote speakers include Ray Suarez and Dave Sperling. Journalist Ray Suarez hosts National Public Radio's nationwide call-in news program Talk of the Nation. He will share his vision of uses for the Internet. He is concerned that the Internet is being turned into TV Jr., and the frantic battle for the web by the biggest communications interest on planet earth makes clear they realize something that others don't. Dave Sperling started teaching Internet to students back in 1994 and could easily see that the Net was a powerful tool for students to meet and communicate with others around the world, as well as a way to read an amazing variety of information. With this inspiration he developed the Dave's ESL Cafe, and will share his insight in working with ESL students and using the Internet to teach learners. Over 50 sessions will be offered. To obtain a registration form with a list of sessions contact Dana Huber . Fees: Early Registration: received by June 10th Attending conference July 30-31: $125. (includes breakfast, lunch both days and picnic dinner Thursday) Attending pre-conference July 29th: $75. (includes breakfast and lunch) Per day registration (select days: July 30 or July 31): $75. (includes breakfast and lunch each day) Late Registration: received by June 18th Attending conference July 30-31: $165. (includes breakfast, lunch both days and picnic dinner on Thursday) Attending pre-conference July 29th: $95. (includes breakfast and lunch) Per day registration (select days: July 30 or July 31): $95. (includes breakfast and lunch each day) Dorm room rate $40. Per person, per night or Sheraton Inn St. Paul/Midway ($82/single or double, $92/triple, $102/quad). more information: www.mlrc.stthomas.edu/mlc/mlc.htm Laubach Literacy is seeking grant applications for its 1999 National Book Scholarship Fund (NBSF), which distributes books and other educational materials to qualified adult literacy and education programs nationwide. NBSF grants are designed to help local educational groups expand their work or to begin new programs among under-served populations. First priority is given to family literacy programs that work to improve the literacy skills of parents and their children. Grants are also awarded to programs that work with special groups such as the homeless, refugees, people learning English as a Second Language, and adults with learning disabilities. Last year, the NBSF gave $180,736 worth of in-kind grants to 75 programs. The fund has given more than $869,000 of such grants since its inception in 1995. The NBSF is made possible through the support of foundations, corporation and individual donors across the country. For more information on the NBSF, or to receive an application package beginning in September, contact Mara Roberts, Project Administrator, The National Book Scholarship Fund, Laubach Literacy, PO Box 131, 1320 Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210. Ms. Roberts can also be reached by telephone at 315-422-9121, x345 and via e-mail at mroberts@laubach.org. Additional information -- http://www.laubach.org/NBSF/indexnbs.htm. Deadline: Grant applications will be accepted until December 8, 1999. New on-line politics and policy search engine: Political Information (http://www.politicalinformation.com) allows users to search more than 2,000 hand-picked sites for news and commentary, issue sites, political interest groups, policy papers, trade associations and political parties. The search engine is part of the D.C. Orbit (http://www.dcorbit.net), a network of non-partisan content-based sites. New Free ETS Report "Getting Down to Business: Matching Welfare Recipients' Skills to Jobs That Train" is available online ftp://etsis1.ets.org/pub/corp/16045.pdf To order by mail, contact ETS, Communications Services, Mail Stop 50D, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541 ---------------------------------------------------------- from Thursday Notes, 5/20/99 - A Fact Sheet from the Division of Adult Education and Literacy Office of Vocational and Adult Education OVAE Homepage http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/ Welfare Clients Need Workplace Learning An Educational Testing Service study shows that most welfare clients transitioning to work need substantial workplace education and training to move to jobs that support families. The study found that welfare recipients with basic skill levels similar to low literacy high school graduates could move to "competent skill jobs" paying as much as $10,000 more by investing up to 200 hours in education and training. The 31% of recipients with literacy skills similar to high school dropouts would need up to 900 hours of education and training to move up to "basic skill" jobs. Nearly 70% of new jobs over the next seven years will employ workers with competent or advanced skills, researchers say. For a free copy of the executive summary of Getting Down to Business: Matching Welfare Recipients' Skills to Jobs that Train, contact ETS [609/734-5552] or download ftp://etsis1.ets.org/pub/corp/16045.pdf Measure ESL Success The Northwest Regional Literacy Resource Center (NWRLRC) can help measure ESL learners' progress with Meaningful Measurement: Improving Evaluation of Adult ESL Students. 3 volumes of materials include assessment tools with examples of student performance for use in ESL levels one, two and three. It also includes unit and final exams and interview keys. Resources are for sale at NWRLRC at 206/587-4988. ______________________________________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy - from Virginia Watson, on the National Literacy Advocacy Listserv, Thu, 13 May 1999 13:43:34 -0400 Dear Colleagues: For several months, a committee of the National Coalition for Literacy has been working to expand and extend Coalition membership to regional and national organizations who have a vested interest in issues related to adult learning and literacy. For many of us who work at the leadership and policy making level, we are often struck by the lack of diversity at the table...at the seeming disconnect between the cultural and ethnic richness of learners and decision makers. If folks are interested in being considered for Coalition membership, email me names and contact information and I will relay that information on to Satia Orange, American Library Association, who is chairing the Coalition committee. More information about the Coalition can be found at their web site: nifl-coalition@literacy.nifl.gov Virginia Watson, Director Michigan Adult Learning and Technology Center [Please reply to Virginia Watson if you are interested in being a representative of a regional or national organization to the National Coalition for Literacy. ] ---------------------------------------------------------- conferences ---------------------------------------------------------- A conference on the Workforce Investment Act and One Stop Career Centers will be held June 9 and 10 at the Hilton at Dedham Place, Dedham, MA. Registration prior to May 15 is $275, and $325 after. New regulations and the role of one stop career centers will be discussed. For more information, please contact LR/RI. 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 . Galaxy II Conference -- Action Strategies for Lifelong Learning October 12-17, San Antonio, TX -- to share opinions/views about lifelong learning and develop action strategies for the future. The first Galaxy Conference was convened in 1969, to determine 6 imperatives for action: 1.prepare each person to understand and cope with the issues of the day; 2.remedy educational deficiencies; 3.provide for equal opportunity; 4. enable learners to function more effectively as workers, parents, neighbors, and citizens; 5. improve the quality of life; and 6.share the meaning, values, purpose, and power for ourselves and others around the world. Galaxy II would strive to address the following questions: 1.In the past 30 years, has the field achieved these imperatives? 2.How has the field changed? 3.Are there new imperatives to be addressed? 4.What are the implications of lifelong learning on the family, education, the workplace, economic development, and the community? 5.As the new millennium arrives, what issues face adult education? 6.What are the priorities for the country and the field? 7.What role will adult education organizations play? 8.What strategies will require collaborative action by these organizations? 9.How do these compare with a global perspective? 10.What will be the role of adult education leadership and what strategies, skills, and collaborative actions will be essential? Information: http://www.albany.edu/aaace/conferences/annual.html ---------------------------------------------------------- relatively new on the website: Mike Kelly, moderator of an on-line workshop on Computers and Learning invites participants to join the workshop from May 12 to June 11. The Computers and Learning seminar will: encourage programs to share their best practice ideas with each other; allow us to look at what has been happening in other jurisdictions; encourage literacy students to say what has worked best for them; raise important issues, hopes and fears that emerge from this work, and develop a list of interesting web sites and resources. To join, go to http://www.alphaplus.ca and follow the prompts to join the new discussion Computers and Learning. - 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. ---------------------------------------------------------- Professional development initiative: Lastspring I spent time at the RI Dislocated Worker Program, facilitating classes for teachers there so that they could have an opportunity to observe one another's classes and to reflect on their learning and teaching. (The full text of their reflections is available on the LR/RI web site at Writing from the Field - or contact LR/RI for a hard copy). Please let me know if you would like to participate in this process of professional development. All that's required is your willingness to share your reflections about the observation/learning process for others. I hope to build a block of writing and thinking about this and other forms of our own professional development both through the bulletin and the web site. ---------------------------------------------------------- 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 , 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). ---------------------------------------------------------- * SUBMIT 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. ---------------------------------------------------------- back to LR/RI home ----------------------------------------------------------