The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center

If your annual receipts are between $25,000 and $1,000,000, you may file the Form 990-EZ in 2009, although some states in which you are required to file a copy of your federal return may require that you file the full Form 990.

If your annual receipts are under $25,000, you must file the new electronic postcard.

These thresholds will change for 2010. For more information go to the following links provided by Guidestar:

Technology Usage, and 2007 Census Information

The report Sharing Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World is filled with information, graphs, and statistics about online usage and searches. Click on this link to Facts and Statistics to find a short summary of the report, the link to this 280 page PDF document, and some charts you can use to state your case for technology.

In addition, did you know that Virginia is the 15th fastest growing state in the U.S.? Or that our state has experienced one fo the largest numeriacl increases of Hispanics between 1990-2000 of 169,252 or 105.6%? Find more information about current census estimates and survey data from 2006 - 2007 on our Facts and Statistics weblog.

Using Technology as an Educational Tool: Using Clip Art Comics for Writing

In response to the growing interest in photonovels as an empowering educational tool, Barry Barkin has created a new website at www.photonovela.com

The goal of this site is to have a place where user created photonovels can be shared and disseminated more widely...

Barry's students have often benefited from creating single panel "clip art comics" using PowerPoint or Word. The "insert/picture/Autoshapes" menu item gives you a choice of "speech balloons" that can be used in the same way as the photonovela software mentioned. The students create single panel comics of topics of interest to them using language they're learning in class. Interested teachers could also direct the students to create their single panel comic about a particular topic such as health education. You can view a few finished student projects at this link, or http://esl.adultinstruction.org/ClipArtComics.htm

Barry also experimented with creating photo stories using other people's photos at flickr using an application called Bubblr which allows users to add speech balloons to any picture found on flickr, but stopped doing that when flickr was blocked from school district computers. You can experiment with Bubblr at http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/

Barry Bakin Pacoima Skills Center Division of Adult and Career Education Los Angeles Unified School District

News for You is Now Online

ProLiteracy is now offering its popular student newsletter News for You online. Click on the link to find a weekly electronic newsletter with this week's read and listen top stories.

Creating an Education Wiki

PB Wiki will help you create a Wiki in seconds. This online feature also answers the following questions for educators: How to create a collaborative classroom; Use a calendar in the classroom; Engage students with a chatroom, add plugins; Student safety, Data security, and sample educator wikis.

Click on the link and discover an exciting new way to manage your classroom or communicate with your students.

Spotlight on Two Literacy Blogs

Literacy Source: A Community Learning Center is a blog created for tutors who teach adult literacy students. Find information on Learning Differences, ESL Links, and Literacy Links. The topics include posts on ESL, Lesson Plans, Jail Literacy, Math, New Tutor, Pre-Literate ESL, and more. This site is well worth a tutor's visit!

AlphaPlus Blog provides a slightly different perspective, pointing tutors to links in its posts, and providing topics in a drop down menu.

New ESL Study on Persistence

NEWS RELEASE (January 7, 2008 - NYC) -- The Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy today released PATHWAYS & OUTCOMES: TRACKING ESL STUDENT PERFORMANCE. It is a longitudinal study of adult ESL services at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), completing a trilogy by CAAL about adult ESL service in community colleges. Its primary aim is to help those who plan and design community college ESL programs assess and develop effective services. But it will also help those who offer adult ESL services in other institutional settings, and policymakers and funding organizations. The authors note that CCSF's ESL program has features in common with many other community college programs, and point to the model's importance because so many ESL professionals across the country consider it to be "exemplary." It is both "a typical case and a best case of adult education ESL in the United States."

Steven Spurling and Sharon Seymour of the City College of San Francisco, and CAAL's Forrest P. Chisman conducted the study. The report contains a wealth of highly detailed research information and analysis. It is groundbreaking in a number of respects. It may well be the most comprehensive, in-depth research ever conducted on any adult ESL program. It is based on College records tracking all students over a seven-year period who first enrolled in CCSF's credit and non-credit ESL programs in 1998, 1999, and 2000. More than 38,000 non-credit and some 6600 credit ESL students make up the "cohort" that was examined. The primary focus is on persistence, learning gains, and transition to credit studies, and on the success in credit courses of non-credit ESL students. Major attention is given to the various features of CCSF's ESL program that affected student outcomes and pathways -- such as terms and hours of attendance, and program design and policy. CCSF's substantial data on "stop-outs" is also presented and analyzed in depth.

As the authors explain, PATHWAYS & OUTCOMES can be used and navigated in many different ways. It is organized to serve the needs of various kinds of readers. For some, the short Executive Summary will suffice. For others, selected chapters will be sufficient. Others will want to read the entire document and may be motivated to conduct additional analyses on their own.

This study was made possible by CAAL discretionary funds; a considerable amount of pro bono CAAL staff time and resources; and staff time, data, and computer resources provided by City College of San Francisco. Forrest Chisman was responsible for overall project direction. Steven Spurling (Institutional Research Officer, Office of Research, Planning, and Grants, CCSF) conducted the data analysis and had primary responsibility for interpretation of that analysis. Sharon Seymour (former Chair, ESL Department, CCSF) was a key researcher in both of CAAL's prior ESL studies; she contributed to the study's design and interpretation of its findings. Her special insights into the College's ESL program helped shape findings about student performances and program features that influenced performance.

The report is available at no charge from the CAAL website (www.caalusa.org) as item ESL5 of the ESL section of the Publications page. It is optimized for printing and can be downloaded either as a single large document (212 pages) or in four smaller units. Bound copies of the publication can be purchased directly from CAAL (contact bheitner@caalusa.org for ordering instructions and price).

[The other two reports in this series are: "PASSING THE TORCH: Strategies for Innovation in Community College ESL" and "TORCHLIGHTS IN ESL: Five Community College Profiles." They are available from the CAAL website as items ESL2 and ESL4. Funding for the earlier reports came from the Hewlett Foundation, the Ford Foundation, CAAL discretionary funds from The McGraw-Hill Companies, and the Dollar General Corporation.]

Revised Form I-9

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a revised Form I-9, which is the form that all employers must complete for new hires to verify eligibility to work in the U.S. As of Nov. 7, 2007, the new form is the only version that is acceptable for use, although the USCIS says it will publish a notice granting employers a 30-day period to transition to using the new form. Employers should take note that the new I-9 Form has a revision date (in the lower right corner) of 06/05/07; previous versions are no longer valid. The agency has also updated its "Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9."

The key revision to the updated Form I-9 is the removal of five documents from List A, which previously could be presented by an employee to establish proof of both identity and employment eligibility. These documents were removed, says the USCIS, because they lack sufficient features to help deter counterfeiting, tampering, and fraud. The five documents that are no longer acceptable are:

1. Certificate of U.S. Citizenship, Form N-560 or N-570

2. Certificate of Naturalization, Form N-550 or N-570

3. Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form I-151

4. Unexpired Reentry Permit, Form I-327

5. Unexpired Refugee Travel Permit, Form I-571

In addition, the following document was added to List A of acceptable documents: Unexpired Employment Authorization Document, Form I-766.

The new form and instructions may be downloaded at this site, or type in the following URL: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf

Grant Writing: Your Needs Statement

Your grant hinges on a compelling needs statement that is written accurately and succinctly. In fact, all the other elements of your grant depend on this important introduction. Many seasoned grant writers have failed to persuade funders to award money based on this section alone. Our 3-hour participatory, hands-on workshop is designed for seasoned grant writers who want to strengthen the needs statements on their current grant or a grant that was rejected for failing to make a good case.

When: Look for the next announcement, coming soon.

2007 Foundations and Grants Booklet

The 2003 Foundations and Grants Booklet has been updated. Find the PDF file to this 100 page document in this link. Links on each page are live and should take you to the Funder's or Foundation's page. Click here to view this publication.

Value of Volunteer Time

According to a letter written by Susan McIver, Economic Supervisor at the Virginia Employment Commission, the estimated value of volunteer time in Virginia in 2006-2007 is $18.76 per hour.

This amount is close to the Independent Sector's estimate of $18.77 for 2006-2007.

FACTS AND STATISTICS

Welcome to the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center's Finding Facts and Statistics weblog. On this post, you will find a collection of descriptions of and links to websites and information you will need in your grant writing, marketing, and public awareness endeavors.

The post is divided in to several sections, which are indicated by the menu at the bottom.

We've also featured a site or two for each topic, which are highlighted in the menu. These featured sites are the ones we think you are likely to rely upon time and again for up-to-date and specific information that supports your work.

If you have any questions, please contact Vicky Sanborn at the Resource Center, 804-828-6521 (in Richmond), 800-237-0178 (toll-free). You can also drop an email with questions and comments at vjsanbor@vcu.edu.

MoneyWi$e Financial Literacy Training

A MoneyWi$e Financial Literacy Training is scheduled at Capital One's state of the art training facilities on the beautiful West Creek Campus in Goochland, Thursday, May 3, from 10 am to 4 pm. This is the third of four trainings paid for by Consumer Action. To register, please contact Marianne Baker at 800-237-0178 or mdbaker@vcu.edu. You will receive a confirmation and directions. If you have any questions, please contact Catherine Norrell at 800-237-0178 or norrellch@vcu.edu.

Consumer Action and Capital One first launched the MoneyWi$e partnership in April 2001. Since then, the program has produced and distributed a six-part series of MoneyWi$e educational materials to provide consumers with the building blocks for developing and honing personal finance skills, from saving and budgeting to balancing a checkbook, understanding the basics of credit and credit repair and how parents can talk to teenagers about money.

By providing free brochures in multiple languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese), the MoneyWi$e program is able to address financial literacy across both income and ethnic barriers.

MoneyWise is a financial education project of Consumer Action and Capital One.

John Strucker Lecture Rescheduled

Dr. Strucker's lecture on Improving Instruction for Adult Intermediate Readers has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 19, 9:30 to 11:30 AM at The READ Center in Richmond.

John Strucker is one of the most highly influential leaders in the field of adult literacy and reading in the U.S. today. For the past ten years he has been Research Associate at the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), and a Lecturer in the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE), where he teaches a laboratory practicum course, "Developing Reading in Adults and Older Adolescents." Dr. Strucker received his Doctorate from Harvard GSE in 1995. He is a member of the National Institute for Literacy's Adult Reading Expert Group.

To register for this lecture, please click on this link. As soon as you are registered, you will be sent a confirmation and directions to The READ Center. If you have questions, please contact Catherine Norrell at 800-237-0178 or norrellch@vcu.edu.

Regional Reading Workshop for Nonprofit Organizations, May 2 & 3, Fredericksburg

Adult Reading Instruction: Assessing Needs, Addressing Needs, Achieving Outcomes, Susan McShane, Trainer, NCFL. This workshop is a pilot project of the National Center for Family Literacy, funded by Verizon Foundation, and developed for community-based literacy organizations.

Description: This training offers a detailed introduction to the research, with emphasis on translating the research into practice. It introduces the components of reading that may contribute to a (perhaps unrecognized) reading problem: alphabetics skills, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It also introduces common reader profiles identified by research and suggests resources for initial assessment. Participants learn and practice a variety of research-based instructional strategies for addressing adults' needs in the reading-component areas.

Primary Audience: Tutors and other instructors Secondary Audience: Program administrators from community-based adult literacy programs

Click here to register:We will send you a confirmation, directions, and a list of hotels in the region. Please be aware, workshop costs are free, but hotel costs are on your own.

For questions regarding registration, please contact Catherine Norrell at 800-237-0178 or norrellch@vcu.edu

Target Community Grants

Target Community Giving grants are now available for 2007. This year, applications will ONLY be accepted ONLINE. Applications will be accepted between March 1, 2007 and May 31, 2007, for programs taking place between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008. Programs that offer family literacy services and are situated within a Target Community are eligible to apply.

To Apply:

1. Click here to enter the website.

2. Then click on APPLY ONLINE as a 501(c)(3)

Please use these questions to write your grant ahead of time. Then transfer the information as you apply online.

Reminder: Virginia Literacy Foundation Grant Deadline is March 9

The Virginia Literacy Foundation grant applications for matching grants are still available. If you are interested in applying for a VLF grants you may either request a packet of grant application forms by calling Julia Norman, or download the required application forms on this website.

Please note: All grants must be completed as required and received by 5:00 PM on March 9, 2007 by the VLF. For questions, contact Victoire Gerkens Sanborn at vjsanbor@vcu.edu or (800) 237-0178.

ESLPod.com

The definition of Podcast on the Literacy Tent Wiki is: "Pod casting" is making audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) available online in a way that allows software to automatically download the files for listening at the user's convenience. Podcasts can be used to connect directly to learning activities or you can create your own.

ESLPod.com

Note from Nancy Faux: The ESLPod is a great way to obtain recorded dialogues to use in your class. In order to exploit them for classroom use, however, you will need to create a lesson plan around them. This lesson plan should, of course, include all the essential elements of a good ESOL lesson: review/warm-up, introduction, presentation, practice, extension and on-going evaluation activities. Remember to make your classes as interactive as possible allowing your students to practice using the language.

ESLPod.com is run by a volunteer team of experienced English as a Second Language professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience. Dr. Lucy Tse writes scripts and story ideas for all of the podcasts, and records many of the dialogs and stories. The host for the podcast is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, who helps read the scripts and provides explanations for them.

A new 15-minute podcast is prepared every day. Topics include: "Seeing a Specialist," "How to Work in the United States," "Giving Opinions in a Meeting," "Getting a Driver's License," "Getting a Man's Haircut," "Shopping for Shoes," and "Giving Birth in a Hospital.

The podcasts are free. All podcasts come with an 8-10 page Learning Guide, with complete transcripts and more vocabulary, explanations, cultural information, and much more for members, who are asked to pay $10 per month for the Learning Guides.

Teachers Guides are free for the teacher, but students are asked to pay a discounted price, depending on the number of students in a class.

The site currently offers 275 podcasts. More questions? Email: ESLpod@eslpod.com

Adult Learner Writer's Awards

The Literacy Fair of Virginia is accepting written student submissions for the Fifth Annual Outstanding Adult Learner Award. Attached are two documents for distribution to your teachers, tutors, and students.

The award, sponsored by the Literacy Fair of Virginia, Inc., will honor our outstanding adult learners. The top four submissions will receive a monetary award and a plaque. The winners will be asked to come in person to read their submissions.

The Literacy Fair, which is celebrating 20 successfull years, will be held Thursday, May 17, 2007 on the John H. Daniel Campus of Southside Virginia Community College in Keysville, Virginia.

Click here for the letter Click here for the student information form

Our theme this year is "Celebrate Literacy!"

Contact: Sandra M. Thompson (434) 736-2084 or svthoms@svccdan1.sv.vccs.edu

John Strucker:Improving Instruction for Adult Intermediate Readers

You are cordially invited to attend ...

John Strucker is one of the most highly influential leaders in the field of adult literacy and reading in the U.S. today. For the past ten years he has been Research Associate at the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), and a Lecturer in the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE), where he teaches a laboratory practicum course, "Developing Reading in Adults and Older Adolescents." Dr. Strucker received his Doctorate from Harvard GSE in 1995. He is a member of the National Institute for Literacy's Adult Reading Expert Group.

Dr. Strucker's interest in adult literacy began when he worked as a labor and community organizer in Chicago in the 1970s. Before joining NCSALL, he taught adult literacy and ESL for 11 years at the Community Learning Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in the diagnostic assessment and teaching of adults with reading difficulties.

During his tenure at NCSALL, Dr. Strucker has been the Principal Investigator on three large-scale research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences: the "Adult Reading Components Study," a cluster analysis of the reading strengths and needs of 955 adult literacy and ESL students, "Components and the International Adult Literacy Study (IALS)" - a latent class analysis of the component skills of 1,084 IALS Level 1, 2, and 3 participants, and "Improving Instruction for Adult Intermediate Readers," an intervention study testing an adaptation of the Boys Town Reading Program with 275 adult learners.

Dr. Strucker's other interests include teacher-training in adult education, the application of technology to literacy learning, the development of adult literacy assessment tools, and family literacy.

To register for this lecture, please click on this link.

Tutor Training, Fredericksburg, March 3

Fine Tune Your Tutoring Skills This free workshop, sponsored by PD16 Regional Literacy Coordinating Committee and the Rappahannock Regional Library, is for experienced literacy tutors as well as those new to tutoring. The primary focus is to strengthen your skills in meeting the learning needs of adult emergent readers who may also have a learning disability. You will be working in small groups to explore many tutoring tips and strategies. You will then have the opportunity to make a lesson and build a notebook. The workshop presenters will be Susan Hahn and Peg Larose.

Saturday, March 3, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch and snacks will be provided.

Salem Church Library
2607 Salem Church Road
Fredericksburg, VA 22407

For driving directions, click here.

Registration is limited to 20 so hurry and reserve a space.

Dollar General Grants Available

Requests for Dollar General proposals are available on the Dollar General Website.

All proposals are due at the Dollar General Literacy Foundation by March 2, 2007. No late proposals will be accepted.

2007 Adult Literacy Grants are now available 2007 Family Literacy Grants are now available

Please contact Dollar General regarding these grants, not the Resource Center, at 615-855-5201

2007-2008 Virginia Literacy Foundation Grant RFPs Available

The Virginia Literacy Foundation is pleased to announce that applications for our 2007-2008 matching grants are now available. If you are interested in applying for one of our grants, you may either request a packet of grant application forms by calling 804-237-8909, or download the required application forms at www.valrc.org under weblogs, grants. To qualify for a grant, first-time applicants are required to fill out a 2007 Survey Form and return it with their grant application.

• 2007 Grant Application (Mandatory)
• 2007 Grant Instructions (Mandatory)
• 2007 Budget Sheet Attachment (Mandatory)
• 2007 Survey form for first time applicants
• 2007 Sample Goals, Objective, and Outcomes Table (Example)
• 10 Questions for Tier 2 Programs (Optional)
• Grant Guidelines (Suggested ways of writing a VLF grant)

MoneyWise: Financial Literacy Regional Trainings Coming Soon

Consumer Action has granted The Resource Center $3,000 to conduct four regional MoneyWise Financial Literacy Trainings in Virginia during the next six months. The purpose of these trainings, led by Victoire Gerkens Sanborn, a certified MoneyWise trainer, is to provide teachers and tutors with the tools and resources they need to help their students understand what good money management is and to better manage their money.

Starting in February, the trainings will be scheduled in Richmond (tentatively in May), Northern Virginia (February 23), Southwest Virginia (March 3), and Eastern Virginia (TBA.) Programs that are interested in hosting these trainings, that are centrally located within each geographic region, and that can offer a training space for 25 participants for an 8-hour workshop, please contact Victoire Gerkens Sanborn or 800-237-0178. Food and workshop costs and materials will be paid for by Consumer Action and the Resource Center.

MoneyWise is a financial education project of Consumer Action and Capital One.

Child And Family WebGuide

The Child & Family WebGuide from Tufts University is a directory that evaluates, describes and provides links to hundreds of sites containing child development research and practical advice. Online searches for many parent topics yield information that is inconsistent with child development research. The WebGuide selects sites that have the highest quality child development research and that are parent friendly, and rates them.

The sites in the family, education, typical development and health categories provide child development articles with research findings. The sites in the resources category provide child development articles with practical information.

Click here to enter the website. (www.cfw.tufts.edu/)

Google for Educators

Google offers a site as a platform of teaching resources - for everything from blogging and collaborative writing to geographical search tools and 3D modeling software - and the staff at Google want you to fill it in with your great ideas.

To the left of the home page, you'll find a teacher's guide to free Google products, including basic information about each tool, examples of how educators are using them, and lesson ideas. You'll also find lesson plans and videos from our partners at Discovery Education focusing on two of our most popular teaching tools: Google Earth and Google SketchUp.

Click here to enter the site.

Usable Knowledge: A New Website for Educators and Researchers

From HGSE News, December 2006

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) today launched a new Web site aimed at connecting the research of its faculty with educators in the field. The Usable Knowledge Web site features a diverse set of media - text, video, and audio - to make the leading research of its faculty accessible to educators all over the world.

EPN: The Education Podcast Network

Podcasts provide an easy and versatile reinforcement to student lessons. These audio and visual files are easily downloaded into an MP3 player or your computer. They appeal to the auditory learner and add variety to the teaching experience.

EPN, or the Education Podcast Network, is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century. They provide another way for your student to do independent work.

Subjects include math, science, second languages, social studies, and career development. Be aware that this service merely lists these free podcasts. You will need to make sure that the content is appropriate before suggesting them to your students or incorporating them into a lesson. To find a podcast on the site, click here.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Deducting Generosity: The Effect of Charitable Tax Incentives on Giving--a look at how tax policy motivates giving at different income levels.
5. 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.
6. 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.

New Communications Toolkit is Excellent

A GUIDE TO NAVIGATING COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE NONPROFIT Cause Communications' Communications Toolkit -- A guide to navigating communications for the nonprofit world is a comprehensive resource offering practical information in virtually every area of communications -- from how to develop and budget a communications plan to what tools you need to help raise awareness and funds. The toolkit is practical and easy-to-use, making it a must-have guide for nonprofit newbies, veterans, and anyone in between seeking to revolutionize communications with strategic marketing, advertising, branding, media relations, event planning and more. Tips, templates and strategy outlines are based on more than 25 years of experience from the professionals at Cause Communications, and on information from national qualitative and quantitative audits of what nonprofits need in the area of communications. The book was made possible by support from The Annenberg Foundation, The California Endowment, The James Irvine Foundation and The Marguerite Casey Foundation. Click here to order a copy of the publication or download the 134 page document.

This entry comes from the October 27 issue of PenWeekly NEWSBLAST

Award for Literacy Educators

From PenWeekly NewsBlast, October 13, 2006

The National Center for Family Literacy/Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year Award is given to an educator who demonstrates exemplary efforts in family literacy to help parents and children achieve their academic, personal and professional goals. Maximum Award: $5000. Eligibility: nominees must have worked for at least three years in a literacy program that provides: children's education, adult education, parenting education (Parent Time), and interactive literacy activities between parents and children (Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time). Deadline: December 1, 2006.

Click here for more information.

VLLC Meeting and Database Meeting, October 24

A meeting hosted by the Virginia Literacy Leadership Council (VLLC) and Literacy Support Center has been scheduled for community based literacy organizations at The READ Center in Richmond for Tuesday, October 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Facilitators will be Patty Donnelly, Executive Director of the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia and Victoire Sanborn, Director of the Literacy Support Center.

All directors and staff of all literacy programs are invited to attend the morning session from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to discuss advocacy for literacy programs at the state level. We will also go over the history of the VLLC and solicit your input for its future direction. Coffee will be served for morning attendees.

Directors and staff of literacy programs that receive DOE-CBLO and EL/Civics grants are invited to remain for the afternoon session (from 1-4 p.m.) when Shannon Beasley will more fully explain NRS data and how it works.

Preregistration is required. Deadline: Friday, October 20 . Please email or fax your name, your program, and if you plan to attend.

Email to: vjsanbor@vcu.edu or fax to: Victoire Sanborn, 804-828-7539.

Registration for Online Courses Is Now Open

The Resource Center is excited to offer all of our online courses this fall. These courses are free to adult educators in Virginia, and you may complete them on your own schedule in the convenience of your home or office.

Courses offered are Adults as Learners: An Orientation, ESOL Basics, and Using Technology to Enhance GED Instruction. The registration deadline for all courses is Friday, October 13; courses begin Monday, October 16. Register now to reserve your spot in one of our innovative online courses! More information and registration for each course is available below:

• Adults as Learners: An Orientation
• ESOL Basics

• Using Technology to Enhance GED Instruction

If you have any questions regarding these courses, please contact Lauren Ellington at leellington@vcu.edu or 800-237-0178.

Upcoming Events

ProLiteracy Annual Conference

Atlanta Georgia, October 7-10, 2006

For more information, click on the title.

International Literacy Day

International Literacy Day, observed September 8, focuses attention on worldwide literacy issues and needs. It is estimated that 860 million of the world's adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write and that more than 100 million children lack access to education.

Click on the title for information from the International Reading Association.

The theme of the 2006 celebration is Literacy, the Path Out of Poverty

2006 Literacy Trainer Institute - July 26 and 27

The Literacy Support Center (LSC), a project of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, is pleased to announce that registration for the 2006 Literacy Trainer Institute is open to all trainers in Virginia. This two-day Institute will feature workshops by Susan McShane, author of Applying Research In Reading Instruction for Adults, and by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership. Other topics that will be addressed are Learning Disabilities (LD), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and online training. The registration fee is $15.00. To find registration forms and detailed Institute information, please click on the links below.

• Flyer (46 kb)
• Registration (40 kb)
• Agenda (37 kb)
• Directions (30 kb)

For questions about the Institute, call Victoire Gerkens Sanborn at 800-237-0178 or email her. For questions about registration or reserving a room, contact Marianne Baker at 800-237-0178 or email her.