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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.

June 14, 1999

Bulletin #72

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.

Janet Isserlis

____________________________________________________________

NOTICES

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.

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 immediately, 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.

The RI Workforce Literacy Collaborative is sponsoring a Worksite Tour for Education on Monday, June 21, 1999, 10:30-12 noon, at Philips Components, 100 Providence Pike, Slatersville (near Bryant College). For information, call Chris Hedenberg at 785-8167; please call by June 16th to reserve a space on the tour.

The Workforce Literacy Collaborative is also planning a Workforce Education Conference for Thursday, October 7, and Friday, October 8. This professional development day for practitioners and business people will begin with a presentation and dinner on Thursday and continue throughout the day on Friday. Call for presenters: Please get your suggestions for presenters -- both local and national figures -- or topics you would like to see covered to Chris Hedenberg at Cranston Adult Education (785-8167) or Donna Sherman at LVA-RI (861-0815, LVARIDonna@aol.com) by June 25, 1999.

intergenerational literacy discussions: Two meetings are being held on Thursday, June 24th, at the International Institute. The first, at 12:30, will focus on deciding how to utilize professional development funds specifically allocated for intergenerational literacy practice. The second meeting, at 1:30 will be a sharing session for adult educators with an interest in intergenerational literacy learning and development.

LR/RI will offer computer drop in sessions again this summer, beginning on Friday, July 2nd, from 9am to noon and continuing through August 13. Please contact me if you think you'd like to participate, and/or if you need to come at another time. Registration is not required, but it will be helpful to know who would like to come in order to plan the sessions appropriately.

Change Agent share? 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, IÕd like to encourage practitioners to meet informally to discuss issues of interest covered in recent articles of the Change Agent and to consider how that writing can inform our education work. Are you using the Change Agent in the classroom? How? Could you document how you've used it and share your findings with the people who publish the Change Agent so that they can learn from your experience of what does and doesnÕt work? What have you found to be the most interesting or useful - do you like the mix of articles for students or teachers? What suggestions do you have for changes or improvements? Would you or your students be interested in contributing an activity or article to the Change Agent ? Please call if youÕre interested in participating so that we can find the best time[s] to meet.

12th National Adult Literacy and Technology Conference July 29 - 31, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Keynote speakers include Ray Suarez and Dave Sperling. Over 50 sessions will be offered. To obtain a registration form with a list of sessions contact Dana Huber <dmhuber@ties.k12.mn.us>. Fees: 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: http://www.mlrc.stthomas.edu/mlc/mlc.htm

SUMMER PROGRAMS:

The Rhode Family Literacy Initiative will hold Summer Adult ESL Conversation Classes at the East Providence Public Library and The George Hail Library in Warren. Classes are for Intermediate to Advanced ESL students. We will discuss, in English, a variety of interesting topics while working on English skills in a relaxed atmosphere. Classes begin the week of July 11th and last for 8 weeks. At the Weaver Branch classes are Tuesday from 6-8 and in Warren from 6-8 on Wednesdays. Please Call Kristen McKenna for information or registration at 434-2719 or 245-7686.

(from the Providence Journal, 6.14.99) Registration opens this week for beginner, intermediate and advanced English as a Second Language classes by the Smith Hill Adult ESL program. Classes will be held in the Feinstein Building at Providence College, with most instruction from June 21 to Aug. 18. There will be an advanced class in grammar and writing from June 24 to Aug. 20. All classes are from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuition for the beginner, intermediate and advanced classes that don't focus on grammar and writing is $85. Classes are held Monday through Wednesday. Beginner classes deal with fundamentals of English as well as speaking, reading and basic grammar. Upper level classes include more advanced instruction in grammar, writing and semantics. Tuition for the advanced class in grammar and writing is $70. Classes are on Thursdays and Fridays. Tuition must be paid at the time of registration, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Feinstein Building.

RSVP Northern Rhode Island, as part of the Citizenship Consortium, is offering citizenship/ ESOL classes every Tuesday and Thurday evening, from 6:00 to 8:30 at the Woonsocket Senior Center, 84 Social Street, beginning June 1st, in ten-week cycles. $25 registration fee covers classes through ongoing sessions. For information, please contact Arlene Smith at (401)766-2300.

Laubach LiteracyÕs 1999 National Book Scholarship Fund (NBSF) distributes books and educational materials to qualified adult literacy and education programs nationwide. 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 working to improve 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. For information or to receive an application package in September, contact Mara Roberts, Project Administrator, 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. Grant applications will be accepted until December 8, 1999. More information -- http://www.laubach.org/NBSF/indexnbs.htm.

New on-line funding, calls for proposals:

SFC Charitable Foundation (Singing for Change), was established by Jimmy Buffet and gives children and family grants to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations nationwide. For more information, visit NIFL's grants and funding page [ http://www.nifl.gov/Grants.html ] and search under Foundations, or go to http://www.margaritaville.com and go to SFC Charitable Foundation. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) announces the availability of $3,000,000 annually for each of the next five years to support one or more Head Start Family Literacy Projects. The cooperative agreement(s) will be funded to provide training and technical assistance to improve the quality of family literacy services in Head Start and Early Head Start grantees in all regional areas of the country and to serve migrant and American Indian programs. http://www2.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb/html/familyliteracy99.html

As well, LR/RI's technology, links, and advocacy pages have been updated. A listserv has been started at http://www.coollist.com, but unfortunately the coollist server has been tempermental for the last several days. For more about the listserv, please email me at janet_isserlis@brown.edu

STATEHOUSE REPORTS? Anyone who participated in the mock legislative events during Adult Education week is invited to share writing, reflections and other information via the bulletin and/or website so that those who may have missed the events and/or would like to participate in future can get a better understanding of what the day entailed.

From David J Rosen , [Wed, 2 Jun 1999 ]In this week's U.S. Department of Education OVAE Thursday Notes are at least two items which should be of interest to NLA subscribers who are concerned about adult literacy public policy: 1) A new GAO study gives evidence that Welfare Reform is not working -- that is, if its purpose is to put people to work and keep them working, and provide them with an equal or better standard of living; and 2) Kansas has decided to let higher education, not K-12 education, have the main responsiblility for adult literacy/basic education.

Thursday Notes - From the Desk of Ronald S. Pugsley, Director, DAEL Office of Vocational and Adult Education Editor: Sarah Newcomb Production: Rose Tilghman June 3, 1999

GAO Says Welfare Clients Get Jobs, Low Pay

A just-released General Accounting Office (GAO) report shows that more welfare clients than expected are landing jobs, but the jobs are short term and low paying. While between 61 and 87% of adults leaving welfare find work, between 19 and 30% who leave return to the welfare rolls. The average hourly wage of former welfare clients ranged from just $5.67 in Tennessee to $8.09 in Washington, said GAO officials. The report also indicates former welfare clients say they are more frequently behind on rent or unable to buy food or medical care while working than while on welfare. The report, Welfare Reform: States' Implementation Progress and Information on Former Recipients, is based on seven state follow-up studies. It provides more evidence for basic skills training for former welfare clients who work so that they can move into living wage jobs. Contact www.gao.gov or 202/512-4800.

"Virtual" Applications a Hit in California

California officials say their on-line adult education grant application is getting great reviews. At the end of last week almost 5,000 hits had been made on the site. The most popular section is the training module. More than 16,000 hits (520 per day) have been made on the part of the site that takes applicants through filling out forms and preparing an application. Users spent over 420 hours on the training section, greatly reducing the number of questions directed to agency personnel. Four agency staff respond to questions about the application and one person handles technical questions about the virtual process. Contact jpolster@otan.dni.us or jfleischman@sac-co.k12.ca.us Also in our 5/13/99 issue.

Kansas Transfers Adult Education

The Kansas legislature recently passed legislation to transfer responsibility for adult basic education from the Kansas State Board of Education to the Kansas Board of Regents beginning July 1. Dr. Joe Birmingham will serve as State Director for Adult Education. In his current position as Assistant Commissioner, Dr. Birmingham has supervised community colleges, area vocational schools, adult education and literacy and proprietary institutions. He will continue these duties in his new position. Contact jbirmingham@ksbe.state.ks.us

ESL Approaches For Local Programs

If you're looking for ideas to improve English as a second language services, you'll want to review Program Alternatives for Linguistically Diverse Students new from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence. The booklet outlines four program alternatives to meet the diverse needs of English language learners and illustrates them with case studies. Copies are available from crede@cal.org or 202/362-0700. [The booklet costs $5.00, plus 10% shipping and it is my understanding that they only accept orders in writing, using a letterhead. Chloe Fessler LVA Montana] __________________________________________________________________

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/

conferences

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.

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).