Weblog: November 2006
Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001
While this signature series from the Independence Sector is five years old, new directors and program staff of community based literacy organizations might not be aware of it. Giving and Volunteering in the United States in 2001 provides an overview of how philanthropic giving has changed in the 21st century. While Independent Sector members received fuller reports, one can still glean valuable information on the following six topics:
- Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion, in partnership with the National Council of Churches--a look at how donors to religion are the most generous givers to secular causes as well.
- Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service: Findings and Recommendations for Encouraging a Tradition of Voluntary Action Among America's Youth, in partnership with Youth Service America--impact of childhood experiences on adult giving and volunteering, and tips for engaging more youth in service.
- Giving in Tough Times: The Impact of Personal Economic Concerns on Giving and Volunteering, an examination of Americans' views on future household finances and their connection to giving decisions.
- Deducting Generosity: The Effect of Charitable Tax Incentives on Giving--a look at how tax policy motivates giving at different income levels.
- Experience at Work: Volunteering and Giving Among Americans 50 and Over, in partnership with AARP--findings and strategies for involving Americans 50 years of age and over in charitable activities.
- A Nation of Givers: Regional Patterns in Giving and Volunteering--an exploration of the generosity of different regions of the United States.
The Independent Sector also provides the 2005 statistics on the dollar value of volunteer time.
November issue of Update
We are excited to offer you the November issue of Update. This issue has many timely resources for all adult literacy educators. Find out about new resources from NCSALL, online resources for classroom teachers, new workplace health and safety curricula, a family literacy toolkit for Hispanic families, online word processors, and much more. To view it, go to: http://valrc.org/publications/update/update1106.htm.
Trainer Favorite: Ruler Activity
This activity allows students to work with fractions in a practical way. The learning here is appropriate for building GED skills without overwhelming students with drills on fictional fractions that they will never see in the real world. In fact, computing fractions rarely appears on the GED, but working with them in practical ways, such as comparing relative sizes, calculating proportions, or understanding decimals and percentages are GED-oriented uses of fractions. Click this link print off the handouts prepared for you, and try it out with your class!
What is Fluency?
There are three main areas of Fluency:
- speed
- accuracy
- expression
According to Susan McShane's book Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults, "fluent reading sounds like speech." It's also essential to good comprehension! How can you help? According to research, "guided repeated oral reading" is one of the best ways to improve your student's fluency. Choose a text that is a level below an instructional level for your student, so s/he can read it easily. Then use methods such as:
- modeling good reading
- echo reading
- reading in pairs or choral reading
- tape-assisted reading (so the learner can work more independently)
- or combinations of the above.
See McShane's book for more detail!
Measuring Gains in Adult Literacy
There has been an interesting discussion regarding this subject on the NLA Discussion List. Do you believe that when to test, how often, and what type of testing are some of our greatest concerns in Adult Literacy in terms of policy and practice?
Marie Cora has compiled the discussion in a user-friendly Word document.
Draft Content Standards Released
Draft Content Standards for GED and ESOL were introduced to the field at the Program Managers meeting October 4th. These standards were developed by experienced practitioners from around the state and experts in each content area. The standards were piloted by GED and ESOL teachers, reviewed by experts and the GED standards have gone through a rewrite process.
You can download the standards in word or PDF format from Polilogue. If you are not a member of Polilogue, email Debbie Bergtholdt.
Elizabeth Hawa, the director of the state Department of Adult Education and Literacy has asked programs to review the standards and use them to guide their instruction. A discussion board will be set up on Polilogue so instructors and program managers can make comments about the standards and specific items that work/don't work in their programs.
Watch here for news about GED content standards study circles. There is also training being developed for both GED and ESOL content standards that will be delivered after the first of the year.
The Literacy Institute Hosts LESLLA, an International English Language Forum for Researchers and Policy Makers
For Immediate Release October 30, 2006 News Release
The Literacy Institute will host the international LESLLA 2006 forum for over 80 international, national, and statewide researchers, practitioners, and policy makers on November 2-3 at Virginia Commonwealth University.
LESLLA, which stands for Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition, is an international forum focusing on the development of second language skills by adult immigrants with little or no schooling prior to moving to the country of entry. "It's hard for individuals to learn to speak and read in English when they cannot read in their own language," says Nancy Faux, ESOL specialist at the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center and the conference's organizer.
Researchers from as far the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and East Timor, and from across our nation will study and discuss education policy development in countries where immigrants settle and most need educational support. The conference features more than twenty presentations and discussion groups, opening with an address on "A National Citizenship Implementation Plan" and including the U.S. premiere of the European Quality Label Prize-winning film, "Newcomers to Morocco," which documents what happens when Dutch literacy teachers become the students in an Arabic class in Morocco.
Toward the conference's conclusion, working groups of experts from The Center for Applies Linguistics; Brown University; University of Minnesota; American Institutes of Research; Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.; Literacy Work International; Newcastle University, UK; Tilburg University, NL; and Radboud University, NL; Virginia Commonwealth University; and the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, among many others, will develop research and action recommendations for international implementation.
The Literacy Institute is a partnership between the Virginia Literacy Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education and Center for Public Policy.
To find out more about the conference and participants, please visit the LESLLA website at www.leslla.org or see our Media Advisory at www.valrc.org. The conference, held on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, is open to registered participants only.
Contact: Hillary Major Phone: 800-237-0178 Fax: 804-828-7539 Email: hmajor@vcu.edu
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