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New ESL Videos Ready for Viewing (March 4, 2010)The New American Horizons Foundation recently announced that the first two videos of the adult ESL training video project are now available to view. The Foundation expects to have a DVD available for purchase about March 8, and is working on providing an option to download the videos to your computer and burn your own DVD (if you have DVD-burning software). The staff would love to hear your reactions, which you can them by writing a comment on the news blog. The two videos are Lesson Planning for Life Skills (facilitated by Betsy Wong, Alexandria) and Building Literacy with Adult Emergent Readers. To view the videos, go to: http://www.newamericanhorizons.org/training-videos. Recording of the next three videos is scheduled for mid-March. Ida Hill Scholarships: This is a great year to help your student win $1,000 scholarship. Deadline March 1 (February 9, 2010)Dear Colleagues, Imagine how pleased your student would be to win a $1,000 scholarship towards reaching their literacy goals. Your job is to nominate them and write a short nomination letter. Should your student win, you will be invited to join the group for the reception dinner. Last year's winners were: Fatima Fakhri and Lynette Hicks. Each year Altrusa International, Inc. of the Capital City of Virginia is pleased to announce continuation of its statewide annual award of the Ida J. Hill Scholarship. The two selection categories and scholarships are as follows: Selection 1: $1,000.00 The purpose is to provide scholarships to two qualifying adults re-entering the workforce or advancing their employment skills. The nominating council or adult education program will be expected to observe progress throughout the year. The only requirements for participation in the scholarship program are the submission of a nomination letter from the organization or agency head, and a letter/statement from the potential recipient indicating interest, current status and career goals, training location or anticipated use of funds, and a statement of need. Plans are to award two scholarships at the Altrusa meeting on March 10, 2010 in Richmond. The deadline for the applications is March1, 2010. The recipients’ council or adult education office will receive a commemorative plaque. The agency or organization head or designee is invited also to join the recipient at the dinner on March 10, 2010. Attendance at the dinner is required. Criteria for 2010 Ida Hill Scholarship
VLF Grant Announcement FY 2010-2011 (February 8, 2010)The Virginia Literacy Foundation is pleased to announce that applications for our 2010-2011 matching grants are now available. If you are interested in applying, you may either request a packet of grant application forms by calling 804-237-8909, or download the required application forms at http://www.virginialiteracy.org/ under grants. New applicants are required to fill out a 2009 Survey Form and return it with their grant application. (This form is filled out once every three years.) Our matching grants are offered in tiered categories. The amount of funding for which an organization is eligible is tied to the numbers of adult literacy students it served in the last full fiscal year.* Funding tiers are as follows: Tier One: One-year matching grants Tier Two: Two-year matching grants (eligibility for this tier is at the VLF’s discretion). * "Students served" is defined as permanently matched adult students who have received at least six hours of basic literacy instruction in 2008-2009 in one or more of these areas: one-on-one tutoring, small group classes, family literacy (adult literacy component), pre-GED instruction, computer literacy, jail program, etc. Once again, the Foundation will be awarding an annual total of $200,000 this grant cycle. Go to the Virginia Literacy Foundation's new website. http://www.virginialiteracy.org/ Please click on Grants in the sidebar under VLF projects. Then click on "About Our Grants."
If you cannot download these documents or if you have additional questions about the 2010-2011 matching grants, please contact Julia Norman at 804-237-8909 or vlilv@earthlink.net. Grant deadline: March 19, 2010 Assistive Technology Tools: Reading (February 4, 2010)There is a wide range of assistive technology (AT) tools available to help individuals who struggle with reading. While each type of tool works a little differently, all of these tools help by presenting text as speech. These tools help facilitate decoding, reading fluency, and comprehension. To learn more about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help in reading, click here. Expanding ESL, Civics, and Citizenship Education in Your Community: A Start-Up Guide (February 3, 2010)Many community, faith-based, and civic organizations and employers would like to help immigrants adjust to life in the United States and prepare for citizenship, but do not know where to begin. Fortunately, the experience and practices of existing English as a Second Language (ESL), civics, and citizenship programs for immigrants can help you get started. The guide can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-677.pdf This guide offers suggestions and strategies providing a framework you can adapt to suit your community’s needs and circumstances.This guide outlines a start-up process of gathering relevant information and resources to help you develop and sustain your program, recruit and train volunteers, and recruit students. It also includes basic recommendations and sample forms and materials to help you start your program. This guide is not intended to be a curriculum. Curricula and teaching guidelines can be found through our resource entitled U.S. Civics and Citizenship Online: Resource Center for Instructors , see the link to the left under "Educator & Volunteer Resources" on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) site at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis BooksharePeople with print disabilities deserve to enjoy reading as much as all other readers. Yet, currently fewer than five percent of the books needed by people with print disabilities are available in accessible formats such as digital text or digital Braille. Bookshare 's goal is to raise the floor of access so that people with print disabilities can obtain a broad spectrum of print materials at the same time as everyone else. People with visual impairments, physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities can look to Bookshare to dramatically increase the quantity and timely availability of books and newspapers in accessible formats. Further, Bookshare s vision encompasses new technological developments as well as new applications of widely available technologies to stretch the power of technology for increased access to content. Bookshare is diligently working toward this goal by:
To learn more about the Bookshare program, go to: http://www.bookshare.org/ To find out if you or one of your learners qualifies for Bookshare, go to: http://www.bookshare.org/about/membershipQualifications. National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week (October 21, 2009)The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia celebrates National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week (October 18 -23) by sharing success stories of adult learners. Click here to watch the video and learn how LCNV strengthens the community through adult education. Please pass the link on to family and friends. http://www.lcnv.org/student_success/index.cfm New Website on Learner Persistence (September 21, 2009)Based on the New England Learner Persistence (NELP)Project, a new website has been created to identify resources, practices, and tools for dealing with adult learner persistence. For more information,visit: www.nelrc.org/persist. Progress articles featuring two Virginia programs, Henrico County and New River Community College, are also included on the site: http://www.nelrc.org/persist/counseling_evid_c.html Click here for more. Alligators in the Boardroom and Urban Legends about Nonprofits (July 20, 2009)(From Board Cafe, by Jan Masaoka, published on Blue Avocado, June 2009) An influential but under-the-radar form of popular culture is the urban legend. Like the mythic alligators in the New York sewers or the man who woke up in an ice-filled bathtub without a kidney, nonprofits are the victims of urban myths and legends. Common assumptions -- just by being passed along through so many people -- gain a measure of credibility just by their frequent telling and longevity. This Board Cafe article may be useful for your fellow board members, your neighbors, and others. Click here to read seven urban myths, now debunked. Questioning the Author: A Reading Comprehension Strategy (July 15, 2009)Questioning the Author is a protocol of inquiries that students can make about the content they are reading. This strategy is designed to encourage students to think beyond the words on the page and to consider the author's intent for the selection and his or her success at communicating it. The idea of "questioning" the author is a way to evaluate how well a selection of text stands on its own, not simply an invitation to "challenge" a writer. Students are looking at the author's intent, his craft, his clarity, his organization...in short, if the author has done well, students can say so, and they can identify why they say so. Likewise, if students are struggling over a selection of text, it may be because it hasn't been written very clearly. Students can see this, and say so, but then they are invited to improve on it. To find out more about this strategy, go to Reading Quest.org, Reading Comprehension Strategies; Questioning the author. http://www.readingquest.org/strat/qta.html The State of Learning Disabilities (July 7, 2009)The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has released, The State of Learning Disabilities (2009), a new report on the status of children and adults with learning disabilities (LD) in America. The comprehensive report shatters common myths about LD and provides benchmark data to compare and contrast how people with LD are faring in school and work. You can access and print the actual report at: Ten Dimensions That Shape Your Board (March 27, 2009)Ten Dimensions That Shape Your Board, written by Kim Sundet Vanderwall Ellen Benavides is based upon the authors' learnings from Coloring Outside the Box: One Size Does Not Fit All in Nonprofit Governance. This newly published workbook is designed to help organizations intentionally shape their governance to fit their values, resources and community strengths. You can download the workbook at this link to guide Nonprofit Board of Directors conversations related to board development. Literacy Fair 2009 (March 25, 2009)The Literacy Fair of Virginia will be held this year on May 21, 2009 at the John H. Daniel Campus, Southside Virginia Community College in Keysville. Once again we will be awarding prizes for the top student essays. For details about the conference, please click on this link: http://literacyfair.wordpress.com/ For details about the essay, please read the information below. Essay topic: "Who has been the most influential person in your life and why?" Essays must be submitted by April 17, 2009. The format of the essay should be:
Note that essays longer than two pages or not following the format requests will not be read. Instructors and tutors may assist with editing. FIRST PLACE ESSAY WILL RECEIVE $150! SECOND PLACE WILL RECEIVE $100! There will be three categories with two winners in each category. Your teacher or tutor can help you decide which category you are in. This year we will require writers to be present to read their papers to win. We will notify winners in advance. All writers will receive a certificate. Category Levels
New England Learner Persistence Project (March, 23, 2009)The New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) has just published the findings of action research done by 18 New England adult education programs that investigated persistence strategies in their varied contexts over the course of a semester. They implemented persistence strategies in one of four categories: intake and orientation, instruction, counseling and peer support, or re-engagement. Their interventions impacted 755 students resulting in significant improvements in the rates of attendance and course completions. The New England Learner Persistence Project report can be found at http://www.nelrc.org/expertise/persist.html. Ida J. Hill Scholarship Award: Application Deadline March 2 (January 23, 2009)Altrusa International, Inc. of the Capital City of Virginia is pleased to announce continuation of its statewide annual award of the Ida J. Hill Scholarship. The two selection categories and scholarships are as follows:
The purpose is to provide scholarships to two qualifying adults re-entering the workforce or advancing their employment skills. The nominating council or adult education program will be expected to observe progress throughout the year. The only requirements for participation in the scholarship program are the submission of a nomination letter from the organization or agency head, and a letter/statement from the potential recipient indicating interest, current status and career goals, training location or anticipated use of funds, and a statement of need. Plans are to award two scholarships at the Altrusa meeting on March 11, 2009 in Richmond. The deadline for the applications is March 2, 2009. The recipients' council or adult education office will receive a commemorative plaque. The agency or organization head or designee is invited also to join the recipient at the dinner on March 11, 2009. Attendance at the dinner is required. In the next section (This Article Continues ...) you will he Ida J. Hill Scholarship criteria and a description of the scholarship program. Questions should be directed to Joanne Cash, Awards Committee Chair, at (804) 378-7000. Click here for criteria and a description of the scholarship program. 2009 Virginia Literacy Foundation Grant Announcement (January 21, 2009)The Virginia Literacy Foundation applications for 2009-2010 matching grants are now available. If your program is a community-based literacy program and eligible to apply for one of these grants, you may either request a packet of grant application forms by calling Julia Norman at 804-237-8909 or by clicking on the links below. The VLF grant deadline this year is 5:00 p.m., March 16, 2009. This year only new applicants are required to fill out a 2009 Survey Form and return it with their grant application. (This form is filled out once every three years. Programs that last filled out a survey for FY 2005/2006 should also send in a survey form.) This is the second year that programs may request the VLF QuAL-D database in their grant. The request is competitive, and only two programs will be chosen per year to receive it. (See the Instruction Sheet to calculate costs.) Our 2009-2010 matching grants are offered in tiered categories. The amount of funding for which an organization is eligible is tied to the numbers of adult literacy students it served in the last full fiscal year.* Funding tiers are as follows: Tier One: One-year matching grants
Tier Two: Two-year matching grants
* "Students served" is defined as permanently matched adult students who have received at least six hours of basic literacy instruction in 2007-2008 in one or more of these areas: one-on-one tutoring, small group classes, family literacy (adult literacy component), pre-GED instruction, computer literacy, jail program, etc. Click here to download the documents:
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| The Literacy Institute @ VCU | Contact Us | ;Listservs | Sitemap | © 2009 VALRC. All rights reserved. Updated: 03-04-10 The VALRC, located at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU School of Education), is funded primarily through the VA Department of Education.
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