From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Jan 3 19:01:37 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 19:01:37 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 740] Adults Learnng Mathematics Conference Message-ID: <105B57F5-7696-462A-8CBD-D9CEA77E7BF8@comcast.net> The following is posted on behalf of Katherine Safford-Ramus. The fifteenth annual conference of Adults Learning Mathematics - A Research Forum (ALM), A Declaration of Numeracy: Empowering Adults through Mathematics Education, will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 30, 2008 to July 3, 2008. ALM is an international research forum that brings together those engaged and interested in research and developments in the field of adult mathematics/numeracy teaching and learning. The ALM conference has not met in the United States since 2000 and offers American educators a unique opportunity to meet colleagues from around the world who share their interest in adult mathematics education. Information about the 2008 conference can be found on the ALM website www.alm- online.net. The conference organizer is Kathy Safford, ksafford at spc.edu. Katherine Safford-Ramus, Ed.D. Associate Professor Mathematics Department Saint Peter's College Jersey City, New Jersey David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Fri Jan 4 08:17:34 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 08:17:34 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 741] Reminder: Part 2 of Reading Assessment Webcast - Jan. 11, 2008 Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B180C51BB@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> ** Just a friendly reminder that registration is OPEN for the Reading Assessment Webcast, Part 2 ** >From Assessment to Practice: Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults Part 2: Specific Instructional Strategies for Fluency and Vocabulary WHEN: Friday, January 11, 2008 TIME: 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM Eastern Time 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM Central Time 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM Mountain Time 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM Pacific Time Please join us for Part 2 of "From Assessment to Practice: Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults" webcast. This follow-up webcast will focus on specific instructional strategies for two other components of reading, fluency and vocabulary. The presenters will show how all four components provide a natural framework for assessing adult students' reading ability, and how assessment results can lead seamlessly to a program of instruction to improve students' reading. REGISTRATION NOW OPEN To register and for more information, please go to: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/assesspractice2/webcast0111.html Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email and a reminder email before the event. This seventy-minute webcast is a part two for the webcast presented on September 28, 2007: From Assessment to Practice-Research-Based Approaches to Teaching Reading to Adults . The main purpose of the first webcast was to present a compelling rationale for the use of research-based principles for adult reading instruction. The presenters used two components of reading, word analysis and comprehension, as examples to illustrate research-based practices, focusing on specific instructional strategies derived from the research. For more information, please contact info at nifl.gov or call 202-233-2025 or visit us online at: http://www.nifl.gov/. Thanks, Jo Maralit mmaralit at nifl.gov -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080104/1862100b/attachment.html From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Fri Feb 8 16:12:49 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 16:12:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 742] LINCS Regional Resource Centers Sponsor Health Literacy Summits Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B180C53D3@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> LINCS Regional Resource Centers Sponsor Three Regional Health Literacy Summits The National Institute for Literacy through its LINCS Regional Resource Centers is convening adult literacy and health professionals in three locations in February and March to share information about the research on health literacy and resources for implementing health literacy programming. Health literacy is often defined as the ability to read, understand, and act upon health-related information. Improving health literacy may improve the health status and quality of life of America's adults, especially among adults with marginal literacy skills. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) reported the extent of low health literacy in The Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. About 22 percent of adults only had Basic health literacy and 14 percent had Below Basic health literacy. The LINCS health summits will share information on the state of health literacy in the nation and address how partnerships among adult literacy providers and health literacy providers can help in eliminating literacy barriers in accessing quality health care. For contact information and registration, please go to: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/news_events/02-08-08.html Region 3 will meet February 28, 2008 in San Francisco, CA. This summit is sponsored by Literacyworks in partnership with San Francisco State University College of Humanities, Center for Immigrant and Refugee Community Literacy Education (CIRCLE); Community Engagement Program, University of California San Francisco (UCSF); and Center for Vulnerable Populations, UCFS/San Francisco General Hospital. Presenters include Dr. Dean Schillinger, MD, University of California San Francisco Associate Professor of Medicine, and various literacy providers and adult students. Region 2 will meet March 5, 2008 in Atlanta, GA. This summit is sponsored by the Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy, Georgia State University; Office of Adult Literacy, Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education; and Literacy Action, Inc. (Atlanta). Presenters include Cynthia Baur (US/DHHS) and Dr. Yolanda Partida, UCSF Fresno. Region 1 will meet March 25-26, 2008 in Indianapolis, IN. This summit is sponsored by World Education and Kent State University/Ohio Literacy Resource Center in partnership with Indiana Department of Education/Division of Adult Education. Among the presenters are Paul D. Smith, MD, University of Wisconsin (Health literacy: A clinician's point of view) and Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., Rutgers University (Advancing health literacy: Building bridges). The summit will also highlight health literacy initiatives in Wisconsin, New York, Iowa and Rhode Island. Jo Maralit National Institute for Literacy mmaralit at nifl.gov -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080208/a29e732e/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 5982 bytes Desc: image001.gif Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080208/a29e732e/attachment.gif From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Feb 20 10:59:33 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:59:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 743] Formative Assessment in Adult Literacy Education: A Special Topics Discussion Message-ID: <7B56ED6C-B905-40B2-907C-18DE50E0224B@comcast.net> Colleagues, Beginning on Monday, February 25th, the Special Topics list will hold a discussion on formative assessment, a set of classroom practices that substantial research in England has shown to positively affect elementary and secondary level student learning outcomes. Not a term widely known in the U.S., formative assessment refers to what teachers and learners do in the classroom to assess learning progress. An assessment is _formative_ when information gathered in the assessment process is used to modify teaching and learning activities. It's an assessment _for_ learning, not just _of_ learning. A just-published study sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD), Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills < http://tinyurl.com/2dksn5 > looks at formative assessment practices in adult foundation skills (basic skills) classes in several countries among which were the U.S. and England. We will have as our guests the researchers who did the studies in these two countries. OECD researchers who studied adult formative assessment practices in other countries may also participate in the discussion. In my opinion, not an unbiased one as I was an OECD researcher in this study of practices in Flanders Belgium, the study could have an important impact on adult literacy education practices in North America, and formative assessment could -- as has been shown in K-12 and higher education studies -- make an important difference for students' learning. I hope you will join my esteemed guests for this discussion. I also hope you will invite your colleagues to join us. Instructions for subscribing are below. To subscribe to the discussion, go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics . You can unsubscribe after the discussion by going to the same web page or, if you prefer, you can stay subscribed for the next discussion, Transition from Corrections to Community Education. Formative Assessment Guest Experts Janet Looney Janet Looney is the project leader of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation program known as What Works in Innovation in Education. Since 2002 its focus has been on formative assessment. Between 2002 and 2004, the What Works program explored formative assessment in lower secondary classrooms in eight international systems. [See Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms (2005)]. OECD has just published the second study addressing formative assessment for adult basic skill learners, whose web page was provided above. Earlier in her career Janet taught ESOL in Japan for over two years, and at the YMCA in Seattle Washington. John Benseman John Benseman has been involved in adult education and literacy for over 30 years working as a practitioner and program administrator, but mainly as a researcher and evaluator. He started his working life as a primary (elementary) school teacher, but ?became disillusioned with the task of constantly trying to motivate reluctant learners and became much more interested in working with adults who were much more motivated?. After a year of studying adult education in Sweden, he worked in continuing medical education, followed by seven years of running a community-based adult education organization and a similar period of self-employment as a researcher. After 12 years of teaching adult education at the University of Auckland, he moved last year to the Department of Labour to run a national workplace literacy project. The aim of this project is to identify best practice in workplace literacy by evaluating 15 diverse programs throughout New Zealand. They are about halfway through and should complete it late next year. To date they have interviewed about 250 learners and are just starting to get their first post-program data. They expect to have data on about 500-600 learners when it is finished. John?s PhD was an analysis of New Zealand as a learning society. In addition to a "zillion" reports, he has edited a book on New Zealand adult education and two weeks ago, another one (with Alison Sutton) on New Zealand adult literacy. He ?mainly works from home in a study that looks out on to beautiful native bush, including a stream and lots of native birds?. He says "It?s summer here, so life includes jaunts to the beach, enjoying family life, frustrated attempts to lower a very average golf handicap and riding a motorbike to beat the Auckland traffic. My current project also includes a lot of travel round the country to interview people ? a duty that I am even paid to do?" With John Comings, John Benseman did the formative assessment research in the U.S., sponsored in part by the National Institute for Literacy John Comings Dr. John Comings was director of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) during its 11 years of funding from the US Department of Education. He is currently Senior Research Associate and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a consultant on adult education in the U.S. and other countries. His research focuses on the impact of adult literacy programs and ways to support persistence of adult learners. John Vorhaus Dr John Vorhaus is Associate Director, Research, at the National Research and Development Centre in Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) at the Institute of Education. He is also Director of the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning. John has directed numerous projects on adult literacy, language and numeracy, many of these focused on teaching and learning practices, and also on disadvantaged groups such as offenders, ethnic minority groups and people who are not in education, training or employment. On-going research is taken up with persons with profound and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities; their political status, the question of whether and how they are shown respect, and an examination of the teaching and learning practices best fitted to their needs and abilities. John has taught philosophy at the Universities of Bristol and London, and also in prison, adult and further education, and he continues to publish in the areas of political philosophy, philosophy of law and philosophy of education. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080220/9493c097/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Feb 22 14:48:35 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:48:35 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 744] Preparation for Monday's Discussion on Formative Assessment Message-ID: <899D0680-AB4F-4CC6-87D7-B42B27A4F5B9@comcast.net> Special Topics Colleagues, In preparation for our discussion Monday on formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills classes, our guests have suggested the following readings that will be found at: http://www.oecd.org/document/ 42/0,3343,en_2649_37455_40026026_1_1_1_37455,00.html or at the short form of the web address: http://tinyurl.com/2dksn5 The Case Studies; Literature Reviews; Overview of Policies and Programmes for Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Learners; and Country Background Reports are free and are linked at the bottom of the web page. You will also find information there for ordering the just published Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills. Key research which led up to this study, by Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black in England, will be found at: http://www.dylanwiliam.net/ David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080222/1165236d/attachment.html From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Fri Feb 22 20:33:39 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:33:39 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 745] World News with Charles Gibson: A Special Series on Literacy Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B1538336C@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> February 22, 2008 News and Notes from the National Institute for Literacy >From the Desk of Dr. Sandra L. Baxter, Director ____________________________________________________________ "WORLD NEWS WITH CHARLES GIBSON" TO REPORT A SPECIAL SERIES - "LIVING IN THE SHADOWS: ILLITERACY IN AMERICA" BEGINNING FEBRUARY 25th Beginning Monday, February 25, ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" will feature a special series, "Living in the Shadows: Illiteracy in America" that examines the hidden phenomenon of illiteracy in this country. An estimated 30 million people in the U.S. cannot read a simple sentence, and as Senior Justice Department Correspondent Pierre Thomas reports, undiagnosed learning disorders, poverty, and unstable homes are among the factors contributing to this nation-wide crisis. The problem persists, in large part, because many actively try to conceal it or avoid seeking help. 45 year-old Monica Baxley of Chipley, Florida was one of those people, hiding the fact that she was functionally illiterate from family, friends, even her husband for thirty years. She was unable to read newspapers, road signs, or fill out job applications - a painful existence with constant reminders of her limitation. She finally decided to seek help after becoming frustrated that she couldn't help her daughter with homework. After several years of intensive instruction with a local literacy group, she went on to earn her GED. She now spends her time tutoring and inspiring others who are illiterate. In part two of the series, Thomas travels to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where one out of every five residents there has difficulty reading or cannot read at all. The city has pledged to cut the illiteracy rate in half in the next ten years - launching a city-wide campaign to increase awareness of the issue and enlisting hundreds of tutors and volunteers. Are their initiatives making a difference? For those who have overcome illiteracy, the ability to read has opened new doors and expanded their opportunities. "Living in the Shadows: Illiteracy in America" will air on "World News with Charles Gibson" beginning Monday, February 25. Thomas' reporting will also be featured on the "World News" webcast, available on ABCNEWS.com, ABC News Now, Apple's iTunes, and mobile phones. Jon Banner is the executive producer of "World News with Charles Gibson." ABC News Media Relations: Natalie Raabe (212) 456-2418 From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Sun Feb 24 23:55:32 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:55:32 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 746] ABC News Special Series on Literacy starts Monday, Feb. 25 Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B15383379@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Special Announcement >From the Desk of Dr. Sandra L. Baxter Join us as we tune into watch ABC's "World News with Charlie Gibson," the first installment in this special series airs Monday, February 25, 2008. (Please check local listings.) >From ABC NEWS: http://abcnews.go.com/ Text link: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/LegalCenter/story?id=4336421&page=1 Video link: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4336780 Living in the Shadows: Illiteracy in America Millions Live With a Crippling Secret That Affects Their Everyday Lives By PIERRE THOMAS, JACK DATE and THERESA COOK Feb. 24, 2008 -- It's a chronic crisis of huge proportions, one that keeps millions of Americans living in the shadows. And for nearly all of her of 45 years, Monica Baxley had lived with the crippling secret. "I cried a lot over this," she said, "when I was alone and just would wonder what could be done, you know, if there was any help out there for me." Baxley, of the Florida panhandle town of Chipley, was functionally illiterate. She quit school in the ninth grade, and for 30 years kept her secret from friends, family and even her husband. "I didn't want to be exposed, beyond anything else. That was the most important thing -- for no one to ever learn." Baxley joins so many others with literacy challenges: 7 million Americans are illiterate, 27 million are unable to read well enough to complete a job application and 30 million can't read a simple sentence. Her travel was limited because she was unable to read road signs. She was unable to read a newspaper or food labels in a supermarket. Baxley never voted in an election. "I didn't know who or what to vote for," she said. Her illiteracy even impacted her physical health, as she avoided seeing the doctor out of fear she would have to fill out a medical form or read a prescription. "My health is poor now, but I really believe that's because I never went to the doctor and had my physicals and stuff that I should have had," Baxley admitted. A recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed patients who had difficulty reading prescriptions were 50 percent more likely to die from disease than patients who were literate. "It is a life and death issue," said study author Dr. David Baker of Northwestern University. "Literacy affects your health in so many different ways," he said, from inability to properly follow instructions to not knowing about common conditions or what symptoms to look for. "So when you put all of these things together it's not surprising that people with the lower literacy levels are more likely to die [earlier]," Baker said. Baker said his team has interviewed hundreds of patients about their experiences, and Baxley's situation was a common theme -- hiding illiteracy from those close to them. "It's very scary for people" when their first contact with the healthcare system involves filling out detailed medical forms. "That's not a great start," Baxter said, "and then when they are seeing their doctor they're given other information they don't understand" such as prescription information and instructions to take care of themselves. "Many people are afraid to come in and see the doctor," Baxter said. They don't seek care, resulting in the worsening of their conditions and an increased likelihood of trips to the emergency room. The American Medical Association Foundation did a private study of patients who could not read. One woman who provided a testimonial said signed a form agreeing to a medical procedure with no idea what it meant. "The nurse said, how are you feeling since your hysterectomy?" according to the testimonial. "And I acted as normal as I could, but inside, my mouth fell open and I thought to myself, how could I be so stupid as to allow somebody to take part of my body and I didn't know it?" Another patient took her medication improperly, afraid to tell her physician about her difficulty reading. "I didn't take it right. I admit it," her testimonial said. "I just didn't have they nerve to ask them and I didn't want anyone to know I couldn't read." "It's a tremendous problem when you think about the costs for us, economically, health-wise," said Sandra Baxter, director of the National Institute for Literacy. "For so many adults who don't have the education, it's embarrassing to have to say, would you explain that to me?" Baxter said of potential problems during a doctor appointment. "And so they don't ask the questions that they need to." Undiagnosed learning disorders, poverty and an unstable home life are all factors. As for Monica Baxley, she confronted her illiteracy at age 42 and learned to read. But illiteracy persists for millions who continue to live with it in the shadows. If someone you know needs help, contact your local library, or use one of the following resources: National Institute for Literacy: http://www.nifl.gov Reading is Fundamental: http://www.rif.org/ To find a literacy program near you: http://www.literacydirectory.org/ To search resources by state: http://www.literacydirectory.org/?op=hotlines&type=contacts Copyright ? 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Feb 25 07:58:44 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:58:44 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 747] Formative Assessment in Adult Literacy Education Message-ID: <28E348B0-7C0C-49AC-859F-80CD60E00317@comcast.net> Colleagues, Today we will begin an international discussion on formative assessment in adult literacy education. Our guests, Dr. John Benseman, Dr. John Comings, and Dr. John Vorhaus are international researchers who have taken part in background studies and case studies of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills programs in England and the U.S. The studies were sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and were led by Janet Looney. Support from the National Institute for Literacy enabled the studies in the U.S. Janet, can you start us off by giving us some background on the study. To organize this a bit I have some questions for you below. On Tuesday John Vorhaus and John Comings will present the case study for England. On Wednesday John Benseman and John Comings will present the case study for the United States. On Thursday I hope that other OECD experts who conducted or participated in studies, and who are subscribed to this discussion, will chime in. All during the week, I hope participants will post questions about formative assessment in adult basic education (including second language learning) and about these studies. I hope participants in the formative assessment research -- both researchers and practitioners -- will comment on the studies in their countries. Janet, here are my questions: 1. What is OECD and what does it do? 2. What led up to the OECD What Works study, Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills? Why is OECD interested in teaching, learning and assessment, especially in formative assessment for adults who need basic skills? 3. Could you say a bit about the research of Black and Wiliam in the U.K. , their "black box" model, and why their elementary and secondary education and higher education research is so significant for those interested in the quality of instruction and in education outcomes? 4. What countries were involved in the study? 5. What were the methods used in the study? 6. How does OECD define formative assessment; what are its key characteristics? 7. What were some of the key findings of the initial research? 8. What are the steps of the learning journey? 9. What are the study's conclusions? I very much look forward to this discussion, and hope it generates some new and sustained interest in formative assessment in adult literacy education in the U.S. and in countries across the world. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Mon Feb 25 09:56:24 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:56:24 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 748] Re: Formative Assessment in Adult Literacy Education In-Reply-To: <28E348B0-7C0C-49AC-859F-80CD60E00317@comcast.net> References: <28E348B0-7C0C-49AC-859F-80CD60E00317@comcast.net> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1387@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> GOOD MORNING. DAVID HAS PROVIDED A SET OF QUESTIONS. SINCE THERE ARE SEVERAL QUESTIONS, I'LL START OUT WITH JUST A FEW OF THE MOST BASIC QUESTIONS TO GET THE DISCUSSION STARTED, AND WILL GO INTO MORE DEPTH AS THE DISCUSSION PROCEEDS. QUESTION 1. WHAT IS THE OECD AND WHAT DOES IT DO? The OECD (the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), which was established in 1961, might be described as an international "think tank". It provides statistics, economic and social data; analyzes and forecasts economic developments; seeks answers to common problems; and identifies good practices. There are 30 member countries - including the United States (for the complete list, see "About OECD" at www.oecd.org). OECD headquarters is located in Paris, France. While the OECD is not necessarily well-known in the United States, those participating in this Special Topics discussion group may be familiar with some of its large-scale surveys. They include: * the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test of 15 year- olds' problem-solving skills * The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), conducted between 1994 and 1998 as a joint project of the OECD and Statistics Canada. * The Adult Literacy and LifeSkills (ALL) Survey of 2005 and ongoing, also conducted as a joint project of the OECD and Statistics Canada * The Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) which will begin in the next two to three years, will include more on literacy in the information age. But the OECD is also involved in other kinds of research, including studies developed to compare policy experiences, to seek answers to common problems, and to identify good practices. More information on the Education Directorate can be found at www.oecd.org/edu. The website for the study about we're discussing this week, Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills, can be found at www.oecd.org/edu/whatworks and www.oecd.org/edu/whatworks/feb2008meeting QUESTION 2. What led up to the OECD What Works study, Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills? Why is OECD interested in teaching, learning and assessment, especially in formative assessment for adults who need basic skills? I'LL ANSWER THIS QUESTION IN TWO PARTS - FIRST, WHY FOCUS ON CLASSROOM PRACTICE, AND SECOND, WHAT IS FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT AND WHY IS IT SUCH SO SIGNFICANT? The OECD international surveys on adult literacy have been extremely important for identifying the prevalence of adults with foundation skill needs across countries. For example, the IALS showed that in the majority of the 23 countries participating in the survey, between 14 and 23 % of adults were able to meet only the lowest standards of literacy and numeracy proficiency. Other publications have focused on questions of improving access to adult foundation skill learning [for example, Beyond Rhetoric (OECD, 2003) and Promoting Adult Learning (OECD, 2005)]. The just published OECD study, Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills (OECD, 2008) is the first study to focus on improving the quality of provision and outcomes for adult learners. Until recently, it has been rare for a policy organization such as the OECD to focus on what happens inside classrooms. However, there is increasing awareness that: * We cannot effectively support goals for equity and efficiency in education without paying attention to quality. * It is not enough to set outcome goals and targets for learning and then expect programs to meet them. Teaching, learning and assessment are highly complex tasks, and instructors also need support if they are to help learners achieve high-quality outcomes. To provide appropriate support, policy-makers also need to understand the steps of the learning process. * And, with an understanding of "what works" in practice, policy-makers are also be able to provide more effective leadership, to ensure that the elements of the system are aligned, and to make better investments. THE SECOND PART OF DAVID'S QUESTION IS WHY WE CHOSE to FOCUS ON "FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT"? FIRST, WHAT IS FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT? For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "formative assessment" refers to frequent assessments of learner progress and understanding to identify learning needs and shape teaching. Formative assessment is sometimes referred to as assessment for learning, distinct from assessment of learning (tests and examinations). In another definition, Black et al. (2005) propose that: "Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting students' learning... An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their students, in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes 'formative assessment' when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs." (SEE REFERENCE FOR BLACK, ET AL., 2005) AT THE END. While formative assessment is really a global approach to teaching and learning , it might be useful to give a few concrete examples of techniques , such as "feedback", questioning and scaffolding. * Feedback with specific suggestions on how to improve performance helps learners to meet learning goals. * Effective questioning can help to draw learners into active dialogue and debate, joint enquiry, and/or reveal whether learners have understood a new concept. Questioning may help to establish common understandings within heterogeneous groups. Questions that push learners to reflect and/or explain are more useful (for example, ""how?", "why?", "are you sure?", "are you happy with that?", "show me", and other questions which cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no"). * Scaffolding means that instructors pitch the level of lessons and learning material so that learners get as much or as little challenge as they can handle at any given point. These are just a few specific techniques....I'll have more to say about how formative assessment changes the overall approach to teaching and learning later in the discussion. WHY IS FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT SUCH AN IMPORTANT AREA FOR EDUCATIN RESEARCH? The English researchers Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam describe achievement gains associated with formative assessment as among the largest ever reported for educational interventions - based on their 1998 review of the English language literature ecologically valid controlled studies on formative assessment practices. Formative assessment has also been found to have an even greater impact for low achieving students, and helps build students' skills for learning-to-learn. These effects are consistent across different age groups (school-age and university learners), subjects and in the different countries included in major reviews. Yet there have been few efforts to date to study the impact or implementation of formative assessment in the context of adult foundation skill learning. I should note that we also focused on the subject of formative assessment in our 2005 publication, Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms (OECD, 2005). Based on this study and other research, we were convinced that formative assessment would have important implications for adult foundation skill learners, and so set out to learn more about the state of the art in this sector. [REFs: Black, P., C. Harrison, C. Lee, B. Marshall and D. Wiliam (2005), Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice, Open University Press, Buckingham. Black, P. and D. Wiliam (1998), "Assessment and Classroom Learning", Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, CARFAX, Oxfordshire, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 7-74.] QUESTION 3. Could you say a bit about the research of Black and Wiliam in the U.K. , their "black box" model, and why their elementary and secondary education and higher education research is so significant for those interested in the quality of instruction and in education outcomes? Following on their 1998 review of the literature, Black and Wiliam turned to the question of how to promote formative assessment practices in regular classrooms. They first applied the term "black box" to the classroom - noting that policy makers tend to focus on "inputs" and "outputs", with little attention as to how results are achieved. We found this metaphor to be very useful for the adult foundation skill classroom, as well. QUESTION 4. What countries were involved in the study? Ten countries were involved in the current OECD study. These countries identified exemplary practices for case study development and/or background reports on the policy environment for adult foundation skill learning: Australia Belgium (Flemish Community) Denmark England France New Zealand Norway Scotland Spain, and the United States MORE AS THE DISCUSSION GETS STARTED.... David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Feb 25 11:07:08 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:07:08 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 749] For those who have just joined the formative assessment discussion Message-ID: <2C6CBA12-BA92-42CC-ACA9-8E8AF915B402@comcast.net> Colleagues, The discussion on formative assessment began earlier today, February 25th. If you have just joined the discussion and have missed the first two posts you will find them -- and all the posts for this discussion that follow -- at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/ specialtopics/2008/date.html If you have questions or comments on the postings so far, the background and introduction to the study/ies, please email them to to specialtopics at nifl.gov I look forward to your thoughts, questions, and comments. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Mon Feb 25 12:08:25 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:08:25 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 750] Re: For those who have just joined the formativeassessment discussion In-Reply-To: <2C6CBA12-BA92-42CC-ACA9-8E8AF915B402@comcast.net> References: <2C6CBA12-BA92-42CC-ACA9-8E8AF915B402@comcast.net> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A16C3@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> I'LL ADDRESS A COUPLE MORE OF DAVID'S QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OECD STUDY WE ARE DISCUSSING: QUESTION 5. What were the methods used in the study? This study explores the state of the art in this field, drawing upon: * International research from English, French, German and Spanish-language literature. The literature examines the conceptualization of formative assessment and related teaching strategies in adult LLN education, the breadth and quality of evidence in the field, and what is known about the impact of specific approaches and techniques for different learners. * Innovative cases in a range of adult LLN learning settings, where teaching, learning and assessment have been adapted to meet the needs of this population. The case studies were conducted by country-based experts along with OECD-appointed experts not from the same country (and therefore bringing a different perspective to the study). * Country background reports describing policies to suport adult foundation skill learners. All of these documents are available for free on our website. At the moment, the quickest link is at www.oecd.org/edu/whatworks/feb2008meeting. Click on the link to "Documentation" just below the "conference agenda". The literature reviews did, however find a rich literature on the different formative assessment approaches and techniques, which draws on practitioner wisdom. This literature provides a firm foundation for further research. QUESTION 6. How does OECD define formative assessment; what are its key characteristics? The "quick and dirty" definition of formative assessment used by the OECD is: "the frequent assessment of learner progress and understanding to identify learning needs and shape teaching". If we probe more deeply, we find that formative assessment represents a sea change in how we think not only about assessment, but also teaching and learning: * The underlying assumption of formative assessment is that each learner can succeed. Assessment is a means to identify individual needs and tailor teaching. This is a profound change from approaches where assessment is used as a means to identify and promote the most able learners. * In classrooms featuring formative assessment, the instructors' primary role is to facilitate the learning process. This implies that instructors have developed skills for uncovering learning gaps, correctly identifying the source of misconceptions, and offering useful learning tasks and challenges to promote learning. Instructors need strong subject-matter and pedagogical expertise, as well as softer skills, such as empathy. * Learners are actively engaged in the learning and assessment process, and developing skills for self- and peer-assessment. They may also negotiate teaching goals and methods. The focus is on the process of learning as well as on outcomes. The focus on the individual learner, the shaping of the educational process to draw on the information about how well learners are progressing, and the engagement of learners in the learning process go well beyond techniques of "traditional" student assessment: it is about the whole approach to shaping teaching and learning. In short, formative assessment represents a fundamental shift in classroom relationships, and how instructors and learners work toward successful outcomes. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: 25 February, 2008 5:07 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 749] For those who have just joined the formativeassessment discussion Colleagues, The discussion on formative assessment began earlier today, February 25th. If you have just joined the discussion and have missed the first two posts you will find them -- and all the posts for this discussion that follow -- at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/ specialtopics/2008/date.html If you have questions or comments on the postings so far, the background and introduction to the study/ies, please email them to to specialtopics at nifl.gov I look forward to your thoughts, questions, and comments. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Feb 25 13:40:31 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:40:31 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment Message-ID: Colleagues, A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never heard of formative assessment in adult basic education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. who are subscribed to this discussion. I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." or however you like. While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From dwyoho at earthlink.net Mon Feb 25 15:13:51 2008 From: dwyoho at earthlink.net (Debbie Yoho) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:13:51 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment Message-ID: <380-220082125201351765@earthlink.net> While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net From etolbert at temple.edu Mon Feb 25 15:45:28 2008 From: etolbert at temple.edu (etolbert at temple.edu) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:45:28 -0500 (EST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 753] Re: What is formative assessment Message-ID: <20080225154528.DGM25092@po-f.temple.edu> I googled and found Classroom Questions: What kinds by Sanders, N.M., 1966 - could that be it? Earldine V. Tolbert Program Specialist Temple University - CSPCD/WELL Mitten Hall, Room 201, TU Box (043-83) 1913 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 215-204-2560 (Work) 267-978-2600 (Cell) From sbeaman at webster.edu Mon Feb 25 15:51:39 2008 From: sbeaman at webster.edu (Sarah Beaman-Jones) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:51:39 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 754] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: <20080225154528.DGM25092@po-f.temple.edu> Message-ID: If so, it is available, used, at Amazon.com. Sarah Beaman-Jones Literacy Program Director LIFT-Missouri 815 Olive Street, Suite 22 St. Louis, Missouri 63101 1-800-729-4443 ext. 206 www.lift-missouri.org On 2/25/08 2:45 PM, "etolbert at temple.edu" wrote: > I googled and found Classroom Questions: What kinds by > Sanders, N.M., 1966 - could that be it? > > Earldine V. Tolbert > Program Specialist > Temple University - CSPCD/WELL > Mitten Hall, Room 201, TU Box (043-83) > 1913 N. Broad Street > Philadelphia, PA 19122 > 215-204-2560 (Work) > 267-978-2600 (Cell) > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to sbeaman at webster.edu > From dwyoho at earthlink.net Mon Feb 25 16:48:34 2008 From: dwyoho at earthlink.net (Debbie Yoho) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:48:34 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 755] Re: What is formative assessment Message-ID: <380-220082125214834546@earthlink.net> Yes indeed, the reference is Norris Sanders, CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. It should be required reading for all teachers, as it was in 1971. Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: Sarah Beaman-Jones > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 4:26:25 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 754] Re: What is formative assessment > > If so, it is available, used, at Amazon.com. > > Sarah Beaman-Jones > Literacy Program Director > > LIFT-Missouri > 815 Olive Street, Suite 22 > St. Louis, Missouri 63101 > > 1-800-729-4443 ext. 206 > www.lift-missouri.org > > > > > > On 2/25/08 2:45 PM, "etolbert at temple.edu" wrote: > > > I googled and found Classroom Questions: What kinds by > > Sanders, N.M., 1966 - could that be it? > > > > Earldine V. Tolbert > > Program Specialist > > Temple University - CSPCD/WELL > > Mitten Hall, Room 201, TU Box (043-83) > > 1913 N. Broad Street > > Philadelphia, PA 19122 > > 215-204-2560 (Work) > > 267-978-2600 (Cell) > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to sbeaman at webster.edu > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Feb 25 17:14:47 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:14:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective References: Message-ID: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net> Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz Mon Feb 25 22:30:44 2008 From: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz (John Benseman) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:30:44 +1300 Subject: [SpecialTopics 757] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: <380-220082125201351765@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <001701c87827$f8e935b0$0b00a8c0@critical1> If I could come in at this point and respond to this question. I think it is important to recognise that formative assessment is, as one of the Norwegian delegates at the OECD meeting said, an attitude rather than a single or even multiple set of strategies (such as questioning or teacher-designed tests). By attitude, I mean that teachers need to approach their teaching using assessment in order to understand constantly how well their learners are progressing on the one hand and then adjusting their teaching in the light of that information on the other. It is assessment FOR learning, not assessment OF learning. In order to assess how well their learners are progressing, teachers can use a whole range of strategies (which I'm sure we will get to in this discussion) in order to understand where they are at any point. These strategies can be as informal and instant as asking insightful, focused questions (which Debbie has referred to), on-going tests or even using summative tests for formative purposes (analysing why learners made mistakes for example). By way of a negative example, how many of us have done courses where the teacher covers the content come hell or high water? My most vivid memories of these sorts of courses were maths ones. The teacher simply ploughed on through topic after topic with no recognition of how well any of us understood the content. And then there would be a (summative) test at the end to 'prove' that indeed most of us had not understood the content - and hadn't since about the second session. This is the antithesis of formative assessment John John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: Tuesday, 26 February 2008 9:14 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/24b25856/attachment.html From SCropper at fas.edu Mon Feb 25 17:46:30 2008 From: SCropper at fas.edu (Sandy Cropper) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:46:30 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 758] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: <380-220082125201351765@earthlink.net> References: <380-220082125201351765@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <37E27EAC319870439379BF42DD12767E018B226C@fas-exch-01.FAS.ADS> I remember the book. But I don't remember the author. I can't find the book either. Thank you for reminding me about it. I started out in elementary school. I switched to Adult Ed.:) -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 12:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to scropper at fas.edu From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 00:59:32 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:59:32 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult foundation skills in England Message-ID: Colleagues, Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) questions I asked, and other questions from discussion participants, let's also move on to the first set of case studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John Comings if they could: 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills context in England, particularly noting any features or terms of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and that are important to understand the case studies; 2. describe the three case studies; and 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant findings and also explain how the case studies might be a good example of formative assessment. It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative assessment practices in England, you could describe or give examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it really something new? Is it really a discrete set of practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes a difference in students' learning in elementary and secondary education, what about formative assessment makes that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk Tue Feb 26 04:26:46 2008 From: J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk (John Vorhaus) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:26:46 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 760] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2404@M3.ioead> Dear Colleagues, My response to David's questions will come in several parts. Here is the first, giving some of the background to adult basic skills in England. John Comings will also be contributing a response. And I am copying in three colleagues who are perhaps the leading experts in this field in England: Kathryn Ecclestone, Jan Eldred and Jay Derrick. They may want to add to, or dissent from what follows. Adult basic skills in England: background Before the publication of the findings from the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), adult basic skills were not a priority of the English government. The IALS reported that the average literacy and numeracy skill levels of the population of the United Kingdom was below that of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United States. The government formed a commission, led by Claus Moser, to investigate the issue and make recommendations. The 1999 Moser report led to a three-fold increase in funding for adult basic skills in England, from ?137 million in 2000/2001 to ?420 million in 2001/2002, and then higher amounts in the following years. Funding for adult basic skills in 2005/2006 was ?680 million. The increase in funding was accompanied by a call for greater accountability. Since the government had employed externally set achievement targets measured by standardized tests in its effort to improve the education of children, it chose the same approach for adult basic skills. In 2001, the government launched a new adult basic skills strategy, Skills for Life, to address the learning needs of adults identified by the IALS as having low literacy and numeracy skills. Skills for Life is coordinated by the Skills for Life Strategy Unit (SfLSU) within the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). The Skills for Life strategy established five levels of English language, literacy, and numeracy skills: * Level 2 is equivalent to a GCSE (a qualification usually achieved at age 16) at grades A* to C (higher skill level) * Level 1 is equivalent to a GCSE at grades D to G (lower skill level) * Entry Level 3 is equivalent to the skills of school students aged 9 to 11 * Entry Level 2 is equivalent to the skills of school students aged 7 to 9 * Entry Level 1 is equivalent to the skills of school students aged 5 to 7 Initially, the government's Public Sector Agreement (PSA) target, the most important government target in relation to Skills for Life, focused only on achievement at Levels 1 and 2, because analysis of the IALS data showed that adults needed this level of skill to compete for good wages in the global economy. However, the government decided that the PSA target would also include Entry Level 3, in the context of the policy priority of promoting progression to Level 2 and beyond. Only the first achievements at the top three levels count towards the PSA target. That is not to say that learner achievements at Entry Levels 1 and 2 are not important; achievement at this level often represents a vital stage in a learners' development, in its own right and as a step on the way to achievement at a higher level. I hope that this is one of the questions that is picked up for further discussion. The IALS identified the issue of low basic skills but could not provide an estimate of how many adults fell into each of the five Skills for Life levels. To gain this information, the government undertook the 2003 Skills for Life Survey, which interviewed 8730 randomly selected adults, aged 16 to 65, to build a national profile, based on the five levels of basic skills, of the population in England. The survey found that the 31.9 million adults in this age range in England fell into the following categories in terms of literacy and numeracy skill: * 3% (1.1 million) had literacy skills at Entry Level 1 or below * 2% (0.6 million) had literacy skills at Entry Level 2 * 11% (3.5 million) had literacy skills at Entry level 3 * 40% (12.6 million) had literacy skills at Level 1 * 44% (14.1 million) had literacy skills at Level 2 or above * 5% (1.7 million) had numeracy skills at Entry Level 1 or below * 16% (5.1 million) had numeracy skills at Entry Level 2 * 25% (8.1 million) had numeracy skills at Entry Level 3 * 28% (8.8 million) had numeracy skills at Level 1 * 25% (8.1 million) had numeracy skills at Level 2 or above Nearly half (47%) of all adults aged 16 to 65 were classified as Entry Level 3 or below in either literacy or numeracy. Only one in five (18%) adults achieved Level 2 or above for both literacy and numeracy. Based on these findings, the government decided to set ambitious targets for Skills for Life: 750,000 learners achieving qualifications at one of the top three levels by 2004; 1.5 million by 2007; 2.25 million by 2010. A recent report by the House of Commons' Committee of Public Accounts noted that the first target, 750,000 by 2004, was met, but it cautioned that more than half of the participants who achieved a qualification were 16 to 19 year olds. Most of these teenagers were served by the Key Skills component of the programme in full-time Further Education colleges. Adults were being served, but they were not the majority of participants. Our case study was focused on that majority - those aged 19+. The Moser report supported the use of formative assessment as an element of quality improvement. The report argued that the materials used for learning should include assessments that provide useful information to learners and tutors. However, the Skills for Life programme has no formal policy on formative assessment. Though formative assessment is not a formal mandate, formative assessment often features as a (semi) formal process within courses observed in our case study. One of several sources of published advice on formative assessment is 'Recognising and recording progress and achievement in non-accredited learning' (RARPA).The project provided a model for formative assessment and quality assurance in Skills for Life. RARPA developed a staged process: * Aims appropriate to an individual learner or group of learners * Initial assessment to establish the learner's starting point * Identification of appropriately challenging learning objectives (initial, renegotiated, and revised) * Recognition and recording of progress and achievement during the programme (tutor feedback to learners, learner reflection, and progress reviews) * End of programme learner self-assessment, tutor summative assessment, and review of overall progress and achievement More to follow. John Vorhaus > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England > > Colleagues, > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > Comings if they could: > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > that are important to understand the case studies; > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > good example of formative assessment. > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/269d6ead/attachment.html From J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk Tue Feb 26 05:38:26 2008 From: J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk (John Vorhaus) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:38:26 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 761] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead> Dear Colleagues, Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If not, I will later on today.) I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. Nomenclature Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. But: 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the differences between each of these three are so significant as to raise the question whether we should treat them under a single rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. The Case Studies Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a limited time period. All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their staff's regular reflection focused on programme improvement. Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following were important, and in roughly this order: * Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and to generally 'go the extra mile' * Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress * Opportunities for continuing professional development * Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and resources of interest and relevance to the learner The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do their very best and helping them to overcome often long held barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because constructive on-going assessment promotes learners' motivation and persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with an increasing administrative burden. Because of the national character of the system, initial assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a range of summative tests they can take to secure the same qualification. In addition, different types of institutions (nonprofit, further education college, and local government programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each site. Some strengths and weakness: observations Strengths * A focus on small increments of learning - something that is manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the demands of a course. * Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning goals and aspirations. * Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and to assist learners in learning how to learn. * Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the learning process. * Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and learner, and amongst learners. * Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and at what rate. Weaknesses * The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken away from instruction. * Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. * Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be justified by its impact on learning. Comment A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to say. 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands of summative assessment? 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the level of general principle and more in the details we are uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? More soon. John Vorhaus > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England > > Colleagues, > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > Comings if they could: > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > that are important to understand the case studies; > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > good example of formative assessment. > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/4e0e7fd9/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 07:22:21 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:22:21 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 762] Formative Assessment: terminology in England, "catching up" Message-ID: <86B54A5F-461E-4759-AD14-93449A80A435@comcast.net> Colleagues, As we dive into the English case studies -- I hope you will -- take a look at: http://www.oecd.org/document/ 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html If this long link doesn't work for you, cut and paste it into your browser, or just try the short form of the web address: http://tinyurl.com/2d3wyk Some North American subscribers may not know that the word "tutor" in England usually refers to what in the U.S. would be referred to as a classroom teacher. Those who have just joined us, who want to catch up, can read the earlier postings in the archives at: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html This is a lot to read, absorb and reflect on over a short period of time, but I hope discussion participants will be able to do that and that we will have many more comments and questions. Let's have yours! David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 07:32:17 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:32:17 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skills in England In-Reply-To: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead> References: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead> Message-ID: <3ADC3456-97A0-40E3-99C5-9E14F6F6A777@comcast.net> John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do tutors do it? Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative assessment practices be learned in professional development and practiced well by relatively new teachers? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > not, I will later on today.) > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > Nomenclature > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > But: > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > The Case Studies > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > limited time period. > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > staff?s regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > were important, and in roughly this order: > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > to generally ?go the extra mile? > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > Opportunities for continuing professional development > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners? motivation and > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > an increasing administrative burden. > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > site. > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > Strengths > > A focus on small increments of learning ? something that is > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > demands of a course. > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > goals and aspirations. > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > learning process. > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > learner, and amongst learners. > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > at what rate. > > Weaknesses > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > away from instruction. > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > justified by its impact on learning. > > Comment > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > say. > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > of summative assessment? > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > level of general principle and more in the details we are > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > More soon. > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > Comings if they could: > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Tue Feb 26 07:36:02 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:36:02 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 764] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: <001701c87827$f8e935b0$0b00a8c0@critical1> References: <380-220082125201351765@earthlink.net> <001701c87827$f8e935b0$0b00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1DF5@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> Continuing with the discussion as to just what formative assessment is.... Black and Wiliam describe formative assessment as involving four elements 1.) Establishment of a standard or expected level of student performance (the goals for learning) 2.) Gathering information on the student's current performance (through diagnostic assessment or within the classroom - questioning, written or oral performances, testing, and so on). 3.) Development of a mechanism to compare the two performance levels (criteria for judging the quality of the learner performance) 4.) Development of a mechanism to alter the gap (feedback, development of appropriate assignments or areas of study to help address a specific learning gap - instructors may also adjust the level of difficulty as appropriate for the learner). It differs from "summative" assessment (tests, examinations), in that the information gathered in the assessment process is used to help identify and address gaps, rather than to make a final judgment of the learners' performance. Learners may have the chance to "re-do" lessons until they have mastered it. As John Benseman has mentioned, Instructors often feel obligated to plough through the curriculum content, whether learners are "getting" it or not. Instructors who have integrated formative assessment approaches into their teaching approaches often find that they are choosing to cut back on what they will cover - focusing instead on the core concepts that are absolutely essential for learners. They proceed when it is clear that learners have grasped the fundamental concept (and they may come back later to help deepen knowledge of that concept), While we very often contrast formative and summative assessment - we should clarify that the ABSENCE of summative assessment (e.g., adult foundation skill learners don't get "marks"/"grades" as do learners in compulsory schooling) does not necessarily mean that instructors are providing formative assessment. Effective formative assessment requires a planned, systematic approach as well as full engagement of the learners with the process (setting out goals for their learning, understanding and helping to set criteria for judging its quality, assessing the quality of their own and sometimes their peers' work, responding to instructor feedback, and tracking progress toward goals). Instructors are systematic in their efforts to gauge learner progress and to ensure that lessons are meeting learner needs. In both the 2005 and the current OECD studies, instructors interviewed consistently emphasized how important it is to create a classroom ambiance where learners feel "safe" to express themselves, and to reveal what they do and do not understand. The is perhaps initially challenging with adults, who have developed the habit of covering up any shortcomings in skills. From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: 26 February, 2008 4:31 AM To: dwyoho at earthlink.net; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 757] Re: What is formative assessment If I could come in at this point and respond to this question. I think it is important to recognise that formative assessment is, as one of the Norwegian delegates at the OECD meeting said, an attitude rather than a single or even multiple set of strategies (such as questioning or teacher-designed tests). By attitude, I mean that teachers need to approach their teaching using assessment in order to understand constantly how well their learners are progressing on the one hand and then adjusting their teaching in the light of that information on the other. It is assessment FOR learning, not assessment OF learning. In order to assess how well their learners are progressing, teachers can use a whole range of strategies (which I'm sure we will get to in this discussion) in order to understand where they are at any point. These strategies can be as informal and instant as asking insightful, focused questions (which Debbie has referred to), on-going tests or even using summative tests for formative purposes (analysing why learners made mistakes for example). By way of a negative example, how many of us have done courses where the teacher covers the content come hell or high water? My most vivid memories of these sorts of courses were maths ones. The teacher simply ploughed on through topic after topic with no recognition of how well any of us understood the content. And then there would be a (summative) test at the end to 'prove' that indeed most of us had not understood the content - and hadn't since about the second session. This is the antithesis of formative assessment John John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: Tuesday, 26 February 2008 9:14 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/f740d362/attachment.html From fmumford at msde.state.md.us Tue Feb 26 07:50:33 2008 From: fmumford at msde.state.md.us (Fran Mumford) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:50:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 765] Re: Formative Assessment: terminology in England, "catching up" In-Reply-To: <86B54A5F-461E-4759-AD14-93449A80A435@comcast.net> References: <86B54A5F-461E-4759-AD14-93449A80A435@comcast.net> Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC0C4EF3FC@msebex1.msde.net> This website will also take you to an understanding of Formative Assessment. It compares formative and summative assessments to make the concept understandable. http://www.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/ch6.html Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford Academic Program Coordinator Correctional Education Maryland State Department of Education 200 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201 410.767.0732 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:22 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 762] Formative Assessment: terminology in England,"catching up" Colleagues, As we dive into the English case studies -- I hope you will -- take a look at: http://www.oecd.org/document/ 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html If this long link doesn't work for you, cut and paste it into your browser, or just try the short form of the web address: http://tinyurl.com/2d3wyk Some North American subscribers may not know that the word "tutor" in England usually refers to what in the U.S. would be referred to as a classroom teacher. Those who have just joined us, who want to catch up, can read the earlier postings in the archives at: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html This is a lot to read, absorb and reflect on over a short period of time, but I hope discussion participants will be able to do that and that we will have many more comments and questions. Let's have yours! David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to fmumford at msde.state.md.us From holly at dilatush.com Tue Feb 26 07:51:14 2008 From: holly at dilatush.com (Holly Dilatush) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:51:14 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 766] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello all, A recent course I completed introduced me to Robert Stakes' quote: "When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative." and a quick Google search reveals that many have shared this quote as an elementary way to compare the two. Here's one such site: That Google search turned up this online chart (from Northern Arizona University): http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/edtech/etc667/proposal/evaluation/summative_vs._formative.htm Hope this helps? Holly (Dilatush) Charlottesville VA USA holly at dilatush.com (434) 960.7177 cell phone (434) 295.9716 home phone [OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time] "As soon as we begin to generalize, we fail to have meaningful dialogue." (Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, 2008) "Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and nurture in nature." www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org www.boomerlangs.edublogs.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/bc0c28e5/attachment.html From kgotthardt at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 07:55:41 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:55:41 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 767] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net> References: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net> Message-ID: <32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E@OwnerPC> No hold on : ) "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." In the United States (in my state of Virginia and in other states) we have Standards of Learning tests. These tests require teachers to feed material to students at break-neck speed with little time for formative assessment other than constant testing. Because of class sizes and the state requirements (which spill into national requirements via the "No Child Left Behind" act), teachers have VERY little time to address questions from students who really have NOT understood the material. Several times I have heard the complaint, "I had a question but the teacher didn't have time to answer it." SOL scores in Virginia directly impact funding, and often negatively. Qualified and quality teachers are forced to teach to the test. To boot, the states are cutting school funding, as is our county. We have over-crowding in, I would guess-timate, just about ALL of our county schools which to me clearly indicates unbalanced priorities. We have students in TRAILERS attempting to learn in unstable environments because of over-crowding. How does this cost us? Drop outs. SOL failure. Discipline problems. Increased administrative time addressing issues that could be taken care of in the classroom IF it was manageable. Failure to identify and properly address possible learning disabilities. And as we know, students who fail in K-12 have a harder time contributing to the economy if and when they graduate. This spills over into poverty and unemployment rates. It's all connected, and most bureaucrats don't see it. They think short-term, from budget year to budget year with no thought of the future for the schools or the community. So.....add up all the numbers from the above, and I KNOW they won't match those in this article. How are our public schools supposed to survive in such an environment? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:14 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes'not cost effective > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 08:38:13 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David Rosen) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:38:13 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher content knowledge matter? Message-ID: <28e6aeea580b5215f55685ed96d2a61e@comcast.net> From Patricia Donovan: David and All, I've been reading the discussion entries and find them quite interesting. I'm wondering how teacher content knowledge plays into formative assessment. It seems to me that sufficient content knowledge is a prerequisite to insightful formative assessment. In other words, if I do not understand the knowledge underpinning the division of fractions, for instance, it seems it would be difficult to assess learner knowledge and to develop appropriate instructional responses. Tricia Donovan SABES "Training Leaders in Adult Basic Education" Tricia Donovan, Ed.D. SABES CRC World Education 44 Farnsworth St. Boston, MA 02210 617-482-9485 x3785 Fax 617-482-0617 From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Tue Feb 26 09:06:56 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:06:56 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 769] Re: Formative Assessment: does teacher contentknowledge matter? In-Reply-To: <28e6aeea580b5215f55685ed96d2a61e@comcast.net> References: <28e6aeea580b5215f55685ed96d2a61e@comcast.net> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1FD1@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> You are absolutely right. Instructors must have strong subject-matter knowledge in order to identify the source of learner misconceptions, and to develop appropriate responses. Skills and approaches will also vary by subject-matter (pedagogical skills for teaching language are different than those for teaching numeracy, and so on). -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: 26 February, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher contentknowledge matter? From Patricia Donovan: David and All, I've been reading the discussion entries and find them quite interesting. I'm wondering how teacher content knowledge plays into formative assessment. It seems to me that sufficient content knowledge is a prerequisite to insightful formative assessment. In other words, if I do not understand the knowledge underpinning the division of fractions, for instance, it seems it would be difficult to assess learner knowledge and to develop appropriate instructional responses. Tricia Donovan SABES "Training Leaders in Adult Basic Education" Tricia Donovan, Ed.D. SABES CRC World Education 44 Farnsworth St. Boston, MA 02210 617-482-9485 x3785 Fax 617-482-0617 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org From learndoc at cox.net Tue Feb 26 09:08:01 2008 From: learndoc at cox.net (learndoc at cox.net) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 9:08:01 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 770] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E@OwnerPC> Message-ID: <20080226090801.IVJ8E.47611.imail@fed1rmwml14> I would like to jump in here while I have a moment. It took me only about a month of teaching high school math before I determined how ill-prepared I was for helping my students. Luckily, the graduate school I enrolled in after a distressing three more years in the classroom, shined a great deal of light on my problems. It all started with a little text partially entitled "Error Pattern Analysis" by Ashcroft. I know this process has been transferred to other disciplines, but I know it works in mathematics. It provides an excellent formative assessment framework for continually monitoring student understanding and progress. It can be applied easily on most basic computation concepts, but it can be used almost anywhere in the curriculum. It does not a require a deep mathematical understanding by the teacher - an issue I've always found puzzling to me - who is the idiot that decided I need a graduate degree in mathematics, or even a bachelor's for that matter, to teach anything up to and even including calculus? I have neither, and I have always been the go to teacher in schools I have worked to assist those who are struggling with their students - go figure. By the way, Ashcroft's from England, and I was lucky enough to study with him and his complete curriculum - an incredibly valuable experience! And yet, he and his processes are unheard of by anyone I meet these days. The solutions to the problems in education, I believe, are much simpler than people think. Many of the answers are at our fingertips, but the wrong people are making the administrative and political decisions. ---- Katherine wrote: > No hold on : ) > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > In the United States (in my state of Virginia and in other states) we have > Standards of Learning tests. These tests require teachers to feed material > to students at break-neck speed with little time for formative assessment > other than constant testing. Because of class sizes and the state > requirements (which spill into national requirements via the "No Child Left > Behind" act), teachers have VERY little time to address questions from > students who really have NOT understood the material. Several times I have > heard the complaint, "I had a question but the teacher didn't have time to > answer it." > > SOL scores in Virginia directly impact funding, and often negatively. > Qualified and quality teachers are forced to teach to the test. To boot, > the states are cutting school funding, as is our county. We have > over-crowding in, I would guess-timate, just about ALL of our county schools > which to me clearly indicates unbalanced priorities. We have students in > TRAILERS attempting to learn in unstable environments because of > over-crowding. How does this cost us? > > Drop outs. SOL failure. Discipline problems. Increased administrative > time addressing issues that could be taken care of in the classroom IF it > was manageable. Failure to identify and properly address possible learning > disabilities. And as we know, students who fail in K-12 have a harder time > contributing to the economy if and when they graduate. This spills over > into poverty and unemployment rates. It's all connected, and most > bureaucrats don't see it. They think short-term, from budget year to budget > year with no thought of the future for the schools or the community. > > So.....add up all the numbers from the above, and I KNOW they won't match > those in this article. > > How are our public schools supposed to survive in such an environment? > > Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt > www.luxuriouschoices.net > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: > Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:14 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class > sizes'not cost effective > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > > > ------- > > Note from Tom Sticht: > > > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > > Education Guardian online. > > ------- > > > > To see this story with its related links on the > > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > > Anthea Lipsett > > Monday February 25 2008 > > The Guardian > > > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > > months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each > > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > > the Institute of Education. > > > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > > educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. > > > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > > London Teachers Conference today. > > > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > > generally possible with a class of 30. > > > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > > to 15 or less," he said. > > > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > > learning. > > > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > > given some time to think. > > > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > > what's hard." > > > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > > any improvements. > > > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > > that this would be very cost-effective. > > > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > > deployment fully effective. > > > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > > training must be provided and resourced. > > > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > > which meets their individual needs." > > > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to learndoc at cox.net From Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Tue Feb 26 13:36:38 2008 From: Geriteaches22963 at aol.com (Geriteaches22963 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:36:38 EST Subject: [SpecialTopics 771] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes'not ... Message-ID: It is my belief we need better leaders to support the existing teachers in our profession. We need principals and district administrator that have vision and can present ways for our teachers to address the needs of all students. One example I can give you, with regard to high stakes state testing is my (previous) district in lower slower Delaware overcame being under review for many of the district schools to one of the highest rated districts on the east coast. This was due to developing programs to support the needs of struggling students (READ 180 and Pre-Teach math classes), formative assessments after guided lessons that focused on the standards, which by the way, the DSTP examines. Success was also due to our Principal (Mike Klein-Hope you're enjoying retirement), who molded a segmented middle school staff to a cohesive, unified group of professionals. There is so much adminstrators can do to make this all happen, but it can't be by thinking negatively. It's been said, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." We can put our intelligent heads together to solve the problem. Geri Hayden VA Department of Correctional Education SPED/504 Coordinator FCCW, VCCW, CVCU13 **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/1d4b02f9/attachment.html From Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Tue Feb 26 13:24:28 2008 From: Geriteaches22963 at aol.com (Geriteaches22963 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:24:28 EST Subject: [SpecialTopics 772] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skills i... Message-ID: Formative assessment doesn't require a tremendous amount of time and effort in order to ascertain what our students are learning and what they are ready to learn next. In my experience, formative assessment can be questioning during class or what we term a ticket out the door. The ticket out the door can take various forms: select a specific question to respond to or sum up the day's lesson. I always like to include an area for the student to ask a question (this is private, so they're more inclined to ask it on the card) for what they need more help or information on. Geri Hayden VA Department of Correctional Education SPED/504 Coordinator Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, Virginia Correctional Center for Women Central Virginia Correctional Unit 13 _geriteaches22963 at aol.com_ (mailto:geriteaches22963 at aol.com) **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/de14448d/attachment.html From jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Feb 26 17:15:38 2008 From: jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk (jay.derrick) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:15:38 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 773] Responses to David Rosen's 2 questions on Formative Assessment References: Message-ID: <004901c878c5$2158fe70$6401a8c0@DF01> Hi David and colleagues I've been involved in a two-year research project in England called Improving Formative Assessment (IFA). In brief, this has been looking at whether the findings of the Black and Wiliam studies (often known collectively as 'Inside the Black Box') are replicated in the wide range of learning contexts which make up post-compulsory education, including Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL. As John Vorhaus mentioned, we have particularly been interested in the extent to which pedagogical approaches make difference to the development of student motivation and autonomy. More about this project can be found at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/staffinfo/eccleston-FAproject.html The project will be reporting formally this year. One aspect of IFA was the production of a Literature Review on formative assessment and adult learning, which, with support from the OECD, became the English-language review for the OECD study, at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/32/40046731.pdf This review, as well as the IFA fieldwork, suggests some fairly clear-cut messages for teachers of adult literacy, numeracy and language (and maybe teachers in general), which we would be very pleased to hear comments on from researchers and practitioners. They can be found towards the end of the review. In response to David's two questions: 1. Time for Formative Assessment If FA is seen as a distinct stage in the teaching and learning cycle, (which it is in the English Skills for Life policy, coming somewhere between diagnostic assessment and summative assessment), then it follows there may be time implications. However, the view of our research team is much more that all aspects of teaching and learning, including assessment, review, teaching, checking learning, feeding back, marking assignments, etc, and summative tests or examinations, all have the potential to be carried out more or less formatively. From this perspective, FA doesn't need to take more time, it means doing things in a particular way. Two examples: I observed a very low-level ESOL class, (about 12 students speaking 10 different first languages) in which students gave very short structured oral presentations and then assessed themselves and each other on them, against some very simple quality criteria which they had agreed as a class in an earlier class. This activity took very careful preparation over several weeks' classes, but each activity that made up the whole series was valuable in terms of a traditional approach to a beginners' ESOL curriculum (vocabulary, pronunciation, speaking distinctly, etc), but also developed the students' confidence, ability to get into discussions with each other, and motivation. The end result happened to be that almost every student found that they assessed themselves at a lower level than their peers did. 2nd example: As an alternative to giving a whole mathematics class the same examination practice questions to try to solve on their own in silence, the teacher gets the students to make up their own real-life exam questions, write the answers to each question on a separate sheet, and then try to solve each other's questions. If arguments develop between the students about the correct approch to solving a particular question, so much the better for learning! (For more of this type of approach, and the value of bringing out conceptual conflicts in learning mathematics, see Collaborative Learning in Mathematics, Malcolm Swan, NIACE/NRDC 2007.) This approach makes the student active in their learning, and also in assessing their own learning, both vital components of effective learning according to various research studies. 2. Experience of teachers and doing FA well Our research didn't specifically address this question, and our sample size probably wouldn't justify generalisations anyway, but I have led about a dozen development sessions with teachers all over the country over the past year on these issues, amd my experience is that most teachers are highly receptive to the FA approach. I think this is because although one of the strongest mantras of adult education teachers in England is 'student-centred learning', there isn't much agreement about what this means in terms of classroom practice, apart from treating people well. I suspect the set of ideas and practices highlighted by the FA approach gives teachers a chance to 'put flesh on the bone' of student-centred learning. Many if not most of them are using FA approaches anyway, though in a relatively unsystematic, intuitive way, from time to time, rather than as a central focus for their planning and preparation. Also, as Black and Wiliam have pointed out, and our research agrees, the 'high stakes outcomes' context in which teachers work in England tends to inhibit teachers from adopting thse approaches, even though the research shows that they are more effective than 'traditional' transmission methods of teaching. But in my experience, these ideas can give teachers the confidence to make FA central to their planning, to do more of it, and to do it in a more informed and systematic way. I also suspect they are positive because the approach puts a high value on the skills needed to teach well. I suggested at the Paris conference that the ideas around FA suggest that we pay renewed attention on the 'craft skills' of teachers, which high-regulation over-prescriptive policy environments have been undermining for some years. The FA approach demands the highest skills of teachers, particualrly in the area of setting up, managing and maintaining constructive, purposeful discussions and dialogic activities between students, so as to generate opportunities for feedback, and so as to gain information for fine-tuning the class, or for planning future activities. By contrast, teaching from the front of the class, doing all the talking, using textbooks as instruction manuals, does not require such a complex range of skills or challenge. One last point I got from the conference which I'd love to hear reactions to is about accountability systems. In some countries, what is meant by accountability is a set of procedures whose purpose is to make sure taxpayers 'get what they have paid for' - and this is embodied in a set of procedures for producing auditable proof of outcomes for every programme. This is a contract culture version of accountability, in the sense of what 'accountants' do. In other countries accountability seems almost entirely to be a political concept, implying only that if something went wrong, there would be someone in principle who would accept responsibility for the problem. But the assumption is that normally nothing will go wrong, and there is no need for any bureaucratic or accounting procedures, because there is trust between the people working at different levels in the system. Which system of accountability offers a more fertile and supportive environment for good teachers? Let's hear your opinions.... Sorry this has been a bit lengthy, but I hope it is helpful, and well done to David for getting this exchange going! Jay Derrick Consultant researcher, London UK www.bluesky-learning.com jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:42 PM Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 7 > Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to > specialtopics at nifl.gov > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > specialtopics-request at nifl.gov > > You can reach the person managing the list at > specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. [SpecialTopics 762] Formative Assessment: terminology in > England, "catching up" (David J. Rosen) > 2. [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundation skills in England (David J. Rosen) > 3. [SpecialTopics 764] Re: What is formative assessment > (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:22:21 -0500 > From: "David J. Rosen" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 762] Formative Assessment: terminology in > England, "catching up" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: <86B54A5F-461E-4759-AD14-93449A80A435 at comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > > Colleagues, > > As we dive into the English case studies -- I hope you will -- take a > look at: > http://www.oecd.org/document/ > 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html > If this long link doesn't work for you, cut and paste it into your > browser, or just try the short form of the web address: > http://tinyurl.com/2d3wyk > > Some North American subscribers may not know that the word "tutor" in > England usually refers to what in the U.S. would be referred to as a > classroom teacher. > > Those who have just joined us, who want to catch up, can read the > earlier postings in the archives at: > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html > > This is a lot to read, absorb and reflect on over a short period of > time, but I hope discussion participants will be able to do that and > that we will have many more comments and questions. Let's have yours! > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:32:17 -0500 > From: "David J. Rosen" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundation skills in England > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: <3ADC3456-97A0-40E3-99C5-9E14F6F6A777 at comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; > format=flowed > > John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, > > One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do > tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative > assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative > assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do > tutors do it? > > Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional > development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative > assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they > tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative > assessment practices be learned in professional development and > practiced well by relatively new teachers? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > > > Dear Colleagues, > > > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > > not, I will later on today.) > > > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > > > Nomenclature > > > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > > But: > > > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > > > The Case Studies > > > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > > limited time period. > > > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > > staff?s regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > > were important, and in roughly this order: > > > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > > to generally ?go the extra mile? > > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > > Opportunities for continuing professional development > > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners? motivation and > > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > > an increasing administrative burden. > > > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > > site. > > > > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > > > Strengths > > > > A focus on small increments of learning ? something that is > > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > > demands of a course. > > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > > goals and aspirations. > > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > > learning process. > > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > > learner, and amongst learners. > > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > > at what rate. > > > > Weaknesses > > > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > > away from instruction. > > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > > justified by its impact on learning. > > > > Comment > > > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > > say. > > > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > > of summative assessment? > > > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > > level of general principle and more in the details we are > > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > > > More soon. > > > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > > foundation skillsin England > > > > > > Colleagues, > > > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > > Comings if they could: > > > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > National Institute for Literacy > > > Special Topics mailing list > > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:36:02 +0100 > From: > Subject: [SpecialTopics 764] Re: What is formative assessment > To: , , > > Message-ID: > <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1DF5 at EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Continuing with the discussion as to just what formative assessment is.... > > > > Black and Wiliam describe formative assessment as involving four elements > > > > 1.) Establishment of a standard or expected level of student performance > (the goals for learning) > > 2.) Gathering information on the student's current performance (through > diagnostic assessment or within the classroom - questioning, written or oral > performances, testing, and so on). > > 3.) Development of a mechanism to compare the two performance levels > (criteria for judging the quality of the learner performance) > > 4.) Development of a mechanism to alter the gap (feedback, development of > appropriate assignments or areas of study to help address a specific learning > gap - instructors may also adjust the level of difficulty as appropriate for > the learner). > > > It differs from "summative" assessment (tests, examinations), in that the > information gathered in the assessment process is used to help identify and > address gaps, rather than to make a final judgment of the learners' > performance. Learners may have the chance to "re-do" lessons until they have > mastered it. > > > > As John Benseman has mentioned, Instructors often feel obligated to plough > through the curriculum content, whether learners are "getting" it or not. > Instructors who have integrated formative assessment approaches into their > teaching approaches often find that they are choosing to cut back on what > they will cover - focusing instead on the core concepts that are absolutely > essential for learners. They proceed when it is clear that learners have > grasped the fundamental concept (and they may come back later to help deepen > knowledge of that concept), > > > > While we very often contrast formative and summative assessment - we should > clarify that the ABSENCE of summative assessment (e.g., adult foundation > skill learners don't get "marks"/"grades" as do learners in compulsory > schooling) does not necessarily mean that instructors are providing formative > assessment. Effective formative assessment requires a planned, systematic > approach as well as full engagement of the learners with the process (setting > out goals for their learning, understanding and helping to set criteria for > judging its quality, assessing the quality of their own and sometimes their > peers' work, responding to instructor feedback, and tracking progress toward > goals). Instructors are systematic in their efforts to gauge learner > progress and to ensure that lessons are meeting learner needs. > > > > In both the 2005 and the current OECD studies, instructors interviewed > consistently emphasized how important it is to create a classroom ambiance > where learners feel "safe" to express themselves, and to reveal what they do > and do not understand. The is perhaps initially challenging with adults, > who have developed the habit of covering up any shortcomings in skills. > > > > > > > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: 26 February, 2008 4:31 AM > To: dwyoho at earthlink.net; specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 757] Re: What is formative assessment > > > > If I could come in at this point and respond to this question. > > > > I think it is important to recognise that formative assessment is, as one of > the Norwegian delegates at the OECD meeting said, an attitude rather than a > single or even multiple set of strategies (such as questioning or > teacher-designed tests). By attitude, I mean that teachers need to approach > their teaching using assessment in order to understand constantly how well > their learners are progressing on the one hand and then adjusting their > teaching in the light of that information on the other. > > > > It is assessment FOR learning, not assessment OF learning. > > > > In order to assess how well their learners are progressing, teachers can use > a whole range of strategies (which I'm sure we will get to in this > discussion) in order to understand where they are at any point. These > strategies can be as informal and instant as asking insightful, focused > questions (which Debbie has referred to), on-going tests or even using > summative tests for formative purposes (analysing why learners made mistakes > for example). > > > > By way of a negative example, how many of us have done courses where the > teacher covers the content come hell or high water? My most vivid memories of > these sorts of courses were maths ones. The teacher simply ploughed on > through topic after topic with no recognition of how well any of us > understood the content. And then there would be a (summative) test at the end > to 'prove' that indeed most of us had not understood the content - and hadn't > since about the second session. > > > > This is the antithesis of formative assessment > > > > John > > > > John Benseman > > > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > > > * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > > > * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho > Sent: Tuesday, 26 February 2008 9:14 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment > > > > While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in > > adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As > > an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught > > the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis > > for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We > > studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, > > and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite > > informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact > > on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot > > remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how > > to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title > > rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether > > or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. > > > > Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom > > and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD > > studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? > > > > Deborah W. Yoho > > director, Turning Pages > > (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) > > a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas > > 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 > > PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 > > yohogclc at earthlink.net > > > > > > > [Original Message] > > > From: David J. Rosen > > > To: > > > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > > > > > Colleagues, > > > > > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > > > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > > > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > > > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > > > > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > > > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > > > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > > > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > > > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > > > or however you like. > > > > > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > > > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > National Institute for Literacy > > > Special Topics mailing list > > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/f740d362/attachment.html > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 7 > ******************************************** > > From jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Feb 26 17:36:17 2008 From: jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk (jay.derrick) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:36:17 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 774] The Standards of Learning Tests in Virginia References: Message-ID: <005201c878c8$04b719c0$6401a8c0@DF01> Katherine's description of the situation in her state illustrates clearly how systems for accountability (funding, proof that taxpayers are getting value etc) can become 'the tail wagging the dog'. Teachers' practice is affected by these accountability systems, and the effect is often to damage learners' opportunities to improve their life chances. There is research project in the UK that demonstrates that this damaging effect is stronger for less confident learners: Harlen, W. and R. Deakin Crick (2002), "A Systematic Review of the Impact of Summative Assessment and Tests on Students? Motivation for Learning", Research Evidence in Education Library, Issue 1, Institute of Education EPPI-Centre review (version 1.1), London. Jay Derrick Consultant researcher, London UK www.bluesky-learning.com jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:00 PM Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 8 > Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to > specialtopics at nifl.gov > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > specialtopics-request at nifl.gov > > You can reach the person managing the list at > specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. [SpecialTopics 765] Re: Formative Assessment: terminology in > England, "catching up" (Fran Mumford) > 2. [SpecialTopics 766] Re: What is formative assessment > (Holly Dilatush) > 3. [SpecialTopics 767] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > class sizes'not cost effective (Katherine) > 4. [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher > content knowledge matter? (David Rosen) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:50:33 -0500 > From: "Fran Mumford" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 765] Re: Formative Assessment: terminology in > England, "catching up" > To: > Message-ID: > <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC0C4EF3FC at msebex1.msde.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > This website will also take you to an understanding of Formative > Assessment. It compares formative and summative assessments to make the > concept understandable. > > http://www.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/ch6.html > > Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford > Academic Program Coordinator > Correctional Education > Maryland State Department of Education > 200 W. Baltimore Street > Baltimore, MD 21201 > 410.767.0732 > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:22 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 762] Formative Assessment: terminology in > England,"catching up" > > Colleagues, > > As we dive into the English case studies -- I hope you will -- take a > look at: > http://www.oecd.org/document/ > 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html > If this long link doesn't work for you, cut and paste it into your > browser, or just try the short form of the web address: > http://tinyurl.com/2d3wyk > > Some North American subscribers may not know that the word "tutor" in > England usually refers to what in the U.S. would be referred to as a > classroom teacher. > > Those who have just joined us, who want to catch up, can read the > earlier postings in the archives at: > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html > > This is a lot to read, absorb and reflect on over a short period of > time, but I hope discussion participants will be able to do that and > that we will have many more comments and questions. Let's have yours! > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to fmumford at msde.state.md.us > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:51:14 -0500 > From: "Holly Dilatush" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 766] Re: What is formative assessment > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hello all, > A recent course I completed introduced me to Robert Stakes' quote: > > "When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the > soup, that's summative." > and a quick Google search reveals that many have shared this quote as an > elementary way to compare the two. Here's one such site: > > > > That Google search turned up this online chart (from Northern Arizona > University): > http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/edtech/etc667/proposal/evaluation/summative_vs._formative.htm > > Hope this helps? > > Holly (Dilatush) > > Charlottesville VA USA > > holly at dilatush.com > (434) 960.7177 cell phone > (434) 295.9716 home phone > [OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time] > > "As soon as we begin to generalize, we fail to have meaningful dialogue." > (Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, 2008) > > "Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and > nurture in nature." > > www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com > www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org > www.boomerlangs.edublogs.org > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/bc0c28e5/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:55:41 -0500 > From: "Katherine" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 767] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > class sizes'not cost effective > To: > Message-ID: <32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E at OwnerPC> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > No hold on : ) > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > In the United States (in my state of Virginia and in other states) we have > Standards of Learning tests. These tests require teachers to feed material > to students at break-neck speed with little time for formative assessment > other than constant testing. Because of class sizes and the state > requirements (which spill into national requirements via the "No Child Left > Behind" act), teachers have VERY little time to address questions from > students who really have NOT understood the material. Several times I have > heard the complaint, "I had a question but the teacher didn't have time to > answer it." > > SOL scores in Virginia directly impact funding, and often negatively. > Qualified and quality teachers are forced to teach to the test. To boot, > the states are cutting school funding, as is our county. We have > over-crowding in, I would guess-timate, just about ALL of our county schools > which to me clearly indicates unbalanced priorities. We have students in > TRAILERS attempting to learn in unstable environments because of > over-crowding. How does this cost us? > > Drop outs. SOL failure. Discipline problems. Increased administrative > time addressing issues that could be taken care of in the classroom IF it > was manageable. Failure to identify and properly address possible learning > disabilities. And as we know, students who fail in K-12 have a harder time > contributing to the economy if and when they graduate. This spills over > into poverty and unemployment rates. It's all connected, and most > bureaucrats don't see it. They think short-term, from budget year to budget > year with no thought of the future for the schools or the community. > > So.....add up all the numbers from the above, and I KNOW they won't match > those in this article. > > How are our public schools supposed to survive in such an environment? > > Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt > www.luxuriouschoices.net > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: > Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:14 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class > sizes'not cost effective > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > > > ------- > > Note from Tom Sticht: > > > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > > Education Guardian online. > > ------- > > > > To see this story with its related links on the > > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > > Anthea Lipsett > > Monday February 25 2008 > > The Guardian > > > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > > months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each > > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > > the Institute of Education. > > > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > > educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. > > > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > > London Teachers Conference today. > > > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > > generally possible with a class of 30. > > > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > > to 15 or less," he said. > > > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > > learning. > > > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > > given some time to think. > > > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > > what's hard." > > > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > > any improvements. > > > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > > that this would be very cost-effective. > > > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > > deployment fully effective. > > > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > > training must be provided and resourced. > > > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > > which meets their individual needs." > > > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:38:13 -0500 > From: David Rosen > Subject: [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher > content knowledge matter? > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: <28e6aeea580b5215f55685ed96d2a61e at comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > From Patricia Donovan: > > David and All, > > I've been reading the discussion entries and find them quite > interesting. I'm wondering how teacher content knowledge plays into > formative assessment. It seems to me that sufficient content knowledge > is a prerequisite to insightful formative assessment. In other words, if > I do not understand the knowledge underpinning the division of > fractions, for instance, it seems it would be difficult to assess > learner knowledge and to develop appropriate instructional responses. > > Tricia Donovan > > > SABES "Training Leaders in Adult Basic Education" > > Tricia Donovan, Ed.D. > SABES CRC > World Education > 44 Farnsworth St. > Boston, MA 02210 > 617-482-9485 x3785 > Fax 617-482-0617 > > > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 8 > ******************************************** > > From grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de Tue Feb 26 17:43:11 2008 From: grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Anke_Grotl=FCschen?=) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:43:11 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 775] Re: Formative Assessment: does teachercontentknowledge matter? In-Reply-To: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1FD1@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> Message-ID: <20080226224332.C7AFD102811@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Well... hello David, Janet and everyone else - I just joined the discussion - I thought that it takes place on the assessment-list - but the problem you mention is very interesting for us in Germany as well. We currently prefer to co-operate with specialists on subject-matter-teaching (so-called Fachdidaktik) and from special education, because they know a lot about the steps of the acquisition of reading and especially writing. On the other hand, they - our subject-matter-specialists - know nothing about adults, and they appreciate the practitioner wisdom from our colleagues at the German Adult Education Schools, the "Volkshochschulen" who offer ABE training. In a few words: Formative Assessment needs both strong subject matter skills and clear adult education principles, I think. Best regards from Alisha, Claudia, Yvonne and Steffanie as well - all of them just start as scientific employees in the area of ABE in Bremen, Germany... Anke -- Prof. Dr. Anke Grotl?schen Juniorprofessur f?r Lebenslanges Lernen Universit?t Bremen GERMANY -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Gesendet: Dienstag, 26. Februar 2008 15:07 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 769] Re: Formative Assessment: does teachercontentknowledge matter? You are absolutely right. Instructors must have strong subject-matter knowledge in order to identify the source of learner misconceptions, and to develop appropriate responses. Skills and approaches will also vary by subject-matter (pedagogical skills for teaching language are different than those for teaching numeracy, and so on). -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: 26 February, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher contentknowledge matter? From Patricia Donovan: David and All, I've been reading the discussion entries and find them quite interesting. I'm wondering how teacher content knowledge plays into formative assessment. It seems to me that sufficient content knowledge is a prerequisite to insightful formative assessment. In other words, if I do not understand the knowledge underpinning the division of fractions, for instance, it seems it would be difficult to assess learner knowledge and to develop appropriate instructional responses. Tricia Donovan SABES "Training Leaders in Adult Basic Education" Tricia Donovan, Ed.D. SABES CRC World Education 44 Farnsworth St. Boston, MA 02210 617-482-9485 x3785 Fax 617-482-0617 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de From cherylthornett at hotmail.com Tue Feb 26 16:20:50 2008 From: cherylthornett at hotmail.com (Cheryl Thornett) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:20:50 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 776] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England References: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead> <3ADC3456-97A0-40E3-99C5-9E14F6F6A777@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hi, I?m coming at this from the perspective of an ESOL tutor in adult education. Being called a tutor mainly means being paid less, I?m afraid. The specialists have made some really good points. Formative assessment is definitely a valuable part of teaching, but too many recording systems take far too much of limited teaching time. Imagine, four hours per week, 12 or more regular attendees plus the irregulars?I do need to teach, as well as record targets and attainments. (And yes, I know half of you are rolling your eyes and saying ?Four whole hours? Not even 20 in the class??) One of the problems for language teachers and learners is that typically, a person learning another language may find it extremely hard to reflect on their needs and learning, never mind put these into the language they are learning and an unfamiliar set of terminology. Assessment activities need to be meaningful to the student. I keep a simple grid on the back of my lesson plans, with the main targets for each lesson and the names of the students. This gives me a quick-and-dirty record of who has actually done a particular piece of work and usually includes a simple check or cross to show whether each managed at the expected level. I can, if necessary, look back over these to get a picture of missed lessons, or indications that someone is struggling or sailing through. Our system requires that students write a short record and possibly a comment at the end of each lesson, which we usually manage to do, and I try to read these at intervals. I generally comment informally when an activity shows real improvement, say, in asking questions or putting words in alphabetical order. This is pretty normal classroom practice, of course. I also, since I teach ESOL, ask students to give a short talk in class at fairly regular intervals and to write something such as a letter or report, based on our work for that period, and also reflecting the formal exams which they have to take at some stage. I give brief individual feedback on these as soon as possible, as well as making more copious notes, and the feedback and notes reflect individual needs and progress. I mainly teach multi-level classes, and I find this works well, because students can participate at their own level, or I can set different tasks. Before Christmas, for example, I asked L1/L2 students to give an account (2-3 minutes) of how to do something, with about a week to prepare, and I asked them to write a formal letter, the topic taken from past exam papers. We had worked as a group on various aspects of formal letters and on language suitable for explaining or giving instructions, among other areas. The lower level students wrote a letter asking for help and advice, while the higher level students wrote letters of complaint. At the end of the first two terms of the year (3 terms in total), I interview each student (5-10 minutes usually) and we discuss the student?s learning plan, how well they feel they have done and how well I feel they have done, taking the assessment tasks into account, along with class work. This is our formal, required formative review, and I base the next set of Individual Learning Plans on this. There are some generic questions to answer such as ?What have you achieved? What has been difficult? What do you need to do next?. If students have moderate English literacy (certainly E3 and up), I ask them to write the answers in their own words after our discussion. We do not have time for individual tutorials outside class hours. I have noticed that many commercial textbooks and some public materials now include regular test-type activities, which may be called review, ?check your learning?, ?what can you do now?? or something similar. I find that learners actually appreciate these, once they feel confident that they are not really tests with grades, because it gives them a sense of ongoing progress. I like them, if well-designed, for the same reason. While these are not individuated, they can still show the individual?s strengths or weaknesses. They aren?t all just tests of grammar, either. And now, back to marking class work.... Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham (UK) Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:32 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do tutors do it? Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative assessment practices be learned in professional development and practiced well by relatively new teachers? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > not, I will later on today.) > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > Nomenclature > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > But: > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > The Case Studies > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > limited time period. > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > staff?s regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > were important, and in roughly this order: > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > to generally ?go the extra mile? > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > Opportunities for continuing professional development > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners? motivation and > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > an increasing administrative burden. > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > site. > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > Strengths > > A focus on small increments of learning ? something that is > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > demands of a course. > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > goals and aspirations. > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > learning process. > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > learner, and amongst learners. > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > at what rate. > > Weaknesses > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > away from instruction. > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > justified by its impact on learning. > > Comment > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > say. > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > of summative assessment? > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > level of general principle and more in the details we are > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > More soon. > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > Comings if they could: > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/a5665004/attachment.html From bcarmel at rocketmail.com Tue Feb 26 17:29:18 2008 From: bcarmel at rocketmail.com (Bruce C) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:29:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net> Message-ID: <419719.69859.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080226/0dcc9433/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Feb 26 22:23:23 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:23:23 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 778] Announcement-NAAL Data Set Training Seminar References: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B153833A4@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Message-ID: <9D6F0AB7-C1FF-4CE2-97D3-4EECD359FB86@comcast.net> Colleagues, I have been asked to post the announcement below by the National Institute for Literacy staff. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net > ********************************* > > Using the National Assessment of Adult Literacy Data file and Tools > For > Research, Secondary Analyses and Policy Development > > NAAL Data Set Training June 2008 > > Description: > > The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the U.S > Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), will > sponsor a 2 1/2-day advanced studies seminar on the use of the > National > Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) data files and tools for research > and policy analyses. The 2003 NAAL measured the English literacy of > America's adults living in households and prisons. Results are > reported > in terms of scale score averages on three literacy scales: prose, > document, and quantitative, as well as literacy levels that are > described as Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient. > > For more information about NAAL and a list of available publications > that can be downloaded or ordered, visit the survey website. See the > links available below. > > Type: > > Workshop/Training & Technical Assistance > > Audience: > > This seminar is open to institutional researchers and planners, > education practitioners, policymakers, and association members, as > well > as faculty and advanced graduate students from colleges and > universities > nationwide. > > Location: > > Academy for Educational Development (AED) > 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW > Washington, DC 20009-5721 > (202) 884-8583 > > Dates: > > June 25-27, 2008 > > Organization: > > National Center for Education Statistics > > More Information: > > Register for this conference > > > NAAL Data Set Training Seminar Announcement > NAAL2008trainingannouncemen > t.pdf> > > > NAAL2008trainingannouncemen > t.pdf> ( 267KB ) > > For further information about NAAL, visit the study website > > > > For help viewing PDF files, please click here > . > > Contacts: > Vukovic, Gordana from Synergy > Enterprises, Inc. at (240) 485-1700 > > Sponsors: > National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) > From john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz Tue Feb 26 23:38:26 2008 From: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz (John Benseman) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:38:26 +1300 Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <419719.69859.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw iliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/2cf39637/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Feb 27 09:18:35 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:35 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 780] Formative Assessment Day Three; U.S. case Studies Message-ID: <6F5015E4-4D3B-405D-A4C7-73054296BE23@comcast.net> Colleagues, The discussion on formative assessment is getting lively now. That's great. Keep posting your questions and comments to any of the researchers or other discussion participants. Meanwhile, today we will also look at the case studies in the U.S. I would like John Comings (from the U.S.) and John Benseman (from New Zealand) to talk about what they found in the background research and the case studies in the U.S. As we plunge into a discussion about the U.S. case studies, I hope you will take a look at them at: http://www.oecd.org/document/ 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html If this long link doesn't work for you, cut and paste it into your browser, or just try the short form of the web address: http://tinyurl.com/2d3wyk I have asked John Benseman and John Comings if they could: 1. give a short overview of the national adult literacy education context in the U.S. -- for our international subscribers, but also for those in the U.S. -- particularly noting any features or terms of the context that are important to understand the case studies; 2. describe the case studies; and 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant findings and also explain how the case studies might be good examples of formative assessment. I would be particularly interested in hearing observations from both researchers on what appears to be different and similar in formative assessment practices in the U.S. as compared with other countries. What can we in the U.S. learn about practice and policy from what is happening in New Zealand or the U.K., for example. Are there good practices that U.S. states teachers, one-on-one tutors, or programs should consider? Tomorrow I would like to explore two areas with all the discussion participants: 1) formative assessment practices in other countries we haven't yet touched on -- for example Scotland, Germany, Canada, or other countries, and 2) policies that support and hinder formative assessment. David J. Rosen Special Topics discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From alison.sutton at criticalinsight.co.nz Tue Feb 26 23:48:03 2008 From: alison.sutton at criticalinsight.co.nz (Alison Sutton) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:48:03 +1300 Subject: [SpecialTopics 781] Re: Formative assessment in adultfoundationskills in England In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <002801c878fb$f0341a50$0a00a8c0@Critical2> Hi - Alison here, also from New Zealand and from the OECD project. One of the key points about formative assessment is that it informs teachers' understanding of what learners know; it usually does not lead to recording anything but rather to changing what you teach next and how you teach it. Its not about more paperwork - it is about more or different thinking about teaching and what you see. In response to the query about whether you need to be a subject expert to use formative assessment. John and I asked that question specifically when we met Dylan Wiliam during the OECD project, because in New Zealand our training and certification of adult literacy, language and numeracy teachers is not yet strong. If formative assessment was an approach only for the well trained, confident and skilled teachers it would not help us much. But he argued that it's a good way to help newer, less experienced or less supported teachers develop subject knowledge. Alison Sutton Critical Insight 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay Auckland 06000 New Zealand +64 9 627 4415 +64 21 270 6804 alison.sutton at criticalinsight.co.nz _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cheryl Thornett Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 10:21 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 776] Re: Formative assessment in adultfoundationskills in England Hi, I'm coming at this from the perspective of an ESOL tutor in adult education. Being called a tutor mainly means being paid less, I'm afraid. The specialists have made some really good points. Formative assessment is definitely a valuable part of teaching, but too many recording systems take far too much of limited teaching time. Imagine, four hours per week, 12 or more regular attendees plus the irregulars-I do need to teach, as well as record targets and attainments. (And yes, I know half of you are rolling your eyes and saying 'Four whole hours? Not even 20 in the class?') One of the problems for language teachers and learners is that typically, a person learning another language may find it extremely hard to reflect on their needs and learning, never mind put these into the language they are learning and an unfamiliar set of terminology. Assessment activities need to be meaningful to the student. I keep a simple grid on the back of my lesson plans, with the main targets for each lesson and the names of the students. This gives me a quick-and-dirty record of who has actually done a particular piece of work and usually includes a simple check or cross to show whether each managed at the expected level. I can, if necessary, look back over these to get a picture of missed lessons, or indications that someone is struggling or sailing through. Our system requires that students write a short record and possibly a comment at the end of each lesson, which we usually manage to do, and I try to read these at intervals. I generally comment informally when an activity shows real improvement, say, in asking questions or putting words in alphabetical order. This is pretty normal classroom practice, of course. I also, since I teach ESOL, ask students to give a short talk in class at fairly regular intervals and to write something such as a letter or report, based on our work for that period, and also reflecting the formal exams which they have to take at some stage. I give brief individual feedback on these as soon as possible, as well as making more copious notes, and the feedback and notes reflect individual needs and progress. I mainly teach multi-level classes, and I find this works well, because students can participate at their own level, or I can set different tasks. Before Christmas, for example, I asked L1/L2 students to give an account (2-3 minutes) of how to do something, with about a week to prepare, and I asked them to write a formal letter, the topic taken from past exam papers. We had worked as a group on various aspects of formal letters and on language suitable for explaining or giving instructions, among other areas. The lower level students wrote a letter asking for help and advice, while the higher level students wrote letters of complaint. At the end of the first two terms of the year (3 terms in total), I interview each student (5-10 minutes usually) and we discuss the student's learning plan, how well they feel they have done and how well I feel they have done, taking the assessment tasks into account, along with class work. This is our formal, required formative review, and I base the next set of Individual Learning Plans on this. There are some generic questions to answer such as 'What have you achieved? What has been difficult? What do you need to do next?. If students have moderate English literacy (certainly E3 and up), I ask them to write the answers in their own words after our discussion. We do not have time for individual tutorials outside class hours. I have noticed that many commercial textbooks and some public materials now include regular test-type activities, which may be called review, 'check your learning', 'what can you do now?' or something similar. I find that learners actually appreciate these, once they feel confident that they are not really tests with grades, because it gives them a sense of ongoing progress. I like them, if well-designed, for the same reason. While these are not individuated, they can still show the individual's strengths or weaknesses. They aren't all just tests of grammar, either. And now, back to marking class work.... Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham (UK) Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" < djrosen at comcast.net> To: < specialtopics at nifl.gov> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:32 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do tutors do it? Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative assessment practices be learned in professional development and practiced well by relatively new teachers? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > not, I will later on today.) > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > Nomenclature > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > But: > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > The Case Studies > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > limited time period. > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > staff's regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > were important, and in roughly this order: > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > to generally 'go the extra mile' > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > Opportunities for continuing professional development > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners' motivation and > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > an increasing administrative burden. > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > site. > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > Strengths > > A focus on small increments of learning - something that is > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > demands of a course. > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > goals and aspirations. > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > learning process. > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > learner, and amongst learners. > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > at what rate. > > Weaknesses > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > away from instruction. > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > justified by its impact on learning. > > Comment > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > say. > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > of summative assessment? > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > level of general principle and more in the details we are > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > More soon. > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > Comings if they could: > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/cc276215/attachment.html From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Wed Feb 27 04:59:46 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:59:46 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 782] Re: Formative Assessment: doesteachercontentknowledge matter? In-Reply-To: <20080226224332.C7AFD102811@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> References: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8A1FD1@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> <20080226224332.C7AFD102811@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D8E21FD@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> Colleagues - Good morning. I wanted to continue with my answers to some of David's initial questions regarding the OECD report findings, as well as to add to the comments that have been made on issues of praise and time. First - on the issue of praise, I think the issue is not that people shouldn't receive praise, but rather, the kind of praise and the way in which it is given matters. More specifically, praise should be task-based, rather than ego-based. Learners - and particularly older learners - tend to perceive praise based on ego ("you're a good student/good person, etc.") as inauthentic, or even patronizing. Praise such as :"you've done a really great job on this task" (with specific comments on where the learners has made progress, where he/she may still make improvements, with some suggestions as to how) is usually much better received. Studies with younger learners show that they make much more progress when receiving the latter kind of feedback. Second - on the issue of time - a couple of the other participants have made a lot of specific and pragmatic suggestions as to how they, or instructors they have observed, have managed to build formative assessment activities in to their limited teaching time. I might also add a couple findings from the two OECD studies on formative assessment. For example, instructors working with younger learners found that, initially, they did spend more time helping learners to develop skills for understanding the criteria used to assess their work, working with them to understand how they could strengthen their work, and to develop skills for peer- and self-assessment. Later, instructors spent less time, as learners were ready to take over many tasks and to work more independently. Instructors also made deliberate decisions to cut back on the amount of curriculum they would try to cover, so they could cover core concepts more thoroughly. In adult foundation skill classes, instructors also relied on some of these same techniques, as well as work having learners work independently with ICT learning programs. As adult learners are not able to spend significant amounts of time in formal learning settings, these skills for independent learning are vital. Third - I'll return to David's initial set of questions. David had asked about the "steps of the learning process" identified in the OECD synthesis report, as well as the report recommendations. I'll give a brief outline of the steps. On the report recommendations, I'd be interested in participants' reactions as to whether, and if yes, how, these recommendations could apply in the US. 8. What are the steps (features?) of the learning journey? (the five steps) The different literature reviews and case studies conducted for the OECD study revealed a strong emphasis on the process of learning. We identified several common elements, which are delineated as the "steps of the learning process": 1. Diagnosis of learning needs, and establishment of learners' motivations and goals. 2. The development of strong relationships within the classroom, and creation of "safe" environments for learning. 3. The use of assessment to provide information on learning, and to be used as feedback by learners and instructors to modify teaching and learning activities. 4. A focus on building learner autonomy, including skills for self-assessment and for addressing the literacy and numeracy tasks of daily life independently. 5. Tracking of learner progress toward goals and recognition of achievement. Learning is not necessarily a linear process, however; instructors and learners may be engaged in several steps of the process at any given time. For example, the researchers and practitioners involved in the OECD study stressed the importance of involving learners in decisions as to what they will learn, and how, as an important step for setting relevant goals (step 1), as well as for developing autonomy (step 4). Learners and instructors track progress toward goals on a regular basis, not just at the end of a unit or course. The literature and case studies also highlight the combined importance of the different elements - rather than discrete steps, practices or tools - in promoting learner progress. 9. What are the study's conclusions? The study identifies seven interrelated principles, which may serve as a broad framework for strengthening policy and practice and for building the evidence base. 1.) Promote active debate on the nature of teaching, learning and assessment. Active debate inviting exchange among stakeholders and critical analysis of evidence and ideas is vital to the process of change. It moves beyond simple dissemination of tools or sharing of best practices, and places a stronger focus on transformation of practice and of cultures of learning. This process is essential if ideas are to gain any real traction in the sector. 2.) Strengthen professionalism. Effective teaching involves a complex mix of subject-matter and pedagogical expertise, skills in assessment, as well as softer skills. Countries need to continue in the current direction of strengthening practice through more rigorous qualification and professional development requirements. There should be a range of professional development approaches, which allow instructors to deepen their skills in progressively advanced courses. Instructors also need opportunities for peer support. 3.) Balance structure and flexibility: formative assessment as a framework. Well-designed tools and guidelines provide much-needed structure and enable instructors to be more systematic in their practice. At the same time, instructors need plenty of flexibility in order to adapt to the needs of diverse learners. Ideally, formative assessment frameworks will provide the right balance of structure and flexibility. This interactive approach to assessment and adaptation of the teaching and learning process calls upon the instructor's pedagogical and subject-knowledge, but also calls for a great deal of creativity and adaptability. 4.) Strengthen learner-centered approaches. The countries and programs participating in this study promote "learner-centered" approaches to adult LLN provision. Yet many aspects of adult LLN provision are still more oriented to the needs of systems rather than learners. Some approaches which could help to strengthen the focus on learner needs include: * Instruction that fits learners' patterns of participation. When learners cannot learn in classroom settings, they may continue through self-study. Programs can support learners by helping them to design a plan for self-study, and taking into account progress made when they return to the classroom (See Comings, et al. work on learner persistence). * Portable portfolios as well as improved national databases to register learners' progress toward goals over time and across programs (whether through formal, informal or non-formal learning). * A stronger focus on ensuring that formative and summative assessments are grounded in real-life contexts related to the learner's goals. In addition, policy-makers and program leaders should consult regularly with learners on their own views as to what they believe counts as a successful outcome, and how well programs are serving their needs. 5.) Diversify and deepen approaches to assessment and program evaluation for accountability. Given the range of stakeholder interests, no single approach can satisfy all needs. Systems which use diverse, well-aligned measures of learning processes as well as outcomes will be better able to manage competing goals and interests - and to capture useful data. The mix of approaches to measurement might draw upon current approaches: * A focus on outcomes. Outcomes that are relatively open allow learners to demonstrate attainment drawing upon their own interests, a specific area of study, or work-related tasks. * Targets. Targets based on recent trends, that focus on participation (rather than attainment of qualifications) can help to keep the focus on outreach and program accessibility. Local communities and individual institutions may also set specific targets to improve services. * National reporting systems. National databases provide guidelines for assessment, set out standards, and provide a nationally consistent means for tracking and reporting on learner outcomes. Potentially, these systems may also include details useful for identifying effective practices. * Inspections and program self-evaluations. Inspections and program self-evaluation are focused not only on program outcomes, but also the process of teaching, learning and assessment. They provide a means to consider how well programs are integrating formative assessment to diagnose needs and shape teaching and learning, and to involve learners in determining what they will learn and how. 6.) Devote the necessary resources: people, time and money. While this study has not included any detailed discussion on funding within the adult LLN sector, it has been concerned with providing insights that might guide more effective investment of existing resources - including people, time and money. It also suggests where additional resources might help to further professionalize the field and improve outcomes. * Countries need to closely examine pay and benefit conditions, as well as career structures for advancement for instructors working in the adult LLN sector. The sector is still far from having equivalent conditions as the compulsory sector, although professionals in the two sectors are undertaking similar work. * Instructors need pragmatic solutions such as effective ICT-based learning, effective deployment of volunteer tutors, and peer learning to address concerns about the time-intensive nature of individualized teaching and formative assessment. A close look at how to cut back on paperwork may also help. * While countries have made significant investments in the adult LLN sector, it is still not enough to meet needs. Absent a significant new infusion of funding, countries will need to choose between serving as many learners as possible or raising quality for a smaller number of learners. Likely, the latter strategy will be more effective for demonstrating the worth of programs and attracting further investment. 7.) Strengthen the knowledge-base. The list of research needs is built on the assumption that researchers in the field will need to broaden the range of methodologies used and in particular to pay much greater attention to impact. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen Sent: 26 February, 2008 11:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 775] Re: Formative Assessment: doesteachercontentknowledge matter? Well... hello David, Janet and everyone else - I just joined the discussion - I thought that it takes place on the assessment-list - but the problem you mention is very interesting for us in Germany as well. We currently prefer to co-operate with specialists on subject-matter-teaching (so-called Fachdidaktik) and from special education, because they know a lot about the steps of the acquisition of reading and especially writing. On the other hand, they - our subject-matter-specialists - know nothing about adults, and they appreciate the practitioner wisdom from our colleagues at the German Adult Education Schools, the "Volkshochschulen" who offer ABE training. In a few words: Formative Assessment needs both strong subject matter skills and clear adult education principles, I think. Best regards from Alisha, Claudia, Yvonne and Steffanie as well - all of them just start as scientific employees in the area of ABE in Bremen, Germany... Anke -- Prof. Dr. Anke Grotl?schen Juniorprofessur f?r Lebenslanges Lernen Universit?t Bremen GERMANY -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Gesendet: Dienstag, 26. Februar 2008 15:07 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 769] Re: Formative Assessment: does teachercontentknowledge matter? You are absolutely right. Instructors must have strong subject-matter knowledge in order to identify the source of learner misconceptions, and to develop appropriate responses. Skills and approaches will also vary by subject-matter (pedagogical skills for teaching language are different than those for teaching numeracy, and so on). -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: 26 February, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 768] Formative Assessment: does teacher contentknowledge matter? From Patricia Donovan: David and All, I've been reading the discussion entries and find them quite interesting. I'm wondering how teacher content knowledge plays into formative assessment. It seems to me that sufficient content knowledge is a prerequisite to insightful formative assessment. In other words, if I do not understand the knowledge underpinning the division of fractions, for instance, it seems it would be difficult to assess learner knowledge and to develop appropriate instructional responses. Tricia Donovan SABES "Training Leaders in Adult Basic Education" Tricia Donovan, Ed.D. SABES CRC World Education 44 Farnsworth St. Boston, MA 02210 617-482-9485 x3785 Fax 617-482-0617 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org From comingjo at gse.harvard.edu Wed Feb 27 09:01:09 2008 From: comingjo at gse.harvard.edu (John Comings) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:01:09 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 783] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skills In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John Vorhaus has covered the England case well. I'll add my personal observations. When I was in England, I visted good programs and good teachers. They did complain about the time needed to follow the structured formative assessment. However, the formative assessmnet procedures ensured that teachers had an opportunity to assess the learning progress and needs of each student and to learn ways to contextualize instruction around the real and immediate demands for literacy and numeracy skills in the lives of students. The teachers I visited could and would have employed formative assessment without the mandated procedures, but less experienced teacher might benefit from the procedures. I thought it might be better to begin with mandaded procedures and then allow teachers to drop some or all of the procedures once they had integrated fomrative assessment into their practice. John Comings National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy Harvard Graduate School of Education 7 Appian Way Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 496-0516, voice (617) 495-4811, fax (617) 335-9839, mobile john_comings at harvard.edu http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu From comingjo at gse.harvard.edu Wed Feb 27 09:11:24 2008 From: comingjo at gse.harvard.edu (John Comings) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:11:24 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 784] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: Although there is no research that sets an optimal size for classes, research in the K?12 system in the US has confirmed that smaller classes lead to greater student achievement (Folger & Breda, 1989), though Grissmer (1999) and Slavin (1989) suggest that teacher competence is more important. Students, therefore, may do better in a large class with a well-trained teacher than in a small class with a poorly trained teacher. In a review of the research on class size reduction, Buckingham (2003) concludes that, while there are several studies that report a strong relationship between learning and class size, many of these studies reveal methodological weaknesses (e.g., insufficient randomization, lack of independent evaluations) that make their findings less than conclusive. Moreover, Buckingham (2003) argues that, in the absence of consistent and convincing findings, the reduction of class sizes from 25 to 20 students may not be worth the cost to public schools. She points out, ?Research tells us that effective teaching is much more important than the number of children in the classroom. It is therefore much wiser to invest in the quality of teachers, rather than quantity? (p. 15). Buckingham, J. (2003). Reflections on class size and teacher quality. Issue Analysis, 29A. Retrieved February 24, 2006, from: http://www.cis.org.au/IssueAnalysis/ia29a/IA29a.htm Folger, J., & Breda, C. (1989). Evidence for Project STAR about class size and student achievement. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(1), 17?33. Grissmer, D. (1999). Conclusion?Class size effects: Assessing the evidence, its policy implications, and future research agenda. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(2), 231?248. Slavin, R. E. (1989). Achievement effects of substantial reductions in class size. In R. Slavin (Ed.), School and classroom organization (pp. 247?257). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:38:26 +1300 "John Benseman" wrote: > I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but > I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research > that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This > is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the > research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. > > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, > we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there > is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out > on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). > > > > The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the > specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is > something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of > praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and > realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes > with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not > sufficient. > > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably > want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be > challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how > they are progressing (or not). > > > > Regards, John > > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research > > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > _____ > >From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes > 'not cost effective > > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size > attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of > Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, > I say ... > > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as > pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30." > > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I > checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and > personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw > iliam.asp > > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take > constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do > this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude > really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 > students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a > teacher with 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class > size... > > > > But so what? > > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and > save tons of money? > > > > You get my point, right? > > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > wiliam.asp> > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > > > _____ > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo > your homepage. > > John Comings National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy Harvard Graduate School of Education 7 Appian Way Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 496-0516, voice (617) 495-4811, fax (617) 335-9839, mobile john_comings at harvard.edu http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu From Matt.Davis at cityofbristol.ac.uk Wed Feb 27 05:05:47 2008 From: Matt.Davis at cityofbristol.ac.uk (Matt Davis) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:05:47 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 785] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England In-Reply-To: References: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead> <3ADC3456-97A0-40E3-99C5-9E14F6F6A777@comcast.net> Message-ID: <47C535FA.9039.005C.0@cityofbristol.ac.uk> Hi, I've just finished being an ESOL teacher, but suspect I could have kept going for longer if it hadn't been for Individual Learning Plans! It's interesting to see that Cheryl has developed her own method for 'coping' with these; I wonder if this was a personal strategy or an institutional one? I've discussed ILPs at length with lots of ESOL practitioners, and been responsible for verifying the use of them by a team of teachers, and I've yet to see an example of their use as genuine formative assessment. Firstly, most seem to be written by the teachers with little involvement from the student. This is often accounted for by limited language skills, but equally the culture of ILPs is pretty unfathomable to many of the learners. Further to this, the requirement to translate what the learner wants into a SMART goal is pretty demanding for trained, professional native-speakers, so what goes on the form will always be removed from the original intention to some degree. Secondly, focussing on individual needs within a communal, class-focussed teaching environment seems destined to fail. Either individual learners are given the time to focus on their exclusive needs (impractical) or teachers offer goals which are subsets of the wider group aims, leading to a situation where learners sign an ILP to say that they intend to learn a particular part of the content of the course 'better' than the rest. Many tutors offer the learners a list of goals which are tangentially connected with the plan for that term, which are selected then 'achieved' as a separate strand to the course, but basically assessed summatively. Thirdly, as Cheryl implied, the time pressures of Skills for Life (the current government agenda which covers ESOL, Literacy and Numeracy in the UK) admin are immense. There simply isn't any time to review, comment meaningfully or do any of the other things which make formative assessment effective. Finally, most teachers are familiar enough with either language acquisition theory or the experience of language learning to know that the synthetic, bricks in a wall view of language learning implicit to ILPs just isn't right. You can't 'achieve' an aspect of language at the end of a term. Phew! Purgative. Matt Davis Research and Development Manager City of Bristol College Bedminster (1.37) 0117 312 5557 07739 863 450 >>> "Cheryl Thornett" 26/02/2008 21:20 >>> Hi, I?m coming at this from the perspective of an ESOL tutor in adult education. Being called a tutor mainly means being paid less, I?m afraid. The specialists have made some really good points. Formative assessment is definitely a valuable part of teaching, but too many recording systems take far too much of limited teaching time. Imagine, four hours per week, 12 or more regular attendees plus the irregulars*I do need to teach, as well as record targets and attainments. (And yes, I know half of you are rolling your eyes and saying ?Four whole hours? Not even 20 in the class??) One of the problems for language teachers and learners is that typically, a person learning another language may find it extremely hard to reflect on their needs and learning, never mind put these into the language they are learning and an unfamiliar set of terminology. Assessment activities need to be meaningful to the student. I keep a simple grid on the back of my lesson plans, with the main targets for each lesson and the names of the students. This gives me a quick-and-dirty record of who has actually done a particular piece of work and usually includes a simple check or cross to show whether each managed at the expected level. I can, if necessary, look back over these to get a picture of missed lessons, or indications that someone is struggling or sailing through. Our system requires that students write a short record and possibly a comment at the end of each lesson, which we usually manage to do, and I try to read these at intervals. I generally comment informally when an activity shows real improvement, say, in asking questions or putting words in alphabetical order. This is pretty normal classroom practice, of course. I also, since I teach ESOL, ask students to give a short talk in class at fairly regular intervals and to write something such as a letter or report, based on our work for that period, and also reflecting the formal exams which they have to take at some stage. I give brief individual feedback on these as soon as possible, as well as making more copious notes, and the feedback and notes reflect individual needs and progress. I mainly teach multi-level classes, and I find this works well, because students can participate at their own level, or I can set different tasks. Before Christmas, for example, I asked L1/L2 students to give an account (2-3 minutes) of how to do something, with about a week to prepare, and I asked them to write a formal letter, the topic taken from past exam papers. We had worked as a group on various aspects of formal letters and on language suitable for explaining or giving instructions, among other areas. The lower level students wrote a letter asking for help and advice, while the higher level students wrote letters of complaint. At the end of the first two terms of the year (3 terms in total), I interview each student (5-10 minutes usually) and we discuss the student?s learning plan, how well they feel they have done and how well I feel they have done, taking the assessment tasks into account, along with class work. This is our formal, required formative review, and I base the next set of Individual Learning Plans on this. There are some generic questions to answer such as ?What have you achieved? What has been difficult? What do you need to do next?. If students have moderate English literacy (certainly E3 and up), I ask them to write the answers in their own words after our discussion. We do not have time for individual tutorials outside class hours. I have noticed that many commercial textbooks and some public materials now include regular test-type activities, which may be called review, ?check your learning?, ?what can you do now?? or something similar. I find that learners actually appreciate these, once they feel confident that they are not really tests with grades, because it gives them a sense of ongoing progress. I like them, if well-designed, for the same reason. While these are not individuated, they can still show the individual?s strengths or weaknesses. They aren?t all just tests of grammar, either. And now, back to marking class work.... Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham (UK) Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:32 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do tutors do it? Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative assessment practices be learned in professional development and practiced well by relatively new teachers? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > not, I will later on today.) > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > Nomenclature > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > But: > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > The Case Studies > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > limited time period. > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > staff?s regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > were important, and in roughly this order: > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > to generally ?go the extra mile? > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > Opportunities for continuing professional development > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners? motivation and > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > an increasing administrative burden. > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > site. > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > Strengths > > A focus on small increments of learning * something that is > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > demands of a course. > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > goals and aspirations. > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > learning process. > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > learner, and amongst learners. > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > at what rate. > > Weaknesses > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > away from instruction. > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > justified by its impact on learning. > > Comment > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > say. > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > of summative assessment? > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > level of general principle and more in the details we are > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > More soon. > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > Comings if they could: > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/85b87d8d/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Feb 27 09:32:34 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:32:34 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 786] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skills in England Message-ID: <38C3C2E3-8A3D-4846-A95B-E528136EABD5@comcast.net> Forwarded to the discussion list for Kathryn Ecclestone. From: "kathryn ecclestone" Date: February 27, 2008 6:56:29 AM EST To: "John Vorhaus" Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult foundation skills in England Dear Colleagues I'm not sure the best way for me to engage in the debate here, other than to observe initially that formal procedures for formative assessment do not comprise best practice, necessarily.... we need to explore how formative assessment might be embedded in teaching (tho not in the complacent 'we do this anyway' response that this claim often gets), or adopted as special techniques or approaches within and outside 'teaching' and pressed on teachers and students as formal procedures which can sound formative but actually not be so. The cases from the IFA project shed light on these points and draw out some important distinctions between the rhetoric of formative assessment and the reality of observed practices, between instrumental and more sustainable, or deeper, approaches and between formative assessment as discernible methods or techniques and assessment as part of everyday teaching and dialogue with students. Kathryn From tmechem at doe.mass.edu Wed Feb 27 09:00:01 2008 From: tmechem at doe.mass.edu (Mechem, Thompson) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:00:01 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) In-Reply-To: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A4CD8@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had 30 students instead of 12? The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts are the students themselves. Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Massachusetts Department of Education 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research... John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/6672acf2/attachment.html From mschnec at localnet.com Wed Feb 27 09:02:54 2008 From: mschnec at localnet.com (mary) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:02:54 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 788] Re: Smaller classsizes References: <419719.69859.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <003d01c87949$7364d2a0$3558ca42@mschneckenburger> I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most benefit from it. Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or whatever. For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Mary Schneckenburger Program Coordinator Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 207 333 6601 X 1323 mschnec at juno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce C To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/6468d1ca/attachment.html From grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de Wed Feb 27 09:21:47 2008 From: grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Anke_Grotl=FCschen?=) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:21:47 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 789] praise & class size In-Reply-To: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <20080227142159.30B791028B9@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Dear fellows, praise is, as far as German research tells and as John B. says, good as long as it provides detailed information about the quality of performance (i.e. studies from Falko Rheinberg 1980). But there is more research on feedback out there, I suppose? Class size was a topic in (oh oh) PISA. There is no correlation between Class size and Pisa Score. But of course this says nothing about the teachers work load, headaches and so on. And the study was made in schools which probably provide 90% frontal transmission. Best regards Anke --- Anke Grotl?schen Juniorprofessur f?r Lebenslanges Lernen Universit?t Bremen Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft Institut f?r Erwachsenen-Bildungsforschung Tel. 0421 218 3083 Fax 0421 218 7219 Mobil 0176 2384 7995 Bibliothekstr. 1 28359 Bremen www.ifeb.uni-bremen.de _____ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von John Benseman Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 05:38 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw iliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/b0cf8230/attachment.html From kgotthardt at comcast.net Wed Feb 27 09:31:22 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:31:22 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 790] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective In-Reply-To: References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <61FFF4E633744D45B4843C1374CE3806@OwnerPC> Okay, so assuming the system has quality teachers and students are still struggling, can we assume the problem is most likely class size? How do things like curriculum play into all this? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Comings" To: Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:11 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 784] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Although there is no research that sets an optimal size for classes, research in the K-12 system in the US has confirmed that smaller classes lead to greater student achievement (Folger & Breda, 1989), though Grissmer (1999) and Slavin (1989) suggest that teacher competence is more important. Students, therefore, may do better in a large class with a well-trained teacher than in a small class with a poorly trained teacher. In a review of the research on class size reduction, Buckingham (2003) concludes that, while there are several studies that report a strong relationship between learning and class size, many of these studies reveal methodological weaknesses (e.g., insufficient randomization, lack of independent evaluations) that make their findings less than conclusive. Moreover, Buckingham (2003) argues that, in the absence of consistent and convincing findings, the reduction of class sizes from 25 to 20 students may not be worth the cost to public schools. She points out, "Research tells us that effective teaching is much more important than the number of children in the classroom. It is therefore much wiser to invest in the quality of teachers, rather than quantity" (p. 15). Buckingham, J. (2003). Reflections on class size and teacher quality. Issue Analysis, 29A. Retrieved February 24, 2006, from: http://www.cis.org.au/IssueAnalysis/ia29a/IA29a.htm Folger, J., & Breda, C. (1989). Evidence for Project STAR about class size and student achievement. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(1), 17-33. Grissmer, D. (1999). Conclusion-Class size effects: Assessing the evidence, its policy implications, and future research agenda. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(2), 231-248. Slavin, R. E. (1989). Achievement effects of substantial reductions in class size. In R. Slavin (Ed.), School and classroom organization (pp. 247-257). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:38:26 +1300 "John Benseman" wrote: > I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, > but > I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research > that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. > This > is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the > research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. > > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will > attest, > we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there > is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still > out > on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). > > > > The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find > the > specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say > is > something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of > praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and > realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes > with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not > sufficient. > > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably > want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be > challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on > how > they are progressing (or not). > > > > Regards, John > > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his > research. > > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > _____ > >From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes > 'not cost effective > > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size > attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of > Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of > London, > I say ... > > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long > as > pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30." > > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one > "L"--I > checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and > personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw > iliam.asp > > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to > take > constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do > this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude > really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 > students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than > a > teacher with 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class > size... > > > > But so what? > > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size > and > save tons of money? > > > > You get my point, right? > > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > wiliam.asp> > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > > > _____ > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo > your > homepage. > > John Comings National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy Harvard Graduate School of Education 7 Appian Way Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 496-0516, voice (617) 495-4811, fax (617) 335-9839, mobile john_comings at harvard.edu http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com Wed Feb 27 09:42:12 2008 From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com (Marie Cora) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> Hi everyone, Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning. Marie Cora NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdy lanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/799489a4/attachment.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Wed Feb 27 09:43:25 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:43:25 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing In-Reply-To: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A4CD8@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> Message-ID: I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner ? or friend, or colleague ? see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy ? that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you ? in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/3790a99e/attachment.html From comingjo at gse.harvard.edu Wed Feb 27 10:19:27 2008 From: comingjo at gse.harvard.edu (John Comings) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:19:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 793] Re: Formative Assessment Day Three; U.S. case Studies In-Reply-To: <6F5015E4-4D3B-405D-A4C7-73054296BE23@comcast.net> References: <6F5015E4-4D3B-405D-A4C7-73054296BE23@comcast.net> Message-ID: <7749242887136859B1DBC829@JCommings.ad.edc.org> Though most readers of this listserve know the US system, the following gives a basic background for those who do not know the system. In 1998, the government established the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to consolidate more than 50 employment, training, and literacy programs into three block grants to states to be used for adult education and family literacy, disadvantaged youth, and adult employment and training. In addition to its specific authorization of adult education services, WIA encourages the coordination of efforts across employment, training, and adult basic education programs. This coordination is fostered by "one-stop" centres, local agencies within each state through which adults can gain access to an array of job training, education, and employment services. WIA's focus on preparing people for employment and on family literacy does not necessarily diminish the importance of services geared toward adults pursuing their education for other purposes, such as citizenship or personal improvement. However, these outcomes are considered secondary. The primary outcomes are learning gains, measured by standardized tests, and employment. The basic skills component of WIA is funded through federal and state funds and administered by state agencies that fund programs that provide services. The proportion of state funding varies. WIA requires each state to match the federal share with at least 25% funding. However, most states match the federal share with an equal amount of funding. Only ten states greatly exceed the equal funding level, but since they include states with large populations, total state funding is almost three times the federal funding level. Total state and federal funding is around $2 billion per year. Some programs follow a classroom format, some use one-on-one tutoring, and some combine the two approaches to instruction. Many large programs are able to offer classes at different skill levels, while smaller programs can only offer a few classes that must accommodate a group of students who have a range of abilities. Programs offer classes that range from a few to 20 hours per week. Some programs run in closed cycles of a few months to a year, while others have ongoing classes with open-entry admission that fills the seats of students who drop out. Class sizes vary from small to large. Classes are held in a variety of venues, including community centers, social service agencies, workplaces, libraries, prisons, community colleges, churches, and schools. Most of these programs provide classes in basic skills (literacy and numeracy), English language, and high school equivalence. The first level of basic skills instruction is provided to students with very poor reading skills, often described as below the fifth-grade level, equivalent to IALS Level 1. Adults at this level may have learning disabilities that hinder their learning to decode the sounds of a word with the ease needed to read effectively. Instruction at this level requires a teacher who is well trained and a student who has the motivation and time to work on basic reading skills. Adults at this level usually need instruction in basic math as well. LD diagnosis is expensive. Some younger participants were identified (but not necessarily tested) for LD when they were in school. The second level of basic skills instruction is provided to students who do not have severe learning disabilities and who do not have significant problems with decoding. Adults at this level read at between fifth- and eighth-grade levels, equivalent to IALS Level 2. People at this level usually score low on tests of oral vocabulary and background knowledge and reading fluency (speed and accuracy). This situation requires students to engage in a good deal of practice in reading, writing, and math and direct instruction that builds vocabulary and fluency English language instruction is usually provided at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, though some programs have more than three levels of instruction. These levels are assessed by tests that measure Student Performance Levels (SPL) (citation), which range from 0 to 10. Beginning classes usually serve adults who are in the range of SPL 0 to 4. Intermediate classes usually serve adults who are in the range of SPL 5 to 6, and advanced classes usually serve adults who are in the range of SPL 7 to 10. This instruction begins with oral language development but eventually includes literacy and math in English as well. The General Education Development Tests (GED) -- a set of five tests that measure writing skills, social studies, science, interpretation of literature and the arts, and math -- is the most common alternative way to earn a high school credential. To pass the test, an adult must achieve a minimum total score and a minimum score on each of the five subject tests. The GED passing score is determined by testing high school graduates and setting the passing level at the point where 40% of high school graduates do not pass. However, each state determines whether or not passing the GED test qualifies as a high school diploma or an equivalence. A newly revised version of the test was released in 2002. The new test has a more explicit emphasis on cross-disciplinary skills, such as information processing, problem solving, and communication. The math section demonstrates a greater emphasis on data analysis, statistics, and probability. Several other approaches to high school equivalence are available. WIA allows states to design services in any way, except that instruction should be based on evidence from scientific research and states must meet goals defined by the National Reporting System (NRS). Scientific research is defined as studies that employ a rigorous methodology, particularly experimental or quasi-experimental, and have been peer reviewed. The NRS sets out three core indicators of performance: 1. Demonstrated improvements in literacy skill levels in reading, writing and speaking English, numeracy, problem solving, English language acquisition, and other literacy skills. The benchmark is moving up one "NRS Level". There are six NRS Levels for ESOL and six for literacy and numeracy, each equivalent to two grade-level equivalents. A student might be one point away from moving up a level or might be two complete grade levels away from moving up a level, but both transitions are considered sufficient improvement. 2. Placement in, retention in, or completion of postsecondary education, training, unsubsidized employment, or career advancement; and 3. Receipt of a GED or a recognized equivalent. These indicators are operationalized through five basic core measures: 1. Educational Gain?The percentage of adult learners in basic and English literacy programs who acquire the basic or English language skills needed (validated through standardized assessment) to complete the educational functioning level in which they were initially enrolled. These gains may be measured by any standardized test. To measure educational gain, the NRS established a hierarchy of six educational functioning levels, from beginning literacy through high school level completion, and six levels for English literacy, from beginning literacy level to high advanced, which represents skills sufficient to study for and pass the GED test. The levels are defined through reading, writing, numeracy and functional and workplace skills (and, for English literacy, speaking and listening skills) at each level. Included for each level is a corresponding set of benchmarks on commonly used standardized assessments, such as the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), as examples of how students functioning at each level would perform on these tests. 2. High School Completion?The percentage of adult learners with a high school completion goal who earned a high school diploma or recognized equivalent. 3. Entered Postsecondary Education?The percentage of adult learners who establish a goal to continue their education at the postsecondary level and who entered postsecondary education or training after program exit. 4. Entered Employment?The percentage of unemployed adult learners (in the workforce) with an employment goal who obtained a job within one quarter after program exit. 5. Retained Employment?The percentage of adult learners with a job retention goal who (a) entered employment within one quarter after exiting and (b) were still employed in the third quarter after program exit. John Comings, Director National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy Harvard Graduate School of Education 7 Appian Way Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 496-0516, voice (617) 495-4811, fax (617) 335-9839, mobile john_comings at harvard.edu http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu From cb.king at verizon.net Wed Feb 27 10:09:38 2008 From: cb.king at verizon.net (Catherine B. King) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:09:38 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 794] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> Message-ID: <003301c87952$c594ed90$6501a8c0@YOUR85A8F7B8EC> Hello John: I appreciate the responses here to the research and writings about class size. If I may add a note: It's not "intuitive" for a teacher to know that, first, students commonly respond to individual teacher-attention in the classroom; that, second, for adults, such attention fosters an abiding sense of a personal connection with the teacher--a sense that it matters to the teacher that they are present; and third, that the larger the class, the less attention can be afforded to each student by the teacher. Teachers are intelligent beings--we need no research to understand the principles: (1) Limited time, plus specific teaching goals, equals finite teacher time that can be afforded students who may need and respond to regular individual attention and, (2) in large "unruly" classes, even the rule-abiding students lose because teacher-time is spent dealing with unruly students, which also fosters a climate of defending against chaos, rather than a climate of learning. Of course, intelligent researchers know that having a smaller class, alone, does not guarantee a good climate of learning; nor does it guarantee that students will get the attention that may inspire their participation and further their development--because there are several other conditioning factors to consider besides class size, e.g., the further question of qualified hands-on teaching, which may or may not be present regardless of class size. (I know articles of such publications cannot show everything--as a critical factor in research, certainly intelligent researchers who understand the complexity of human beings and our learning situations don't think that the relationship between class size and student scores is a direct or simple one, with no other complex factors to consider?) On the other hand, if (1 & 2) principles above are correct then, even if a good teacher is present, and all other factors are positive, individual needs cannot be filled regularly in larger classes. There is probably some research in K-12 literature that speaks of optimum class size for different age groups--I'll look around to see what's there. Catherine King Adjunct Instructor Department of Education ----- Original Message ----- From: John Benseman To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research. John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cb.king at verizon.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/24bea78e/attachment.html From comingjo at gse.harvard.edu Wed Feb 27 10:24:06 2008 From: comingjo at gse.harvard.edu (John Comings) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:24:06 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 795] Re: Formative Assessment Day Three; U.S. case Studies In-Reply-To: <6F5015E4-4D3B-405D-A4C7-73054296BE23@comcast.net> References: <6F5015E4-4D3B-405D-A4C7-73054296BE23@comcast.net> Message-ID: <9767ACB4F4A5B2C9495F1F3C@JCommings.ad.edc.org> As far as the other two questions, I think the conclusions section of the US Case Study, that John Benseman wrote, provides a succinct answer: This study of 14 literacy teachers in the states of California, Maryland and Massachusetts has shown that all of the teachers incorporate at least some elements of formative assessment in their teaching and many of the teachers used most of the formative elements reported. The teachers reported that they certainly understood the term formative assessment and its role in effective teaching, although people more commonly referred to 'multiple assessments' or 'continuous improvement'. There is little doubt that the use of standardised tests such as the CASAS and the TABE is a distinctive feature of American provision in comparison with other countries. These tests are ubiquitous and increasingly, the cornerstone of most programmes. One state administrator concluded her review of assessment procedures in her state by saying that the use of standardised assessment "has probably been the prime focus of what we have been doing" and that the main concern has been "getting everyone up to speed doing it." While these tests are strongly tied into the funding requirements, they are also an integral part of teachers' assessment regimes for the review of learners' progress. They are certainly used for summative purposes, but also as formative strategies, where the results are used to accurately place students in classes, move them to new ones in relation to their progress and to plan future teaching sessions. There were also a range of other formative assessment strategies observed in operation in these classrooms. Many of the teachers have designed their own assessment tools or use one developed by their centres. These tests tend to be used more for diagnostic purposes, showing up learners' specific difficulties in their literacy, numeracy skills, which again are used to inform and shape future teaching content. As one state administrator said, "In our system, you're always assessing." In addition, there were also numerous examples of the sorts of formative assessment activities that have been identified in school-based research studies. These included mechanisms to help clarify and understand their learners' aims and to establish mutual criteria for monitoring success. In their teaching interactions, the teachers promoted and sustained effective classroom discussion, especially with the use of skilful questioning and providing feedback that helps their students to review their learning and move on to higher levels of literacy skills. Finally, the teachers were able to establish positive, supportive learning environments that reflected adult relationships and promoted students as owners of their own learning. In sum, there was considerable evidence of 'pedagogies of engagement'. John Comings, Director National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy Harvard Graduate School of Education 7 Appian Way Cambridge MA 02138 (617) 496-0516, voice (617) 495-4811, fax (617) 335-9839, mobile john_comings at harvard.edu http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Feb 27 10:46:36 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:46:36 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England Message-ID: Forwarded for Jan Eldred: From: "Jan Eldred" Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST To: "John Vorhaus" , Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies and what we seem to be understanding from observation. some thoughts: It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to learn, achievement etc etc etc... When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and learning. Or am I rambling?? Do tell me!! One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical activities... Jan From cb.king at verizon.net Wed Feb 27 11:20:01 2008 From: cb.king at verizon.net (Catherine B. King) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:20:01 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 797] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskillsin England References: Message-ID: <00cf01c8795c$9b189210$6501a8c0@YOUR85A8F7B8EC> Hello Jan: In my view, you are not rambling. If I may rephrase, you are describing the data field--learning, education, the teacher-student relationship, etc. The closer we get in our research to the actual qualities of good teaching, the less tension we should experience. Researchers are not studying something static or unhistorical. Rather we are looking at something that is already on-going, that was operative long before any researcher came on the scene, and that is actually responsible for research communities having developed in the first place--education. Without it, we would have no research communities. Thus, the research community (theory, etc.) takes up the reflective mode of human consciousness--but now as a separated and institutionalized function of a highly nuanced field--education. But that community emerged from, was separated off from, and is now returning to, that same educational experience to understand it and to formalize what is essential to it. Some researchers, however, do not seem to see themselves in this way. Rather, we seem to have unnecessary conflict for many reasons--too many to develop here. But education still is living and ongoing--and the data--teachers and students--still know when what we are doing works--when a student really understands something and needs no more help in that understanding. Much that is essential to and experienced by the teacher-student is not captured in the research--especially in poorly grounded research. >From my understanding of it (and from cognitional theory), the idea of formative assessments comes close to capturing what is already essential to the educational experience--thus, it resonates regularly with what teachers and students are already doing when we experience "It works." We shouldn't be so surprised--and we wouldn't be--if we understood what I think you are trying to say--that our data field already holds within it the operating essentials that researchers are trying to tease out, rather than create and apply to something foreign to themselves, as if the data field were somewhere else besides already in the classroom. In formative assessments, as well as for the idea of action research, teachers and researchers are returning the "ends" to the data (the student)--differentiating, formalizing, and naming what has always been common to good teaching--and with those assessments as being FOR the student--recognizing that the student is not the means, but the proper end of the process (their understanding), and not in the assessments, e.g., for funding streams. Regards, Catherine King ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:46 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskillsin England > Forwarded for Jan Eldred: > > From: "Jan Eldred" > Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST > To: "John Vorhaus" , > Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England > > This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it > but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. > > Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the > nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies > and what we seem to be understanding from observation. > > some thoughts: > > It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see > as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that > perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ > pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so > implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they > are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're > describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme > assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, > observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes > of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to > learn, achievement etc etc etc... > > When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference > is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being > looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the > process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and > indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as > something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we > would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and > learning. > > Or am I rambling?? > Do tell me!! > > One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term > instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical > activities... > > Jan > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cb.king at verizon.net > From bcarmel at rocketmail.com Wed Feb 27 12:01:19 2008 From: bcarmel at rocketmail.com (Bruce C) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:01:19 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes In-Reply-To: <003d01c87949$7364d2a0$3558ca42@mschneckenburger> Message-ID: <260900.50913.qm@web37907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Regarding Prof. Wil.i.am and praise: I would summarize Wil.i.am's position regarding praise like this: He says that vague, general praise does nothing to help students. It can confuse them about what is expected and make them focus on which students are getting the most praise in the classroom. He thinks it's better to give specific feedback that tells students what they need to improve. Then they know what to work on. I get that part, but I am not sure if Wil.i.am thinks it is also important to let students know the bigger picture of where they are at. If the only feedback I got was what needed to improve, I would not feel very good about school and my abilities to succeed. I think it is important to note that Wil.i.am's research was done with children. One of the big differences between children and adults is that children go to school by default. It is "normal" for children to be in school. Even though children may have doubts and fears about their abilities to learn, they are not at the same risk for dropping out as adults. In Adult Literacy, one of our biggest concerns is retention. We cannot assume that most students will stay enrolled no matter what. I think students leave school for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the other pressures and responsibilities of life. Sometimes it's because they don't feel that they are making progress. Sometimes it's because school is a negative experience. So I praise students whenever possible. The praise needs to be honest and specific. I think they benefit from hearing that they are learning and succeeded. It may be something they have not heard much before. It's also a good way to build a positive relationship between teacher and student. I don't know if any research backs me up. Bruce Carmel mary wrote: I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most benefit from it. Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or whatever. For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Mary Schneckenburger Program Coordinator Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 207 333 6601 X 1323 mschnec at juno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce C To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. --------------------------------- ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/e64a5509/attachment.html From wrmuth at vcu.edu Wed Feb 27 13:21:58 2008 From: wrmuth at vcu.edu (William R Muth/FS/VCU) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:21:58 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 799] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jan - This idea of making the tacit visible is similar to Chris Argyris & Donald A Sch?n's work on theory-in-use and the challenging work of helping adult practitioners come to terms with disconnects between their espoused beliefs and the theories evident in actual practice. (When we say "I do that already" but in fact we actually do something else...) The classic work is: Argyris, C. & Scho?n, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice : increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. - Bill "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 02/27/2008 11:17 AM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England Forwarded for Jan Eldred: From: "Jan Eldred" Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST To: "John Vorhaus" , Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin England This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies and what we seem to be understanding from observation. some thoughts: It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to learn, achievement etc etc etc... When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and learning. Or am I rambling?? Do tell me!! One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical activities... Jan ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/39405767/attachment.html From psc3 at psu.edu Wed Feb 27 14:02:05 2008 From: psc3 at psu.edu (Priscilla Carman) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:02:05 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 800] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskillsin England In-Reply-To: <00cf01c8795c$9b189210$6501a8c0@YOUR85A8F7B8EC> References: <00cf01c8795c$9b189210$6501a8c0@YOUR85A8F7B8EC> Message-ID: Hello all, This discussion thread is interesting to me in the way it has begun to connect good teaching and learning. I think many of the best teachers (in fact, most anyone who is truly expert at something) cannot always verbalize or articulate in research/education terms exactly what it is they are doing "that is working." Often, the elements of an expert performance are so automatic and intuitive that they can't be readily remembered or quantified for those who want to name/identify them. I think this follows along with Jan's train of thought; there are probably many really good teachers who are using formative assessment everyday but don't think of their practices as assessment, probably because they have become so focused on high-stakes testing and assessment? Best regards, Priscilla Carman >Hello Jan: > >In my view, you are not rambling. If I may rephrase, you are describing the >data field--learning, education, the teacher-student relationship, etc. The >closer we get in our research to the actual qualities of good teaching, the >less tension we should experience. > >Researchers are not studying something static or unhistorical. Rather we >are looking at something that is already on-going, that was operative long >before any researcher came on the scene, and that is actually responsible >for research communities having developed in the first place--education. >Without it, we would have no research communities. > >Thus, the research community (theory, etc.) takes up the reflective mode of >human consciousness--but now as a separated and institutionalized function >of a highly nuanced field--education. But that community emerged from, was >separated off from, and is now returning to, that same educational >experience to understand it and to formalize what is essential to it. Some >researchers, however, do not seem to see themselves in this way. Rather, we >seem to have unnecessary conflict for many reasons--too many to develop >here. > >But education still is living and ongoing--and the data--teachers and >students--still know when what we are doing works--when a student really >understands something and needs no more help in that understanding. Much >that is essential to and experienced by the teacher-student is not captured >in the research--especially in poorly grounded research. > >>From my understanding of it (and from cognitional theory), the idea of >formative assessments comes close to capturing what is already essential to >the educational experience--thus, it resonates regularly with what teachers >and students are already doing when we experience "It works." > >We shouldn't be so surprised--and we wouldn't be--if we understood what I >think you are trying to say--that our data field already holds within it the >operating essentials that researchers are trying to tease out, rather than >create and apply to something foreign to themselves, as if the data field >were somewhere else besides already in the classroom. > >In formative assessments, as well as for the idea of action research, >teachers and researchers are returning the "ends" to the data (the >student)--differentiating, formalizing, and naming what has always been >common to good teaching--and with those assessments as being FOR the >student--recognizing that the student is not the means, but the proper end >of the process (their understanding), and not in the assessments, e.g., for >funding streams. > >Regards, > >Catherine King > > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "David J. Rosen" >To: >Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:46 AM >Subject: [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult >foundationskillsin England > > >> Forwarded for Jan Eldred: >> >> From: "Jan Eldred" >> Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST >> To: "John Vorhaus" , >> Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England >> >> This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it >> but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. >> >> Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the >> nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies >> and what we seem to be understanding from observation. >> >> some thoughts: >> >> It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see >> as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that >> perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ >> pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so >> implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they >> are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're >> describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme >> assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, >> observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes >> of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to >> learn, achievement etc etc etc... >> >> When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference >> is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being >> looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the >> process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and >> indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as >> something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we >> would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and >> learning. >> >> Or am I rambling?? >> Do tell me!! >> >> One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term >> instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical >> activities... >> >> Jan >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to cb.king at verizon.net >> > > >------------------------------- >National Institute for Literacy >Special Topics mailing list >SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >Email delivered to psc3 at psu.edu -- Priscilla S. Carman Literacy Specialist Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy The Pennsylvania State University 208F Rackley Building University Park, PA 16802-3202 PH: 814-865-1049 FX: 814-863-6108 From jpotter at gha.org Wed Feb 27 13:47:27 2008 From: jpotter at gha.org (Jan Potter) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:47:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) In-Reply-To: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A4CD8@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> Message-ID: I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising *effort* gets dramatically better results. The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality these days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart child would not take on challenging tasks. Jan Potter, MSTC Communications Specialist Georgia Hospital Association -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had 30 students instead of 12? The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts are the students themselves. Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Massachusetts Department of Education 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research... John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/a23ca51a/attachment.html From john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz Wed Feb 27 16:59:52 2008 From: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz (John Benseman) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:59:52 +1300 Subject: [SpecialTopics 802] Re: Formative Assessment Day Three; U.S. case Studies In-Reply-To: <9767ACB4F4A5B2C9495F1F3C@JCommings.ad.edc.org> Message-ID: <00ae01c8798c$1942ce10$0c00a8c0@critical1> Well, John C has provided most of what David asked us to do in relation to the US case studies. Readers can see the full US report at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/33/40046717.pdf The report contains more detail about the observations. For example, some people have mentioned questioning - these are some of the questioning strategies that I observed being used by the teachers in the study that reflected a formative assessment approach. * Levels of questions: teachers pitched their questions at levels that were both attainable, but also challenging. * Leaving reasonable wait-time for learners to respond to questions so that they clearly understood that a response was expected from them and would not be answered by the teacher. * Ensuring that the students 'did the work' by ensuring that they answered the questions and not the teacher - "so is that sentence OK? - anything that you would like to see changed with it?" (addressed to the whole class). * Creating safe environments to ask questions: several instances demonstrated that teachers were genuinely interested in hearing students' responses - asking if anyone wanted anything explained further at the end of a session, one teacher waited a reasonable time for responses (rather than simply finishing the session without waiting for responses) and then when one student asked for clarification about a topic, then spent some time explaining it to the class. * Students were given realistic feedback on their answers along with suggestions for reviewing why it was incorrect or incomplete - or additional questions to elicit another response. * Promotion of critical thinking, for example by prompting students to make fine distinctions between similar words (fixable and feasible). * 'Tuning' of questions in response to learners' responses: teachers often opened with a general, open question ("so what do you all think about this?"), but then gradually focused their questioning both in relation to more specific topics ("what do you think the writer is trying to do in this chapter?") and also fine-tuning their questions in response to the learners' responses ("you think that it's all about control in this case or something else?"). * There was quite a high level of student: student interaction in most of the classes due at least in part to the amount of questions that students asked each other, rather than being reliant on teacher-dominated questioning. * Allowing for diversity of answers so that students received a message that there are a number of ways to answer correctly. One general point I would like to make in relation to what I observed: while it is true that many teachers respond to this debate by saying "but I already do that" I think we have growing evidence that many do not and that most of us can do it better. There have been a number of observation studies (both in the US and elsewhere) that clearly show for example that teachers ask predominantly closed questions, wait less than 2 seconds for replies and then often supply the answers themselves and so on (and that these behaviours are different from what the teachers say they do). Many would say for example that they ask their learners at the conclusion of a session if everyone understood what was taught, but this is often done while everyone is packing up and heading for the door: the script here is, 'I am asking this question, but I don't really expect any of you to respond to it'. The teacher I observed doing this, asked this question before the 'dismissal process' was underway and waited for some time for replies from his learners (which one learner did and engaged in a conversation about what he hadn't understood and involved the rest of the class) - there was a 'script' operating in this classroom that the question was genuine and it was OK to seek further help or clarification. It is this sort of difference that sets ordinary teachers apart from exemplary ones. I'm enjoying the debates! Regards, John John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/c49d7fe6/attachment.html From grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de Wed Feb 27 16:21:03 2008 From: grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Anke_Grotl=FCschen?=) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:21:03 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 803] feedback by competent tutor In-Reply-To: <260900.50913.qm@web37907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20080227212127.27FFB102876@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Bruce and all the others who discuss praise (David, Janet and John (B/ C/ V), sorry for not directly starting on day three, I?m not yet through with reading day one and two ? and by the way, I liked your ?Good Morning? - it?s 22:19h here:-) Our ongoing studies suggest that people develop interest in a subject-matter if they feel they can participate (in the literal meaning of the latin word: pars capere). Participation includes that they are somehow concerned with the consequences of their activities. These consequences might be a good relationship to a tutor or fellows. It might be the ability to drive a car, to discuss news or to understand documents. So, if we want people to stay enrolled, we should think of what is their reason to come into the class. German-language theory discusses ?Subject Scientific Approaches? ? related to critical psychology, i.e. Holzkamp and Action Theory, i.e. Vygotsky. Similar approaches are provided by John Dewey (Interest and effort in Education, 1913). Regarding feedback, a small-scale qualitative study we did in 2003 about e-learning finds that informative feedback is appreciated very much, when provided by someone the students accept to be competent in his/her subject-matter. If not, they don?t even fulfil their tasks, because they are not interested in his/her feedback (neither positive nor negative, neither informative nor vague). Best wishes, Anke _____ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Bruce C Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 18:01 An: mary; specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes Regarding Prof. Wil.i.am and praise: I would summarize Wil.i.am's position regarding praise like this: He says that vague, general praise does nothing to help students. It can confuse them about what is expected and make them focus on which students are getting the most praise in the classroom. He thinks it's better to give specific feedback that tells students what they need to improve. Then they know what to work on. I get that part, but I am not sure if Wil.i.am thinks it is also important to let students know the bigger picture of where they are at. If the only feedback I got was what needed to improve, I would not feel very good about school and my abilities to succeed. I think it is important to note that Wil.i.am's research was done with children. One of the big differences between children and adults is that children go to school by default. It is "normal" for children to be in school. Even though children may have doubts and fears about their abilities to learn, they are not at the same risk for dropping out as adults. In Adult Literacy, one of our biggest concerns is retention. We cannot assume that most students will stay enrolled no matter what. I think students leave school for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the other pressures and responsibilities of life. Sometimes it's because they don't feel that they are making progress. Sometimes it's because school is a negative experience. So I praise students whenever possible. The praise needs to be honest and specific. I think they benefit from hearing that they are learning and succeeded. It may be something they have not heard much before. It's also a good way to build a positive relationship between teacher and student. I don't know if any research backs me up. Bruce Carmel mary wrote: I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most benefit from it. Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or whatever. For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Mary Schneckenburger Program Coordinator Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 207 333 6601 X 1323 mschnec at juno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce C To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw iliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. _____ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/91069bc4/attachment.html From cherylthornett at hotmail.com Wed Feb 27 13:27:04 2008 From: cherylthornett at hotmail.com (Cheryl Thornett) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:27:04 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 804] Re: Formative assessment inadult foundationskills in England References: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07033F2452@M3.ioead><3ADC3456-97A0-40E3-99C5-9E14F6F6A777@comcast.net> <47C535FA.9039.005C.0@cityofbristol.ac.uk> Message-ID: I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be an ESOL teacher, either. Like many teachers within Skills for Life, I have had to adapt the requirements, to the extent of ditching the forms provided by my service for lesson plans and schemes of work. I am fortunate enough to work with mutually supportive colleagues; we get little or no support in these matters from the institution, beyond acknowledgement that we may use some of our own forms so long as we include all the required information. The record on the back of the lesson plan was a life-saving tip from another tutor years before Skills for Life, for example. I've given up even trying to write SMART (ha!) targets as recommended by people who have never taught language; no one with authority to do anything about our centrally produced forms seems to be interested in devising forms for the benefit of students, rather than for administrators and inspectors. I'd be much happier with class targets for a term or even half-term, with students encouraged to write one or two personal targets if they are able, either chosen from the class targets or in addition to them. Even beginners could mark their personal choice if a list was read to them, and class targets can be discussed or even negotiated. (Of course, students often have the strange idea that their teacher should know best.) Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: Matt Davis To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 10:05 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 785] Re: Formative assessment inadult foundationskills in England Hi, I've just finished being an ESOL teacher, but suspect I could have kept going for longer if it hadn't been for Individual Learning Plans! It's interesting to see that Cheryl has developed her own method for 'coping' with these; I wonder if this was a personal strategy or an institutional one? I've discussed ILPs at length with lots of ESOL practitioners, and been responsible for verifying the use of them by a team of teachers, and I've yet to see an example of their use as genuine formative assessment. Firstly, most seem to be written by the teachers with little involvement from the student. This is often accounted for by limited language skills, but equally the culture of ILPs is pretty unfathomable to many of the learners. Further to this, the requirement to translate what the learner wants into a SMART goal is pretty demanding for trained, professional native-speakers, so what goes on the form will always be removed from the original intention to some degree. Secondly, focussing on individual needs within a communal, class-focussed teaching environment seems destined to fail. Either individual learners are given the time to focus on their exclusive needs (impractical) or teachers offer goals which are subsets of the wider group aims, leading to a situation where learners sign an ILP to say that they intend to learn a particular part of the content of the course 'better' than the rest. Many tutors offer the learners a list of goals which are tangentially connected with the plan for that term, which are selected then 'achieved' as a separate strand to the course, but basically assessed summatively. Thirdly, as Cheryl implied, the time pressures of Skills for Life (the current government agenda which covers ESOL, Literacy and Numeracy in the UK) admin are immense. There simply isn't any time to review, comment meaningfully or do any of the other things which make formative assessment effective. Finally, most teachers are familiar enough with either language acquisition theory or the experience of language learning to know that the synthetic, bricks in a wall view of language learning implicit to ILPs just isn't right. You can't 'achieve' an aspect of language at the end of a term. Phew! Purgative. Matt Davis Research and Development Manager City of Bristol College Bedminster (1.37) 0117 312 5557 07739 863 450 >>> "Cheryl Thornett" 26/02/2008 21:20 >>> Hi, I'm coming at this from the perspective of an ESOL tutor in adult education. Being called a tutor mainly means being paid less, I'm afraid. The specialists have made some really good points. Formative assessment is definitely a valuable part of teaching, but too many recording systems take far too much of limited teaching time. Imagine, four hours per week, 12 or more regular attendees plus the irregulars-I do need to teach, as well as record targets and attainments. (And yes, I know half of you are rolling your eyes and saying 'Four whole hours? Not even 20 in the class?') One of the problems for language teachers and learners is that typically, a person learning another language may find it extremely hard to reflect on their needs and learning, never mind put these into the language they are learning and an unfamiliar set of terminology. Assessment activities need to be meaningful to the student. I keep a simple grid on the back of my lesson plans, with the main targets for each lesson and the names of the students. This gives me a quick-and-dirty record of who has actually done a particular piece of work and usually includes a simple check or cross to show whether each managed at the expected level. I can, if necessary, look back over these to get a picture of missed lessons, or indications that someone is struggling or sailing through. Our system requires that students write a short record and possibly a comment at the end of each lesson, which we usually manage to do, and I try to read these at intervals. I generally comment informally when an activity shows real improvement, say, in asking questions or putting words in alphabetical order. This is pretty normal classroom practice, of course. I also, since I teach ESOL, ask students to give a short talk in class at fairly regular intervals and to write something such as a letter or report, based on our work for that period, and also reflecting the formal exams which they have to take at some stage. I give brief individual feedback on these as soon as possible, as well as making more copious notes, and the feedback and notes reflect individual needs and progress. I mainly teach multi-level classes, and I find this works well, because students can participate at their own level, or I can set different tasks. Before Christmas, for example, I asked L1/L2 students to give an account (2-3 minutes) of how to do something, with about a week to prepare, and I asked them to write a formal letter, the topic taken from past exam papers. We had worked as a group on various aspects of formal letters and on language suitable for explaining or giving instructions, among other areas. The lower level students wrote a letter asking for help and advice, while the higher level students wrote letters of complaint. At the end of the first two terms of the year (3 terms in total), I interview each student (5-10 minutes usually) and we discuss the student's learning plan, how well they feel they have done and how well I feel they have done, taking the assessment tasks into account, along with class work. This is our formal, required formative review, and I base the next set of Individual Learning Plans on this. There are some generic questions to answer such as 'What have you achieved? What has been difficult? What do you need to do next?. If students have moderate English literacy (certainly E3 and up), I ask them to write the answers in their own words after our discussion. We do not have time for individual tutorials outside class hours. I have noticed that many commercial textbooks and some public materials now include regular test-type activities, which may be called review, 'check your learning', 'what can you do now?' or something similar. I find that learners actually appreciate these, once they feel confident that they are not really tests with grades, because it gives them a sense of ongoing progress. I like them, if well-designed, for the same reason. While these are not individuated, they can still show the individual's strengths or weaknesses. They aren't all just tests of grammar, either. And now, back to marking class work.... Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham (UK) Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:32 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 763] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundationskills in England John Vorhaus, and other English Colleagues, One question that many U.S. teachers will have, I am sure, is how do tutors (teachers) cope with all the time required for summative assessments and reporting, and still manage time for formative assessment. Is this a problem in England, or not? If it is, how do tutors do it? Another question, for all of our guests: from a professional development point of view, do you find that tutors who do formative assessment well have had a lot of experience and training? Do they tend to be full-time, and/or older? To what extent can good formative assessment practices be learned in professional development and practiced well by relatively new teachers? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Feb 26, 2008, at 5:38 AM, John Vorhaus wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Having given some of the background to adult basic skills in > England, here are a few words on the English case studies. At this > stage I have included only a general introduction and some thoughts > about the strengths and weaknesses of the formative assessment > practices observed. John may want to add to this, and I think he > may want to give details of each of the three sites visited. (If > not, I will later on today.) > > I am sure my three English colleagues will want to make contributions. > > Nomenclature > > Before I begin a word about nomenclature. In our case study report, > and below for ease of reference, we refer to 'adult basic skills'. > But: > > 1. 'Basic' has connotations many of us are unhappy with. One > alternative is 'adult literacy, language and numeracy'. > 2. As Jan Eldred and others repeatedly and rightly say, the > differences between each of these three are so significant as to > raise the question whether we should treat them under a single > rubric. That is relevant to this discussion because we can't assume > that formative assessment practices found to be successful in a > literacy context will also or equally be found to be successful in > a numeracy context. Which takes us on to the question how far the > success of formative assessment practices are dependent on context. > > The Case Studies > > Three adult basic skills programmes were the subjects of the case > studies. One is in London; one in the city of York (200 miles > north of London), and one is in the London Borough of Croydon (10 > miles south of the centre of London). These three sites were picked > as exemplary programs by the England-based author. The choice of > these three programmes was based, in part, on the personal > experience of the author, but his selection was checked with others > who have a wide experience of programmes in England. The choice > also was influenced by a desire to have a range of different types > of programmes and to have programmes that could be visited within a > limited time period. > > All of the programs provided inspection reports from the last visit > of teams from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). All three ALI > reports were positive. Both instruction and management received a > positive rating on the ALI scale, usually receiving one of the top > two grades. Programme leaders suggested two reasons why their > programmes were able to achieve and maintain a level of instruction > that would lead to being chosen as an exemplary programme. The > first was the quality of their teachers, and the second was their > staff's regular reflection focused on programme improvement. > > Since these were all exemplary programmes, we asked the Heads of > Department at each of the 3 sites about the factors that most > support good teaching and learning. Whilst there was not a > consensus, there was broad agreement that each of the following > were important, and in roughly this order: > > Well qualified, committed and enthusiastic tutors; staff with > substantial hours who are willing to attend meetings, training and > to generally 'go the extra mile' > Regular feedback and reviews of learner progress > Opportunities for continuing professional development > Good resources, including e-learning resources; activities and > resources of interest and relevance to the learner > > The influence of these factors on good teaching and learning will > depend in part on the value each learner places on them. But > respondents agreed that well qualified, committed and enthusiastic > tutors help motivate and stimulate learners, inspiring them to do > their very best and helping them to overcome often long held > barriers to learning and personal success. Regular feedback and > reviews of learner progress are also extremely important, for this > is how learners will know whether they are heading in the right > direction. Constructive feedback is also invaluable at points when > learners are beginning to struggle, not only for the direct > assistance that the tutor is able to provide but also because > constructive on-going assessment promotes learners' motivation and > persistence. Formative assessment also provides an opportunity for > the tutors themselves to receive feedback on the teaching and > learning process, identifying changes that need to be made. > > Respondents agreed that activities and resources that are of > interest and relevance to the learner help engage the learner, > maintaining motivation and supporting the natural learning process. > Finally, there was general agreement that levels of funding and > frequent redefining of priorities are the factors that most > threaten good Skills for Life teaching and learning, together with > an increasing administrative burden. > > Because of the national character of the system, initial > assessment, instruction, formative assessment, and summative > assessment look similar in all three. However, they are by no > means the same. Each programme uses different types of assessment; > teachers draw on their experience and training as well as their > knowledge of their learners to design courses and teaching > strategies that work best in their context; and learners have a > range of summative tests they can take to secure the same > qualification. In addition, different types of institutions > (nonprofit, further education college, and local government > programme) are featured in our case studies and different types of > classes (ESOL, numeracy, and adult literacy) were observed at each > site. > > > Some strengths and weakness: observations > > Strengths > > A focus on small increments of learning - something that is > manageable for learners who may otherwise be overwhelmed by the > demands of a course. > Learners and teachers are encouraged to reflect and modify learning > goals and aspirations. > Formative assessment encourages teachers to support learners, and > to assist learners in learning how to learn. > Teachers are able to bring their own experience and training to the > learning process. > Formative assessment encourages dialogue between teacher and > learner, and amongst learners. > Teachers are encouraged to understand how learners learn best, and > at what rate. > > Weaknesses > > The amount of time taken up in recording the process, time taken > away from instruction. > Whilst formative assessment procedures are supportive of learning, > if a class meets two hours per week for 12 weeks, and a learner has > missed two classes, the total time-on-task is only 20 hours. Even > an hour taken out of this time could affect learning. > Each formative assessment task, therefore, should be justified by > evidence that it is supportive to learning. The time required of > tutors by the writing up of formative assessment activities takes > away from their preparation for instruction. This time should be > justified by its impact on learning. > > Comment > > A few further thoughts, which go beyond evidence from the case > studies themselves, and beyond, perhaps, what John C would want to > say. > > 1. The weaknesses observed above might be said to lie not in the > formative assessment process per se, but in the (chosen means of) > writing it up. But it is not easy to think of far less labour > intensive alternatives, once they become embedded in an > institutional system. Some form of authoritative report seems > necessary to meet even minimal demands of accountability. This > takes us onto the terrain of professional judgement, and reliance > on that, and also onto questions about accountability systems. I'm > sure Jay Derrick will want to come in here. > > 2. One theme which Kathryn Ecclestone has brought to our attention > is the relation between assessment and personal autonomy: how far > do formative assessment practices contribute to the development of > the personal autonomy of the learner, encouraging her to take > responsibility for her learning, to understand how she learns and > how she is most likely to progress? And how far might the outcome > only serve to inhibit or neglect autonomy, perhaps because > formative assessment is inexpertly practiced, or because these > practices are adhered to only mechanically, or because the > interests of formative assessment become subverted to the demands > of summative assessment? > > 3. I think David is right to raise the question how far formative > assessment can be disentangled from the practices that make up good > teaching generally. Many items listed under 'strengths' would > appear in any initial teacher training programme. I think there is > truth in what John B says, that formative assessment is partly to > be characterised by reference to attitude: by the attitude of > looking at the teaching and learning process from the learners' > point of view, of drawing attention to how the learner is > progressing, and giving priority to how best to support her. But I > can hear teacher trainers say - and I have! - that ' we do all of > that anyway'. Perhaps much (not all) of what is new is less at the > level of general principle and more in the details we are > uncovering about how best to apply those principles in particular > contexts. But I expect Kathryn will want to disagree with that? > > More soon. > > John Vorhaus > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > > Sent: 26 February 2008 06:00 > > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > > Subject: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > Colleagues, > > > > Although Janet Looney will still be answering the (very many) > > questions I asked, and other questions from discussion > > participants, let's also move on to the first set of case > > studies, from England. I have asked John Vorhaus and John > > Comings if they could: > > > > 1. give a short overview of the national adult basic skills > > context in England, particularly noting any features or terms > > of the context that may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience and > > that are important to understand the case studies; > > > > 2. describe the three case studies; and > > > > 3. describe what are the most interesting, significant > > findings and also explain how the case studies might be a > > good example of formative assessment. > > > > It would be helpful if, in describing teacher formative > > assessment practices in England, you could describe or give > > examples of what goes beyond usual good practice in teaching > > and learning, what, in particular, is good practice in > > formative assessment. That is, some may wonder if formative > > assessment is just a different name for good teaching? Is it > > really something new? Is it really a discrete set of > > practices? If, as Black and Wiliam's research shows, it makes > > a difference in students' learning in elementary and > > secondary education, what about formative assessment makes > > that difference? Why is formative assessment such a powerful > > set of strategies, so effective? I believe that some of our > > subscribers are still trying to understand of these issues; > > perhaps the case studies in England might shed some light on them. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/a944f759/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 00:40:41 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:40:41 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 805] Formative assessment in other countries Message-ID: <47C64959.5060807@comcast.net> Colleagues, You can still ask questions or make comments on any of the case studies, or on Janet's overview, but today I would also like to invite OECD researchers from other countries to talk about their studies now, too. Please chime in. What are some of the most interesting findings on how formative assessment is used in the classroom? How are students actively involved -- if they are -- in setting the criteria, as well as in using the results of the assessments to improve their learning. What policies have supported formative assessment? What policies have hindered it? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk Thu Feb 28 05:31:04 2008 From: jay.derrick at blueyonder.co.uk (jay.derrick) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:31:04 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 806] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 18 References: Message-ID: <024a01c879f5$06881870$6401a8c0@DF01> I'd like to comment on a number of recent points made in this discussion: Like Priscilla, I'm glad the discussion has really begun to focus on teaching and learning, though the class size exchanges have been entertaining. On praise, Bruce has raised important issues about the differences between teaching adults and children. I agree with Mary that there is good praise and bad praise, and I think the same applies to feedback and questioning. The OECD study and others have more to say about the kinds of comments, feedback and questioning that support learning. There is also evidence about the value for learning giving of grades and marks. Teachers of adult basic skills have of course to try to ensure that students aren't put off learning any more than they have been already. But they do have to challenge students too. Many students love the comfortable friendly atmosphere they generally find in adult literacy classes. They may come every week and spend hours doing homework, but they may still be resisting the challenge of learning, spending all their time doing activities that present them with no problems, or chatting, or generally using diverting tactics. The job of teachers is both to provide an atmosphere and class culture that is comfortable and supportive, but also to challenge students to attempt things that are outside their comfort zone, in short to take risks, of getting things wrong, of feeling inadequate, etc. This apparent paradox is at the heart of what basic education teachers have to do, and in my experience it's very difficult if not impossible to get it right all the time. The ideas around formative assessment can help teachers in this respect, but they too have to be prepared to take risks, in terms of 'letting the students do the work', encouraging student:student discussions, and in giving constructive feedback on the task rather than on the person. Our research strongly suggests that students don't mind critical feedback (some even prefer it to simple praise) as long as it is constructive and practical - it shows them what they need to practise to improve their work. I certainly agree with Priscilla that many if not most teachers understand this tacitly, but we think the value of research reports such as the OECD one, is that they help make the craft skills of teachers more explicit, so that they are supported to take the risks they need to take, and encouraged to adopt the most effective approaches more often, and more systematically. I'm very happy that the link has been made, via Jan and William's contributions, between formative assessment ideas and the work of Argyris and Schon. The idea of making the tacit explicit is exactly how I see the value of research work on effective pedagogical approaches. I hope the work will help adult education teachers realise that often their intuitive feelings about the best approaches to planning their teaching are correct, even if 'the system' doesn't seem to be supporting them. A and G's work on professional development fits neatly with the idea that good teachers have sophisticated craft skills that take experience and collective professional reflection, as well as training, to achieve. This idea is undermined in my view by technocratic policy approaches to teaching, such as we see in the Skills for Life policy in England. I would like to recommend a wonderful recent publication which bears on these issues: 'The Craftsman' by the American sociologist Richard Sennett, which although not specifically about the teaching profession, has a lot of inspiring things to say about teaching and learning, looking at the processes and conditions through which people have achieved the highest level of craft skills in various fields, and how modern capitalism is undermining the conditions in which craft skills can be developed through work. Jay Derrick www.bluesky-learning.com ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 5:21 AM Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 18 > Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to > specialtopics at nifl.gov > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > specialtopics-request at nifl.gov > > You can reach the person managing the list at > specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. [SpecialTopics 797] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundationskillsin England (Catherine B. King) > 2. [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes (Bruce C) > 3. [SpecialTopics 799] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England (William R Muth/FS/VCU) > 4. [SpecialTopics 800] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundationskillsin England (Priscilla Carman) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:20:01 -0800 > From: "Catherine B. King" > Subject: [SpecialTopics 797] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundationskillsin England > To: > Message-ID: <00cf01c8795c$9b189210$6501a8c0 at YOUR85A8F7B8EC> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; > reply-type=original > > Hello Jan: > > In my view, you are not rambling. If I may rephrase, you are describing the > data field--learning, education, the teacher-student relationship, etc. The > closer we get in our research to the actual qualities of good teaching, the > less tension we should experience. > > Researchers are not studying something static or unhistorical. Rather we > are looking at something that is already on-going, that was operative long > before any researcher came on the scene, and that is actually responsible > for research communities having developed in the first place--education. > Without it, we would have no research communities. > > Thus, the research community (theory, etc.) takes up the reflective mode of > human consciousness--but now as a separated and institutionalized function > of a highly nuanced field--education. But that community emerged from, was > separated off from, and is now returning to, that same educational > experience to understand it and to formalize what is essential to it. Some > researchers, however, do not seem to see themselves in this way. Rather, we > seem to have unnecessary conflict for many reasons--too many to develop > here. > > But education still is living and ongoing--and the data--teachers and > students--still know when what we are doing works--when a student really > understands something and needs no more help in that understanding. Much > that is essential to and experienced by the teacher-student is not captured > in the research--especially in poorly grounded research. > > >From my understanding of it (and from cognitional theory), the idea of > formative assessments comes close to capturing what is already essential to > the educational experience--thus, it resonates regularly with what teachers > and students are already doing when we experience "It works." > > We shouldn't be so surprised--and we wouldn't be--if we understood what I > think you are trying to say--that our data field already holds within it the > operating essentials that researchers are trying to tease out, rather than > create and apply to something foreign to themselves, as if the data field > were somewhere else besides already in the classroom. > > In formative assessments, as well as for the idea of action research, > teachers and researchers are returning the "ends" to the data (the > student)--differentiating, formalizing, and naming what has always been > common to good teaching--and with those assessments as being FOR the > student--recognizing that the student is not the means, but the proper end > of the process (their understanding), and not in the assessments, e.g., for > funding streams. > > Regards, > > Catherine King > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:46 AM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundationskillsin England > > > > Forwarded for Jan Eldred: > > > > From: "Jan Eldred" > > Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST > > To: "John Vorhaus" , > > Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > foundation skillsin England > > > > This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it > > but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. > > > > Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the > > nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies > > and what we seem to be understanding from observation. > > > > some thoughts: > > > > It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see > > as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that > > perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ > > pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so > > implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they > > are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're > > describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme > > assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, > > observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes > > of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to > > learn, achievement etc etc etc... > > > > When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference > > is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being > > looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the > > process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and > > indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as > > something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we > > would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and > > learning. > > > > Or am I rambling?? > > Do tell me!! > > > > One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term > > instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical > > activities... > > > > Jan > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to cb.king at verizon.net > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:01:19 -0800 (PST) > From: Bruce C > Subject: [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes > To: mary , specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: <260900.50913.qm at web37907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Regarding Prof. Wil.i.am and praise: > > I would summarize Wil.i.am's position regarding praise like this: > He says that vague, general praise does nothing to help students. It can confuse them about what is expected and make them focus on which students are getting the most praise in the classroom. He thinks it's better to give specific feedback that tells students what they need to improve. Then they know what to work on. I get that part, but I am not sure if Wil.i.am thinks it is also important to let students know the bigger picture of where they are at. If the only feedback I got was what needed to improve, I would not feel very good about school and my abilities to succeed. > > I think it is important to note that Wil.i.am's research was done with children. One of the big differences between children and adults is that children go to school by default. It is "normal" for children to be in school. Even though children may have doubts and fears about their abilities to learn, they are not at the same risk for dropping out as adults. > > In Adult Literacy, one of our biggest concerns is retention. We cannot assume that most students will stay enrolled no matter what. I think students leave school for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the other pressures and responsibilities of life. Sometimes it's because they don't feel that they are making progress. Sometimes it's because school is a negative experience. So I praise students whenever possible. The praise needs to be honest and specific. I think they benefit from hearing that they are learning and succeeded. It may be something they have not heard much before. It's also a good way to build a positive relationship between teacher and student. I don't know if any research backs me up. > > Bruce Carmel > > > mary wrote: > I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. > > We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most benefit from it. > > Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or whatever. > > For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. > > > Mary Schneckenburger > Program Coordinator > Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin > 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 > 207 333 6601 X 1323 > mschnec at juno.com > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Bruce C > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective > > > Regarding small class size.... > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... > > But so what? > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? > > You get my point, right? > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > --------------------------------- > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > --------------------------------- > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > --------------------------------- > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/e64a5509/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:21:58 -0500 > From: William R Muth/FS/VCU > Subject: [SpecialTopics 799] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Cc: specialtopics at nifl.gov, specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Jan - This idea of making the tacit visible is similar to Chris Argyris & > Donald A Sch?n's work on theory-in-use and the challenging work of helping > adult practitioners come to terms with disconnects between their espoused > beliefs and the theories evident in actual practice. (When we say "I do > that already" but in fact we actually do something else...) The classic > work is: Argyris, C. & Scho?n, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice : > increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. > - Bill > > > > > "David J. Rosen" > Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > 02/27/2008 11:17 AM > Please respond to > specialtopics at nifl.gov > > > To > specialtopics at nifl.gov > cc > > Subject > [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult foundation skillsin > England > > > > > > > Forwarded for Jan Eldred: > > From: "Jan Eldred" > Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST > To: "John Vorhaus" , > Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > foundation skillsin England > > This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it > but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. > > Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the > nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies > and what we seem to be understanding from observation. > > some thoughts: > > It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see > as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that > perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ > pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so > implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they > are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're > describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme > assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, > observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes > of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to > learn, achievement etc etc etc... > > When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference > is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being > looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the > process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and > indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as > something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we > would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and > learning. > > Or am I rambling?? > Do tell me!! > > One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term > instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical > activities... > > Jan > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080227/39405767/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:02:05 -0500 > From: Priscilla Carman > Subject: [SpecialTopics 800] Re: Formative assessment in adult > foundationskillsin England > To: "Catherine B. King" , specialtopics at nifl.gov > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" > > Hello all, This discussion thread is interesting to me in the way it > has begun to connect good teaching and learning. I think many of the > best teachers (in fact, most anyone who is truly expert at something) > cannot always verbalize or articulate in research/education terms > exactly what it is they are doing "that is working." Often, the > elements of an expert performance are so automatic and intuitive that > they can't be readily remembered or quantified for those who want to > name/identify them. I think this follows along with Jan's train of > thought; there are probably many really good teachers who are using > formative assessment everyday but don't think of their practices as > assessment, probably because they have become so focused on > high-stakes testing and assessment? > Best regards, Priscilla Carman > > >Hello Jan: > > > >In my view, you are not rambling. If I may rephrase, you are describing the > >data field--learning, education, the teacher-student relationship, etc. The > >closer we get in our research to the actual qualities of good teaching, the > >less tension we should experience. > > > >Researchers are not studying something static or unhistorical. Rather we > >are looking at something that is already on-going, that was operative long > >before any researcher came on the scene, and that is actually responsible > >for research communities having developed in the first place--education. > >Without it, we would have no research communities. > > > >Thus, the research community (theory, etc.) takes up the reflective mode of > >human consciousness--but now as a separated and institutionalized function > >of a highly nuanced field--education. But that community emerged from, was > >separated off from, and is now returning to, that same educational > >experience to understand it and to formalize what is essential to it. Some > >researchers, however, do not seem to see themselves in this way. Rather, we > >seem to have unnecessary conflict for many reasons--too many to develop > >here. > > > >But education still is living and ongoing--and the data--teachers and > >students--still know when what we are doing works--when a student really > >understands something and needs no more help in that understanding. Much > >that is essential to and experienced by the teacher-student is not captured > >in the research--especially in poorly grounded research. > > > >>From my understanding of it (and from cognitional theory), the idea of > >formative assessments comes close to capturing what is already essential to > >the educational experience--thus, it resonates regularly with what teachers > >and students are already doing when we experience "It works." > > > >We shouldn't be so surprised--and we wouldn't be--if we understood what I > >think you are trying to say--that our data field already holds within it the > >operating essentials that researchers are trying to tease out, rather than > >create and apply to something foreign to themselves, as if the data field > >were somewhere else besides already in the classroom. > > > >In formative assessments, as well as for the idea of action research, > >teachers and researchers are returning the "ends" to the data (the > >student)--differentiating, formalizing, and naming what has always been > >common to good teaching--and with those assessments as being FOR the > >student--recognizing that the student is not the means, but the proper end > >of the process (their understanding), and not in the assessments, e.g., for > >funding streams. > > > >Regards, > > > >Catherine King > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "David J. Rosen" > >To: > >Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:46 AM > >Subject: [SpecialTopics 796] Re: Formative assessment in adult > >foundationskillsin England > > > > > >> Forwarded for Jan Eldred: > >> > >> From: "Jan Eldred" > >> Date: February 27, 2008 9:57:27 AM EST > >> To: "John Vorhaus" , > >> Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 759] Formative assessment in adult > > > foundation skillsin England > >> > >> This is a fascinating discourse....I've not been very active in it > >> but have followed the work along the way, keen to learn and understand. > >> > >> Much of John's [ John Vorhaus'] analysis makes sense to me...the > >> nomenclature, what's being learned from very different case studies > >> and what we seem to be understanding from observation. > >> > >> some thoughts: > >> > >> It strikes me that perhaps there isn't a tension between what we see > >> as good teaching and learning and formative assessment but that > >> perhaps what we're doing in our work is surfacing/highlighting/ > >> pulling together those features of teaching and learning which are so > >> implicit that teachers and learners aren't always aware of what they > >> are, the impact and the significance of them. Perhaps what we're > >> describing as formative assessment is a series of on-programme > >> assessment processes and activities which we're identifying, > >> observing and describing because they appear to lead to the outcomes > >> of learning we feel are of the highest order ie autonomy, learning to > >> learn, achievement etc etc etc... > >> > >> When teachers protest that they are doing them perhaps the difference > >> is the consciousness, the planning, the awareness of what is being > >> looked for in the process and the involvement of the learner in the > >> process which is different. So identifying something,naming it and > >> indicating the value for learning justifies classifying it as > >> something which is not just good teaching and learning.....but we > >> would say that formative assessment is part of good teaching and > >> learning. > >> > >> Or am I rambling?? > >> Do tell me!! > >> > >> One small point, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the term > >> instruction....unless it's used to describe particular pedagogical > >> activities... > >> > >> Jan > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> ------------------------------- > >> National Institute for Literacy > >> Special Topics mailing list > >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > >> Email delivered to cb.king at verizon.net > >> > > > > > >------------------------------- > >National Institute for Literacy > >Special Topics mailing list > >SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > >http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > >Email delivered to psc3 at psu.edu > > > -- > Priscilla S. Carman > Literacy Specialist > Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy > The Pennsylvania State University > 208F Rackley Building > University Park, PA 16802-3202 > PH: 814-865-1049 FX: 814-863-6108 > > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 18 > ********************************************* > > From frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk Thu Feb 28 06:35:45 2008 From: frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk (Frances Nehme) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:35:45 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 807] Re: feedback by competent tutor In-Reply-To: <20080227212127.27FFB102876@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Message-ID: I absolutely agree with Anke?s points here. One thing that has changed for the better in UK ESOL is that tired and disillusioned tutors cannot hide behind the pretence that people come to class mainly for social contact. Anyone who has lived and tried to survive in a country where a different language is spoken can understand that this is not why one enrols for classes. The fact that learners are human beings and may use avoidance strategies when things get challenging - strategies which get in the way of their actual goals, should be understood by the tutor. It is our role, as professionals to understand where the learner is aiming on arrival in our classes and to keep them on track with their goals in sight (if anything - raising their aspirations0 by giving honest and clear feedback and showing the learner we know what we are doing, where they want to go and how to get them there. As Anke says, if the learner has confidence that the tutor is competent ? understands what the learner is aiming for, feedback and support, including praise of a constructive and informative nature and non-negative constructive criticism, will be welcomed. The question of whether these things are written down, whether targets are formally set and all the rest is a sticky area and I am aware that many teachers are strongly opposed to formal record-keeping ? but busy teachers must surely find it useful to have aide-memoire for this purpose. If the learner can forget their original goals, I?m sure the teacher can, too. I found that learners like to see that teachers have records and are organised ? one of the few complaints I used to get about teachers on my team was that they were disorganised, forgot what had been said previously and didn?t seem to differentiate between students in the class. In general, learners prefer the opposite. All the best Frances On 27/2/08 21:21, "Anke Grotl?schen" wrote: > Bruce and all the others who discuss praise? > > (David, Janet and John (B/ C/ V), sorry for not directly starting on day > three, I?m not yet through with reading day one and two ? and by the way, I > liked your ?Good Morning? - ?it?s 22:19h here:-) > > Our ongoing studies suggest that people develop interest in a subject-matter > if they feel they can participate (in the literal meaning of the latin word: > pars capere). ?Participation includes that they are somehow concerned with the > consequences of their activities. These consequences might be a good > relationship to a tutor or fellows. It might be the ability to drive a car, to > discuss news or to understand documents. > > So, if we want people to stay enrolled, we should think of what is their > reason to come into the class. German-language theory discusses ?Subject > Scientific Approaches? ? related to critical psychology, i.e. Holzkamp and > Action Theory, i.e. Vygotsky. Similar approaches are provided by John Dewey > (Interest and effort in Education, 1913). > > Regarding feedback, a small-scale qualitative study we did in 2003 about > e-learning finds that informative feedback is appreciated very much, when > provided by someone the students accept to be ??competent ??in his/her > subject-matter. ?If not, they don?t even fulfil their tasks, because they are > not interested in his/her feedback (neither positive nor negative, neither > informative nor vague). > > Best wishes, > Anke > > > > Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im > Auftrag von Bruce C > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 18:01 > An: mary; specialtopics at nifl.gov > Betreff: [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes > > > Regarding Prof. Wil.i.am and praise: > > > > I would summarize Wil.i.am's position regarding praise like this: > > He says that vague, general praise does nothing to help students. It can > confuse them about what is expected and make them focus on which students are > getting the most praise in the classroom. He thinks it's better to give > specific feedback that tells students what they need to improve. Then they > know what to work on. I get that part, but I am not sure if Wil.i.am thinks it > is also important to let students know the bigger picture of where they are > at. If the only feedback I got was what needed to improve, I would not feel > very good about school and my abilities to succeed. > > > > I think it is important to note that Wil.i.am's research was done with > children. One of the big differences between children and adults is that > children go to school by default. It is "normal" for children to be in > school. Even though children may have doubts and fears about their abilities > to learn, they are not at the same risk for dropping out as adults. > > > > In Adult Literacy, one of our biggest concerns is retention. We cannot assume > that most students will stay enrolled no matter what. I think students leave > school for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the other pressures and > responsibilities of life. Sometimes it's because they don't feel that they are > making progress. Sometimes it's because school is a negative experience. So I > praise students whenever possible. The praise needs to be honest and specific. > I think they benefit from hearing that they are learning and succeeded. It may > be something they have not heard much before. It's also a good way to build a > positive relationship between teacher and student. I don't know if any > research backs me up. > > > > Bruce Carmel > > > > mary wrote: >> >> I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to >> spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom >> because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably >> included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative >> assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of >> level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. >> >> >> >> We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative >> assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative >> assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most >> benefit from it. >> >> >> >> Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black >> white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne >> Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If >> you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great >> about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes >> students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say >> praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or >> whatever. >> >> >> >> For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by >> Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. >> >> >> >> >> >> Mary Schneckenburger >> >> Program Coordinator >> >> Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin >> >> 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 >> >> 207 333 6601 X 1323 >> >> mschnec at juno.com >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> >>> From: Bruce C >>> >>> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >>> >>> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM >>> >>> Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes >>> 'not cost effective >>> >>> >>> >>> Regarding small class size.... >>> >>> >>> >>> Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size >>> attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of >>> Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, >>> I say ... >>> >>> >>> >>> "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" >>> >>> >>> >>> I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as >>> pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >>> generally possible with a class of 30." >>> >>> >>> >>> Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I >>> checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and >>> personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: >>> >>> >>> >>> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw >>> iliam.asp >>> >>> >>> >>> He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. >>> >>> >>> >>> Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take >>> constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do >>> this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude >>> really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 >>> students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a >>> teacher with 30 students. >>> >>> >>> Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class >>> size... >>> >>> >>> >>> But so what? >>> >>> >>> >>> If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and >>> save tons of money? >>> >>> >>> >>> You get my point, right? >>> >>> >>> >>> from Bruce Carmel >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >>> the Institute of Education says, >>> >>> >>> >> wiliam.asp> >>> >>> >>> "David J. Rosen" wrote: >>>> Colleagues, >>>> >>>> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent >>>> it for our formative assessment discussion. >>>> >>>> ------- >>>> Note from Tom Sticht: >>>> >>>> This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 >>>> Education Guardian online. >>>> ------- >>>> >>>> To see this story with its related links on the >>>> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk >>>> >>>> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' >>>> Anthea Lipsett >>>> Monday February 25 2008 >>>> The Guardian >>>> >>>> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement >>>> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the >>>> country's leading experts on assessment said today. >>>> >>>> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra >>>> months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each >>>> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >>>> the Institute of Education. >>>> >>>> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where >>>> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide >>>> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of >>>> educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. >>>> >>>> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class >>>> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered >>>> London Teachers Conference today. >>>> >>>> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because >>>> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils >>>> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >>>> generally possible with a class of 30. >>>> >>>> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- >>>> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced >>>> to 15 or less," he said. >>>> >>>> Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology >>>> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have >>>> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil >>>> learning. >>>> >>>> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up >>>> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what >>>> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green >>>> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and >>>> advise their classmates on how they can improve. >>>> >>>> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments >>>> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. >>>> >>>> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam >>>> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers >>>> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. >>>> >>>> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 >>>> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most >>>> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, >>>> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said >>>> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." >>>> >>>> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s >>>> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a >>>> question their pupils' performance improves because they have been >>>> given some time to think. >>>> >>>> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for >>>> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that >>>> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is >>>> what's hard." >>>> >>>> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to >>>> any improvements. >>>> >>>> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers >>>> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. >>>> >>>> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom >>>> and we need to get better teachers into the profession." >>>> >>>> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of >>>> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the >>>> government to "put its money where its mouth is". >>>> >>>> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, >>>> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us >>>> that this would be very cost-effective. >>>> >>>> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more >>>> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their >>>> deployment fully effective. >>>> >>>> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, >>>> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new >>>> training must be provided and resourced. >>>> >>>> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training >>>> which meets their individual needs." >>>> >>>> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> David J. Rosen >>>> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >>>> djrosen at comcast.net >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------- >>>> National Institute for Literacy >>>> Special Topics mailing list >>>> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >>>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >>>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >>>> Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com >>> >>> >>> >>> Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> National Institute for Literacy >>> Special Topics mailing list >>> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >>> Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com >>> ------------------------------- >>> National Institute for Literacy >>> Special Topics mailing list >>> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >>> Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com >>> >>> ? >>> >>> >>> Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. >>> >> tegory.php?category=shopping> > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/f4c91c92/attachment.html From kgotthardt at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 07:29:16 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:29:16 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 808] Re: feedback by competent tutor In-Reply-To: <20080227212127.27FFB102876@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> References: <20080227212127.27FFB102876@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Message-ID: <470FCC1456824FCF9383D26A06564924@OwnerPC> "Regarding feedback, a small-scale qualitative study we did in 2003 about e-learning finds that informative feedback is appreciated very much, when provided by someone the students accept to be competent in his/her subject-matter." Yes! Establishing credibility is one of the first requirements for successful teaching. This is difficult to do in a system that does not support its teachers, however. Administrative and systemic chaos spill into the classroom, often making it impossible for students to distinguish between instructor and institutional issues. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Anke Grotl?schen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 4:21 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 803] feedback by competent tutor Bruce and all the others who discuss praise. (David, Janet and John (B/ C/ V), sorry for not directly starting on day three, I'm not yet through with reading day one and two - and by the way, I liked your "Good Morning" - it's 22:19h here:-) Our ongoing studies suggest that people develop interest in a subject-matter if they feel they can participate (in the literal meaning of the latin word: pars capere). Participation includes that they are somehow concerned with the consequences of their activities. These consequences might be a good relationship to a tutor or fellows. It might be the ability to drive a car, to discuss news or to understand documents. So, if we want people to stay enrolled, we should think of what is their reason to come into the class. German-language theory discusses "Subject Scientific Approaches" - related to critical psychology, i.e. Holzkamp and Action Theory, i.e. Vygotsky. Similar approaches are provided by John Dewey (Interest and effort in Education, 1913). Regarding feedback, a small-scale qualitative study we did in 2003 about e-learning finds that informative feedback is appreciated very much, when provided by someone the students accept to be competent in his/her subject-matter. If not, they don't even fulfil their tasks, because they are not interested in his/her feedback (neither positive nor negative, neither informative nor vague). Best wishes, Anke ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Bruce C Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 18:01 An: mary; specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 798] Re: Smaller classsizes Regarding Prof. Wil.i.am and praise: I would summarize Wil.i.am's position regarding praise like this: He says that vague, general praise does nothing to help students. It can confuse them about what is expected and make them focus on which students are getting the most praise in the classroom. He thinks it's better to give specific feedback that tells students what they need to improve. Then they know what to work on. I get that part, but I am not sure if Wil.i.am thinks it is also important to let students know the bigger picture of where they are at. If the only feedback I got was what needed to improve, I would not feel very good about school and my abilities to succeed. I think it is important to note that Wil.i.am's research was done with children. One of the big differences between children and adults is that children go to school by default. It is "normal" for children to be in school. Even though children may have doubts and fears about their abilities to learn, they are not at the same risk for dropping out as adults. In Adult Literacy, one of our biggest concerns is retention. We cannot assume that most students will stay enrolled no matter what. I think students leave school for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the other pressures and responsibilities of life. Sometimes it's because they don't feel that they are making progress. Sometimes it's because school is a negative experience. So I praise students whenever possible. The praise needs to be honest and specific. I think they benefit from hearing that they are learning and succeeded. It may be something they have not heard much before. It's also a good way to build a positive relationship between teacher and student. I don't know if any research backs me up. Bruce Carmel mary wrote: I think Dylan Wiliam's point boiled down to "If you only have X dollars to spend you should spend them on getting formative assessment in the classroom because when compared to other reforms/improvements (which presumably included class size although I don't know that for a fact) formative assessment techniques made the biggest most powerful difference regardless of level or country when you compared statistics from many dozens of studies. We all want smaller classes but if you can't afford both, do formative assessment first. It is possible to have a smaller class and not do formative assessment which then will not help those struggling students who most benefit from it. Regarding praise, there is good praise and bad praise.This is not a black white or intuitive issue. The North American formative assessment expert Anne Davies whose work I HIGHLY recommend, shows ways to give helpful praise. If you just say, "Great job" the student doesn't know necessarily what was great about it so as to be able to replicate it and additionally, sometimes students disbelieve such comments. Thus formative assessment experts say praise needs to be specific, like "I see you answered every question!" or whatever. For more on how praise can be problematic or even damaging, read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Mary Schneckenburger Program Coordinator Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 207 333 6601 X 1323 mschnec at juno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce C To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:29 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/c707b53d/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 07:47:27 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:47:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 809] Formative Assessment in Flanders, Belgium Message-ID: <47C6AD5F.20802@comcast.net> Colleagues, As I mentioned when I introduced this discussion, I had the privilege of being one of the OECD researchers, looking at schools and programs where formative assessment was used in the Flanders community of Belgium. These case studies will be found on the OECD web site with the others. They are remarkable examples for many reasons. First, in both cases formative assessment was taking place -- in the case study in Hoboken, Antwerp by design -- in a a larger context of program development and transformation. The principal of the Second Chance (adult) school in Hoboken, enabled by public policy that for the first time allowed schools like hers to directly award secondary diplomas, brought together a group of dedicated and talented (full-time) teachers and turned the school's focus from test preparation to learning. The experiment is still in progress, and not all the teachers or all the students like the new model, but many do.. The fascinating thing to me was that the lever of change she chose was formative assessment. Another study was a contextualized numeracy (math) basic skills program embedded in a vocational training center. The math teacher had an amazing number of formative assessment strategies in play, had a strong math background, and had designed a competency-based curriculum that could readily respond to the work-related and training-related purposes the trainees had in coming to the math lab. During the two-hour math sessions she dashed around madly from student to student making sure each person was on target, giving direct, concrete, helpful feedback. After each session, she sat down at a computer and quickly noted where each student was, what they might need to do next, what they had accomplished. She shared these notes with each student at the next session and also fired off shoprt reports to their vocational instructors and vocational counselors who could then also help to focus on learning opportunities in the training and counseling sessions. The counselors and vocational instructors (and, most important, the students) so appreciated this information that when funding for this new program ended they decided to take some of the funds for their vocational classes to use for the math lab -- a real vote in confidence for the value of this kind of teaching. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Leader (and researcher) djrosen at comcast.net From cheryl_diamond at msn.com Thu Feb 28 08:30:33 2008 From: cheryl_diamond at msn.com (Cheryl Diamond) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> <03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> Message-ID: Hi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.comTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi everyone, Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning. Marie Cora NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html -----Original Message-----From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John BensemanSent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PMTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research? John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce CSent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m.To: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues,Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion.-------Note from Tom Sticht:This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online.-------To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.ukSmaller class sizes 'not cost effective'Anthea LipsettMonday February 25 2008The GuardianReducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today.Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education.He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year."It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today."Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30."Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said.Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning.Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve.The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment.After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods.Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work.""For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think."Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard."Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements."To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said."We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession."Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is"."Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective."Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective."And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced."School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs."Copyright Guardian News and Media LimitedDavid J. RosenSpecial Topics Discussion Moderatordjrosen at comcast.net-------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/225c43e8/attachment.html From kgotthardt at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 10:19:29 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:19:29 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 811] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1><03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> Message-ID: Would you agree that having a class size of a 20 max would be reasonable and effective? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Cheryl Diamond To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:30 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi everyone, Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning. Marie Cora NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research? John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/5f4c8362/attachment.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Thu Feb 28 10:27:07 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:27:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 812] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cheryl Can you say more about what you mean by OUR students? Janet From: Cheryl Diamond Reply-To: Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:33 -0500 To: Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond > > From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 > Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > Hi everyone, > > > > Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My > apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? > > > > But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the > Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. > > > > Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, > Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at > http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. > > > > I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF > Learning. > > > > Marie Cora > > NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator > > http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > > > I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I > am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that > shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not > to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over > many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. > > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, > we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is > no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on > this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). > > > > The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the > specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is > something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising > does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback > on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, > then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. > > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably > want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be > challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how > they are progressing (or not). > > > > Regards, John > > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research? > > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes > 'not cost effective > > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size > attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational > Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... > > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as > pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally > possible with a class of 30." > > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I > checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and > personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwil > iam.asp > > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take > constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this > "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really > thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in > his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with > 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class > size... > > > > But so what? > > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and > save tons of money? > > > > You get my point, right? > > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > liam.asp> > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: >> >> Colleagues, >> >> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent >> it for our formative assessment discussion. >> >> ------- >> Note from Tom Sticht: >> >> This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 >> Education Guardian online. >> ------- >> >> To see this story with its related links on the >> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk >> >> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' >> Anthea Lipsett >> Monday February 25 2008 >> The Guardian >> >> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement >> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the >> country's leading experts on assessment said today. >> >> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra >> months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each >> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >> the Institute of Education. >> >> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where >> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide >> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of >> educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. >> >> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class >> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered >> London Teachers Conference today. >> >> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because >> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils >> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >> generally possible with a class of 30. >> >> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- >> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced >> to 15 or less," he said. >> >> Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology >> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have >> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil >> learning. >> >> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up >> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what >> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green >> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and >> advise their classmates on how they can improve. >> >> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments >> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. >> >> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam >> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers >> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. >> >> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 >> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most >> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, >> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said >> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." >> >> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s >> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a >> question their pupils' performance improves because they have been >> given some time to think. >> >> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for >> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that >> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is >> what's hard." >> >> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to >> any improvements. >> >> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers >> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. >> >> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom >> and we need to get better teachers into the profession." >> >> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of >> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the >> government to "put its money where its mouth is". >> >> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, >> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us >> that this would be very cost-effective. >> >> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more >> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their >> deployment fully effective. >> >> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, >> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new >> training must be provided and resourced. >> >> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training >> which meets their individual needs." >> >> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited >> >> >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> djrosen at comcast.net >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/e3f2d5a9/attachment.html From smithg at floridaliteracy.org Thu Feb 28 11:09:05 2008 From: smithg at floridaliteracy.org (Greg Smith) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:09:05 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 813] Re: the praise thing In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <01d101c87a24$3ef64f40$3202a8c0@floridaliteracy.org> Our organization did a case study last year in which we looked at the success factors in eight high achieving adult learners who were previously enrolled in adult basic education, literacy and/or ESOL programs. A number of similarities emerged with regard to their backgrounds, personality characteristics and adult education experiences. When asked to talk about their adult education experiences and what they most liked about their learning environment, the students overwhelming talked about their teachers - using adjectives such as caring, supportive, enthusiastic, honest, and encouraging. Several talked about how important it was that their teachers believed in them and were willing to put in extra time to help them succeed. I'm sure praise was part of the equation, but it was clear that it went much deeper than an occasional pat on the back. ________________________________________ Gregory Smith Executive Director Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. Florida's Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center (407) 246-7110 Fax: (407) 246-7104 www.floridaliteracy.org _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner - or friend, or colleague - see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy - that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you - in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/2e312a21/attachment.html From J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk Thu Feb 28 11:32:14 2008 From: J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk (John Vorhaus) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:32:14 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 814] Re: the praise thing In-Reply-To: <01d101c87a24$3ef64f40$3202a8c0@floridaliteracy.org> References: <01d101c87a24$3ef64f40$3202a8c0@floridaliteracy.org> Message-ID: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07034B5EC6@M3.ioead> That's of a piece with evidence gathered by NRDC from 5 studies of teaching and learning in reading, writing, numeracy, ESOL and ICT. As important as and closely bound up with the more technical aspects of teaching practice and strategy were the qualities of patience, empathy and belief in learners. Nor were the qualities always at the 'softer' end: in custodial settings, for example, we found cohorts for whom successful teaching and learning required on the part of the teacher a capacity to elicit respect, maintain discipline etc. It's a familiar point, that qualities and dispositions of teachers matter as much as technical knowledge, but I agree with Greg Smith that this is the right context in which to consider praise. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Greg Smith Sent: 28 February 2008 16:09 To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 813] Re: the praise thing Our organization did a case study last year in which we looked at the success factors in eight high achieving adult learners who were previously enrolled in adult basic education, literacy and/or ESOL programs. A number of similarities emerged with regard to their backgrounds, personality characteristics and adult education experiences. When asked to talk about their adult education experiences and what they most liked about their learning environment, the students overwhelming talked about their teachers - using adjectives such as caring, supportive, enthusiastic, honest, and encouraging. Several talked about how important it was that their teachers believed in them and were willing to put in extra time to help them succeed. I'm sure praise was part of the equation, but it was clear that it went much deeper than an occasional pat on the back. ________________________________________ Gregory Smith Executive Director Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. Florida's Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center (407) 246-7110 Fax: (407) 246-7104 www.floridaliteracy.org ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner - or friend, or colleague - see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy - that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you - in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/db45dd73/attachment.html From N.Hann at leedsmet.ac.uk Thu Feb 28 11:37:38 2008 From: N.Hann at leedsmet.ac.uk (Hann, Naeema) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:37:38 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 815] Re: What is formative assessment Message-ID: Hi! all, have been following this with great interest and have also recommended this discussion to some colleagues. Now then, in England, formative assessment has very much been a part of Adult ESOL delivery for a long time. It has certainly been more visible since Skills For Life came on board or rather Skills For Life took ESOL on board. It is also included in teacher training programmes. It is of course very effective in moving learners on and also, depending on the teacher's approach, in getting learners to develop an increasing awareness of their own role in their learning journey. Best wishes, Naeema Naeema B.Hann PhD student Leslie Silver International Faculty Leeds Metropolitan University Macaulay Hall Headingley Campus Leeds LS6 3QS ph.+44+(0)113-812-3581 (direct) -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: 25 February 2008 20:14 To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic > education. What is it?" I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just > this term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other > guests about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to n.hann at leedsmet.ac.uk To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm From daviauk at billings.k12.mt.us Thu Feb 28 11:36:33 2008 From: daviauk at billings.k12.mt.us (Kathie Daviau) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:36:33 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 816] Re: the praise thing In-Reply-To: <01d101c87a24$3ef64f40$3202a8c0@floridaliteracy.org> References: <01d101c87a24$3ef64f40$3202a8c0@floridaliteracy.org> Message-ID: <8728940CA8973249ABCFCF502B57BF220AE0EC59@exchange.billings.k12.mt.us> According to the research, teacher praise is not essential to student learning, and it seldom serves as a reinforcer for student behavior. Teacher praise can serve a variety of other meaningful functions, particularly since most teachers enjoy praising students and most students appreciate some teacher praise, especially private praise. Effective praise exhibits the qualities of contingency, specificity, and sincerity. Kathie Daviau Billings, Montana ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Greg Smith Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:09 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 813] Re: the praise thing Our organization did a case study last year in which we looked at the success factors in eight high achieving adult learners who were previously enrolled in adult basic education, literacy and/or ESOL programs. A number of similarities emerged with regard to their backgrounds, personality characteristics and adult education experiences. When asked to talk about their adult education experiences and what they most liked about their learning environment, the students overwhelming talked about their teachers - using adjectives such as caring, supportive, enthusiastic, honest, and encouraging. Several talked about how important it was that their teachers believed in them and were willing to put in extra time to help them succeed. I'm sure praise was part of the equation, but it was clear that it went much deeper than an occasional pat on the back. ________________________________________ Gregory Smith Executive Director Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. Florida's Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center (407) 246-7110 Fax: (407) 246-7104 www.floridaliteracy.org ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner - or friend, or colleague - see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy - that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you - in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/a675edb1/attachment.html From patricia_donovan at worlded.org Thu Feb 28 13:19:40 2008 From: patricia_donovan at worlded.org (Patricia Donovan) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:19:40 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 817] Re: Formative Assessment in Flanders, Belgium Message-ID: <47C6B4ED020000AC00009451@bostongwia.jsi.com> David, In your outline of a successful math vocational program, I hear you saying that the formative assessment approach succeeded marvelously in a context where a) the teacher had strong content knowledge and b) the curriculum reflected student goals. I bring this up in an effort to emphasize that the feedback provided in the formative assessment cycle must be grounded in content knowledge, a challenge for many ABE numeracy/math teachers. We know from our work in Massachusetts that few ABE/ESOL teachers feel confident teaching mathematics. This in turn makes it difficult for them to offer constructive feedback in the assessment process, other than to show how they would solve the problem or to provide the answer from the "teacher's book." Little is gained by asking students to raise a red, green, or yellow card if one lacks the resources to create new learning approaches to a topic that raised a sea of red cards. Improving adult basic education services for all students requires a serious investment in teacher education -- in content areas and in formative assessment techniques. Teachers can best assist students when they deeply comprehend the subjects they teach and use sound pedagogical practices. Of course, the most brilliant teachers in the world still need to be situated in programs that meet students' goals. The ways that goals focused on achieving credentials rather than deep-seated knowledge confound teachers is a subject for a different discussion. Tricia Tricia Donovan SABES CRC World Education 44 Farnsworth St. Boston, MA 02210 617-482-9485 Fax 617-482-0617 >>> "David J. Rosen" 02/28/08 7:47 AM >>> Colleagues, As I mentioned when I introduced this discussion, I had the privilege of being one of the OECD researchers, looking at schools and programs where formative assessment was used in the Flanders community of Belgium. These case studies will be found on the OECD web site with the others. They are remarkable examples for many reasons. First, in both cases formative assessment was taking place -- in the case study in Hoboken, Antwerp by design -- in a a larger context of program development and transformation. The principal of the Second Chance (adult) school in Hoboken, enabled by public policy that for the first time allowed schools like hers to directly award secondary diplomas, brought together a group of dedicated and talented (full-time) teachers and turned the school's focus from test preparation to learning. The experiment is still in progress, and not all the teachers or all the students like the new model, but many do.. The fascinating thing to me was that the lever of change she chose was formative assessment. Another study was a contextualized numeracy (math) basic skills program embedded in a vocational training center. The math teacher had an amazing number of formative assessment strategies in play, had a strong math background, and had designed a competency-based curriculum that could readily respond to the work-related and training-related purposes the trainees had in coming to the math lab. During the two-hour math sessions she dashed around madly from student to student making sure each person was on target, giving direct, concrete, helpful feedback. After each session, she sat down at a computer and quickly noted where each student was, what they might need to do next, what they had accomplished. She shared these notes with each student at the next session and also fired off shoprt reports to their vocational instructors and vocational counselors who could then also help to focus on learning opportunities in the training and counseling sessions. The counselors and vocational instructors (and, most important, the students) so appreciated this information that when funding for this new program ended they decided to take some of the funds for their vocational classes to use for the math lab -- a real vote in confidence for the value of this kind of teaching. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Leader (and researcher) djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to pdonovan at worlded.org From bcarmel at rocketmail.com Thu Feb 28 12:08:49 2008 From: bcarmel at rocketmail.com (Bruce C) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:08:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 818] Re: the class size thing In-Reply-To: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07034B5EC6@M3.ioead> Message-ID: <676835.26967.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> When we talk about cost-effectiveness of class size, what are we talking about? Dylan Wil.i.am, who does research on British school children, says that reducing class size is expensive. But what are the positive outcomes we would expect from reduced class size? I keep thinking about a big study that Public/Private Ventures did with youth. They found that youth who met with mentors once a week for a year did not improve academically. However, "eighteen months later, [the youth]... had reduced first-time drug use by almost half and first-time alcohol use by a third, had cut school absenteeism by half, improved parental and peer relationships, and gave the youth confidence in doing their school work." I know that chidlren are different from adults, but I think there is something to be learned from that research. If we were to evaluate the impact of class size on adult literacy students, we would want to look at basic skills improvement, of course. But I wonder if students in smaller classes or students who get some small group or one-on-one attention benefit in other ways. Do they stay enrolled longer? Have better attendance rates? Access other services such as counseling more frequently? Change their attitudes about educational institutions? Get more involved in their communities? Etc.... From Bruce Carmel Quote retrieved from PPV web site February 26, 2008: http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/publications_description.asp?search_id=7&publication_id=111 --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/0e9d9a26/attachment.html From bcarmel at rocketmail.com Thu Feb 28 13:08:15 2008 From: bcarmel at rocketmail.com (Bruce C) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:08:15 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 819] Re: the praise thing In-Reply-To: <8728940CA8973249ABCFCF502B57BF220AE0EC59@exchange.billings.k12.mt.us> Message-ID: <384427.67490.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Thanks for that Kathie. What's the research you are citing? Was it with children or adults? I would hypothesize that it might be hard to measure the benefits of praise among children who are already doing well in school (although I believe they exist). I would further hypothesize that praise might have more of an impact on children who are struggliing academically, youth at-risk for dropping out, and adults who have not experienced success in educational settings. In all cases, I would suspect that praise needs to be specific and honest to matter. from Bruce Carmel Kathie Daviau wrote: v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } According to the research, teacher praise is not essential to student learning, and it seldom serves as a reinforcer for student behavior. Teacher praise can serve a variety of other meaningful functions, particularly since most teachers enjoy praising students and most students appreciate some teacher praise, especially private praise. Effective praise exhibits the qualities of contingency, specificity, and sincerity. Kathie Daviau Billings, Montana --------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Greg Smith Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:09 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 813] Re: the praise thing Our organization did a case study last year in which we looked at the success factors in eight high achieving adult learners who were previously enrolled in adult basic education, literacy and/or ESOL programs. A number of similarities emerged with regard to their backgrounds, personality characteristics and adult education experiences. When asked to talk about their adult education experiences and what they most liked about their learning environment, the students overwhelming talked about their teachers - using adjectives such as caring, supportive, enthusiastic, honest, and encouraging. Several talked about how important it was that their teachers believed in them and were willing to put in extra time to help them succeed. I?m sure praise was part of the equation, but it was clear that it went much deeper than an occasional pat on the back. ________________________________________ Gregory Smith Executive Director Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. Florida's Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center (407) 246-7110 Fax: (407) 246-7104 www.floridaliteracy.org --------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner ? or friend, or colleague ? see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy ? that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you ? in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/b95c9e47/attachment.html From grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de Thu Feb 28 12:50:57 2008 From: grotlueschen at uni-bremen.de (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Anke_Grotl=FCschen?=) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:50:57 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20080228175058.66B21102873@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Jan, These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can explain it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good grades, you can use a) stable causes (I?m smart) b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are outside your ?locus of control?. The latter don?t motivate. So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn?t be motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change things or not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to do better - than to say it?s because of the difficulty of the task or his/her dumbness. So far about theory, I don?t know the empirical proof for this :-) Thanks, Anke _____ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Jan Potter Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of ?praise? - An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising *effort* gets dramatically better results. The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. It seems we are moving away from the ?everybody gets a trophy? mentality these days. The author?s point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart child would not take on challenging tasks. Jan Potter, MSTC Communications Specialist Georgia Hospital Association -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had 30 students instead of 12? The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts are the students themselves. Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Massachusetts Department of Education 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw iliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com _____ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/13810fb3/attachment.html From asyc2 at cam.ac.uk Thu Feb 28 12:50:11 2008 From: asyc2 at cam.ac.uk (shinyiann chen) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:50:11 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 821] Re: Formative assessment in other countries In-Reply-To: <47C64959.5060807@comcast.net> References: <47C64959.5060807@comcast.net> Message-ID: Dear colleagues and David, Thank you for the wonderful topic and lively discussions. My PhD thesis is about classroom assessment in language classrooms. The students I worked with were adult ESL learners in New York City. The focus of my research was on English oral proficiency. I am currently writing up my data-analysis chapters. For my project, I set up two treatment groups. One group of students received a set of ready-made criteria and the other created their own criteria as a class for oral proficiency. Two groups of students were comparable in terms of the distribution of students? age, first language (L1), and gender. I am exploring if these two treatments yield different effects on students? self-assessment outcomes, motivation for learning English, progress on oral proficiency, and interaction with one another during an oral task. When I proposed to carry out this study in 2004, I didn?t find any study that was designed to explore the effects of students? involvement in the development of assessment criteria on their performance. Is it still the case? I was wondering if any expert in the panel could comment on the role that transparency of learning objectives and criteria plays in formative assessment. In my study, even though teachers and I made the goals of classroom assessment clear to students, there were still students who believed that it was unnecessary for them to be involved in the assessment process because they believed that teachers know the best. Are there any studies designed to look at the relationship between successful implementation of formative assessment and students? learning styles or strategies? Perhaps, formative assessment doesn?t fit all? As for transparency of assessment criteria, is there any study designed to look at to what extent teachers or students are able to articulate assessment criteria for the ability in question? Many thanks in advance. Best wishes, Ann > Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:40:41 -0500> From: djrosen at comcast.net> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov> Subject: [SpecialTopics 805] Formative assessment in other countries> > Colleagues,> > You can still ask questions or make comments on any of the case studies, > or on Janet's overview, but today I would also like to invite OECD > researchers from other countries to talk about their studies now, too. > Please chime in.> > What are some of the most interesting findings on how formative > assessment is used in the classroom?> How are students actively involved -- if they are -- in setting the > criteria, as well as in using the results of the assessments to improve > their learning.> What policies have supported formative assessment?> What policies have hindered it?> > David J. Rosen> Special Topics Discussion Moderator> djrosen at comcast.net> -------------------------------> National Institute for Literacy> Special Topics mailing list> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics> Email delivered to shinyiann at hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/19b7312c/attachment.html From mschnec at localnet.com Thu Feb 28 14:44:03 2008 From: mschnec at localnet.com (mary) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:44:03 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 822] Re: the praise thing References: <384427.67490.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00a301c87a42$4639ea50$8d133045@mschneckenburger> Again, with struggling learners, the effectiveness of the praise may largely depend on the quality or type of praise. It is common for struggling learners to tune out some kinds of praise because it doesn't fit with what they already believe about themselves. I have worked specifically with very challenged adults for about a quarter century. This population has a low self concept. If I say to one of them, Hey, great job on those fractions. I knew you could do it!" that student is as likely to think it was just luck or chance as she is to feel boosted by it. But if my praise takes the form of specific feedback such as, "You have found the common denominator for every single one of these today. Remember last week, you didn't know how to do it?" my comment is seen as more factual. Mary Schneckenburger Program Coordinator Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210 207 333 6601 X 1323 mschnec at juno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce C To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:08 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 819] Re: the praise thing Thanks for that Kathie. What's the research you are citing? Was it with children or adults? I would hypothesize that it might be hard to measure the benefits of praise among children who are already doing well in school (although I believe they exist). I would further hypothesize that praise might have more of an impact on children who are struggliing academically, youth at-risk for dropping out, and adults who have not experienced success in educational settings. In all cases, I would suspect that praise needs to be specific and honest to matter. from Bruce Carmel Kathie Daviau wrote: According to the research, teacher praise is not essential to student learning, and it seldom serves as a reinforcer for student behavior. Teacher praise can serve a variety of other meaningful functions, particularly since most teachers enjoy praising students and most students appreciate some teacher praise, especially private praise. Effective praise exhibits the qualities of contingency, specificity, and sincerity. Kathie Daviau Billings, Montana ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Greg Smith Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:09 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 813] Re: the praise thing Our organization did a case study last year in which we looked at the success factors in eight high achieving adult learners who were previously enrolled in adult basic education, literacy and/or ESOL programs. A number of similarities emerged with regard to their backgrounds, personality characteristics and adult education experiences. When asked to talk about their adult education experiences and what they most liked about their learning environment, the students overwhelming talked about their teachers - using adjectives such as caring, supportive, enthusiastic, honest, and encouraging. Several talked about how important it was that their teachers believed in them and were willing to put in extra time to help them succeed. I'm sure praise was part of the equation, but it was clear that it went much deeper than an occasional pat on the back. ________________________________________ Gregory Smith Executive Director Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. Florida's Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center (407) 246-7110 Fax: (407) 246-7104 www.floridaliteracy.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 792] the praise thing I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it has to do with empty praise. Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to be meaningful when it helps a learner - or friend, or colleague - see specifically what he or she has accomplished. If, for example, a student always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue journal grew both in size and in accuracy - that would be something to point out to her as a positive gain. This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one hopes, have some usefulness to the learner. I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!). This isn't what we're talking about. Think about it. Who are the people that matter to you - in your life? your job? your family? How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres? John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy (as opposed to self-esteem). Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence. Easier to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would seem. Janet Isserlis ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to mschnec at localnet.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/e220bc76/attachment.html From frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk Thu Feb 28 11:53:54 2008 From: frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk (Frances Nehme) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:53:54 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 823] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I?m not quite sure what you are implying, Cheryl. It may just be the way you have expressed yourself, but I?m confused about what exactly you are saying in the last sentence but one. How ?correctly? ? and who are ?OUR? students? and what is the ?it? that ?has obliterated the budget process?? How has it done so? My first impression is a bit scary, but I?m hoping I have mis-read your intentions here Thanks Frances On 28/2/08 13:30, "Cheryl Diamond" wrote: > Hi, all > > I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current > taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will > accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they > come. > > Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. > Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price > on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer > facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". > But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former > teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and > admin people. > > At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see > how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the > election with less special interest input. > > I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount > I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or > candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) > listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. > Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on > him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest > would be tops on my list. > > There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR > students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has > obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. > > Thanks, Cheryl Diamond > > >> >> From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller >> classsizes'not cost effective >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> >> >> Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My >> apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? >> >> >> >> But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the >> Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. >> >> >> >> Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, >> Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at >> http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. >> >> >> >> I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF >> Learning. >> >> >> >> Marie Cora >> >> NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator >> >> http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] >> On Behalf Of John Benseman >> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller >> classsizes'not cost effective >> >> >> >> I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but >> I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research >> that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This >> is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the >> research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. >> >> >> >> As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, >> we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is >> no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on >> this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). >> >> >> >> The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the >> specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is >> something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising >> does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback >> on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of >> praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. >> >> >> >> I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably >> want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be >> challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how >> they are progressing (or not). >> >> >> >> Regards, John >> >> >> >> PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research? >> >> >> >> John Benseman >> >> * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz >> >> ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 >> >> - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ >> >> >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] >> On Behalf Of Bruce C >> Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes >> 'not cost effective >> >> >> >> Regarding small class size.... >> >> >> >> Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size >> attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational >> Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... >> >> >> >> "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" >> >> >> >> I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as >> pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally >> possible with a class of 30." >> >> >> >> Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I >> checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and >> personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: >> >> >> >> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwi >> liam.asp >> >> >> >> He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. >> >> >> >> Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take >> constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do >> this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude >> really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 >> students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a >> teacher with 30 students. >> >> >> Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class >> size... >> >> >> >> But so what? >> >> >> >> If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and >> save tons of money? >> >> >> >> You get my point, right? >> >> >> >> from Bruce Carmel >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >> the Institute of Education says, >> >> >> > iliam.asp> >> >> >> "David J. Rosen" wrote: >>> >>> Colleagues, >>> >>> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent >>> it for our formative assessment discussion. >>> >>> ------- >>> Note from Tom Sticht: >>> >>> This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 >>> Education Guardian online. >>> ------- >>> >>> To see this story with its related links on the >>> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk >>> >>> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' >>> Anthea Lipsett >>> Monday February 25 2008 >>> The Guardian >>> >>> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement >>> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the >>> country's leading experts on assessment said today. >>> >>> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra >>> months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each >>> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >>> the Institute of Education. >>> >>> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where >>> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide >>> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of >>> educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. >>> >>> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class >>> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered >>> London Teachers Conference today. >>> >>> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because >>> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils >>> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >>> generally possible with a class of 30. >>> >>> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- >>> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced >>> to 15 or less," he said. >>> >>> Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology >>> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have >>> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil >>> learning. >>> >>> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up >>> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what >>> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green >>> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and >>> advise their classmates on how they can improve. >>> >>> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments >>> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. >>> >>> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam >>> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers >>> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. >>> >>> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 >>> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most >>> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, >>> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said >>> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." >>> >>> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s >>> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a >>> question their pupils' performance improves because they have been >>> given some time to think. >>> >>> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for >>> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that >>> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is >>> what's hard." >>> >>> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to >>> any improvements. >>> >>> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers >>> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. >>> >>> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom >>> and we need to get better teachers into the profession." >>> >>> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of >>> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the >>> government to "put its money where its mouth is". >>> >>> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, >>> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us >>> that this would be very cost-effective. >>> >>> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more >>> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their >>> deployment fully effective. >>> >>> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, >>> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new >>> training must be provided and resourced. >>> >>> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training >>> which meets their individual needs." >>> >>> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited >>> >>> >>> >>> David J. Rosen >>> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >>> djrosen at comcast.net >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> National Institute for Literacy >>> Special Topics mailing list >>> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >>> Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. >> > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to frances.nehme at tiscali.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080228/70fecb80/attachment.html From abtom at mindspring.com Thu Feb 28 12:53:41 2008 From: abtom at mindspring.com (A Tom) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:53:41 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 824] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1> <03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> Message-ID: <95B55931-FBC9-4D3A-BCD4-6C2522E92125@mindspring.com> On Feb 28, 2008, at 8:30 AM, Cheryl Diamond wrote: > Hi, all > > I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a > current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not > everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should > be taken from where they come. > > Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect > solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly > do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any > monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the > board, I can say "ENOUGH". > But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a > former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes > for parents and admin people. > > At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter > who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say > we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. > > I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the > exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been > reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a > variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school > graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a > teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put > on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative > parental interest would be tops on my list. > > There is only so much money for education. It should be spent > correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration > issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it > simple as best we can. > > Thanks, Cheryl Diamond > > > From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 > Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > Hi everyone, > > > Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to > begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? > > > But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that > the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out > of context. > > > Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and > Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom > Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. > > > I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus > Assessment OF Learning. > > > Marie Cora > > NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator > > http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics- > bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > > I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class > size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no > authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably > related to student learning. This is not to say that class size > doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of > studies is inconclusive to date. > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv > will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? > it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The > jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as > it is in many other areas). > > > The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t > find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think > Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising > students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is > needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at > in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then > that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners > invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they > also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them > realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). > > > Regards, John > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his > research? > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics- > bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes 'not cost effective > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class > size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor > of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University > of London, I say ... > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as > long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class > of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only > one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative > assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About > Learning" website: > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/ > biogdylanwiliam.asp > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers > to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's > important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I > can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't > matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get > a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing > class size... > > > But so what? > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class > size and save tons of money? > > > You get my point, right? > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom > methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to abtom at mindspring.com From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 23:04:56 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:04:56 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment Message-ID: Colleagues, Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From cherylthornett at hotmail.com Fri Feb 29 05:25:31 2008 From: cherylthornett at hotmail.com (Cheryl Thornett) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:25:31 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 826] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment References: Message-ID: Writing again not as an expert or researcher, but as a practising ESOL teacher, I would like to stress that 'formative' and 'assessment' are equally important parts of the procedure. This can include day-to-day classroom work, if it feeds into further work, but I find students respond well to specific assessment tasks, such as writing a note or giving a short talk on an agreed subject. (Paired conversations or role plays and small group discussions also work well.) I like to give communicative and grammar and vocabulary assessments. Paper-based assessment tasks can be part of a portfolio or other student record; we don't have a practical way of doing the same with oral communications, beyond written records. Where students have anxiety problems or have past negative experiences, perhaps the word 'assessment' should be avoided, and steps taken to avoid creating unnecessary anxiety--a very shy student can speak just to the teacher, instead of to the whole class, for example, or the written communication can either be tailored to a particular student or assessed against their personal current level. The task needs to be meaningful to the learner and feedback on their achievement and the next step/s is essential, even if this is short and informal. I think it also helps, eventually, to reduce anxiety levels about testing procedures. Some good points have been made here about effective praise, and of course, we all want to be positive but honest in discussing weaknesses or lack of achievement. I believe my local colleagues in Skills for Life numeracy have similar procedures, including practical assessments such as weighing and measuring, making change and so forth. Newer teachers, in particular, need support with considerations such as the frequency of assessments, the size of steps they measure, the degree of formality and recording procedures. Managers and administrators really need to consult with practitioners about what is truly do-able, rather than imposing procedures and paperwork which are not. This is particularly true when said managers and administrators have been out of the classroom for many years, or have never been classroom teachers. I doubt I am the only one who feels far more receptive to ideas which come from other teachers. I really appreciate these opportunities to learn and to share. Thanks, David, and thanks, NIFL. Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 4:04 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com > From carroll.collins at neklsvt.org Fri Feb 29 10:44:03 2008 From: carroll.collins at neklsvt.org (carroll.collins at neklsvt.org) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:44:03 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 827] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20080229104403.xfswolqaas88swc0@webmail.neklsvt.org> Quoting "David J. Rosen" : > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to carroll.collins at neklsvt.org > Greetings David and all, I have been following this weeks discussion with great interest. Here in Vermont we have been focusing on "learner persistence" and how we might improve it. We have a number of adult learners who enroll with our learning programs, but fail to follow through on their stated learning objectives. It has occurred to me that if we designed learning plans, curricula, and courses that allowed the participants to experience progress in increments that were meaningful and useful to them, this might contribute to their remaining in the program and completing their goals. Formative assessments that are built into the learning plans seem to be an effective way to promote learner persistence by giving the learner a sense of what they've already accomplished and what must still be mastered in order to succeed in their efforts. Carroll Collins Community Learning Teacher Northeast Kingdom Learning Services St. Johnsbury Adult Learning Center 364 Railroad Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 (802) 748-5624 From Ron.Vorp at fldoe.org Fri Feb 29 08:32:57 2008 From: Ron.Vorp at fldoe.org (Vorp, Ron) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:32:57 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 828] Re: What is formative assessment In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E0B506103@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Good morning, A follow up to "what is formative assessment' I was completely ignorant of formative assessment prior to this discussion, and have learned from, and enjoyed following, this discussion. I do have a question regarding formative. It seems that formative assessment is summative assessment being done more frequently. It's as if there is a continuum between the two. By that I mean assessment is done to assessment more specific skills. An example might be assessing whether a student has addition skills before you try to teach that student division. Remember of course that division requires subtraction. Formative assessment does not assess learning styles, it is not diagnostic in the sense that the WISC-R or WAIS is. Am I completely off base here? Thank you. Ron Vorp 850 245-9035 Budget, Accountability, and Research Division of Workforce Development 325 W. Gaines St Tallahassee, FL 32399 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Ron.Vorp at fldoe.org|08:32:57%20Fri%2029%20Feb%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Hann, Naeema Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:38 AM To: dwyoho at earthlink.net; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 815] Re: What is formative assessment Hi! all, have been following this with great interest and have also recommended this discussion to some colleagues. Now then, in England, formative assessment has very much been a part of Adult ESOL delivery for a long time. It has certainly been more visible since Skills For Life came on board or rather Skills For Life took ESOL on board. It is also included in teacher training programmes. It is of course very effective in moving learners on and also, depending on the teacher's approach, in getting learners to develop an increasing awareness of their own role in their learning journey. Best wishes, Naeema Naeema B.Hann PhD student Leslie Silver International Faculty Leeds Metropolitan University Macaulay Hall Headingley Campus Leeds LS6 3QS ph.+44+(0)113-812-3581 (direct) -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: 25 February 2008 20:14 To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic education. What is it?" > I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just this > term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other guests > about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to n.hann at leedsmet.ac.uk To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ron.vorp at fldoe.org From jpotter at gha.org Fri Feb 29 11:27:21 2008 From: jpotter at gha.org (Jan Potter) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:27:21 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 829] Re: smartness and effort In-Reply-To: <20080228175058.66B21102873@bladez03.zfn.uni-bremen.de> Message-ID: I appreciate the comments. I think the bottom line is that if we praise a child by telling them how smart they are, then there is nothing that they can actually do to improve (and, in some cases, the child might actually do less since, after all, they are smart and decide they don't need to work any more). Obviously, the other side is a bad idea (telling someone that they are not smart or dumb). The author's position is that by praising effort you are praising something that is within your control. I guess that I would personally separate this from the idea of remarking on the difficulty of the task. To be told that "you did really well and I know this was really hard" is very reinforcing to me personally. I also wonder if there is a learning style issue here. Does someone perform better with verbal praise or with getting a good grade, for example. We can say that both would apply but if you hear a teacher always telling her students how well they do, you might not buy it personally. I have certainly seen in my own students that if they are praised in writing, they tend to participate in class better in the future. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:51 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort Jan, These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can explain it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good grades, you can use a) stable causes (I'm smart) b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are outside your "locus of control". The latter don't motivate. So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn't be motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change things or not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to do better - than to say it's because of the difficulty of the task or his/her dumbness. So far about theory, I don't know the empirical proof for this :-) Thanks, Anke ________________________________ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Jan Potter Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising *effort* gets dramatically better results. The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality these days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart child would not take on challenging tasks. Jan Potter, MSTC Communications Specialist Georgia Hospital Association -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had 30 students instead of 12? The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts are the students themselves. Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Massachusetts Department of Education 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research... John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080229/7f708d9b/attachment.html From Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org Fri Feb 29 12:09:11 2008 From: Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org (Janet.LOONEY at oecd.org) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:09:11 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 830] Re: Last day of discussion onformative assessment In-Reply-To: <20080229104403.xfswolqaas88swc0@webmail.neklsvt.org> References: <20080229104403.xfswolqaas88swc0@webmail.neklsvt.org> Message-ID: <227A8C8F337FB14CB1304302479F1B890D968FA9@EXCHANGEB.main.oecd.org> Thank you David for organizing a very lively and interesting discussion. I've found it really interesting to read about different concerns, to see readers' different approaches to explaining the concept of formative assessment and how it can be integrated into regular practice. Now to get to David's question as to how policy helps of hinders formative assessment. I would select the top barriers as: 1.) Targets for numbers of learners to earn qualifications - this is particularly challenging if the targets are not tied to trends in a local area, do not reflect learner goals (not all learners want to earn qualifications), and so on. 2.) Poorly designed, standardized summative tests. Summative tests are not necessarily bad. We learned that, contrary to expectations, learners often want to take tests, so long as they have opportunities and support to practice for those tests. But if tests are poorly designed (for example, testing rote memory rather than problem-solving skills), or are the sole measure of learner progress, then instructors are much more likely to "teach to the test". This is particularly true when instructors are held accountable for learner success on such tests. David Rosen might discuss how Flemish Belgium has changed its system so that learners are no longer required to travel to Brussels to take the "official certification test". Scotland allows learners to show how they have attained skills using very open evidence requirements - such as giving a short speech on a topic of their choice, and meeting established criteria. 3.) Poor working conditions for instructors, including few opportunities for instructor professional development - leading to high turn-over, instructors having to piece together several part-time jobs, and consequently few opportunities for schools/programs to build cohesive teaching teams, or provide opportunities to learn from each other. This was a major challenge in several of the countries included in the OECD report. Certainly, there are full-time instructors working in adult foundation skill programs, but we found only a few examples of programs that supported more than a few core instructors on a full-time basis. Those policies that support formative assessment: 1.) High profile policies and innovation projects promoting formative assessment - Most notably, Scotland's Adult Literacy and Numeracy program promotes the principle of learner "self-determination". This means that learners negotiate their goals for learning with programs and instructors, and may even negotiate how they will reach those goals. Policy leaders have played an important role in promoting new ways to think about teaching and learning. In general, though, formative assessment is only beginning to get policy-level attention in adult foundation skill learning. 2.) Guidelines and tools - Norway has participated in a European Grundtvig grant to develop the "I Can" portfolio for Norwegian as a Second Language. Learners are able to keep track of the competencies they are developing, and to see what they still need to learn. The portfolio is based on models in Ireland and the Netherlands. A number of countries provide guidelines for instructors, promoting different formative assessment practices. The programs we visited for this study had developed a variety of tools to track learner progress. As others have warned, however, there is some danger that these tools can be used in an mechanistic/instrumental fashion - merely substituting for summative tests rather than serving as tools to guide learners toward deeper and more independent learning. 3.) Accountability systems that draw upon diverse sources of information, rather than a few narrow measures. 4.) Strong support for instructor professional development (see above!). This is something of a rushed list, and I have much more to say, but unfortunately it is the end of the day on Friday in Paris. I invite other participants to chime in with their own opinions and examples). Also, please visit www.oecd.org/edu/whatworks for free access to case studies, country background reports on policies, and reviews of research related to this study. Janet -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of carroll.collins at neklsvt.org Sent: 29 February, 2008 4:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 827] Re: Last day of discussion onformative assessment Quoting "David J. Rosen" : > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to carroll.collins at neklsvt.org > Greetings David and all, I have been following this weeks discussion with great interest. Here in Vermont we have been focusing on "learner persistence" and how we might improve it. We have a number of adult learners who enroll with our learning programs, but fail to follow through on their stated learning objectives. It has occurred to me that if we designed learning plans, curricula, and courses that allowed the participants to experience progress in increments that were meaningful and useful to them, this might contribute to their remaining in the program and completing their goals. Formative assessments that are built into the learning plans seem to be an effective way to promote learner persistence by giving the learner a sense of what they've already accomplished and what must still be mastered in order to succeed in their efforts. Carroll Collins Community Learning Teacher Northeast Kingdom Learning Services St. Johnsbury Adult Learning Center 364 Railroad Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 (802) 748-5624 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to janet.looney at oecd.org From selover200 at comcast.net Fri Feb 29 12:28:47 2008 From: selover200 at comcast.net (selover200 at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:28:47 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 831] Re: check lists for students Message-ID: <022920081728.23578.47C840CF0000216400005C1A2215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Greetings to all-- I have not had a chance to read all of the postings yet, but as a new teacher of ESL, I have been searching for checklists of standards or competencies so that my students can document their own progress, and to encourage them to take a more active roll in their own education, such as: What do I need to learn next? Since most of the ESL courses in the country have similar competencies or standards, do we not have these checklists in place?? With adults, learner persistence needs to come from within the students. We cannot require them to attend. Many of our adult learners were not successful as students the first time around, or they never had the opportunity to continue their education beyond 3rd to 6th grade. Therefore, they do not always know how to direct their own education or how to learn. Many of them view education as something that is done to them, rather than something that they are able to and need to actively pursue and work on. They do not know how to educate themselves, therefore, it is our job to teach them how to actively learn English and what ever else they want to learn. Recently, I took a course that made me realize that assessments were necessary to guide our instruction appropriately, beyond the quarterly CASAS tests. Formative assessments can be both a teaching mechanism as well as an assessment that guides both the student and the teacher. For new teachers, more explicit guidelines and examples of how to design formative assessments within lesson plans are needed. If you or your schools have existing plans that have formative assessments, I would love to hear more about them. I currently teach a Mulit-level ESL class, with most of my students in the Beg. Literacy to low Intermediate levels. Thank you for the great discussions. Linda Selover > > Greetings David and all, > > I have been following this weeks discussion with great interest. Here > in Vermont we have been focusing on "learner persistence" and how we > might improve it. We have a number of adult learners who enroll with > our learning programs, but fail to follow through on their stated > learning objectives. > > It has occurred to me that if we designed learning plans, curricula, > and courses that allowed the participants to experience progress in > increments that were meaningful and useful to them, this might > contribute to their remaining in the program and completing their > goals. Formative assessments that are built into the learning plans > seem to be an effective way to promote learner persistence by giving > the learner a sense of what they've already accomplished and what must > still be mastered in order to succeed in their efforts. > > Carroll Collins > Community Learning Teacher > Northeast Kingdom Learning Services > St. Johnsbury Adult Learning Center > 364 Railroad Street > St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 > (802) 748-5624 > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to selover200 at comcast.net From selover200 at comcast.net Fri Feb 29 13:44:49 2008 From: selover200 at comcast.net (selover200 at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:44:49 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 832] Re: instead of praise Message-ID: <022920081844.18547.47C852A0000EB82B000048732215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Hello to all- Praise can stimulate a very negative response in the person being praised, unless that person's self-image is already high or positive. Have any of you attended workshops by the Love and Logic Institute in Colorado? They are geared to teachers of K-12 and parents, but their ideas can be applied to adult learners. I wish I could find my copy of "Teaching with Love and Logic" by Jim Fay, to give you some direct quotes, but I will try to explain it. Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Kline have some enlightenling things to say about praise. The first time that I heard them, I realized that I had seen it play out with students, and I had wondered what was going on at the time. Self-esteem cannot be built up from the outside. If the student's level of self-esteem is low or their self-image is negative, then praise cannot be heard or accepted. If the comments (praise) do not match the self-image, then the speaker must be crazy, or not telling the truth, so the student will discount it. The student's view of self must be maintained, so the praiser is the crazy one. In fact, if their self-image is really low or negative, they will have to show the praiser how wrong they are by destroying their work, or they might stop trying, or they might deliberately not do something the next time, just to show that the teacher had better not begin to expect too much of them. Therefore, praise can have a very negative affect on a person who has a low or negative self-image. I had a 3rd grader in China, whose only comment about his work was always "No good, no good!" and when I praised something that he had done very well, he destroyed it. This was before I heard about Jim Fay's ideas, and I felt really bad and I wondered how I could get through to this child. Jim explains that for the person to accept the positive message, they need to voice it themselves. The way that he suggests doing it is to ask a multiple choice question: How did you get the right answer? Did you copy, did you guess, are you getting smarter, or did you work and learn something? Thereby forcing the person to make a choice that is positive. (You can learn by copying, and you can get "smarter" by working and learning. I am not linking smart directly to g) When they have accomplished a task, you can ask "How does it feel to finish this, or to accomplish this? Again, trying to elicit a positive response from the student. The more times that you can guide the person (student, child, adult) to voice a positive response about their efforts to learn, the more they will build their own self-image and self-esteem. Jim Fay explains it much better in his books and CDs. What he proposes for children will work with adults. Conversely, enticements and rewards that won't work with adults, will not work with children either. I am still trying to remember to ask instead of telling students. Check out the Love and Logic website, http://www.loveandlogic.com/ Linda Selover -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Jan Potter" > I appreciate the comments. I think the bottom line is that if we praise a child > by telling them how smart they are, then there is nothing that they can actually > do to improve (and, in some cases, the child might actually do less since, after > all, they are smart and decide they don't need to work any more). Obviously, > the other side is a bad idea (telling someone that they are not smart or dumb). > > > > The author's position is that by praising effort you are praising something that > is within your control. I guess that I would personally separate this from the > idea of remarking on the difficulty of the task. To be told that "you did > really well and I know this was really hard" is very reinforcing to me > personally. > > > > I also wonder if there is a learning style issue here. Does someone perform > better with verbal praise or with getting a good grade, for example. We can say > that both would apply but if you hear a teacher always telling her students how > well they do, you might not buy it personally. > > > > I have certainly seen in my own students that if they are praised in writing, > they tend to participate in class better in the future. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen > Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:51 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort > > > > Jan, > > > > These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and > attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can explain > it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): > > > > People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good grades, > you can use > > a) stable causes (I'm smart) > > b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) > > > > You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are outside > your "locus of control". The latter don't motivate. > > > > So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn't be > motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable > dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change things or > not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an > unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to do > better - than to say it's because of the difficulty of the task or his/her > dumbness. > > > > So far about theory, I don't know the empirical proof for this :-) > > Thanks, > > Anke > > ________________________________ > > Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im > Auftrag von Jan Potter > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 > An: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not > cost effective (Tom Mechem) > > > > I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - > > An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson > called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: > http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks > > about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that > suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing > progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new > > (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising > *effort* gets dramatically better results. > > > > The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. > > > > It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality these > days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart > child would not take on challenging tasks. > > > > Jan Potter, MSTC > > Communications Specialist > > Georgia Hospital Association > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson > Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM > To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not > cost effective (Tom Mechem) > > > > If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even > more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are > needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask > the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his > 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had > 30 students instead of 12? > > > > The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell > someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all > credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. > It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they > have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you > can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they > have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, > "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people > they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can > come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about > the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though > there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt > the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts > are the students themselves. > > > > Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). > > > > > > Tom Mechem > > GED State Chief Examiner > > Massachusetts Department of Education > > 781-338-6621 > > "GED to Ph.D." > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, > but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research > that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is > not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over > many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. > > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will > attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that > there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still > out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). > > > > The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find > the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is > something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising > does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on > where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then > that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. > > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners > invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be > challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they > are progressing (or not). > > > > Regards, John > > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his > research... > > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > > ________________________________ > > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes 'not cost effective > > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size > attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational > Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... > > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long > as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally > possible with a class of 30." > > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one > "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and > personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdy > lanwiliam.asp > > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to > take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do > this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude > really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students > in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with > 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class > size... > > > > But so what? > > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size > and save tons of money? > > > > You get my point, right? > > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > ylanwiliam.asp> > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and > sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays > (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to > http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil > achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of > the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four > extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy > director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - > where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing > class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual > Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, > because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as > pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to > seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be > reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication > technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of > pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to > hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood > what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and > green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education > departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative > assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if > teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom > methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be > most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," > said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the > 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking > a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have > been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second > for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing > it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key > to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more > teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the > classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the > Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more > effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] > reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having > more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make > their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for > learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so > new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to > training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go > to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > > > From SEwert at fas.edu Fri Feb 29 15:25:28 2008 From: SEwert at fas.edu (Steve Ewert) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:25:28 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 833] Formative Assessment In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <37E27EAC319870439379BF42DD12767E01A28CFD@fas-exch-01.FAS.ADS> I have been one of many readers enjoying the discussion on-line as much as I could, given a limited amount of time to read through all the material. I have been surprised that no one has referenced a large body of work done in the United States in our K-12 system on Formative Assessments. We as teachers at Fresno Adult School have been given several books to read and discuss by Douglas Reeves, ("Ahead of the Curve"), and Richard DuFour ("On Common Ground"), just to name two. Their work and writings strongly concur with the things people have been saying here. We are working on taking these principles and applying them to adult education. As a practitioner teaching a lower level ABE class, I have found that using assessments in a formative manner has given me clearer vision of what the class is actually learning, as opposed to what I am teaching. Sometimes, to my chagrin, there is a high level of disconnect and I need to rethink what I am doing as a teacher. Other times the students have caught what I have taught and we go on our merry way. Since we are open-entry/open-exit, we have more freedom to expand our teaching time of various subjects until we feel certain the students have mastered the material. For me, this has meant that I now think about using the assessments to inform me about areas for additional study instead of just plowing on through the curriculum as I had done to a certain degree before. We are working at forming Professional Learning Communities here among the staff and it was interesting to see them being described without using that specific term. I hope we can re-visit this subject in the future as more and more adult schools begin using formative assessments to see what the results may be. Steven Ewert Fresno Adult School Instructor Fresno, CA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 8:51 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 29 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 824] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective (A Tom) 2. [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment (David J. Rosen) 3. [SpecialTopics 826] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment (Cheryl Thornett) 4. [SpecialTopics 827] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment (carroll.collins at neklsvt.org) 5. [SpecialTopics 828] Re: What is formative assessment (Vorp, Ron) 6. [SpecialTopics 829] Re: smartness and effort (Jan Potter) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:53:41 -0500 From: A Tom Subject: [SpecialTopics 824] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <95B55931-FBC9-4D3A-BCD4-6C2522E92125 at mindspring.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; format=flowed On Feb 28, 2008, at 8:30 AM, Cheryl Diamond wrote: > Hi, all > > I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a > current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not > everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should > be taken from where they come. > > Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect > solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly > do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any > monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the > board, I can say "ENOUGH". > But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a > former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes > for parents and admin people. > > At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter > who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say > we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. > > I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the > exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been > reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a > variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school > graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a > teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put > on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative > parental interest would be tops on my list. > > There is only so much money for education. It should be spent > correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration > issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it > simple as best we can. > > Thanks, Cheryl Diamond > > > From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500 > Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > Hi everyone, > > > Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to > begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? > > > But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that > the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out > of context. > > > Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and > Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom > Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. > > > I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus > Assessment OF Learning. > > > Marie Cora > > NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator > > http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics- > bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > > I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class > size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no > authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably > related to student learning. This is not to say that class size > doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of > studies is inconclusive to date. > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv > will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? > it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The > jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as > it is in many other areas). > > > The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t > find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think > Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising > students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is > needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at > in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then > that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners > invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they > also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them > realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). > > > Regards, John > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his > research? > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics- > bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes 'not cost effective > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class > size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor > of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University > of London, I say ... > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as > long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class > of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only > one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative > assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About > Learning" website: > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/ > biogdylanwiliam.asp > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers > to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's > important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I > can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't > matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get > a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing > class size... > > > But so what? > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class > size and save tons of money? > > > You get my point, right? > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom > methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to abtom at mindspring.com ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:04:56 -0500 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Colleagues, Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:25:31 -0000 From: "Cheryl Thornett" Subject: [SpecialTopics 826] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Writing again not as an expert or researcher, but as a practising ESOL teacher, I would like to stress that 'formative' and 'assessment' are equally important parts of the procedure. This can include day-to-day classroom work, if it feeds into further work, but I find students respond well to specific assessment tasks, such as writing a note or giving a short talk on an agreed subject. (Paired conversations or role plays and small group discussions also work well.) I like to give communicative and grammar and vocabulary assessments. Paper-based assessment tasks can be part of a portfolio or other student record; we don't have a practical way of doing the same with oral communications, beyond written records. Where students have anxiety problems or have past negative experiences, perhaps the word 'assessment' should be avoided, and steps taken to avoid creating unnecessary anxiety--a very shy student can speak just to the teacher, instead of to the whole class, for example, or the written communication can either be tailored to a particular student or assessed against their personal current level. The task needs to be meaningful to the learner and feedback on their achievement and the next step/s is essential, even if this is short and informal. I think it also helps, eventually, to reduce anxiety levels about testing procedures. Some good points have been made here about effective praise, and of course, we all want to be positive but honest in discussing weaknesses or lack of achievement. I believe my local colleagues in Skills for Life numeracy have similar procedures, including practical assessments such as weighing and measuring, making change and so forth. Newer teachers, in particular, need support with considerations such as the frequency of assessments, the size of steps they measure, the degree of formality and recording procedures. Managers and administrators really need to consult with practitioners about what is truly do-able, rather than imposing procedures and paperwork which are not. This is particularly true when said managers and administrators have been out of the classroom for many years, or have never been classroom teachers. I doubt I am the only one who feels far more receptive to ideas which come from other teachers. I really appreciate these opportunities to learn and to share. Thanks, David, and thanks, NIFL. Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 4:04 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com > ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:44:03 -0500 From: carroll.collins at neklsvt.org Subject: [SpecialTopics 827] Re: Last day of discussion on formative assessment To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <20080229104403.xfswolqaas88swc0 at webmail.neklsvt.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes"; format="flowed" Quoting "David J. Rosen" : > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to carroll.collins at neklsvt.org > Greetings David and all, I have been following this weeks discussion with great interest. Here in Vermont we have been focusing on "learner persistence" and how we might improve it. We have a number of adult learners who enroll with our learning programs, but fail to follow through on their stated learning objectives. It has occurred to me that if we designed learning plans, curricula, and courses that allowed the participants to experience progress in increments that were meaningful and useful to them, this might contribute to their remaining in the program and completing their goals. Formative assessments that are built into the learning plans seem to be an effective way to promote learner persistence by giving the learner a sense of what they've already accomplished and what must still be mastered in order to succeed in their efforts. Carroll Collins Community Learning Teacher Northeast Kingdom Learning Services St. Johnsbury Adult Learning Center 364 Railroad Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 (802) 748-5624 ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:32:57 -0500 From: "Vorp, Ron" Subject: [SpecialTopics 828] Re: What is formative assessment To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E0B506103 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Good morning, A follow up to "what is formative assessment' I was completely ignorant of formative assessment prior to this discussion, and have learned from, and enjoyed following, this discussion. I do have a question regarding formative. It seems that formative assessment is summative assessment being done more frequently. It's as if there is a continuum between the two. By that I mean assessment is done to assessment more specific skills. An example might be assessing whether a student has addition skills before you try to teach that student division. Remember of course that division requires subtraction. Formative assessment does not assess learning styles, it is not diagnostic in the sense that the WISC-R or WAIS is. Am I completely off base here? Thank you. Ron Vorp 850 245-9035 Budget, Accountability, and Research Division of Workforce Development 325 W. Gaines St Tallahassee, FL 32399 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Ron.Vorp at fldoe.org|08:32:57%2 0Fri%2029%20Feb%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Hann, Naeema Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:38 AM To: dwyoho at earthlink.net; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 815] Re: What is formative assessment Hi! all, have been following this with great interest and have also recommended this discussion to some colleagues. Now then, in England, formative assessment has very much been a part of Adult ESOL delivery for a long time. It has certainly been more visible since Skills For Life came on board or rather Skills For Life took ESOL on board. It is also included in teacher training programmes. It is of course very effective in moving learners on and also, depending on the teacher's approach, in getting learners to develop an increasing awareness of their own role in their learning journey. Best wishes, Naeema Naeema B.Hann PhD student Leslie Silver International Faculty Leeds Metropolitan University Macaulay Hall Headingley Campus Leeds LS6 3QS ph.+44+(0)113-812-3581 (direct) -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho Sent: 25 February 2008 20:14 To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 752] Re: What is formative assessment While is appears formative assessment is relatively an unknown idea in adult education, it may be very familiar to educators trained for k-12. As an undergraduate secondary education major in 1971, I was carefully taught the difference between formative and summative assessments. The emphasis for formative assessment was on teacher-developed assessment tools. We studied Robert Mager's structure for formulating objectives and outcomes, and were taught to create our own periodic assessments, oiften quite informal, keyed to those objectives. One book that had a profound impact on my teaching practice was called CLASSROOM QUESTIONS. Alas, I cannot remember the author and no longer have the book. But the book showed how to structure questions by considering Bloom's Taxonomy. If the title rings a bell with anyone I'd love to be reminded of the author and whether or not it is still in print. It was a slim volume, less than 100 pages. Questions for our special topics guests: is the foundational work of Bloom and Mager pertinent to how formative assessment was evaluated in the OECD studies, and are we talking mainly about teacher-made tools? Deborah W. Yoho director, Turning Pages (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council) a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas 803-765-2555 Fax: 803-779-1657 PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202 yohogclc at earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: David J. Rosen > To: > Date: 2/25/2008 1:40:36 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 751] What is formative assessment > > Colleagues, > > A discussion list subscriber wrote to me offline: "David, I've never > heard of formative assessment in adult basic education. What is it?" > I think she may speak for many in the U.S. > who are subscribed to this discussion. > > I encourage those who are new to this concept -- or possibly just this > term -- to post your questions now, to ask Janet and our other guests > about what formative assessment means. You might ask questions > like "Does it mean that a teacher would......" or " ...that students > would...." or "Does it differ from summative assessment in that....." > or however you like. > > While we await subscribers' questions, Janet could you give some more > examples of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to dwyoho at earthlink.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to n.hann at leedsmet.ac.uk To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ron.vorp at fldoe.org ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:27:21 -0500 From: "Jan Potter" Subject: [SpecialTopics 829] Re: smartness and effort To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I appreciate the comments. I think the bottom line is that if we praise a child by telling them how smart they are, then there is nothing that they can actually do to improve (and, in some cases, the child might actually do less since, after all, they are smart and decide they don't need to work any more). Obviously, the other side is a bad idea (telling someone that they are not smart or dumb). The author's position is that by praising effort you are praising something that is within your control. I guess that I would personally separate this from the idea of remarking on the difficulty of the task. To be told that "you did really well and I know this was really hard" is very reinforcing to me personally. I also wonder if there is a learning style issue here. Does someone perform better with verbal praise or with getting a good grade, for example. We can say that both would apply but if you hear a teacher always telling her students how well they do, you might not buy it personally. I have certainly seen in my own students that if they are praised in writing, they tend to participate in class better in the future. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:51 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort Jan, These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can explain it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good grades, you can use a) stable causes (I'm smart) b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are outside your "locus of control". The latter don't motivate. So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn't be motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change things or not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to do better - than to say it's because of the difficulty of the task or his/her dumbness. So far about theory, I don't know the empirical proof for this :-) Thanks, Anke ________________________________ Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im Auftrag von Jan Potter Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 An: specialtopics at nifl.gov Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising *effort* gets dramatically better results. The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality these days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart child would not take on challenging tasks. Jan Potter, MSTC Communications Specialist Georgia Hospital Association -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective (Tom Mechem) If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had 30 students instead of 12? The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts are the students themselves. Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Massachusetts Department of Education 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research... John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdy lanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion. ------- Note from Tom Sticht: This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online. ------- To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' Anthea Lipsett Monday February 25 2008 The Guardian Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today. Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education. He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today. "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30. "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said. Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning. Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think. "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard." Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements. "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is". "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective. "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective. "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced. "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs." Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com ________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080229/7f708d9 b/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 19, Issue 29 ********************************************* From cherylthornett at hotmail.com Fri Feb 29 15:35:22 2008 From: cherylthornett at hotmail.com (Cheryl Thornett) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:35:22 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 834] Re: check lists for students References: <022920081728.23578.47C840CF0000216400005C1A2215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Message-ID: Anyone who is interested can look at the online version of the UK National Curricula for ESOL, Literacy and Numeracy, with some associated material and support for teachers, including the competencies for each skill at each level. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/curriculum_esol/ http://www.dfes.gov.uk/curriculum_literacy/ http://www.dfes.gov.uk/curriculum_numeracy/ Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 5:28 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 831] Re: check lists for students > Greetings to all-- > > I have not had a chance to read all of the postings yet, but as a new > teacher of ESL, I have been searching for checklists of standards or > competencies so that my students can document their own progress, and to > encourage them to take a more active roll in their own education, such as: > What do I need to learn next? > > Since most of the ESL courses in the country have similar competencies or > standards, do we not have these checklists in place?? > > With adults, learner persistence needs to come from within the students. > We cannot require them to attend. > Many of our adult learners were not successful as students the first time > around, or they never had the opportunity to continue their education > beyond 3rd to 6th grade. Therefore, they do not always know how to direct > their own education or how to learn. > > Many of them view education as something that is done to them, rather than > something that they are able to and need to actively pursue and work on. > They do not know how to educate themselves, therefore, it is our job to > teach them how to actively learn English and what ever else they want to > learn. > > Recently, I took a course that made me realize that assessments were > necessary to guide our instruction appropriately, beyond the quarterly > CASAS tests. Formative assessments can be both a teaching mechanism as > well as an assessment that guides both the student and the teacher. > > For new teachers, more explicit guidelines and examples of how to design > formative assessments within lesson plans are needed. > > If you or your schools have existing plans that have formative > assessments, I would love to hear more about them. I currently teach a > Mulit-level ESL class, with most of my students in the Beg. Literacy to > low Intermediate levels. > > Thank you for the great discussions. > Linda Selover > > > >> From mcnutt at utk.edu Fri Feb 29 16:00:54 2008 From: mcnutt at utk.edu (McNutt Jr, William R) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:00:54 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 835] Re: instead of praise In-Reply-To: <022920081844.18547.47C852A0000EB82B000048732215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Message-ID: <0913EC48F2B05C4FBE4878BAFCABBFEC01BB17E1@KFSVS2.utk.tennessee.edu> I do know that when encouraging a new learned, your should never declare the content to be "easy." If they self-designate as "stupid," when they find the "easy" task to be challenging or impossible, it re-enforces the damaged self-image. Instead, I say "I know that you can do this." Bill -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of selover200 at comcast.net Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:45 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 832] Re: instead of praise Hello to all- Praise can stimulate a very negative response in the person being praised, unless that person's self-image is already high or positive. Have any of you attended workshops by the Love and Logic Institute in Colorado? They are geared to teachers of K-12 and parents, but their ideas can be applied to adult learners. I wish I could find my copy of "Teaching with Love and Logic" by Jim Fay, to give you some direct quotes, but I will try to explain it. Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Kline have some enlightenling things to say about praise. The first time that I heard them, I realized that I had seen it play out with students, and I had wondered what was going on at the time. Self-esteem cannot be built up from the outside. If the student's level of self-esteem is low or their self-image is negative, then praise cannot be heard or accepted. If the comments (praise) do not match the self-image, then the speaker must be crazy, or not telling the truth, so the student will discount it. The student's view of self must be maintained, so the praiser is the crazy one. In fact, if their self-image is really low or negative, they will have to show the praiser how wrong they are by destroying their work, or they might stop trying, or they might deliberately not do something the next time, just to show that the teacher had better not begin to expect too much of them. Therefore, praise can have a very negative affect on a person who has a low or negative self-image. I had a 3rd grader in China, whose only comment about his work was always "No good, no good!" and when I praised something that he had done very well, he destroyed it. This was before I heard about Jim Fay's ideas, and I felt really bad and I wondered how I could get through to this child. Jim explains that for the person to accept the positive message, they need to voice it themselves. The way that he suggests doing it is to ask a multiple choice question: How did you get the right answer? Did you copy, did you guess, are you getting smarter, or did you work and learn something? Thereby forcing the person to make a choice that is positive. (You can learn by copying, and you can get "smarter" by working and learning. I am not linking smart directly to g) When they have accomplished a task, you can ask "How does it feel to finish this, or to accomplish this? Again, trying to elicit a positive response from the student. The more times that you can guide the person (student, child, adult) to voice a positive response about their efforts to learn, the more they will build their own self-image and self-esteem. Jim Fay explains it much better in his books and CDs. What he proposes for children will work with adults. Conversely, enticements and rewards that won't work with adults, will not work with children either. I am still trying to remember to ask instead of telling students. Check out the Love and Logic website, http://www.loveandlogic.com/ Linda Selover -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Jan Potter" > I appreciate the comments. I think the bottom line is that if we praise a child > by telling them how smart they are, then there is nothing that they can actually > do to improve (and, in some cases, the child might actually do less since, after > all, they are smart and decide they don't need to work any more). Obviously, > the other side is a bad idea (telling someone that they are not smart or dumb). > > > > The author's position is that by praising effort you are praising something that > is within your control. I guess that I would personally separate this from the > idea of remarking on the difficulty of the task. To be told that "you did > really well and I know this was really hard" is very reinforcing to me > personally. > > > > I also wonder if there is a learning style issue here. Does someone perform > better with verbal praise or with getting a good grade, for example. We can say > that both would apply but if you hear a teacher always telling her students how > well they do, you might not buy it personally. > > > > I have certainly seen in my own students that if they are praised in writing, > they tend to participate in class better in the future. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen > Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:51 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort > > > > Jan, > > > > These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and > attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can explain > it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): > > > > People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good grades, > you can use > > a) stable causes (I'm smart) > > b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) > > > > You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are outside > your "locus of control". The latter don't motivate. > > > > So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn't be > motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable > dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change things or > not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an > unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to do > better - than to say it's because of the difficulty of the task or his/her > dumbness. > > > > So far about theory, I don't know the empirical proof for this :-) > > Thanks, > > Anke > > ________________________________ > > Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im > Auftrag von Jan Potter > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 > An: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not > cost effective (Tom Mechem) > > > > I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - > > An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po Bronson > called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: > http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks > > about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) that > suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their ongoing > progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new > > (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that praising > *effort* gets dramatically better results. > > > > The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. > > > > It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality these > days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a smart > child would not take on challenging tasks. > > > > Jan Potter, MSTC > > Communications Specialist > > Georgia Hospital Association > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson > Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM > To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not > cost effective (Tom Mechem) > > > > If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd be even > more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller classes are > needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and just ask > the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his > 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History class had > 30 students instead of 12? > > > > The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good to tell > someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose all > credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in them. > It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; they > have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high literacy: you > can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; they > have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, > "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell people > they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which they can > come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things about > the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. Though > there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who doubt > the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no doubts > are the students themselves. > > > > Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). > > > > > > Tom Mechem > > GED State Chief Examiner > > Massachusetts Department of Education > > 781-338-6621 > > "GED to Ph.D." > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, > but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research > that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is > not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over > many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. > > > > As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will > attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that > there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still > out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). > > > > The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find > the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is > something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising > does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on > where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then > that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. > > > > I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners > invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be > challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they > are progressing (or not). > > > > Regards, John > > > > PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his > research... > > > > John Benseman > > * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz > > * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 > > * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ > > > ________________________________ > > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes 'not cost effective > > > > Regarding small class size.... > > > > Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size > attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational > Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... > > > > "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" > > > > I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long > as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally > possible with a class of 30." > > > > Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one > "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and > personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: > > > > http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdy > lanwiliam.asp > > > > He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. > > > > Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to > take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do > this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude > really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students > in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with > 30 students. > > > Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class > size... > > > > But so what? > > > > If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size > and save tons of money? > > > > You get my point, right? > > > > from Bruce Carmel > > > > > > > > > > > > Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education says, > > ylanwiliam.asp> > > > "David J. Rosen" wrote: > > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and > sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays > (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to > http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil > achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of > the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four > extra > months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy > director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - > where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing > class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual > Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, > because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as > pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to > seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be > reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication > technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of > pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to > hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood > what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and > green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education > departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative > assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if > teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom > methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be > most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," > said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the > 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking > a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have > been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second > for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing > it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key > to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more > teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the > classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the > Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more > effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] > reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having > more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make > their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for > learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so > new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to > training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go > to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > > > From JURMO at ucc.edu Fri Feb 29 16:05:18 2008 From: JURMO at ucc.edu (JURMO at ucc.edu) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:05:18 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 836] Re: Last day of discussion on formativeassessment In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F03D86AA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> The idea of using assessment as a tool to help learners continually gauge their progress and adjust their goals and learning strategies has been around for some time in the adult basic education field. Starting in the 1980s, advocates of learner centered, participatory adult basic education developed forms of alternative assessments for adult learners which were borrowed from socio-linguistics, K-12 education, and other sources. These alternative practices included dialogue journals, portfolio assessment, and other mechanisms in which learners were encouraged to document and think about what they were learning and -- with the help of instructors (and sometimes fellow learners) -- adjust what learners and instructors were doing. This approach was designed to enhance learner progress toward relevant goals and to help learners take active ownership for the learning process. The Equipped for the Future systems reform initiative emphasized this "continuous improvement" role for assessment, to help keep activities relevant and effective for learners. Some practitioners in the workplace basic education slice of the adult basic education field merged such a view of adult education with the "continuous improvement" approach to organizational development. The result was the creation of collaborative models of worker education in which stakeholders (employers, educators, learners, union representatives) in a given workplace worked together to set program goals, plan activities, and continually monitor progress and adjust program activities, to ensure that relevant goals were being met. These approaches to program planning, learner assessment, and program evaluation intentionally promote assessment and evaluation as tools for building stakeholder (including learner) understanding of, investment in, and strengthening of the program. "Assessment" was thus much more than a test done to learners by someone else at the end of the program. Paul Jurmo, Ed.D. Dean, Economic Development and Continuing Education Union County College 12-24 West Jersey Street Elizabeth, NJ 07202 908-659-5103 telephone 908-965-6010 fax Jurmo at ucc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cheryl Thornett Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 5:26 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 826] Re: Last day of discussion on formativeassessment Writing again not as an expert or researcher, but as a practising ESOL teacher, I would like to stress that 'formative' and 'assessment' are equally important parts of the procedure. This can include day-to-day classroom work, if it feeds into further work, but I find students respond well to specific assessment tasks, such as writing a note or giving a short talk on an agreed subject. (Paired conversations or role plays and small group discussions also work well.) I like to give communicative and grammar and vocabulary assessments. Paper-based assessment tasks can be part of a portfolio or other student record; we don't have a practical way of doing the same with oral communications, beyond written records. Where students have anxiety problems or have past negative experiences, perhaps the word 'assessment' should be avoided, and steps taken to avoid creating unnecessary anxiety--a very shy student can speak just to the teacher, instead of to the whole class, for example, or the written communication can either be tailored to a particular student or assessed against their personal current level. The task needs to be meaningful to the learner and feedback on their achievement and the next step/s is essential, even if this is short and informal. I think it also helps, eventually, to reduce anxiety levels about testing procedures. Some good points have been made here about effective praise, and of course, we all want to be positive but honest in discussing weaknesses or lack of achievement. I believe my local colleagues in Skills for Life numeracy have similar procedures, including practical assessments such as weighing and measuring, making change and so forth. Newer teachers, in particular, need support with considerations such as the frequency of assessments, the size of steps they measure, the degree of formality and recording procedures. Managers and administrators really need to consult with practitioners about what is truly do-able, rather than imposing procedures and paperwork which are not. This is particularly true when said managers and administrators have been out of the classroom for many years, or have never been classroom teachers. I doubt I am the only one who feels far more receptive to ideas which come from other teachers. I really appreciate these opportunities to learn and to share. Thanks, David, and thanks, NIFL. Cheryl Thornett ESOL tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 4:04 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 825] Last day of discussion on formative assessment > Colleagues, > > Friday, February 29th, is the last day of our discussion on formative > assessment. If you haven't done so yet, Friday is the day to "leap" > into the conversation. If you have remaining questions or comments > for our guests, please ask them early in the day so that there might > be time for our guests to reply. If our guests -- and others who have > done research on formative assessment -- would like to add anything > or emphasize any key points, now is the time to do that. > > I would like to encourage those who have particularly good examples > of formative assessment in adult education classrooms to be sure to > mention them, whether you are a researcher, practitioner or both. > > I would also like to encourage Janet and others who participated in > the What Works study to comment on how policy supports or hinders > formative assessment. Perhaps provide a specific example or two. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cherylthornett at hotmail.com > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu From cseifert at lovetoread.org Thu Feb 28 18:41:07 2008 From: cseifert at lovetoread.org (Cathie Seifert) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:41:07 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 837] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E@OwnerPC> References: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net> <32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E@OwnerPC> Message-ID: <00f301c87a63$66d00940$6401a8c0@lovetoread.local> I was disappointed to hear about the problems in Virginia. I have not taught there since 1989, but when I taught there we had POS instead of SOL, and I found them to be worthwhile because they were designed to test only what we had to teach and I could keep track of who still needed to learn what and who had really mastered what. Luckily for me and for the students, this had nothing to do with No Child Left Behind or Merit Pay and was just very helpful to keeping me and the students on track. The way I used the tests I would say was formative assessment; when students were tested at the start and end of the school year, I would say they were used as summative assessments. Cathie -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 767] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective No hold on : ) "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession." In the United States (in my state of Virginia and in other states) we have Standards of Learning tests. These tests require teachers to feed material to students at break-neck speed with little time for formative assessment other than constant testing. Because of class sizes and the state requirements (which spill into national requirements via the "No Child Left Behind" act), teachers have VERY little time to address questions from students who really have NOT understood the material. Several times I have heard the complaint, "I had a question but the teacher didn't have time to answer it." SOL scores in Virginia directly impact funding, and often negatively. Qualified and quality teachers are forced to teach to the test. To boot, the states are cutting school funding, as is our county. We have over-crowding in, I would guess-timate, just about ALL of our county schools which to me clearly indicates unbalanced priorities. We have students in TRAILERS attempting to learn in unstable environments because of over-crowding. How does this cost us? Drop outs. SOL failure. Discipline problems. Increased administrative time addressing issues that could be taken care of in the classroom IF it was manageable. Failure to identify and properly address possible learning disabilities. And as we know, students who fail in K-12 have a harder time contributing to the economy if and when they graduate. This spills over into poverty and unemployment rates. It's all connected, and most bureaucrats don't see it. They think short-term, from budget year to budget year with no thought of the future for the schools or the community. So.....add up all the numbers from the above, and I KNOW they won't match those in this article. How are our public schools supposed to survive in such an environment? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:14 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class sizes'not cost effective > Colleagues, > > Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent > it for our formative assessment discussion. > > ------- > Note from Tom Sticht: > > This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 > Education Guardian online. > ------- > > To see this story with its related links on the > EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk > > Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' > Anthea Lipsett > Monday February 25 2008 > The Guardian > > Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement > is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the > country's leading experts on assessment said today. > > Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra > months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each > class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of > the Institute of Education. > > He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where > teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide > appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of > educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. > > "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class > size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered > London Teachers Conference today. > > "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because > fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils > are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally possible with a class of 30. > > "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- > year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced > to 15 or less," he said. > > Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology > have also shown a poor return. But international studies have > confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil > learning. > > Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up > different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what > they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green > "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and > advise their classmates on how they can improve. > > The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments > have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. > > After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam > concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers > work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. > > Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 > teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most > effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, > particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said > Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." > > "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s > which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a > question their pupils' performance improves because they have been > given some time to think. > > "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for > pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that > knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is > what's hard." > > Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to > any improvements. > > "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers > and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of > Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the > government to "put its money where its mouth is". > > "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, > but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us > that this would be very cost-effective. > > "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more > classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their > deployment fully effective. > > "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, > its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new > training must be provided and resourced. > > "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training > which meets their individual needs." > > Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cseifert at lovetoread.org From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Feb 29 20:07:07 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:07:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 838] Formative Assessment Discussion Coming to a close Message-ID: Colleagues, This has been a fabulous discussion. Guest researchers, practitioners and other participants have provided some terrific examples and challenges for us all to think about. Although the discussion is now coming to a close, on March 10th I will re-open it briefly for those who need some time to read and reflect and who might have more to say about formative assessment. Our guests are welcome to join us then if they are available, but we will understand if they cannot be. On March 17th we will begin a new topic, transition from corrections education to community education. Please join us for that discussion. I want to express my deep appreciation to our guests: Janet Looney, John Vorhaus, John Benseman and John Comings. I also want to thank our colleagues from England, Scotland, Germany, New Zealand and other countries who joined a Special Topics discussion for the first time. I hope you will join us again. For those who do not wish to stay subscribed for the next discussion, you can un-subscribe by going to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics In a few weeks the discussion will be posted on a National Institute for Literacy Web page, as well as on the Adult Literacy Education Wiki. When it is ready I will post an announcement here. Meanwhile, you will find an archive of all the messages, beginning with message 743, at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Sun Mar 9 20:30:52 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 20:30:52 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 839] Your formative assessment reflections; corrections transition discussion coming up Message-ID: <28A46878-8D67-41F5-9515-2CE44FEE57AC@comcast.net> Dear Colleague, I will be posting some of the messages I received after our formative assessment discussion ended on February 29th. I would also like to invite you to share your reflections on that discussion if you wish. Consider, for example: ? Has your understanding of formative assessment grown or changed? ? Were there specific examples that were described that you want to know more about, perhaps try out in your own teaching? ? What were other "takeaways" from the discussion for you as a practitioner or researcher? Beginning on March 17th, we will have a discussion about transition from corrections education to community education. Our guests include Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon, and Dr. Stephen Steurer. I hope you will join us for this discussion. You will find background information on our esteemed guests below. You will find a previous discussion on corrections education, Corrections Education, Family Literacy and Transition to Community Education. archived at http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Summary%2C_Questions_1 3:_Issues_of_Recidivism_and_Public_Support_for_CE or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/2k9xbd Please pass on this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in the discussion They can subscribe to the corrections transition discussion by going to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics They can unsubscribe after the discussion by going to the same web page or, if they prefer, they can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Also, please think about -- and send me -- your questions for our guests. I will compile these later this week. Corrections Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland?s adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland?s Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the ?school board? for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master?s degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland?s correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980?s, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they?ve come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune?s Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080309/35cc5f44/attachment.html From cheryl_diamond at msn.com Fri Feb 29 22:24:41 2008 From: cheryl_diamond at msn.com (Cheryl Diamond) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:24:41 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 840] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Janet, By OUR students, I mean our students who are American citizens. In another Florida county with which I have experience, the bill for educating undocumented students was outstandingly high as was the cost of medical care. I do feel sympathy for the undocumented; however, the costs are out of sight as they are in other parts of the country. Cheryl Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:27:07 -0500From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.eduTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 812] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective CherylCan you say more about what you mean by OUR students?Janet From: Cheryl Diamond Reply-To: Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:33 -0500To: Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveHi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.comTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveHi everyone,Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning.Marie CoraNIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderatorhttp://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html-----Original Message-----From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John BensemanSent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PMTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveI don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date.As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas).The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient.I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not).Regards, JohnPS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research?John Benseman* john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683- 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce CSent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m.To: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effectiveRegarding small class size....Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ..."BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.aspHe does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size...But so what?If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce CarmelProf Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues,Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion.-------Note from Tom Sticht:This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online.-------To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.ukSmaller class sizes 'not cost effective'Anthea LipsettMonday February 25 2008The GuardianReducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today.Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education.He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year."It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today."Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30."Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said.Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning.Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve.The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment.After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods.Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work.""For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think."Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard."Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements."To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said."We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession."Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is"."Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective."Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective."And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced."School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs."Copyright Guardian News and Media LimitedDavid J. RosenSpecial Topics Discussion Moderatordjrosen at comcast.net-------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080229/35a5c068/attachment.html From cheryl_diamond at msn.com Fri Feb 29 22:27:15 2008 From: cheryl_diamond at msn.com (Cheryl Diamond) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:27:15 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 841] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smaller classsizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: References: <00a701c878fa$984c6640$0c00a8c0@critical1><03dc01c8794e$f0c288f0$0202a8c0@LITNOW> Message-ID: Katherine, For which grades? So, if one more student comes to that particular class, a whole other teacher has to be hired? Cheryl From: kgotthardt at comcast.netTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:19:29 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 811] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Would you agree that having a class size of a 20 max would be reasonable and effective? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardtwww.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Cheryl Diamond To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:30 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.comTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Hi everyone, Great discussion, it?s so full and rich I don?t know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already ? But I will second John?s comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse?s mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning. Marie Cora NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html -----Original Message-----From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John BensemanSent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PMTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective I don?t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn?t matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter ? it?s just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). The second point re saying that ?praise hurts students?: I couldn?t find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that?s great, but praise per se is not sufficient. I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not). Regards, John PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research? John Benseman * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz ( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 - 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce CSent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m.To: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effective Regarding small class size.... Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.asp He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size... But so what? If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce Carmel Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues,Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion.-------Note from Tom Sticht:This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online.-------To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.ukSmaller class sizes 'not cost effective'Anthea LipsettMonday February 25 2008The GuardianReducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today.Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education.He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year."It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today."Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30."Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said.Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning.Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve.The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment.After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods.Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work.""For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think."Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard."Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements."To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said."We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession."Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is"."Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective."Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective."And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced."School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs."Copyright Guardian News and Media LimitedDavid J. RosenSpecial Topics Discussion Moderatordjrosen at comcast.net-------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080229/97ff1e88/attachment.html From J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk Mon Mar 3 10:56:17 2008 From: J.Vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk (John Vorhaus) Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 15:56:17 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 842] Re: Formative Assessment Discussion Coming to aclose In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <949E22B7BCCFF2408271BAAA8166BF07034B6309@M3.ioead> Dear David, And many thanks to you David for organising this and overseeing a really stimulating exchange. Best wishes to you and all, John > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > Sent: 01 March 2008 01:07 > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 838] Formative Assessment Discussion > Coming to aclose > > Colleagues, > > This has been a fabulous discussion. Guest researchers, > practitioners and other participants have provided some > terrific examples and challenges for us all to think about. > Although the discussion is now coming to a close, on March > 10th I will re-open it briefly for those who need some time > to read and reflect and who might have more to say about > formative assessment. Our guests are welcome to join us then > if they are available, but we will understand if they cannot be. > > On March 17th we will begin a new topic, transition from > corrections education to community education. Please join us > for that discussion. > > I want to express my deep appreciation to our guests: Janet > Looney, John Vorhaus, John Benseman and John Comings. I also > want to thank our colleagues from England, Scotland, Germany, > New Zealand and other countries who joined a Special Topics > discussion for the first time. > I hope you will join us again. > > For those who do not wish to stay subscribed for the next > discussion, you can un-subscribe by going to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > In a few weeks the discussion will be posted on a National > Institute for Literacy Web page, as well as on the Adult > Literacy Education Wiki. When it is ready I will post an > announcement here. Meanwhile, you will find an archive of all > the messages, beginning with message 743, at > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to j.vorhaus at ioe.ac.uk > From kgotthardt at comcast.net Sat Mar 1 08:35:25 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 08:35:25 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 843] Re: instead of praise In-Reply-To: <022920081844.18547.47C852A0000EB82B000048732215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> References: <022920081844.18547.47C852A0000EB82B000048732215551724CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Message-ID: Yes! One thing that really gets adult and children motivated is to SHOW them their progress. Adults have a hard time seeing slow progress, and so do children. For example in K-12, report cards don't often illustrate any progress, especially if grades have fallen over the course of a term. One thing I do for my kids is to make sure they SEE progress. For example, when my daughter is reading aloud, I say things like, "WOW! Remember last year when you couldn't read that? That's awesome progress!" She beams because she DOES remember and is motivated to continue on. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:44 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 832] Re: instead of praise > Hello to all- > > Praise can stimulate a very negative response in the person being > praised, > unless that person's self-image is already high or positive. > > Have any of you attended workshops by the Love and Logic Institute in > Colorado? > They are geared to teachers of K-12 and parents, but their ideas can be > applied > to adult learners. I wish I could find my copy of "Teaching with Love and > Logic" > by Jim Fay, to give you some direct quotes, but I will try to explain it. > > Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Kline have some enlightenling things to > say > about praise. The first time that I heard them, I realized that I had seen > it > play out with students, and I had wondered what was going on at the time. > > Self-esteem cannot be built up from the outside. If the student's level of > self-esteem is low or their self-image is negative, then praise cannot be > heard > or accepted. > If the comments (praise) do not match the self-image, then the > speaker must be crazy, or not telling the truth, so the student will > discount > it. The student's view of self must be maintained, so the praiser is the > crazy > one. > > In fact, if their self-image is really low or negative, they will have to > show > the praiser how wrong they are by destroying their work, or they might > stop > trying, or they might deliberately not do something the next time, just to > show > that the teacher had better not begin to expect too much of them. > > Therefore, praise can have a very negative affect on a person who has a > low or > negative self-image. > > I had a 3rd grader in China, whose only comment about his work was always > "No > good, no good!" and when I praised something that he had done very well, > he > destroyed it. This was before I heard about Jim Fay's ideas, and I felt > really > bad and I wondered how I could get through to this child. > > > Jim explains that for the person to accept the positive message, they need > to > voice it themselves. > > The way that he suggests doing it is to ask a multiple choice question: > How did > you get the right answer? > > Did you copy, did you guess, are you getting smarter, or did you work and > learn > something? > Thereby forcing the person to make a choice that is positive. (You can > learn by > copying, and you can get "smarter" by working and learning. I am not > linking > smart directly to g) > > When they have accomplished a task, you can ask "How does it feel to > finish > this, or to accomplish this? Again, trying to elicit a positive response > from > the student. > > The more times that you can guide the person (student, child, adult) to > voice a > positive response about their efforts to learn, the more they will build > their > own self-image and self-esteem. > > Jim Fay explains it much better in his books and CDs. What he proposes for > children will work with adults. Conversely, enticements and rewards that > won't > work with adults, will not work with children either. I am still trying to > remember to ask instead of telling students. > > Check out the Love and Logic website, http://www.loveandlogic.com/ > > Linda Selover > > > > > -------------- Original message ---------------------- > From: "Jan Potter" >> I appreciate the comments. I think the bottom line is that if we praise >> a > child >> by telling them how smart they are, then there is nothing that they can > actually >> do to improve (and, in some cases, the child might actually do less >> since, > after >> all, they are smart and decide they don't need to work any more). >> Obviously, >> the other side is a bad idea (telling someone that they are not smart or > dumb). >> >> >> >> The author's position is that by praising effort you are praising >> something > that >> is within your control. I guess that I would personally separate this >> from > the >> idea of remarking on the difficulty of the task. To be told that "you >> did >> really well and I know this was really hard" is very reinforcing to me >> personally. >> >> >> >> I also wonder if there is a learning style issue here. Does someone >> perform >> better with verbal praise or with getting a good grade, for example. We >> can > say >> that both would apply but if you hear a teacher always telling her >> students > how >> well they do, you might not buy it personally. >> >> >> >> I have certainly seen in my own students that if they are praised in >> writing, >> they tend to participate in class better in the future. >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On >> Behalf Of Anke Grotl?schen >> Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:51 PM >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 820] smartness and effort >> >> >> >> Jan, >> >> >> >> These studies seem to rely on Albert Banduras idea of self-efficacy and >> attribution of causes. I find it quite convincing (no idea whether I can > explain >> it correctly as I am an ESOL learner as well): >> >> >> >> People tend to attribute causes to things that happened. If you get good > grades, >> you can use >> >> a) stable causes (I'm smart) >> >> b) variable causes (I invested so much effort) >> >> >> >> You can either attribute internal causes or external ones, which are >> outside >> your "locus of control". The latter don't motivate. >> >> >> >> So, as you cannot change stable causes (smart vs. dumb), you wouldn't be >> motivated to improve, if you believe your success comes from stable >> dispositions. But if you believe it is in your hand whether to change >> things > or >> not (effort vs. lazyness), you are motivated. So it is better to tell an >> unsuccessful person, that it is his/her fault and in his/her control to >> do >> better - than to say it's because of the difficulty of the task or >> his/her >> dumbness. >> >> >> >> So far about theory, I don't know the empirical proof for this :-) >> >> Thanks, >> >> Anke >> >> ________________________________ >> >> Von: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] Im >> Auftrag von Jan Potter >> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008 19:47 >> An: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Betreff: [SpecialTopics 801] Re: >> EducationGuardian.co.uk:Smallerclasssizes'not >> cost effective (Tom Mechem) >> >> >> >> I realize we are a bit off-task, but on the topic of "praise" - >> >> An interesting article in New York magazine on this topic - by Po >> Bronson >> called "How Not to Talk to Your Kids" (here's a link: >> http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ ). In this article, Bronson talks >> >> about research done by Carol Dweck (then of Columbia, now at Stanford) >> that >> suggests that praising a kid as being "smart" actually hurts their >> ongoing >> progress, ability, and perseverance when trying new >> >> (especially intellectually challenging) things. The data suggest that >> praising >> *effort* gets dramatically better results. >> >> >> >> The New York magazine article was quite an eye-opener for me. >> >> >> >> It seems we are moving away from the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality >> these >> days. The author's point was fascinating to me on the subject that a >> smart >> child would not take on challenging tasks. >> >> >> >> Jan Potter, MSTC >> >> Communications Specialist >> >> Georgia Hospital Association >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On >> Behalf Of Mechem, Thompson >> Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:00 AM >> To: john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz; specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 787] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: > Smallerclasssizes'not >> cost effective (Tom Mechem) >> >> >> >> If we all waited until we could prove everything in a court of law, we'd >> be > even >> more doomed than we are presently. There's no question that smaller >> classes > are >> needed for effective teaching and learning---just ask the teachers and >> just > ask >> the students. Would R. Walker Willingham pay $30,000 a year to send his >> 14-year-old daughter Tiffany to St. Grottlesex if her European History >> class > had >> 30 students instead of 12? >> >> >> >> The point about praise is a tricky one. Certainly it doesn't do any good >> to > tell >> someone she's smart if she doesn't believe it herself: you will only lose >> all >> credibility and trust. Yet our students need to know that we believe in >> them. >> It's like the advice we give parents: it's not enough to love your kids; >> they >> have to know that you love them. (Another untestable value of high >> literacy: > you >> can get your point across.) It's not enough to believe in your students; >> they >> have to know you believe in them. However, as a wise man once said, >> "Self-confidence is bred of demonstrated ability." We can't just tell >> people >> they're smart; we have to create the educational environment by which >> they can >> come to know it for themselves. That's one of the intangible great things > about >> the GED diploma: earning it proves to the student that she is smart. >> Though >> there are still lingering numbers of nattering nabobs of negativity who >> doubt >> the value of the GED process and the credential, one group that has no >> doubts >> are the students themselves. >> >> >> >> Keep on rockin' in the free world (if there still is such a place). >> >> >> >> >> >> Tom Mechem >> >> GED State Chief Examiner >> >> Massachusetts Department of Education >> >> 781-338-6621 >> >> "GED to Ph.D." >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Benseman >> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PM >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller >> classsizes'not cost effective >> >> I don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, >> but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative >> research >> that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. >> This is >> not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the >> research > over >> many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date. >> >> >> >> As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will >> attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just >> that >> there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is >> still >> out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas). >> >> >> >> The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find >> the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would >> say > is >> something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of >> praising >> does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic >> feedback > on >> where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of >> praise, > then >> that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient. >> >> >> >> I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners >> invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need >> to > be >> challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on >> how > they >> are progressing (or not). >> >> >> >> Regards, John >> >> >> >> PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his >> research... >> >> >> >> John Benseman >> >> * john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz >> >> * 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683 >> >> * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce C >> Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m. >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller >> classsizes 'not cost effective >> >> >> >> Regarding small class size.... >> >> >> >> Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size >> attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of >> Educational >> Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ... >> >> >> >> "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" >> >> >> >> I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long >> as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is > generally >> possible with a class of 30." >> >> >> >> Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one >> "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment >> and >> personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: >> >> >> >> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdy >> lanwiliam.asp >> >> >> >> He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. >> >> >> >> Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to >> take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important >> to do >> this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this >> dude >> really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 > students >> in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a >> teacher > with >> 30 students. >> >> >> Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class >> size... >> >> >> >> But so what? >> >> >> >> If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size >> and save tons of money? >> >> >> >> You get my point, right? >> >> >> >> from Bruce Carmel >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >> the Institute of Education says, >> >> > ylanwiliam.asp> >> >> >> "David J. Rosen" wrote: >> >> Colleagues, >> >> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and >> sent >> it for our formative assessment discussion. >> >> ------- >> Note from Tom Sticht: >> >> This article about formative assessment appears in todays >> (2/25/08 >> Education Guardian online. >> ------- >> >> To see this story with its related links on the >> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to >> http://education.guardian.co.uk >> >> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' >> Anthea Lipsett >> Monday February 25 2008 >> The Guardian >> >> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil >> achievement >> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of >> the >> country's leading experts on assessment said today. >> >> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four >> extra >> months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each >> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy >> director of >> the Institute of Education. >> >> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - >> where >> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide >> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of >> educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year. >> >> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing >> class >> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual >> Chartered >> London Teachers Conference today. >> >> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, >> because >> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as >> pupils >> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >> generally possible with a class of 30. >> >> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to >> seven- >> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be >> reduced >> to 15 or less," he said. >> >> Wiliam added that investments in information communication >> technology >> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have >> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of >> pupil >> learning. >> >> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to >> hold up >> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood >> what >> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and >> green >> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and >> advise their classmates on how they can improve. >> >> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education >> departments >> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative >> assessment. >> >> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam >> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if >> teachers >> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom >> methods. >> >> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 >> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be >> most >> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, >> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," >> said >> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." >> >> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the >> 1980s >> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking >> a >> question their pupils' performance improves because they have >> been >> given some time to think. >> >> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second >> for >> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that >> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing >> it is >> what's hard." >> >> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key >> to >> any improvements. >> >> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more >> teachers >> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. >> >> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the >> classroom >> and we need to get better teachers into the profession." >> >> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the >> Association of >> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the >> government to "put its money where its mouth is". >> >> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more >> effectively, >> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] >> reminds us >> that this would be very cost-effective. >> >> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having >> more >> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make >> their >> deployment fully effective. >> >> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for >> learning, >> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so >> new >> training must be provided and resourced. >> >> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to >> training >> which meets their individual needs." >> >> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited >> >> >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> djrosen at comcast.net >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go >> to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> >> Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. >> >> >> > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From kgotthardt at comcast.net Sat Mar 1 09:49:12 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 09:49:12 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 844] Re: Formative Assessment Discussion Coming to aclose In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <21DECE213C4648B2ACDEB2A934DDC7AE@OwnerPC> Thank you for the global perspective, the articles and feedback! Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 8:07 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 838] Formative Assessment Discussion Coming to aclose > Colleagues, > > This has been a fabulous discussion. Guest researchers, practitioners > and other participants have provided some terrific examples and > challenges for us all to think about. Although the discussion is now > coming to a close, on March 10th I will re-open it briefly for those > who need some time to read and reflect and who might have more to say > about formative assessment. Our guests are welcome to join us then if > they are available, but we will understand if they cannot be. > > On March 17th we will begin a new topic, transition from corrections > education to community education. Please join us for that discussion. > > I want to express my deep appreciation to our guests: Janet Looney, > John Vorhaus, John Benseman and John Comings. I also want to thank > our colleagues from England, Scotland, Germany, New Zealand and other > countries who joined a Special Topics discussion for the first time. > I hope you will join us again. > > For those who do not wish to stay subscribed for the next discussion, > you can un-subscribe by going to > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > In a few weeks the discussion will be posted on a National Institute > for Literacy Web page, as well as on the Adult Literacy Education > Wiki. When it is ready I will post an announcement here. Meanwhile, > you will find an archive of all the messages, beginning with message > 743, at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From kgotthardt at comcast.net Sat Mar 1 09:51:52 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 09:51:52 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 845] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective In-Reply-To: <00f301c87a63$66d00940$6401a8c0@lovetoread.local> References: <729DD7C9-5734-427A-AF5D-49BD40556885@comcast.net><32B6459C7FD240E9BCD74E301739540E@OwnerPC> <00f301c87a63$66d00940$6401a8c0@lovetoread.local> Message-ID: I have elementary school kids, and I feel like they are CONSTANTLY being tested...unit tests, curriculum tests, SOL prep tests...sheesh. Isn't there another way to show progress? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cathie Seifert" To: Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:41 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 837] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smallerclasssizes'not cost effective >I was disappointed to hear about the problems in Virginia. I have not > taught there since 1989, but when I taught there we had POS instead of > SOL, > and I found them to be worthwhile because they were designed to test only > what we had to teach and I could keep track of who still needed to learn > what and who had really mastered what. Luckily for me and for the > students, > this had nothing to do with No Child Left Behind or Merit Pay and was just > very helpful to keeping me and the students on track. The way I used the > tests I would say was formative assessment; when students were tested at > the > start and end of the school year, I would say they were used as summative > assessments. > > Cathie > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Katherine > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:56 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 767] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller > classsizes'not cost effective > > No hold on : ) > > "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom > and we need to get better teachers into the profession." > > In the United States (in my state of Virginia and in other states) we have > Standards of Learning tests. These tests require teachers to feed > material > to students at break-neck speed with little time for formative assessment > other than constant testing. Because of class sizes and the state > requirements (which spill into national requirements via the "No Child > Left > Behind" act), teachers have VERY little time to address questions from > students who really have NOT understood the material. Several times I > have > heard the complaint, "I had a question but the teacher didn't have time to > answer it." > > SOL scores in Virginia directly impact funding, and often negatively. > Qualified and quality teachers are forced to teach to the test. To boot, > the states are cutting school funding, as is our county. We have > over-crowding in, I would guess-timate, just about ALL of our county > schools > > which to me clearly indicates unbalanced priorities. We have students in > TRAILERS attempting to learn in unstable environments because of > over-crowding. How does this cost us? > > Drop outs. SOL failure. Discipline problems. Increased administrative > time addressing issues that could be taken care of in the classroom IF it > was manageable. Failure to identify and properly address possible > learning > disabilities. And as we know, students who fail in K-12 have a harder > time > contributing to the economy if and when they graduate. This spills over > into poverty and unemployment rates. It's all connected, and most > bureaucrats don't see it. They think short-term, from budget year to > budget > > year with no thought of the future for the schools or the community. > > So.....add up all the numbers from the above, and I KNOW they won't match > those in this article. > > How are our public schools supposed to survive in such an environment? > > Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt > www.luxuriouschoices.net > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: > Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:14 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 756] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller class > sizes'not cost effective > > >> Colleagues, >> >> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent >> it for our formative assessment discussion. >> >> ------- >> Note from Tom Sticht: >> >> This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 >> Education Guardian online. >> ------- >> >> To see this story with its related links on the >> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk >> >> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective' >> Anthea Lipsett >> Monday February 25 2008 >> The Guardian >> >> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement >> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the >> country's leading experts on assessment said today. >> >> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra >> months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each >> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of >> the Institute of Education. >> >> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where >> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide >> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of >> educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year. >> >> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class >> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered >> London Teachers Conference today. >> >> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because >> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils >> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is >> generally possible with a class of 30. >> >> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- >> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced >> to 15 or less," he said. >> >> Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology >> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have >> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil >> learning. >> >> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up >> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what >> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green >> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and >> advise their classmates on how they can improve. >> >> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments >> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment. >> >> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam >> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers >> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods. >> >> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 >> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most >> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, >> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said >> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work." >> >> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s >> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a >> question their pupils' performance improves because they have been >> given some time to think. >> >> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for >> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that >> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is >> what's hard." >> >> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to >> any improvements. >> >> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers >> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said. >> >> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom >> and we need to get better teachers into the profession." >> >> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of >> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the >> government to "put its money where its mouth is". >> >> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, >> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us >> that this would be very cost-effective. >> >> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more >> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their >> deployment fully effective. >> >> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, >> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new >> training must be provided and resourced. >> >> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training >> which meets their individual needs." >> >> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited >> >> >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> djrosen at comcast.net >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cseifert at lovetoread.org > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Sun Mar 9 20:38:25 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Isserlis, Janet) Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 20:38:25 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 846] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective References: Message-ID: <20EC1BB15C09F340A09A79FA1DBF970602403E6D@MAIL3.AD.Brown.Edu> Cheryl and all A considerable number of people are in this country - both with and without documentation, and are working very hard to keep body and soul together, to support families, to make contributions to communities. Most ESOL students are not (yet) American citizens. Our job, as I understand it, is to enable adults to connect to the learning opportunities they need in order to attain self sufficiency, to meet the goals they name and the goals they discover to be obtainable as isolation decreases and learning increases. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Cheryl Diamond Sent: Fri 2/29/2008 10:24 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 840] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective Janet, By OUR students, I mean our students who are American citizens. In another Florida county with which I have experience, the bill for educating undocumented students was outstandingly high as was the cost of medical care. I do feel sympathy for the undocumented; however, the costs are out of sight as they are in other parts of the country. Cheryl Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:27:07 -0500From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.eduTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 812] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effective CherylCan you say more about what you mean by OUR students?Janet From: Cheryl Diamond Reply-To: Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:33 -0500To: Subject: [SpecialTopics 810] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveHi, all I read and watched the replies on this issue. Mixed reactions, as a current taxpayer and former teacher, I possess. I am sure that not everyone will accept what I have to say. However, my points should be taken from where they come. Very hard to say that if you reduce class size you have a perfect solution. Some classes should be smaller but not all. You certainly do raise the price on education as no one seems to give up any monies. As a current taxpayer facing unending increases across the board, I can say "ENOUGH". But as we all know it is not only the teachers' responsiblity. As a former teacher, I saw good and less good teachers. The same goes for parents and admin people. At least the article on class size produced comment. As a voter who can see how the class size amendment got adopted, I would say we need to revisit the election with less special interest input. I am disappointed when 1)I don't have clerks who can't figure the exact amount I hand them, or 2)I hear that people haven't been reading up on the issues or candidates, 3)or readership in a variety of media is down, and finally, 4) listen to high school graduates don't know what EPA means in our government. Yet, a teacher has a very full plate with the extra paperwork, etc., put on him/her. Less government interference and more qualitative parental interest would be tops on my list. There is only so much money for education. It should be spent correctly on OUR students. I am truly aware of the immigration issues and how it has obliterated the budget process. Keep it simple as best we can. Thanks, Cheryl Diamond From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.comTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:12 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 791] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveHi everyone,Great discussion, it's so full and rich I don't know where to begin. My apologies if what I say below has been noted already - But I will second John's comments re: Dylan Wiliam. I think that the Education Guardian article below takes many of his points out of context. Best to get it from the horse's mouth I would say: see Black and Wiliam, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm for starters. I get a ton out of his notion of Assessment FOR Learning versus Assessment OF Learning.Marie CoraNIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderatorhttp://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html-----Original Message-----From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John BensemanSent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:38 PMTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 779] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes'not cost effectiveI don't know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This is not to say that class size doesn't matter, it merely says that the research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date.As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest, we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter - it's just that there is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas).The second point re saying that 'praise hurts students': I couldn't find the specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes with a dollop of praise, then that's great, but praise per se is not sufficient.I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how they are progressing (or not).Regards, JohnPS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research.John Benseman* john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz( 641 9 627 1882 Cell 027 454 0683- 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bruce CSent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m.To: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes 'not cost effectiveRegarding small class size....Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London, I say ..."BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30." Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanwiliam.aspHe does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do this "minute by minute, day by day." That's why I can't believe this dude really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20 students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a teacher with 30 students. Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class size...But so what?If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and save tons of money? You get my point, right? from Bruce CarmelProf Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education says, "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues,Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent it for our formative assessment discussion.-------Note from Tom Sticht:This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 Education Guardian online.-------To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.ukSmaller class sizes 'not cost effective'Anthea LipsettMonday February 25 2008The GuardianReducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the country's leading experts on assessment said today.Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra months of learning a year, but costs around ?20,000 for each class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education.He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of educational development for only ?2,000 per classroom per year."It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered London Teachers Conference today."Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is generally possible with a class of 30."Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced to 15 or less," he said.Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology have also shown a poor return. But international studies have confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil learning.Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and advise their classmates on how they can improve.The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment.After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods.Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work.""For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a question their pupils' performance improves because they have been given some time to think."Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is what's hard."Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to any improvements."To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said."We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom and we need to get better teachers into the profession."Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the government to "put its money where its mouth is"."Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us that this would be very cost-effective."Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their deployment fully effective."And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new training must be provided and resourced."School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training which meets their individual needs."Copyright Guardian News and Media LimitedDavid J. RosenSpecial Topics Discussion Moderatordjrosen at comcast.net-------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------------------------National Institute for LiteracySpecial Topics mailing listSpecialTopics at nifl.govTo unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopicsEmail delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9627 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080309/51b10cd7/attachment.bin From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Mar 14 09:20:04 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (djrosen at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:20:04 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 847] Transition from corrections to community education: some readings Message-ID: <031420081320.3678.47DA7B840003F62F00000E5E2216557996020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> Colleagues, In preparation for our discussion beginning Monday, March 17th, on transition from corrections education to community education, our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute?s re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here?s the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Mar 17 08:58:45 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:58:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ??over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 ? in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down ? we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation?s prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks.? ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland?s adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland?s Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the ?school board? for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master?s degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland?s correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980?s, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they?ve come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune?s Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute?s re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here?s the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_. 26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/594d8f50/attachment.html From Gary.Upham at maine.gov Mon Mar 17 08:34:26 2008 From: Gary.Upham at maine.gov (Upham, Gary) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:34:26 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DA53@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Mon Mar 17 09:50:08 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:50:08 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 850] Re: Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: Good morning. Jeremy Travis and the Urban Institute have been drawing the attention of professionals and the general public to the issues surrounding reentry for a number of years. The excellent reentry roundtable series will continue in New York City next month and feature participants from areas affecting reentry and transition, as well as persons who have successfully made their own transition. The recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust seems to have captured the interest of the general public. The statistics the report presents are astonishing. More than one in every one hundred adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. The incidence of incarceration is disproportionately levied across minority and male communities with one in thirty men between the ages of 20 and 34 in jail or prison, and one in nine men of color between those same ages is incarcerated. As Jeremy Travis points out, almost all of these people will return to society. Many of them will return to neighborhoods already strapped to provide basic social services to residents who have not been incarcerated. The task of facilitating reentry to ensure humane and hopeful solutions for persons, neighborhoods, and country is daunting. The task can only be addressed in its whole. Preparation for reentry must begin when a person first enters a prison and continue through release and well beyond - engaging police, the courts, the correctional system, correctional education, community agencies, families, community educational systems, and the business community. Persons released from incarceration can use skills learned in prison to revitalize their communities. Returning persons can be a resource if there is the will to equip them to be so. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional _Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/cabf9de6/attachment.html From david at collings.com Mon Mar 17 10:15:15 2008 From: david at collings.com (David Collings) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:15:15 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20080317141523.1BC8061CF9@nb-201.win.net> This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ".over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed. 2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/9deb61a3/attachment.html From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Mon Mar 17 11:21:24 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:21:24 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 852] Re: Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: David - I have always found that the statistics on the children of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional education. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day. Over the course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of absent and incarcerated parents. You can find or estimate that number in Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the major determining factor in the educational level of the child. Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education with a reduction in recidivism. The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections. The most effective educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate students who participated in occupational training programs and then were employed in that trade area upon release. However, even the slightest involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism according to that study. Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart listing the cost benefit of various prison programs. In-prison vocational education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent. Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent. Those are numbers that State governments find persuasive. I would also recommend the Journal of Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education Association. Cay _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional _Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/f7aaccba/attachment.html From bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net Mon Mar 17 17:09:00 2008 From: bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net (Bonnie Odiorne) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:09:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 853] Re: Posting Message-ID: <666752.21371.qm@web83302.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/ca99050a/attachment.html From SSteurer at ceanational.org Mon Mar 17 18:05:48 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:05:48 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 854] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <666752.21371.qm@web83302.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> References: <666752.21371.qm@web83302.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Gary, Bonnie, CEA has just spent two years developing and piloting a peer tutoring program in Ohio in the state prison system. I was the project consultant. (My background is reading and special education and I spent 30 years working in Maryland, the last 20 as academic coordinator for the school system in the prisons.) The association I now manage, the Correctional Education Association, is beginning to market this peer tutoring program at several levels. First, we will sell a DVD and CD which contains the entire tutor training program booklet. If you can find a volunteer or a retired teacher who has been involved with adult basic education or literacy they would be able to use this resource right away. The materials for the teacher and the student can be printed right from the CD. CEA will also be involved with additional activities such as recommending consultants to train staff and also make CEUs and college credits available through Ashland University in Ohio. I don't know if this can help but the costs will be quite reasonable. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202 Elkridge, MD 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bonnie Odiorne Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 5:09 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 853] Re: Posting Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/9fd87a0c/attachment.html From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Mon Mar 17 17:53:50 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:53:50 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 855] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DA53@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> References: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DA53@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD0125A3E7@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> Hi Gary, I'd like to respond to your questions, but I need a little more information. Could you give a few more details about your situation? Specifically, - What does it mean to be Principal of the Maine State Prison? Is that one institution or many? Is it principal of a school within a prison? - What kind of education goes on there? Literacy? GED? High School? Do you have volunteer tutors or professional staff? - When you say much of the population has special education needs, what are you seeing that tells you that? Best, John Gordon The Fortune Society -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Upham, Gary Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jgordon at fortunesociety.org From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Mon Mar 17 18:48:14 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:48:14 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 856] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <20080317141523.1BC8061CF9@nb-201.win.net> References: <20080317141523.1BC8061CF9@nb-201.win.net> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD0125A40B@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> David, You wrote: "Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education?" Here at the Fortune Society, we work exclusively with people coming home from prison or jail or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system. Each year roughly 3,000 people come through our doors. 200-300 of them become involved in our education program; another 700 participate in our job readiness/job placement program. Many who are recently released come for help with immediate crisis needs. They may be homeless or need to get into a drug treatment program. As Jeremy Travis remarked, they bring all those needs back to their communities. Wouldn't it be better if many of them never went to prison in the first place? At Fortune we run four Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) programs. In our ATI programs, we work with people who have pled guilty to a felony but have not yet been sentenced. As an alternative to prison time. the judge (and the DA) offers them the alternative of coming to a program at Fortune (among other places) for six months or more. While here their cases remain open before the court, and we submit monthly reports on their attendance, participation, etc. If, at the end of their mandated period, the judge views their participation as positive, he/she sentences them to probation and they don't have to do any hard time. If they fail to attend regularly, get re-arrested, or otherwise fail to satisfy the judge, they may be sentenced to hard time. A study of New York programs in 2002 looking at "jail displacement" tried to calculate how much jail time was avoided by the ATI programs working with individuals with felony convictions. The study found that the programs saved from 116 to 200 days jail time per defendant. Kentucky seems to be spending approximately $19,070 per inmate each year ($431 million correction budget for 22,600 inmates). At those rates, if just 500 people per year were in placed in an alternative to incarceration program, the state would save $9.5 million. Many of the students in our education program come through our ATI programs. Working with them presents definite challenges. Since, for the most part, they haven't done significant prison time, they are closer to the streets and to the behaviors that got them in trouble in the first place. Many of them (at least at first) don't want to be here, so those that make their way to our classrooms don't always embrace the educational process with the enthusiasm that many of us in adult education have come to expect. No one likes to be mandated, even if it is to a good thing. Still, we have had some significant success working with these (mostly younger and mostly male) students. But maybe that's a topic for another post. This one is already too long. john ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correcti onal_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_Septemb er_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080317/63d3554d/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Mar 17 19:12:21 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:12:21 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to community education Message-ID: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From bsatchel at gccnj.edu Mon Mar 17 19:44:05 2008 From: bsatchel at gccnj.edu (Satchell, Brigette) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:44:05 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 858] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation References: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> Message-ID: <3EBCA373D30BC7459CEC7C919E30CC5608ED86E0@gcc-exch.gcc.gccnj.edu> Greetings, We currently work with our county correctional department to provide adult education and GED testing within the local facilities. Once the inmates are released, they can immediately transition to the adult education programs at our local community college and can assess employment assistance, training, and counseling services through our local One Stop Career Center. Our local One Stop Career Center is a primary partner of our program at the correctional facilities. Inmates register as a customer of the One Stop Career Center System and are able to access the services immediately upon release. Through our collaborative partnerships, we have hosted an onsite service/job fair to be proactive with assisting the inmates with preparing for opportunities upon their release We must keep in mind that while education is key. Housing and employment are top priorities for inmates. Finding employers that are willing to hire former inmates and finding housing for them are major concerns. Brigette Satchell Assistant Dean, Programs and Instruction Gloucester County College Phone (856) 468-5000 ext. 6226/5510 Fax (856) 468-7023 " Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education"- Dr. Martin Luther King ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Mon 3/17/2008 7:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bsatchel at gccnj.edu From kgotthardt at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 06:47:04 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:47:04 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 859] Re: Corrections to Community Education Questions to Panel In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6CE19CB49B33484582039B696B5CA3AD@OwnerPC> Dear Panel Members: Thank you for an interesting and enlightening discussion on this topic. Having worked in career based higher education, I have met several students trying to re-enter society through more traditional programs. The results were not what they should have been. I have never worked in a purely community based program or in correctional institutions. Here are my questions, then: 1. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private postsecondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 2. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 3. Does anyone here have statistical information (similar to what Carolyn offers) on prisons in the state of Virginia? If not, does anyone know where I could find this information? Again, thank you for this discussion. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Buser, Carolyn To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 11:21 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 852] Re: Corrections to Community Education David - I have always found that the statistics on the children of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional education. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day. Over the course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of absent and incarcerated parents. You can find or estimate that number in Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the major determining factor in the educational level of the child. Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education with a reduction in recidivism. The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections. The most effective educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate students who participated in occupational training programs and then were employed in that trade area upon release. However, even the slightest involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism according to that study. Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart listing the cost benefit of various prison programs. In-prison vocational education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent. Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent. Those are numbers that State governments find persuasive. I would also recommend the Journal of Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education Association. Cay ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ".over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/60ec05ba/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 06:58:28 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:58:28 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 860] Our discussion guest, Steve Schwalb References: <04bb01c88896$c953c7a2$0a12a8c0@phs.com> Message-ID: <7B47AE87-1403-4DCD-B2E0-58CE3039EED1@comcast.net> Colleagues, One of our discussion guests, Steve Schwalb, contacted me to let us know that he is on travel through Wednesday afternoon. Although he has his laptop with him it isn't connecting to the Internet, so it may be Wednesday evening before he can join the discussion. He sends his apologies. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From kridolfino at mercercounty.org Tue Mar 18 08:19:49 2008 From: kridolfino at mercercounty.org (Ridolfino, Kiel) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:19:49 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 861] Re: From corrections education tocommunityeducation In-Reply-To: <3EBCA373D30BC7459CEC7C919E30CC5608ED86E0@gcc-exch.gcc.gccnj.edu> Message-ID: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B67@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Brigette, I am an ABE/ESL teacher at Mercer County Correction Center where our education department consists of myself, two other teachers, and our program coordinator. With the expansion of our program and the success of our GED students, we are now looking to incorporate college courses in our program. We have been trying to connect with local community colleges with not much avail. I was wondering if you could shed some light on the topic and explain what your college does for your county correction center and how it was established as a program. Thank you for your time! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Satchell, Brigette Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 858] Re: From corrections education tocommunityeducation Greetings, We currently work with our county correctional department to provide adult education and GED testing within the local facilities. Once the inmates are released, they can immediately transition to the adult education programs at our local community college and can assess employment assistance, training, and counseling services through our local One Stop Career Center. Our local One Stop Career Center is a primary partner of our program at the correctional facilities. Inmates register as a customer of the One Stop Career Center System and are able to access the services immediately upon release. Through our collaborative partnerships, we have hosted an onsite service/job fair to be proactive with assisting the inmates with preparing for opportunities upon their release We must keep in mind that while education is key. Housing and employment are top priorities for inmates. Finding employers that are willing to hire former inmates and finding housing for them are major concerns. Brigette Satchell Assistant Dean, Programs and Instruction Gloucester County College Phone (856) 468-5000 ext. 6226/5510 Fax (856) 468-7023 " Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education"- Dr. Martin Luther King ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Mon 3/17/2008 7:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bsatchel at gccnj.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kridolfino at mercercounty.org From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Tue Mar 18 08:28:32 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:28:32 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 862] Re: Corrections to Community EducationQuestions to Panel Message-ID: Katherine - You can find Virginia's reentry programs report on-line at www.dcjs.virginia.gov/research This lengthy document, published in October of 2007, contains on overview of other States' reentry programs as well as information on Virginia's statewide reentry initiatives. There is discussion of programs run by public safety agencies as well as information on Virginia's Offender Reentry and Transition Services Program (ORTS). There are some statistics in the report, and a chapter on the contributions of correctional education, but no detailed cost analysis. Perhaps the resources identified at the Criminal Justice Service's Division of Policy, Planning and Research might be able to provide more details, or be persuaded to begin collecting that type of data. Carolyn Buser Adult Education Program Specialist United States Department of Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy 202-245-6697 carolyn.buser at ed.gov _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 6:47 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 859] Re: Corrections to Community EducationQuestions to Panel Dear Panel Members: Thank you for an interesting and enlightening discussion on this topic. Having worked in career based higher education, I have met several students trying to re-enter society through more traditional programs. The results were not what they should have been. I have never worked in a purely community based program or in correctional institutions. Here are my questions, then: 1. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private postsecondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 2. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 3. Does anyone here have statistical information (similar to what Carolyn offers) on prisons in the state of Virginia? If not, does anyone know where I could find this information? Again, thank you for this discussion. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Buser, Carolyn To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 11:21 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 852] Re: Corrections to Community Education David - I have always found that the statistics on the children of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional education. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day. Over the course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of absent and incarcerated parents. You can find or estimate that number in Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the major determining factor in the educational level of the child. Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education with a reduction in recidivism. The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections. The most effective educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate students who participated in occupational training programs and then were employed in that trade area upon release. However, even the slightest involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism according to that study. Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart listing the cost benefit of various prison programs. In-prison vocational education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent. Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent. Those are numbers that State governments find persuasive. I would also recommend the Journal of Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education Association. Cay _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional _Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net _____ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/306d8108/attachment.html From deiswv at yahoo.com Tue Mar 18 09:29:33 2008 From: deiswv at yahoo.com (Denise McIntire) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:29:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <666752.21371.qm@web83302.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <438872.58430.qm@web51611.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/68fdbee9/attachment.html From shannum at literacy-council.org Tue Mar 18 10:55:12 2008 From: shannum at literacy-council.org (Stephen Hannum) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:55:12 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 864] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation In-Reply-To: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> Message-ID: <6gvfio$48r8dv@rrcs-agw-01.hrndva.rr.com> Last fall, after several months of planning, The Literacy Council in Birmingham was a sponsor of the "Community Opportunities Fair". The "Community Opportunities Fair" was a one-day resource fair that allowed Birmingham agencies and organizations the opportunity to provide re-entry and adjustment information for persons who had been involved in the criminal justice system. There were nearly 50 agencies who participated in the "Community Opportunities Fair" representing: . Counseling . Day care . Drug/alcohol counseling . Education/Literacy . Financial management . Heath care . Housing . Job training . Transportation Over 300 people attended and plans are already underway for repeating the event again this fall. There are obvious limitations to any "one shot" activity but the comments that we received from participating agencies and from the large group of parolees and others who attended were overwhelming. Steve Hannum Provider Services Manager The Literacy Council -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 6:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to shannum at literacy-council.org From ktracey at cait.org Tue Mar 18 10:34:05 2008 From: ktracey at cait.org (Kathy Olesen-Tracey) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:34:05 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <12699588.141205850805284.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/34ea927b/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 12:19:22 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:19:22 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 866] Re: Reading from the Inside Out In-Reply-To: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> References: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: Kathy and others, A free video about the project you described will be found at http://www.isbe.net/video/teachers_videos.htm It is described as follows: The Storybook Program: Reading from the Inside Out (21:02) The Storybook Program keeps families in touch through reading. County jail inmates become positive reading role models as they share stories with their children by mail. This program has motivated many inmates to enroll in adult education and life skills classes offered in the correctional setting. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 10:34 AM, Kathy Olesen-Tracey wrote: > Denise, > I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years > ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside > Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has > heard of it -please share. > > Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to > their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape > so the child can experience their parent reading to them. > > Has anyone heard about a project like this? > Kathy Olesen-Tracey > -- > Center for the Application of Information Technologies > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Denise McIntire" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central > Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting > > Bonnie and all that follow, > I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West > Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a > Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been > offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works > with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to > keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the > child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages > as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the > family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the > needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. > Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along > with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we > have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system > whether due to parental units away from them as children and the > cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our > program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as > of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a > difference one family at a time. > > Bonnie Odiorne wrote: > Gary, > You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some > other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once > trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone > (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the > high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I > was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in > too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and > I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still > functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do > prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational > needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of > expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also > done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, > where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as > such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru > rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there > are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit > points of the system. > Best regards, > Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: "Upham, Gary" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting > > Gary Upham > Maine State Prison Principal > > I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year > and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this > population has special education needs. However I have tried, > unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification > and > strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as > well as > current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a > major need under these conditions? > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search. > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe > or change your subscription settings, please go to http:// > www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to > ktracey at cait.org > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/3b4e2652/attachment.html From deiswv at yahoo.com Tue Mar 18 14:37:05 2008 From: deiswv at yahoo.com (Denise McIntire) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:37:05 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 867] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: <66300.6679.qm@web51606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Kathy, Yes, indeed we do a similiar program using DVD's. But we take it one step more. We include companion books, work age appropriate activities, very large toys and for 9-15 yr old kids, include cookbooks, cooking equipment, aprons, etc. We work with ages 0 - 15 and if any are older, they receive magazine subscriptions of their choice. We also send home art supplies weekly as well. We educate the parents on various issues including nutrition, media literacy, parental involvement, etc. Again, it is working. If you know of any funding available for us, please let me know. Happy spring to all. Kathy Olesen-Tracey wrote: p { margin: 0; } body { font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000} Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/b3cd5322/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 17:25:54 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:25:54 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 868] Re-Entry Initiatives Message-ID: <874922EF-BF7C-4935-82D1-3EE22D2D3D53@comcast.net> Posted for Fran Tracy-Mumford by David J. Rosen From: Fran Mumford [fmumford at msde.state.md.us] Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 1:28 PM Subject: Re-Entry Initiatives Diana Bailey, Maryland's Program Coordinator for transition and employment at the MD State Department of Education Correctional Education program, has done a tremendous job in leading transition to the community services within each state prison facility and coordinated with the Department of Labor. She plans "Career Fairs" with workshops for offenders who are within 18 months of release. CAREER FAIR. During the career fair, critical contacts from the community present in mini-workshops throughout the day. One stop counselors are part of the presentations. Employers give "tips" for seeking employment in their field. HR people sit one-on-one in a job interview with inmates within 6 months of release. Each interview is sensitively critiqued. Colleges are represented to encourage participation giving information about their job training or degree programs. Goodwill and other non-profits participate. Money management, finding a place to live, and where to get a hot meal are other topics. These events are wildly successful as a means of transitioning individuals back into the community TRANSITION PROGRAM STUDENT CERTIFICATES. One of the Correctional Education program standards of accountability is for a component of the program that provides Transition program completion certificates. Last year more than 3,000 certificates were issued to students statewide. The four components of the student certificate are (I believe I got this right): career awareness, career exploration, employability skills, and career planning. Students are assigned to this class for a minimum of 6 weeks. ONE STOP FOR OFFENDER RE-ENTRY. A one stop has been designated by the Dept of Labor for re-entering offenders. It was created in the Baltimore Metropolitan area where more than 80% are re-entering the community. TRANSITION CHECKLIST. A checklist of transition skills has been created and is placed in the student's file. This is used to guide instruction and inform the student and program about the skills completed and those to be completed before release. LIBRARY CAREER RESOURCE CENTER. The library in each state facility has a career resource center stocked with information about careers. Any inmate can assess this information. Her program is quite impressive. I didn't address other aspects of transition such as: money management, establishing credit, family living, parenting, etc. as other topics included in her programs. To contact Diana, you can reach her at the address listed above. Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford Academic Program Coordinator Correctional Education Maryland State Department of Education 200 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 410.767.0732 David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Tue Mar 18 17:21:47 2008 From: Geriteaches22963 at aol.com (Geriteaches22963 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:21:47 EDT Subject: [SpecialTopics 869] Re: From corrections education to community education Message-ID: As the SPED coordinator, we work directly with a transition specialist to determine which community-based programs are available to meet the continuing needs of the students. We write transitional goals, prepare a Summary of Performance, provide agency names, but I do not place the calls for them, so I assume this may not happen immediately. Occasionally, I will get calls from released inmates for more information which I can provide. Geri Hayden Department of Correctional Education SPED/504 Coordinator Virginia In a message dated 3/17/2008 6:13:32 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, djrosen at comcast.net writes: For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to geriteaches22963 at aol.com **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/26fbaa5f/attachment.html From radams at ric.edu Tue Mar 18 17:26:41 2008 From: radams at ric.edu (Adams, Robin) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:26:41 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 870] Prison Education to Community Education Message-ID: Hi All: I'm interested in hearing about significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs as well as any best practices that might have been discovered. If anyone has anything to share regarding those two aspects of the topic, I'd be most appreciative. Robin Adams RI Adult Education Professional Development Center 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Builiding 30 Providence, RI 02908 (401) 456-2830 From Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Tue Mar 18 17:27:29 2008 From: Geriteaches22963 at aol.com (Geriteaches22963 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:27:29 EDT Subject: [SpecialTopics 871] Re: Corrections to Community Education Questions to P... Message-ID: To answer your first question, I feel that our vocational programs provide the best opportunity to transition to work, which they need. Many of our programs though, require a GED (some do not). I find that many of my students who are close in getting their GED enroll in community programs fairly soon. To respond to your second question, the crimes vary in great degree. Many of these felonies prohibit certain jobs the ex-offender previously held, so seeking employment is quite a challenge. I am not sure about statistics in Virginia, though it would be interesting to see. Geri Hayden SPED/504 Coordinator VA Department of Correctional Education In a message dated 3/18/2008 6:01:53 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, kgotthardt at comcast.net writes: Dear Panel Members: Thank you for an interesting and enlightening discussion on this topic. Having worked in career based higher education, I have met several students trying to re-enter society through more traditional programs. The results were not what they should have been. I have never worked in a purely community based program or in correctional institutions. Here are my questions, then: 1. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private postsecondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 2. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 3. Does anyone here have statistical information (similar to what Carolyn offers) on prisons in the state of Virginia? If not, does anyone know where I could find this information? Again, thank you for this discussion. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt _www.luxuriouschoices.net_ (http://www.luxuriouschoices.net/) ----- Original Message ----- From: _Buser, Carolyn_ (mailto:Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov) To: _specialtopics at nifl.gov_ (mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov) Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 11:21 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 852] Re: Corrections to Community Education David ? I have always found that the statistics on the children of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional education. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day. Over the course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of absent and incarcerated parents. You can find or estimate that number in Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the major determining factor in the educational level of the child. Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education with a reduction in recidivism. The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections. The most effective educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate students who participated in occupational training programs and then were employed in that trade area upon release. However, even the slightest involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism according to that study. Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart listing the cost benefit of various prison programs. In-prison vocational education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent. Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent. Those are numbers that State governments find persuasive. I would also recommend the Journal of Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education Association. Cay ____________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings ____________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ??over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 ? in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down ? we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation?s prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks.? ( _http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj_ (http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj) ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland?s adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland? s Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the ? school board? for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master?s degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland?s correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980?s, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they?ve come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune?s Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at _http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm_ (http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm) has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. _http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp_ (http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp) These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: _http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm_ (http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm) "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute?s re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. _http://tinyurl.com/2687ma_ (http://tinyurl.com/2687ma) These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see _http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf_ (http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf) for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here?s the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: _http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_ Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006_ (http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed .2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006) or, for short, _http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk_ (http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk) David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ____________________________________ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to geriteaches22963 at aol.com **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/e6a0c99d/attachment.html From wrmuth at vcu.edu Tue Mar 18 17:47:30 2008 From: wrmuth at vcu.edu (William R Muth/FS/VCU) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:47:30 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 872] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <66300.6679.qm@web51606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Denise (and all), I work with Hope House DC, an organization that provides storybook reading programs in 14 federal prisons (and supports other programs like video conferencing and summer camps that bring children of prisoners together with their incarcerated parents.) Here is a link to the website: http://hopehousedc.org/index.php We've had some feedback that younger children's experiences may be quite different than the older one's. For example some of the older kids (10 - 11 year olds) said they enjoyed listening to their fathers' voices, but did not engage with the books. (Sometimes this may be because the books were no longer picture books, and thus, the kids could follow along without the book.) Also, we sometimes do video taping of the books, and, again, this seems to add both a great additional attraction (actually being able to see their fathers' faces) but also a distraction from the book itself. I realize that the primary purpose of the program is to build/maintain family connections, but we also hope that children will remain enthused as readers, yes? I was wondering if you, or any others following this discussion have had similar experiences, and any insights about how to approach these issues. Thanks! Bill Muth Denise McIntire Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 03/18/2008 05:27 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 867] Re: Posting Kathy, Yes, indeed we do a similiar program using DVD's. But we take it one step more. We include companion books, work age appropriate activities, very large toys and for 9-15 yr old kids, include cookbooks, cooking equipment, aprons, etc. We work with ages 0 - 15 and if any are older, they receive magazine subscriptions of their choice. We also send home art supplies weekly as well. We educate the parents on various issues including nutrition, media literacy, parental involvement, etc. Again, it is working. If you know of any funding available for us, please let me know. Happy spring to all. Kathy Olesen-Tracey wrote: Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/f6cc7b6a/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 18:13:30 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:13:30 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 873] Discussion archived Message-ID: Colleagues who have just joined the discussion, Welcome. The discussion began Monday morning. You can catch up by going to the archive at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/ 2008/date.html beginning with message 847. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From SYNSOL at cableone.net Tue Mar 18 18:20:41 2008 From: SYNSOL at cableone.net (Bill Anthony) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:20:41 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 874] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation References: Message-ID: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> David Rosen, Regarding your question below -- I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates to allow them to connect with release plans in their release community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of institutional education records to the half way houses. The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles away. We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be able to actually maintain personal contacts with community resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide personal connections to community resources. In a county jail situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct relationships among prison staff and county educational resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. I also believe that there are a number of availabe education resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. Bill Anthony SYNSOL at cableone.net +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/791ea411/attachment.html From sklaty at cville.k12.in.us Tue Mar 18 18:36:00 2008 From: sklaty at cville.k12.in.us (Klaty, Sharon) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:36:00 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 875] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It was my intention to be part of this to gain knowledge and "listen in". However, this message prompts my comment. In community education there needs to be the education that goes beyond the academic/work skills. Maybe this is part of the community education. I am talking about the "soft skills". Are the "soft skills" being taught? Such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills........ From personal experience: a family member in the last three years decided to give three different people a chance. They had knowledge, skills and were fairly intelligent. The last one's employment ended a couple of weeks ago. One could not keep personal problems at home. Another's attendance was poor. Another helped himself to some expensive tools. You get the picture. Yes, these people can be a good resource if they have the right skills. Employers don't mind training the employees if they have these. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Buser, Carolyn Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:50 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 850] Re: Corrections to Community Education Good morning. Jeremy Travis and the Urban Institute have been drawing the attention of professionals and the general public to the issues surrounding reentry for a number of years. The excellent reentry roundtable series will continue in New York City next month and feature participants from areas affecting reentry and transition, as well as persons who have successfully made their own transition. The recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust seems to have captured the interest of the general public. The statistics the report presents are astonishing. More than one in every one hundred adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. The incidence of incarceration is disproportionately levied across minority and male communities with one in thirty men between the ages of 20 and 34 in jail or prison, and one in nine men of color between those same ages is incarcerated. As Jeremy Travis points out, almost all of these people will return to society. Many of them will return to neighborhoods already strapped to provide basic social services to residents who have not been incarcerated. The task of facilitating reentry to ensure humane and hopeful solutions for persons, neighborhoods, and country is daunting. The task can only be addressed in its whole. Preparation for reentry must begin when a person first enters a prison and continue through release and well beyond - engaging police, the courts, the correctional system, correctional education, community agencies, families, community educational systems, and the business community. Persons released from incarceration can use skills learned in prison to revitalize their communities. Returning persons can be a resource if there is the will to equip them to be so. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/bf852f21/attachment.html From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Tue Mar 18 18:18:39 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:18:39 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 876] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation In-Reply-To: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> References: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD01291C30@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> David, Our experience is that a successful transition from a prison education program to a community based program is difficult. There are so many things that have to happen: - First, as you surmised, so many people "coming home" have multiple issues that need to get addressed before they can focus on education - most importantly, housing and employment. Some folks do come home with a place to live, but many do not and end up in shelters. And even for those who do have a place to go, the place is often a couch in their friend's or aunt's apartment. Employment is also critical, particularly for people on parole. Employment is usually mandated for parolees. If they don't find a job, they run the risk of getting locked up again. Needless to say, finding a job is difficult, particularly in this day and age when so much of our personal information is available to every potential employer on the internet. I believe it helps if people land in a place that - offers wraparound services, so that people can come to the doors and find employment services, supportive housing or housing referrals, education, and transitional counseling in the same place. - has staff members who have been incarcerated themselves. They are more likely to be able to understand and relate to what the newly released student is going through. However, I don't believe people coming home have to be in programs specifically designed for the formerly incarcerated. What matters most is that we have caring, empathetic staff who don't make summary judgments about people based on their past experiences. I'm sure that many, if not most, adult education programs already serve people who have been incarcerated - perhaps without knowing it. john -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 7:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jgordon at fortunesociety.org From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Tue Mar 18 18:36:57 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:36:57 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 877] Re: From corrections education tocommunityeducation In-Reply-To: <6gvfio$48r8dv@rrcs-agw-01.hrndva.rr.com> References: <7FF86790-F332-4D29-8DB4-763C4712066B@comcast.net> <6gvfio$48r8dv@rrcs-agw-01.hrndva.rr.com> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD01291C34@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> A little more on this topic. I think the larger problem is continuity and long term stability. It is relatively easy for people to make initial connections to employment services and other programs when they get out. Many service providers make regular presentations at parole and probation offices, for example. And it's not necessarily that difficult (with some support) for newly released folks to find a first job. But finding a job that pays well enough to support yourself (and often some children) is a different matter. This is one reason why people really need at minimum a high school diploma. We know that one of the key factors promoting successful reentry is having social and family supports around you. Unfortunately, many people come home owing thousands of dollars in child support - a debt that they accumulated while in prison. This works against family re-unification. Here in New York, a large percentage of the people who get jobs after getting out of prison lose them within 3 months or a year. In our career development program at the Fortune Society, a lot of our work goes into "re-placing" people in employment. If people don't have the long term support of both family and an organization like ours, there's a good chance they'll wind up on the street again. john -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Stephen Hannum Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 864] Re: From corrections education tocommunityeducation Last fall, after several months of planning, The Literacy Council in Birmingham was a sponsor of the "Community Opportunities Fair". The "Community Opportunities Fair" was a one-day resource fair that allowed Birmingham agencies and organizations the opportunity to provide re-entry and adjustment information for persons who had been involved in the criminal justice system. There were nearly 50 agencies who participated in the "Community Opportunities Fair" representing: . Counseling . Day care . Drug/alcohol counseling . Education/Literacy . Financial management . Heath care . Housing . Job training . Transportation Over 300 people attended and plans are already underway for repeating the event again this fall. There are obvious limitations to any "one shot" activity but the comments that we received from participating agencies and from the large group of parolees and others who attended were overwhelming. Steve Hannum Provider Services Manager The Literacy Council -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 6:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to shannum at literacy-council.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jgordon at fortunesociety.org From kgotthardt at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 19:02:11 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:02:11 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 878] Re: Re-Entry Initiatives In-Reply-To: <874922EF-BF7C-4935-82D1-3EE22D2D3D53@comcast.net> References: <874922EF-BF7C-4935-82D1-3EE22D2D3D53@comcast.net> Message-ID: Wow! This sounds like a comprehensive program. Thank you for providing specifics on workshops, classes and resources. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5:25 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 868] Re-Entry Initiatives > Posted for Fran Tracy-Mumford by David J. Rosen > > From: Fran Mumford [fmumford at msde.state.md.us] > Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 1:28 PM > Subject: Re-Entry Initiatives > > Diana Bailey, Maryland's Program Coordinator for transition and > employment at the MD State Department of Education Correctional > Education program, has done a tremendous job in leading transition to > the community services within each state prison facility and > coordinated with the Department of Labor. She plans "Career Fairs" > with workshops for offenders who are within 18 months of release. > > CAREER FAIR. During the career fair, critical contacts from the > community present in mini-workshops throughout the day. One stop > counselors are part of the presentations. Employers give "tips" for > seeking employment in their field. HR people sit one-on-one in a job > interview with inmates within 6 months of release. Each interview is > sensitively critiqued. Colleges are represented to encourage > participation giving information about their job training or degree > programs. Goodwill and other non-profits participate. Money > management, finding a place to live, and where to get a hot meal are > other topics. These events are wildly successful as a means of > transitioning individuals back into the community > > TRANSITION PROGRAM STUDENT CERTIFICATES. One of the Correctional > Education program standards of accountability is for a component of > the program that provides Transition program completion > certificates. Last year more than 3,000 certificates were issued to > students statewide. The four components of the student certificate > are (I believe I got this right): career awareness, career > exploration, employability skills, and career planning. Students are > assigned to this class for a minimum of 6 weeks. > > ONE STOP FOR OFFENDER RE-ENTRY. A one stop has been designated by > the Dept of Labor for re-entering offenders. It was created in the > Baltimore Metropolitan area where more than 80% are re-entering the > community. > > TRANSITION CHECKLIST. A checklist of transition skills has been > created and is placed in the student's file. This is used to guide > instruction and inform the student and program about the skills > completed and those to be completed before release. > > LIBRARY CAREER RESOURCE CENTER. The library in each state facility > has a career resource center stocked with information about careers. > Any inmate can assess this information. > > Her program is quite impressive. I didn't address other aspects of > transition such as: money management, establishing credit, family > living, parenting, etc. as other topics included in her programs. To > contact Diana, you can reach her at the address listed above. > > Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford > Academic Program Coordinator > Correctional Education > Maryland State Department of Education > 200 W. Baltimore Street > Baltimore, Maryland 21201 > 410.767.0732 > > > > > > > David J. Rosen > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From kgotthardt at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 19:04:29 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:04:29 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 879] Re: Corrections to Community EducationQuestions to P... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <43FE607E490B40A7AE99950DF03A8735@OwnerPC> Thank you, Geri. Can you give me some examples of the kinds of felonies that would keep these folks out of particular industries? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Geriteaches22963 at aol.com To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5:27 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 871] Re: Corrections to Community EducationQuestions to P... To answer your first question, I feel that our vocational programs provide the best opportunity to transition to work, which they need. Many of our programs though, require a GED (some do not). I find that many of my students who are close in getting their GED enroll in community programs fairly soon. To respond to your second question, the crimes vary in great degree. Many of these felonies prohibit certain jobs the ex-offender previously held, so seeking employment is quite a challenge. I am not sure about statistics in Virginia, though it would be interesting to see. Geri Hayden SPED/504 Coordinator VA Department of Correctional Education In a message dated 3/18/2008 6:01:53 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, kgotthardt at comcast.net writes: Dear Panel Members: Thank you for an interesting and enlightening discussion on this topic. Having worked in career based higher education, I have met several students trying to re-enter society through more traditional programs. The results were not what they should have been. I have never worked in a purely community based program or in correctional institutions. Here are my questions, then: 1. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private postsecondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 2. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 3. Does anyone here have statistical information (similar to what Carolyn offers) on prisons in the state of Virginia? If not, does anyone know where I could find this information? Again, thank you for this discussion. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Buser, Carolyn To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 11:21 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 852] Re: Corrections to Community Education David ? I have always found that the statistics on the children of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional education. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day. Over the course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of absent and incarcerated parents. You can find or estimate that number in Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the major determining factor in the educational level of the child. Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education with a reduction in recidivism. The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections. The most effective educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate students who participated in occupational training programs and then were employed in that trade area upon release. However, even the slightest involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism according to that study. Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart listing the cost benefit of various prison programs. In-prison vocational education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent. Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent. Those are numbers that State governments find persuasive. I would also recommend the Journal of Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education Association. Cay -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Collings Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following front-page story: "Rising prison numbers worry Ky. Officials will meet today to consider solutions Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs -- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some solutions. ..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield. He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or drug addiction. "Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly said. Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation, according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700 inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. " To our panel of guests: Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring new light to the role of education -- especially adult education? David Collings ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ??over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 ? in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down ? we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation?s prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks.? ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland?s adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland?s Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the ?school board? for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master?s degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland?s correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980?s, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they?ve come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune?s Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute?s re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here?s the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to geriteaches22963 at aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/b0755ee3/attachment.html From lwiener at llfinc.org Tue Mar 18 19:28:50 2008 From: lwiener at llfinc.org (Louise Wiener) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:28:50 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 880] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <438872.58430.qm@web51611.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Denise, I was really touched by the story of your efforts. LLF has developed parent involvement materials for parents of 3 to 5 year olds. (There?s always a little flex on both ends but that is who we designed for) We have never used them in a correctional environment. One set of materials, designed for home-based programs, might be useful for parents of young children. The advantage is that the program provides a variety of ?hunt? activities and a family portfolio or scrapbook for children to put their interpretations of specific questions. It might be a useful way to help the parents feel in charge and let the children create things to bring to visits. This use is far from our original vision, but if you want to explore further, contact me separately and we?ll see what we can provide you for you to test with your population. Good luck with your important work, Louise Wiener (lwiener at LLFinc.org) On 3/18/08 9:29 AM, "Denise McIntire" wrote: > Bonnie and all that follow, > > I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. > We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult > basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for > corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per > session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and > also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages > as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be > reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs > especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of > supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce > training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives > in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the > cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is > still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according > to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a > time. > > Bonnie Odiorne wrote: > >> >> >> Gary, >> >> You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other >> community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group >> of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at >> the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and >> the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, >> that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time >> ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still >> functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, >> and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of >> unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the >> incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house >> transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw >> education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. >> Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are >> lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the >> system. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. >> >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ---- >> From: "Upham, Gary" >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting >> >> Gary Upham >> Maine State Prison Principal >> >> I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year >> and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this >> population has special education needs. However I have tried, >> unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and >> strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as >> current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a >> major need under these conditions? >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com > > > > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. > egory.php?category=shopping> > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lwiener at llfinc.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/2a89f32f/attachment.html From mtate at sbctc.edu Tue Mar 18 19:31:42 2008 From: mtate at sbctc.edu (Michael Tate) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:31:42 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 881] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: References: <66300.6679.qm@web51606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE02C7861B@exch-1.sbctc2.local> I supervised a project that developed the Reintegration Skills curriculum in the mid-1990s. It is based on a Freirean problem-posing approach that used photos of reintegration situations as what Freire called "codes". Codes are used to convey a problem, issue, world view to allow us to analyze social norms to demystify the world we live in. The photos begin discussion, reading and writing activities that allow those just released or about to be released to deal with the situations they are or may face. You should get some training on or at least read about how to facilitate a group process on codes The curriculum is still in a draft (but attractive) state with some typos and grammatical problems that we were never able to get additional funding to correct. It was developed with recently released inmates, so it very much represents their feelings and points of view, which may be challenging or even unsettling to some. It may not be suitable for every lock-up. I think those in community programs would find some, if not all the curriculum to be very powerful, helpful activities. I can share a pdf file of it on request. From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of William R Muth/FS/VCU Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 2:48 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 872] Re: Posting Denise (and all), I work with Hope House DC, an organization that provides storybook reading programs in 14 federal prisons (and supports other programs like video conferencing and summer camps that bring children of prisoners together with their incarcerated parents.) Here is a link to the website: http://hopehousedc.org/index.php We've had some feedback that younger children's experiences may be quite different than the older one's. For example some of the older kids (10 - 11 year olds) said they enjoyed listening to their fathers' voices, but did not engage with the books. (Sometimes this may be because the books were no longer picture books, and thus, the kids could follow along without the book.) Also, we sometimes do video taping of the books, and, again, this seems to add both a great additional attraction (actually being able to see their fathers' faces) but also a distraction from the book itself. I realize that the primary purpose of the program is to build/maintain family connections, but we also hope that children will remain enthused as readers, yes? I was wondering if you, or any others following this discussion have had similar experiences, and any insights about how to approach these issues. Thanks! Bill Muth Denise McIntire Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 03/18/2008 05:27 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 867] Re: Posting Kathy, Yes, indeed we do a similiar program using DVD's. But we take it one step more. We include companion books, work age appropriate activities, very large toys and for 9-15 yr old kids, include cookbooks, cooking equipment, aprons, etc. We work with ages 0 - 15 and if any are older, they receive magazine subscriptions of their choice. We also send home art supplies weekly as well. We educate the parents on various issues including nutrition, media literacy, parental involvement, etc. Again, it is working. If you know of any funding available for us, please let me know. Happy spring to all. Kathy Olesen-Tracey wrote: Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com ________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com ________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/e01ce924/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 19:43:49 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:43:49 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationships for good referrals In-Reply-To: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> Message-ID: <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Colleagues, Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 > years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates > for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release > programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates > to allow them to connect with release plans in their release > community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of > Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a > step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no > direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of > institutional education records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison > and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, > clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also > "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles > away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal > handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State > Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be > able to actually maintain personal contacts with community > resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide > personal connections to community resources. In a county jail > situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct > relationships among prison staff and county educational > resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised > but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Mar 18 20:37:19 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:37:19 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 883] Virginia's Correctional Education Programs Message-ID: <77E88D6B-F8A9-448F-94E6-9161BBD59E80@comcast.net> Posted for Gwynne Cunningham by David J. Rosen From: Gwynne.Cunningham at dce.virginia.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 862] Re: Corrections to Community Education Questions to Panel Date: March 18, 2008 8:21:40 PM EDT Hi Michelle (and Carolyn, David, and Katherine), Thanks for forwarding the discussion from the National Institute of Literacy's special topic "Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education" listserv. I am not currently a member of this listserv; and appreciate you sharing the information re: joining. I am copying the folks (David, Carolyn, and Katherine) who had written in to this listserv with questions about Virginia's correctional education programs, as they may be interested in the attached information. Virginia Tech completed an outcomes study (see attached) on incarcerated students who complete career and technical education (vocational) programs with the Virginia Department of Correctional Education. This report concluded that CTE program completers had statistically significant lower recidivism rates and post-release employment success than their matched comparison non-participants. The listserv discussion noted a lack of funding information for correctional education in Virginia. Below is our state budget allocation for the current biennium (07-09) for correctional education. It should be noted that these figures reflect funding for both youth and adult correctional facilities, and adult community corrections programs. The allocation includes funding for a wide array of correctional education programs, including academic, career and technical education, apprenticeship, transition, parenting, and cognitive education programs. We are in the process of finalizing a benefit-cost analysis for our career and technical education programs. I would be happy to share this report upon its completion with anyone who is interested. We have also done an outcomes study for incarcerated students who participate in grant-funded college programs in Virginia; I'd be happy to share this report a well. We are at present exploring the possibility of performing similar research for students who participate in our adult basic education and GED programs, though it will be some time before this report is completed. Please let me know if you would like any additional information on Virginia's correctional education programs. Sincerely, Gwynne Cunningham Director of Specialized Programs Virginia Department of Correctional Education ________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Virginia Department of Correctional Education: State Budget Allocation for the 07- 09 Biennium FY07-08 FY08-09 Adult Community Instructional Services $1,103,603 $1,103,603 Youth Instructional Services (Academic) $15,556,478 $15,657,244 Career and Technical Education (Vocational) Services for Youth and Adults $15,396,646 $17,972,279 Adult Instructional Services (Academic) $9,556,858 $11,831,106 Instructional Leadership and Support Services $9,749,677 $9,929,727 ___________ ____________ TOTAL $51,363,262 $56,493,959 Fund Sources: FY07-08 FY08-09 General Fund $49,123,838 $54,254,535 Federal Trust $2,239,424 $2,239,424 From bsatchel at gccnj.edu Tue Mar 18 20:55:42 2008 From: bsatchel at gccnj.edu (Satchell, Brigette) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:55:42 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 885] Re: From corrections educationtocommunityeducation References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B67@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Message-ID: <3EBCA373D30BC7459CEC7C919E30CC5608ED86FD@gcc-exch.gcc.gccnj.edu> Hi Kiel, Gloucester County College provides GED preparation courses for our county correctional facilities. Our local Workforce Investment Board and Economic Development provide the funding for these services. If you are having difficulties connecting with the local community college, I would encourage you to become a member of the Mercer County Workforce Investment Board's Literacy Committee/Council. Brigette Satchell Assistant Dean, Programs and Instruction Gloucester County College Phone (856) 468-5000 ext. 6226/5510 Fax (856) 468-7023 " Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education"- Dr. Martin Luther King ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Ridolfino, Kiel Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 861] Re: From corrections educationtocommunityeducation Brigette, I am an ABE/ESL teacher at Mercer County Correction Center where our education department consists of myself, two other teachers, and our program coordinator. With the expansion of our program and the success of our GED students, we are now looking to incorporate college courses in our program. We have been trying to connect with local community colleges with not much avail. I was wondering if you could shed some light on the topic and explain what your college does for your county correction center and how it was established as a program. Thank you for your time! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Satchell, Brigette Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 858] Re: From corrections education tocommunityeducation Greetings, We currently work with our county correctional department to provide adult education and GED testing within the local facilities. Once the inmates are released, they can immediately transition to the adult education programs at our local community college and can assess employment assistance, training, and counseling services through our local One Stop Career Center. Our local One Stop Career Center is a primary partner of our program at the correctional facilities. Inmates register as a customer of the One Stop Career Center System and are able to access the services immediately upon release. Through our collaborative partnerships, we have hosted an onsite service/job fair to be proactive with assisting the inmates with preparing for opportunities upon their release We must keep in mind that while education is key. Housing and employment are top priorities for inmates. Finding employers that are willing to hire former inmates and finding housing for them are major concerns. Brigette Satchell Assistant Dean, Programs and Instruction Gloucester County College Phone (856) 468-5000 ext. 6226/5510 Fax (856) 468-7023 " Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education"- Dr. Martin Luther King ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Mon 3/17/2008 7:12 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 857] From corrections education to communityeducation For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bsatchel at gccnj.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kridolfino at mercercounty.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bsatchel at gccnj.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 7779 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/911b5b6a/attachment.bin From SSteurer at ceanational.org Tue Mar 18 22:41:21 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:41:21 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 884] Re: Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals In-Reply-To: <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Message-ID: I have been reading the various excellent emails about correctional education and community education and looking for an opportunity to make a brief but important and unique comment. So here goes. One of the things that has surprised me is how no one has talked about the one of the most impotant recent legislative achievements on Capitol Hill. Last week, March 12th, the Senate passed the Second Chance Act. The House had done so earlier. Now the fight is on for appropriations to back it up. The Bush administration has backed the Second Chance Act for some time. Ironically, the name of the bill comes from one of President Bush's state of the union speeches. How long has it been that Democrats and Republicans have come together to support correctional programming instead of correctional institution building and longer sentences? Is this some kind of watershed? If the Second Chance Act receives decent funding it could be one of the most important pieces of legislation to build the prison to community connection and to help inmates who have received education and training while incarcerated to make the transition to community and a positive life. On March 12th CEA sponsored a trip to Capitol Hill from its CEA Leadership Forum in Annapolis. Gene Guerrero, who works for the Open Society Institute, has worked tirelessly leading the campaign for passage of this act. He spoke to correctional educators at a midday meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building. He noted that Senator Shelby of Alabama was holding up the bill in the Senate. Two of our delegates, John Stewart and Susan McKee of Alabama, went directly to Shelby's office, found him and, apparently, helped convince him to support the Second Chance Act. He removed his hold and the Senate passed the bill the same night. CEA is proud to have played a role in passing the Second Chance Act. I would like to hear what our participants think of the possible impact of this new federal effort. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road? Suite 202 Elkridge, MD? 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals Colleagues, Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 > years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates > for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release > programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates > to allow them to connect with release plans in their release > community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of > Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a > step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no > direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of > institutional education records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison > and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, > clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also > "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles > away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal > handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State > Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be > able to actually maintain personal contacts with community > resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide > personal connections to community resources. In a county jail > situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct > relationships among prison staff and county educational > resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised > but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ssteurer at ceanational.org From cimel at ldawa.org Tue Mar 18 21:49:26 2008 From: cimel at ldawa.org (Cyd Imel) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:49:26 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 886] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sharon (and all) The Learning Disabilities Association of Washington State does the pre-employment "soft skills". We have been doing out Choices Program since 1989. Preparing offenders for the work place. Your absolutely right that employers do not mind training for the "hard skill", however they tell us the lack of soft skills gets employees fired. Our program has been very successful. We track the participant for two years after they finish the program and have a 49% REDUCTION IN OFFENSE RATES. Contact me if you want more information. Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Klaty, Sharon Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 3:36 PM To: 'specialtopics at nifl.gov' Subject: [SpecialTopics 875] Re: Corrections to Community Education It was my intention to be part of this to gain knowledge and "listen in". However, this message prompts my comment. In community education there needs to be the education that goes beyond the academic/work skills. Maybe this is part of the community education. I am talking about the "soft skills". Are the "soft skills" being taught? Such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills........ From personal experience: a family member in the last three years decided to give three different people a chance. They had knowledge, skills and were fairly intelligent. The last one's employment ended a couple of weeks ago. One could not keep personal problems at home. Another's attendance was poor. Another helped himself to some expensive tools. You get the picture. Yes, these people can be a good resource if they have the right skills. Employers don't mind training the employees if they have these. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Buser, Carolyn Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:50 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 850] Re: Corrections to Community Education Good morning. Jeremy Travis and the Urban Institute have been drawing the attention of professionals and the general public to the issues surrounding reentry for a number of years. The excellent reentry roundtable series will continue in New York City next month and feature participants from areas affecting reentry and transition, as well as persons who have successfully made their own transition. The recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust seems to have captured the interest of the general public. The statistics the report presents are astonishing. More than one in every one hundred adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. The incidence of incarceration is disproportionately levied across minority and male communities with one in thirty men between the ages of 20 and 34 in jail or prison, and one in nine men of color between those same ages is incarcerated. As Jeremy Travis points out, almost all of these people will return to society. Many of them will return to neighborhoods already strapped to provide basic social services to residents who have not been incarcerated. The task of facilitating reentry to ensure humane and hopeful solutions for persons, neighborhoods, and country is daunting. The task can only be addressed in its whole. Preparation for reentry must begin when a person first enters a prison and continue through release and well beyond - engaging police, the courts, the correctional system, correctional education, community agencies, families, community educational systems, and the business community. Persons released from incarceration can use skills learned in prison to revitalize their communities. Returning persons can be a resource if there is the will to equip them to be so. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. ".over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional _Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/2eb6bb93/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 1254 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080318/2eb6bb93/attachment.gif From kgotthardt at comcast.net Wed Mar 19 06:15:15 2008 From: kgotthardt at comcast.net (Katherine) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:15:15 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 887] Re: Building and sustaining personalrelationshipsfor good referrals In-Reply-To: References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP><704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Message-ID: Steve, for those of us out of the Capitol Hill loop, could you please explain what the Second Chance Act is and does? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Steurer" To: Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:41 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 884] Re: Building and sustaining personalrelationshipsfor good referrals I have been reading the various excellent emails about correctional education and community education and looking for an opportunity to make a brief but important and unique comment. So here goes. One of the things that has surprised me is how no one has talked about the one of the most impotant recent legislative achievements on Capitol Hill. Last week, March 12th, the Senate passed the Second Chance Act. The House had done so earlier. Now the fight is on for appropriations to back it up. The Bush administration has backed the Second Chance Act for some time. Ironically, the name of the bill comes from one of President Bush's state of the union speeches. How long has it been that Democrats and Republicans have come together to support correctional programming instead of correctional institution building and longer sentences? Is this some kind of watershed? If the Second Chance Act receives decent funding it could be one of the most important pieces of legislation to build the prison to community connection and to help inmates who have received education and training while incarcerated to make the transition to community and a positive life. On March 12th CEA sponsored a trip to Capitol Hill from its CEA Leadership Forum in Annapolis. Gene Guerrero, who works for the Open Society Institute, has worked tirelessly leading the campaign for passage of this act. He spoke to correctional educators at a midday meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building. He noted that Senator Shelby of Alabama was holding up the bill in the Senate. Two of our delegates, John Stewart and Susan McKee of Alabama, went directly to Shelby's office, found him and, apparently, helped convince him to support the Second Chance Act. He removed his hold and the Senate passed the bill the same night. CEA is proud to have played a role in passing the Second Chance Act. I would like to hear what our participants think of the possible impact of this new federal effort. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202 Elkridge, MD 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals Colleagues, Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 > years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates > for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release > programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates > to allow them to connect with release plans in their release > community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of > Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a > step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no > direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of > institutional education records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison > and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, > clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also > "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles > away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal > handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State > Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be > able to actually maintain personal contacts with community > resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide > personal connections to community resources. In a county jail > situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct > relationships among prison staff and county educational > resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised > but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ssteurer at ceanational.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Mar 19 07:21:17 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:21:17 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 888] Supporting program continuity In-Reply-To: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> Message-ID: Colleagues, On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > I also believe that there are a number of available education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. Thanks, Bill, for raising the issue of program continuity. I have several questions for our guests and for other participants: 1. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 2. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 3. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options. 4. Are there other examples of corrections family literacy programs? In our previous discussion here, http://tinyurl.com/2bh52a for example, Cay Buser mentioned that Maryland has some good examples. Cay, could you elaborate on that? Bill Muth, in the same discussion, mentioned programs in D.C., Virginia, New York and Connecticut. Other programs were mentioned as well. I wonder if any of these corrections family literacy programs facilitate the transition from corrections to community. If so, how do they do this? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From jbfitz at optonline.net Wed Mar 19 09:28:59 2008 From: jbfitz at optonline.net (jbfitz at optonline.net) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:28:59 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 889] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> References: <12699588.141205850805284.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: Denise, Kathy and others remind us that inmates about to be released are not only re-integrating into the community and workplace but also into their families. Recognizing this, many education programs in prisons have attempted to support inmates' role as parents with some form of family literacy program to help inmates who are also parents to establish or maintain positive connections to their children through literacy and at the same time address the role they will play in their children's education upon release. Often, these education programs (like other family literacy programs) have found that connection to family is a particularly strong motivator. As a consultant in the family literacy field, I have come across many family literacy/family education programs in correctional education, some more successful than others. For many reasons, it is a difficult program to run successfully in an incarcerated setting. It is particularly difficult to document program success because inmates do not usually maintain contact with programs after release (when the successes become apparent). The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has funded several family literacy programs in correctional settings, among them"Breaking Barriers with Books" in the Oshkosh(Wisconsin) Correctional Institution and a program at the Jamesville Correctional facility in Jamesville, NY (near Syracuse) run by the Onondaga/Cortland/Madison Board of CooperativeEducation (OCM BOCES) which developed a guidebook for implementing family literacy programs in incarcerated settings. The Jamesville program links inmates with the local Even Start Family Literacy program. Family Literacy in prisons has also been a special initiative of the federal Even Start Family Literacy program. Many county and state correctional facilities throughout NY state have implemented family literacy programs. I think the intergenerational nature of both incarceration and literacy make family literacy/family education a critically important area for correctional education to address when planning for inmate transition back into the community. Jessica Fitzpatrick, Early Childhood/Family Literacy Consultant jbfitz at optonline.net Original Message ----- From: Kathy Olesen-Tracey Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:03 pm Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Denise, > I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several > years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the > Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone > here has heard of it -please share. > > Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to > their child and provide the child with the book and the video > tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. > > Has anyone heard about a project like this? > Kathy Olesen-Tracey > -- > Center for the Application of Information Technologies > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Denise McIntire" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada > Central > Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting > > > Bonnie and all that follow, > I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in > West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed > to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have > been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that > works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job > is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also > the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for > all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children > until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for > all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing > with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the > entire family along with the educational and workforce training. > Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire > lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them > as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation > to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any > empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and > families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. > > Bonnie Odiorne wrote: > > > > Gary, > You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or > some other community-based literacy adult education > organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already > been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in > a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and > the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into > this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a > revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow > up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of > labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while > that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way > of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might > allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training > with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted > the training because they saw education as such a great need in > the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin > facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of > avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points > of the system. > Best regards, > Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: "Upham, Gary" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting > > Gary Upham > Maine State Prison Principal > > I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past > year > and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of > this > population has special education needs. However I have tried, > unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for > identification and > strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as > well as > current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal > with a > major need under these conditions? > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go > to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go > to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com > > > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with > Yahoo! Search. > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To > unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email > delivered to ktracey at cait.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/5a3e7e17/attachment.html From SSteurer at ceanational.org Wed Mar 19 07:49:33 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:49:33 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 890] Re: Building and sustainingpersonalrelationshipsfor good referrals In-Reply-To: References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP><704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Message-ID: Katherine, I will let Fran Tracy-Mumford, our legislative special interest group chair respond to that. Frankly, I am so surprised that there has been no discussion of this important piece of legislation. There are so many correctional associations out there working to get this passed. It makes me wonder how many of the people involved in this discussion are members of national associations like CEA? Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road? Suite 202 Elkridge, MD? 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:15 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 887] Re: Building and sustainingpersonalrelationshipsfor good referrals Steve, for those of us out of the Capitol Hill loop, could you please explain what the Second Chance Act is and does? Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.luxuriouschoices.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Steurer" To: Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:41 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 884] Re: Building and sustaining personalrelationshipsfor good referrals I have been reading the various excellent emails about correctional education and community education and looking for an opportunity to make a brief but important and unique comment. So here goes. One of the things that has surprised me is how no one has talked about the one of the most impotant recent legislative achievements on Capitol Hill. Last week, March 12th, the Senate passed the Second Chance Act. The House had done so earlier. Now the fight is on for appropriations to back it up. The Bush administration has backed the Second Chance Act for some time. Ironically, the name of the bill comes from one of President Bush's state of the union speeches. How long has it been that Democrats and Republicans have come together to support correctional programming instead of correctional institution building and longer sentences? Is this some kind of watershed? If the Second Chance Act receives decent funding it could be one of the most important pieces of legislation to build the prison to community connection and to help inmates who have received education and training while incarcerated to make the transition to community and a positive life. On March 12th CEA sponsored a trip to Capitol Hill from its CEA Leadership Forum in Annapolis. Gene Guerrero, who works for the Open Society Institute, has worked tirelessly leading the campaign for passage of this act. He spoke to correctional educators at a midday meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building. He noted that Senator Shelby of Alabama was holding up the bill in the Senate. Two of our delegates, John Stewart and Susan McKee of Alabama, went directly to Shelby's office, found him and, apparently, helped convince him to support the Second Chance Act. He removed his hold and the Senate passed the bill the same night. CEA is proud to have played a role in passing the Second Chance Act. I would like to hear what our participants think of the possible impact of this new federal effort. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202 Elkridge, MD 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals Colleagues, Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 > years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates > for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release > programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates > to allow them to connect with release plans in their release > community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of > Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a > step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no > direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of > institutional education records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison > and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, > clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also > "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles > away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal > handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State > Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be > able to actually maintain personal contacts with community > resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide > personal connections to community resources. In a county jail > situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct > relationships among prison staff and county educational > resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised > but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ssteurer at ceanational.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgotthardt at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ssteurer at ceanational.org From melkins at dclibraries.org Wed Mar 19 11:17:27 2008 From: melkins at dclibraries.org (Molly Elkins) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:17:27 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 891] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> References: <12699588.141205850805284.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: <002301c889d4$60e6ce30$be070a0a@dpld.org> In our local jail we have a program called Read A Book. The inmates can sign up to read a book aloud into a cassette player. The cassette and the book are sent to the child. I think it would be nice to have a DVD so the kids could see their loved one too- but you know how technology is. Anyway, the books are donated by the library and other local organizations. We try to ensure that the books are new and in good condition. A volunteer from the library sits in with the inmates as they read to do paperwork with them and to ensure that they aren't passing along inappropriate information. The inmates must sign a document stating that there are no restraining orders keeping them from communicating with that child. I've sat in on some of these recording sessions, when our volunteer was ill, and wow. It was really meaningful. The inmates love it too. Thank you, Molly Elkins Literacy Specialist Douglas County Libraries Phillip S. Miller Library 100 S. Wilcox Street Castle Rock CO 80104 Map Direct Phone: (303)688-7646 Alt Phone: (303) 791-READ Fax: (303) 688-7655 Email: melkins at dclibraries.org Web: www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kathy Olesen-Tracey Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com _____ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/23321ba6/attachment.html From melkins at dclibraries.org Wed Mar 19 11:17:27 2008 From: melkins at dclibraries.org (Molly Elkins) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:17:27 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 892] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DA53@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> References: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DA53@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> Message-ID: <002b01c889d4$61606b00$be070a0a@dpld.org> Have you contacted your local library to see if they are able to collaborate with you, partner, or support any kinds of educational programs with you? Thank you, Molly Elkins Literacy Specialist Douglas County Libraries Phillip S. Miller Library 100 S. Wilcox Street Castle Rock CO 80104 Map Direct Phone: (303)688-7646 Alt Phone: (303) 791-READ Fax: (303) 688-7655 Email: melkins at dclibraries.org Web: www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Upham, Gary Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 6:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to melkins at dclibraries.org From Bill.Newman at consultant.ousd.k12.ca.us Wed Mar 19 11:51:06 2008 From: Bill.Newman at consultant.ousd.k12.ca.us (Bill Newman) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:51:06 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 893] Re: Corrections to Community Education References: Message-ID: Excellent point. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Klaty, Sharon Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 3:36 PM To: 'specialtopics at nifl.gov' Subject: [SpecialTopics 875] Re: Corrections to Community Education It was my intention to be part of this to gain knowledge and "listen in". However, this message prompts my comment. In community education there needs to be the education that goes beyond the academic/work skills. Maybe this is part of the community education. I am talking about the "soft skills". Are the "soft skills" being taught? Such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills........ From personal experience: a family member in the last three years decided to give three different people a chance. They had knowledge, skills and were fairly intelligent. The last one's employment ended a couple of weeks ago. One could not keep personal problems at home. Another's attendance was poor. Another helped himself to some expensive tools. You get the picture. Yes, these people can be a good resource if they have the right skills. Employers don't mind training the employees if they have these. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Buser, Carolyn Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:50 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 850] Re: Corrections to Community Education Good morning. Jeremy Travis and the Urban Institute have been drawing the attention of professionals and the general public to the issues surrounding reentry for a number of years. The excellent reentry roundtable series will continue in New York City next month and feature participants from areas affecting reentry and transition, as well as persons who have successfully made their own transition. The recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust seems to have captured the interest of the general public. The statistics the report presents are astonishing. More than one in every one hundred adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. The incidence of incarceration is disproportionately levied across minority and male communities with one in thirty men between the ages of 20 and 34 in jail or prison, and one in nine men of color between those same ages is incarcerated. As Jeremy Travis points out, almost all of these people will return to society. Many of them will return to neighborhoods already strapped to provide basic social services to residents who have not been incarcerated. The task of facilitating reentry to ensure humane and hopeful solutions for persons, neighborhoods, and country is daunting. The task can only be addressed in its whole. Preparation for reentry must begin when a person first enters a prison and continue through release and well beyond - engaging police, the courts, the correctional system, correctional education, community agencies, families, community educational systems, and the business community. Persons released from incarceration can use skills learned in prison to revitalize their communities. Returning persons can be a resource if there is the will to equip them to be so. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn Buser, Steve Schwalb, John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find background information on them below as well as some readings they have suggested. I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other information that provides the background for this transition issue, that helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections education to community education is such an important issue. "...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate of incarceration in this country. Every year since 1972 - in times of war and times of peace; in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going up and crime was going down - we have put more people in prison. We also tend to forget that, with the exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back. This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 700,000 individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times the number who made a similar journey thirty years ago. Ninety percent of them are men; a majority are men of color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of urban neighborhoods, neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor markets, substandard housing, and inadequate health care. As a nation, we have in essence asked these hard- pressed communities to take on the enormous additional responsibility of reintegrating record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to prison and return home, typically with significant service needs, often without supportive social networks." ( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj ) Background on Discussion Guests Carolyn (Cay) Buser Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional education. Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the administration of adult education grants. She also is the national resource for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education grants. Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education. Her responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems. She provided direct support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a member. Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Correctional Education. Her academic background includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational policy and administration. Dr. Buser taught English in public middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in Maryland. She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her appointment as director of the State program. Steve Schwalb Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the field of corrections. After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional Director and Assistant Director. In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting, transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs. Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400 staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales. In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee. John Gordon John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year; they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer under any criminal justice supervision. Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around developing student leadership and student participation in program decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well as More Than a Job: A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press). He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment, housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform. Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Steve is the Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons, jails and juvenile settings. Our guests have suggested the following readings: The Urban Institute's web site at http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online. Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports in the multi-state Returning Home project. http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp These are all accessible online. Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives Through Literature web site: http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm "Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended. The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004. http://tinyurl.com/2687ma These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005. Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper by Jeremy Travis on this topic. As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education, Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in September 2006: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006 or, for short, http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 19487 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/c89c0043/attachment.bin From gshirley at msde.state.md.us Wed Mar 19 12:41:42 2008 From: gshirley at msde.state.md.us (Glennor Shirley) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:41:42 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 894] FW: Supporting program continuity Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC0A6B9313@msebex1.msde.net> Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 888] Supporting program continuity Maryland Correctional Libraries and Lifelong learning. The Maryland Correctional Education Library introduced Family Literacy @ Your Library, a literacy program that linked prisoners, their children, and caregivers with learning opportunities within the prison, but more importantly to community resources outside the prison. Inmates were taught how to select and read children's literature, and how to present stories. Once per month the children and their caregivers visited the prison and the joint reading and discussion take place. To link the children with their local libraries, we invited the public librarians to visit the prison and conduct stories hours to the group during a family literacy event. (We have a cd rom highlighting one of the programs taken in 2005) Enoch Pratt Free Library has conducted 2 programs in the public library for ex offenders. At this program, ex offenders, community providers and the library coordinator all participated. During the Career Fairs conducted at Maryland Prisons by the Transition coordinator, a librarian from Enoch Pratt Free Library does a live demonstration of the online resources and databases that are available for use for any residents of the community. Resources included the job and career centers, computers, the various databases, and access to the Internet that were free to community residents. The resources also included GED in print and on line. In 2007 we purchased a mobile unit that will go to preleases centers. The unit will provide a combination of print and electronic resources and have live demonstration of databases that are on the unit, that are also available on the databases in some public libraries. See websites: for a photograph of one of the children's programs and the mobile unit. http://ce.msde.state.md.us/library/reentry07.htm http://prisonlibrarian.blogspot.com Glennor Shirley Library Coordinator Maryland State Department of Education Correctional Education Libraries 200 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Tel. 410 767 0493; Fax. 410 333 2239 email: gshirley at msde.state.md.us http://ce.msde.state.md.us/library/libraries.htm From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Mar 19 13:02:40 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:02:40 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 895] Re: Posting References: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: We have a program called "Storybook" which is run by the recreation department at Newton Correctional Facility. The population at this facility is all male and at one site is medium security and at the other site is minimum security. The men can choose a book which is appropriate for the age of their child and read it on tape. The book and the tape are then sent to the child. The men seem to enjoy keeping in touch with their children in this manner and many of them take advantage of this program. I am not sure how it is funded, although I do know that the men have jobs where they earn money that they can spend on different things; I do believe they are required to pay a nominal fee for this just so they will feel that they are earning something for their children. The books are new, and of course, the titles and stories are approved by the DOC. Gail Rinderknecht Des Moines Area Community College ABE/GED Instructor Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kathy Olesen-Tracey Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 9:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5592 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/303d7bb9/attachment.bin From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Mar 19 13:37:04 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:37:04 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 896] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation References: Message-ID: Transition is just now being more thoroughly addressed in Iowa. As a GED/ABE instructor in a male facility, I have always helped the men fill out FAFSA forms when they near release and/or completion of their GED. I keep current catalogs from the community colleges as well as the addresses for information for all colleges in Iowa. Of course now FAFSA is going "paperless" and prefers to have applications completed online. We, however, are not yet at the point where we allow inmates internet access, so I do have to continually request hard copies in order to keep them on hand. For some reason, they won't send out for than 20 or 25 at a time. At this point in time, staff is not allowed to have personal contact with the men for 18 months following their release, but this is changing, at least for some of the counselors, as the need for transition is being explored. Personally, I see so much optimism among the men as they finish their GED...indeed, as they complete each test, that I believe directing them and helping them acquire more education and skills upon release is necessary. I taught special education at the high school level for 16 years before being hired by Des Moines Area Community College to work at the Newton Correctional Facility. As I believed while teaching teenagers with mild disabilities, and I still believe, that many learning difficulties are caused by depression. As a person who has suffered from severe recurring depression, I discovered that my own abilities to think and plan were significantly disrupted by my bouts with depression. This was confirmed when I underwent treatment in a special program at the University of Iowa Psychiatric Clinic. At that time I was basically unemployable, and while undergoing tests, found my IQ had dropped to 85; my normal IQ has always been in the mid-130's. I could not think let alone learn. I couldn't follow the story line of a television show; I could not read a book. This was a revelation to me and should be to most teachers which is why I post it here. In Newton we know that nearly 60% of our population has "dual diagnosis" which literally means that we have a lot of mentally ill people in the system. This should not come as a surprise to anyone involved in corrections, but it may be significant to someone new to the field of corrections education. If I see a student "spacing off" a lot, I will often inquire privately about what they are feeling and if there is any way that I can help. Usually I end up referring them to the staff psychologist with a memo about my observations and conversation with the individual. It's not that I think everyone needs to medicated, but I do believe that if a true diagnosis of depression or other mental illness is determined by a professional, that need must be met before learning can take place. Then, of course, upon release, the men must be able to continue to access medication and psychiatric help if needed. This is often a huge stumbling block for them because of the costs involved. It is helpful here to note that many pharmacies are coming onboard with the $4 generic prescription for medications which does include many psychotropic drugs. It is often amazing to find that many health professionals are not aware of these programs. Gail Rinderknecht DMACC Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 4:21 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 869] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation As the SPED coordinator, we work directly with a transition specialist to determine which community-based programs are available to meet the continuing needs of the students. We write transitional goals, prepare a Summary of Performance, provide agency names, but I do not place the calls for them, so I assume this may not happen immediately. Occasionally, I will get calls from released inmates for more information which I can provide. Geri Hayden Department of Correctional Education SPED/504 Coordinator Virginia In a message dated 3/17/2008 6:13:32 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, djrosen at comcast.net writes: For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to geriteaches22963 at aol.com **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5833 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/ed2b895d/attachment.bin From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Mar 19 14:01:25 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:01:25 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 897] Re: Posting References: Message-ID: As things stand in Iowa, a child would not be allowed to bring a "scrapbook" in to an incarcerated parent. Stickers and glue and indeed, just paper, can be impregnated with drugs, so all of these things are "contraband." At this point, we even have to inspect diapers for hidden drugs. Even photographs are scrutinized for gang signs. People who are not directly involved in corrections have no idea of the security risks involved with what may seem like obvious and mundane ways of helping parents and children remain in contact while a parent is incarcerated. Gail Rinderknecht DMACC Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Louise Wiener Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 6:28 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 880] Re: Posting Dear Denise, I was really touched by the story of your efforts. LLF has developed parent involvement materials for parents of 3 to 5 year olds. (There?s always a little flex on both ends but that is who we designed for) We have never used them in a correctional environment. One set of materials, designed for home-based programs, might be useful for parents of young children. The advantage is that the program provides a variety of ?hunt? activities and a family portfolio or scrapbook for children to put their interpretations of specific questions. It might be a useful way to help the parents feel in charge and let the children create things to bring to visits. This use is far from our original vision, but if you want to explore further, contact me separately and we?ll see what we can provide you for you to test with your population. Good luck with your important work, Louise Wiener (lwiener at LLFinc.org) On 3/18/08 9:29 AM, "Denise McIntire" wrote: > Bonnie and all that follow, > > I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. > We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult > basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for > corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per > session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and > also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages > as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be > reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs > especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of > supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce > training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives > in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the > cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is > still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according > to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a > time. > > Bonnie Odiorne wrote: > >> >> >> Gary, >> >> You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other >> community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group >> of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at >> the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and >> the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, >> that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time >> ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still >> functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, >> and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of >> unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the >> incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house >> transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw >> education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. >> Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are >> lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the >> system. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. >> >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ---- >> From: "Upham, Gary" >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting >> >> Gary Upham >> Maine State Prison Principal >> >> I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year >> and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this >> population has special education needs. However I have tried, >> unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and >> strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as >> current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a >> major need under these conditions? >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com > > > > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. > egory.php?category=shopping> > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lwiener at llfinc.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5884 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/1144a628/attachment.bin From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Mar 19 14:22:27 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:22:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 898] Re: Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Message-ID: The most successful program in Iowa was recently terminated. Men who completed the program had the lowest rate of recidivism. But it was faith based: Christian. It was not a mandated program. It was completely voluntary. The men could choose to participate in the program or not. It did not cost the state extra, in fact, it cost the state less because the counselors were paid by an outside group. The state paid for housing, correctional officers, food, medical, etc, but all program costs were paid by the Prison Fellowship...the Innerchange Faith Initiative. All of the men in the program were in one housing unit where they could support one another and receive support. This program allowed men to renew or establish a faith in God. Outside church groups would send in trained volunteers to be mentors who would then help the men transition back into their communities. But because it was a religious based program within a state-run institution it came up against the separation of church and state. And so it has been discontinued. Gail Rinderknecht DMACC Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 6:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals Colleagues, Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 > years. I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates > for release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release > programs. But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates > to allow them to connect with release plans in their release > community. Given increasing security concerns and the increase of > Half Way Houses or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a > step. We began turning people over to halfway houses with no > direct contact and probably very poor procedures for delivery of > institutional education records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison > and final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, > clothing tools , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also > "hand off" many ot their clients to a final release area many miles > away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal > handoff to local resources was particularly difficult. State > Prisons should have it a little easier and county jails should be > able to actually maintain personal contacts with community > resources. But I think a real key is to be able to provide > personal connections to community resources. In a county jail > situation it would seem that it might be possible for direct > relationships among prison staff and county educational > resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might be raised > but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 6281 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/d5408429/attachment.bin From wrmuth at vcu.edu Wed Mar 19 13:29:24 2008 From: wrmuth at vcu.edu (William R Muth/FS/VCU) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:29:24 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 899] Re: Supporting program continuity In-Reply-To: Message-ID: David, In your e-mail regarding family literacy programs you asked "I wonder if any of these corrections family literacy programs facilitate the transition from corrections to community. If so, how do they do this?" Hope House DC hosts a number of ongoing activities to support caregivers and children while fathers are in prison. For example, once a month HH takes the children to outings (museums, bowling, movies, sports events...). HH also has occasional dinners for caregivers, raises funds for holiday gifts, conducts writing workshops twice a year (the children have published two books of poetry), and, of course maintains three main programs--storybook reading (books on tape), video conferencing, and summer camp. When the father is released from prison the family remains part of the hope House community. Once of the fathers now sits on the HH board, and, as the children grow up, they are often brought back as HH summer camp counselors. Bill Anthony (a mentor of mine from many moons past) put his finger on a potent, yet vexing, issue - the personal support networks for prisoners and their families. I have no doubt that HH has succeeded in keeping almost all of the so called "at-risk" children in the program from entering the criminal justice system because of the personal relationships the fathers, children, caregivers and even prison wardens and education staff have with Carol Fennelly. Carol is the HH founder and a social activist in DC. Before launching HH she founded, managed and lived on the premises of the largest homeless shelter in DC. Thus she has known many of the families involved in HH from their prior stays at the shelter. While I do not believe that you have to be a civic superstar like Carol to create these personal networks, personal connections from inside to outside have to be cultivated over time, and require almost unimaginable perseverance. I have an article on the father-child video conferencing program if anyone is interested. Bill "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 03/19/2008 07:23 AM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 888] Supporting program continuity Colleagues, On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > I also believe that there are a number of available education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued > on the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as > the Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link > materials for GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue > to use the same resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, > we are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever > they go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of > resources can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we > all know that many inmate families could use educational help also. Thanks, Bill, for raising the issue of program continuity. I have several questions for our guests and for other participants: 1. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 2. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 3. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options. 4. Are there other examples of corrections family literacy programs? In our previous discussion here, http://tinyurl.com/2bh52a for example, Cay Buser mentioned that Maryland has some good examples. Cay, could you elaborate on that? Bill Muth, in the same discussion, mentioned programs in D.C., Virginia, New York and Connecticut. Other programs were mentioned as well. I wonder if any of these corrections family literacy programs facilitate the transition from corrections to community. If so, how do they do this? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080319/29203658/attachment.html From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Wed Mar 19 17:26:07 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:26:07 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 900] Re: Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals In-Reply-To: <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> References: <00a201c88946$4d721fa0$6501a8c0@BillHP> <704D6E3D-7711-49D6-9836-0448EDD5A7E1@comcast.net> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD012920BA@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> David wrote: "Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them?" The Fortune Society has recently begun (with funding from the NYC Dept. of Correction) a Discharge Planning Initiative at Rikers Island, New York City's main jail. We meet people on the island and work with them while they are incarcerated to develop a "Discharge Plan" and put in place the needed supports before they are released. On the day of their release, we pick them at the facility and give them a ride to their destination (usually Fortune). Here, we get them set up for the services they need (housing, drug treatment, education, etc.) and then stay in touch with them for at least the next 90 days if possible. This continuity makes a tremendous difference. There are several other programs here in New York that have built similar relationships, but without that institutional connection the sheer number of people being released makes it difficult to maintain relationships with staff on the inside. Still, many agencies do visit and make presentations at Rikers. Unfortunately, the state prisons are for the most part so far away and remote from New York City where the majority of inmates are from, that the visits and phone calls that would support those staff-to-staff relationships are very hard to build. John Gordon -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 years. > I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates for > release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release programs. > But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates to > allow them to connect with release plans in their release community. > Given increasing security concerns and the increase of Half Way Houses > or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a step. We began > turning people over to halfway houses with no direct contact and > probably very poor procedures for delivery of institutional education > records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison and > final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, clothing tools > , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also "hand off" many ot > their clients to a final release area many miles away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal handoff > to local resources was particularly difficult. State Prisons should > have it a little easier and county jails should be able to actually > maintain personal contacts with community resources. But I think a > real key is to be able to provide personal connections to community > resources. In a county jail situation it would seem that it might be > possible for direct relationships among prison staff and county > educational resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might > be raised but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such > concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued on > the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as the > Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link materials for > GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue to use the same > resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, we > are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever they > go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of resources > can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we all know that > many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jgordon at fortunesociety.org From cimel at ldawa.org Wed Mar 19 22:34:58 2008 From: cimel at ldawa.org (Cyd Imel) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:34:58 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: References: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Message-ID: What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:03 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 895] Re: Posting We have a program called "Storybook" which is run by the recreation department at Newton Correctional Facility. The population at this facility is all male and at one site is medium security and at the other site is minimum security. The men can choose a book which is appropriate for the age of their child and read it on tape. The book and the tape are then sent to the child. The men seem to enjoy keeping in touch with their children in this manner and many of them take advantage of this program. I am not sure how it is funded, although I do know that the men have jobs where they earn money that they can spend on different things; I do believe they are required to pay a nominal fee for this just so they will feel that they are earning something for their children. The books are new, and of course, the titles and stories are approved by the DOC. Gail Rinderknecht Des Moines Area Community College ABE/GED Instructor Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kathy Olesen-Tracey Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 9:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Mar 20 07:47:33 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:47:33 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 902] Programs to address when the inmate cannot read Message-ID: <116088A8-084C-46D7-9104-C31184F63460@comcast.net> Posted on behalf of John Nally From: "Nally, John" Date: March 20, 2008 7:20:41 AM EDT To: , Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting Good morning, To encourage non-reading adults in Indiana prisons we have provided an incentive: Those that that hit our literacy benchmarks are provided a 183-day time reduction. Thanks. John Nally Indiana -----Original Message----- Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:35 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. From John.Linton at ed.gov Thu Mar 20 08:04:12 2008 From: John.Linton at ed.gov (Linton, John) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:04:12 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 903] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation Message-ID: Maybe Gail and others would be interested in this new resource: "Back to School -- A Guide to Continuing Your Education After Prison." It is intended to assist prisoners who are planning for educational participation post release. (While the content of this guide has been completed and is fully available at the web site below, a version with more professional graphics is still under development. When fully complete, we will be inviting State correctional education programs to augment this resource with State specific information and to incorporate it in pre-release programming.) "Back to School" is available at: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/centersInstitutes/pri/BacktoSchool.pdf Also -- Thanks Gail for your important and self disclosing comments on mental health. You mention "dual diagnosis," and I think you mean drug abusing and mentally ill? We hear so much about the connections between drug abuse and prison, but the mental illness side of this gets less attention. Certainly some involvement with illegal drugs stems from attempts by people who are suffering from mental illness to self medicate. I suspect some drug abusers might not have known how to access legitimate help for their distress. Maybe health education in prison could assist some people to avoid re-involvement with illegal drugs and crime... John Linton -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 1:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 869] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation Transition is just now being more thoroughly addressed in Iowa. As a GED/ABE instructor in a male facility, I have always helped the men fill out FAFSA forms when they near release and/or completion of their GED. I keep current catalogs from the community colleges as well as the addresses for information for all colleges in Iowa. Of course now FAFSA is going "paperless" and prefers to have applications completed online. We, however, are not yet at the point where we allow inmates internet access, so I do have to continually request hard copies in order to keep them on hand. For some reason, they won't send out for than 20 or 25 at a time. At this point in time, staff is not allowed to have personal contact with the men for 18 months following their release, but this is changing, at least for some of the counselors, as the need for transition is being explored. Personally, I see so much optimism among the men as they finish their GED...indeed, as they complete each test, that I believe directing them and helping them acquire more education and skills upon release is necessary. I taught special education at the high school level for 16 years before being hired by Des Moines Area Community College to work at the Newton Correctional Facility. As I believed while teaching teenagers with mild disabilities, and I still believe, that many learning difficulties are caused by depression. As a person who has suffered from severe recurring depression, I discovered that my own abilities to think and plan were significantly disrupted by my bouts with depression. This was confirmed when I underwent treatment in a special program at the University of Iowa Psychiatric Clinic. At that time I was basically unemployable, and while undergoing tests, found my IQ had dropped to 85; my normal IQ has always been in the mid-130's. I could not think let alone learn. I couldn't follow the story line of a television show; I could not read a book. This was a revelation to me and should be to most teachers which is why I post it here. In Newton we know that nearly 60% of our population has "dual diagnosis" which literally means that we have a lot of mentally ill people in the system. This should not come as a surprise to anyone involved in corrections, but it may be significant to someone new to the field of corrections education. If I see a student "spacing off" a lot, I will often inquire privately about what they are feeling and if there is any way that I can help. Usually I end up referring them to the staff psychologist with a memo about my observations and conversation with the individual. It's not that I think everyone needs to medicated, but I do believe that if a true diagnosis of depression or other mental illness is determined by a professional, that need must be met before learning can take place. Then, of course, upon release, the men must be able to continue to access medication and psychiatric help if needed. This is often a huge stumbling block for them because of the costs involved. It is helpful here to note that many pharmacies are coming onboard with the $4 generic prescription for medications which does include many psychotropic drugs. It is often amazing to find that many health professionals are not aware of these programs. Gail Rinderknecht DMACC Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Geriteaches22963 at aol.com Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 4:21 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 869] Re: From corrections education to communityeducation As the SPED coordinator, we work directly with a transition specialist to determine which community-based programs are available to meet the continuing needs of the students. We write transitional goals, prepare a Summary of Performance, provide agency names, but I do not place the calls for them, so I assume this may not happen immediately. Occasionally, I will get calls from released inmates for more information which I can provide. Geri Hayden Department of Correctional Education SPED/504 Coordinator Virginia In a message dated 3/17/2008 6:13:32 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, djrosen at comcast.net writes: For all our guests: When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to geriteaches22963 at aol.com **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom0 0030000000001) From alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu Thu Mar 20 08:27:34 2008 From: alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu (Daphne Greenberg) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:27:34 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 904] Re: Programs to address when the inmate cannot read Message-ID: <47E21FF6020000310004CA55@mailsrv4.gsu.edu> John, Thanks for sharing this with us. How are the benchmarks determined, and what if an inmate tries very hard (however that would be best defined in your setting-some examples may be attending all instructional sessions, actively engaging during the instruction, handing in homework, etc), but does not meet the benchmarks? Daphne >>> "David J. Rosen" 03/20/08 7:47 AM >>> Posted on behalf of John Nally From: "Nally, John" Date: March 20, 2008 7:20:41 AM EDT To: , Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting Good morning, To encourage non-reading adults in Indiana prisons we have provided an incentive: Those that that hit our literacy benchmarks are provided a 183-day time reduction. Thanks. John Nally Indiana -----Original Message----- Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:35 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to dgreenberg at gsu.edu From Patricia.Kueckelhan at doc.mo.gov Thu Mar 20 08:37:00 2008 From: Patricia.Kueckelhan at doc.mo.gov (Kueckelhan, Patricia) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:37:00 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 905] Re: Building and sustaining personalrelationshipsfor good referrals In-Reply-To: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD012920BA@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> Message-ID: <507C34A089B0CA4B9DA3D98D7A85FDEE096D4D@EXCHVS73.mx.state.mo.us> Hello all, This is the first time I have put my two cents worth in these discussion. I have always enjoyed reading and learning how we are so alike and different at the same time. I am the Literacy Coordinator for the Department of Corrections in Missouri. As some of you may be aware, education is mandatory for offenders in Missouri with some exclusions. Because of mandatory education we have a staff of over 300 including vocational and education teachers, liberians, and administrative staff. In our education department we provide essential life skills (ES/LS) as a mandatory course along with the GED course program. All offenders preparing to leave must complete the ES/LS program. One of my key jobs is to train offenders to be peer tutors. These tutors have been an invaluable part of the education process. We are also involved in a state wide process called the Missouri Reentry Process. This is a means to insure that all offenders are preparing to reenter into society the moment they enter the institutions. For more information on MRP visit: http://www.doc.mo.gov/ Patty Kueckelhan Literacy Coordinator MO Department of Corrections -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John Gordon Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 4:26 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 900] Re: Building and sustaining personalrelationshipsfor good referrals David wrote: "Bill Anthony points to the importance of personal connections to community resources. I wonder if our guest experts -- and other participants -- have examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them?" The Fortune Society has recently begun (with funding from the NYC Dept. of Correction) a Discharge Planning Initiative at Rikers Island, New York City's main jail. We meet people on the island and work with them while they are incarcerated to develop a "Discharge Plan" and put in place the needed supports before they are released. On the day of their release, we pick them at the facility and give them a ride to their destination (usually Fortune). Here, we get them set up for the services they need (housing, drug treatment, education, etc.) and then stay in touch with them for at least the next 90 days if possible. This continuity makes a tremendous difference. There are several other programs here in New York that have built similar relationships, but without that institutional connection the sheer number of people being released makes it difficult to maintain relationships with staff on the inside. Still, many agencies do visit and make presentations at Rikers. Unfortunately, the state prisons are for the most part so far away and remote from New York City where the majority of inmates are from, that the visits and phone calls that would support those staff-to-staff relationships are very hard to build. John Gordon -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:44 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 882] Building and sustaining personal relationshipsfor good referrals David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Bill Anthony wrote: > David Rosen, > > Regarding your question below -- > > I was involved with Federal Correctional Education for some 25 years. > I believe we did a relatively good job of preparing inmates for > release with GED, Vocational. counseling and Pre Release programs. > But, we did not do a particularly good job of "handing > inmates off" to the appropriate community education resources. > Many years ago we had release furloughs for lesser security inmates to > allow them to connect with release plans in their release community. > Given increasing security concerns and the increase of Half Way Houses > or Community Treatment Centers I believe we lost a step. We began > turning people over to halfway houses with no direct contact and > probably very poor procedures for delivery of institutional education > records to the half way houses. > > The half way houses were often just an interim step between prison and > final relief destination. They helped in getting jobs, clothing tools > , and rent money; but they ultimatley had to also "hand off" many ot > their clients to a final release area many miles away. > > We can take some solace in the fact that, as a federal instituion, > we were releasing inmates all over the country and a personal handoff > to local resources was particularly difficult. State Prisons should > have it a little easier and county jails should be able to actually > maintain personal contacts with community resources. But I think a > real key is to be able to provide personal connections to community > resources. In a county jail situation it would seem that it might be > possible for direct relationships among prison staff and county > educational resources . I'm sure the issue of privacy concerns might > be raised but it would seem inmates would have the right to waive such > concerns. > > I also believe that there are a number of availabe education > resources that qualify as "Lifelong Learning" resources. That > is, we can provide resources in the prison that can be continued on > the streets. If we train the inmates to use a system such as the > Public Broadcasting, Educational TV, and Literacy Link materials for > GED and Workplace Skills; the inmates can continue to use the same > resources on their own after release and possibly > get help from community Adult Education programs where necessary. > I know the computer security issues in higher security prisons but, we > are really at the point where we need to find ways to give > inmates the skills to use internet resources. Can we hook inmates > up with more internet resources that can go with them where ever they > go and whenever their schedule permits? Use of this type of resources > can also help improve "Family Literacy". I suspect we all know that > many inmate families could use educational help also. > > > Bill Anthony > SYNSOL at cableone.net > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > For all our guests: > > When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state > corrections institution or county jail and is released, what needs to > happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based > education program? Do these events need to happen immediately mon > release or can they be phased in over time after housing, shelter, > counseling and job needs are met? Are you aware of any exemplary > models of connections between inside education and community based > education programs? Can you tell us about them? What can community- > based education programs do to partner with corrections education > programs that release inmates back to their communities? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jgordon at fortunesociety.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to patricia.kueckelhan at doc.mo.gov From kridolfino at mercercounty.org Thu Mar 20 09:02:05 2008 From: kridolfino at mercercounty.org (Ridolfino, Kiel) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:02:05 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 906] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Just some information about our program: The education department of Mercer County Correction Center (NJ) consists of 3 teachers (one ESL), two classrooms, and a "library". Most of our students do not have a GED and their goal is to obtain one. Our three teachers collaborate together to help students achieve their goal. GED testing takes place onsite by a state-certified proctor. We currently do not offer college courses, but we do not turn anyone away, so students who already have their high school diploma enter a program called Life Skills and work on workplace literacy, typing/computer skills, grammar and writing, and we also offer a program based upon ex-offenders re-entering society and obtaining jobs. We have materials that cover resume writing and job interview skills specifically for ex-offenders. Most recently, we started planning for a program that would allow inmates to have their poetry published in a book compiled of writings from all different inmates within the facility. We currently have approx. 165 students enrolled in the education program. At the end of 2006, when our education department was first established, we had 7 high school graduates. With the addition of another teacher in 2007, 18 more students obtained their GEDs. As of right now we have 4 graduates in 2008. There are many security issues/restrictions due to the fact that not only is this a minimum to maximum security facility, but there are also men and women here. Like I had previously mentioned, we do not offer college courses here, but we are trying greatly to connect with local colleges to be able to. Does anyone know what process we must go through or could you tell me what your facility had to do to be able to offer college courses?? We have been left in the dark and communication with colleges has been such a challenge for us! Thank you! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org ________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/86ee16fd/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Mar 20 09:48:29 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:48:29 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Message-ID: <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community- based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/55d482ec/attachment.html From Jnally at idoc.IN.gov Thu Mar 20 10:09:48 2008 From: Jnally at idoc.IN.gov (Nally, John) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:09:48 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 908] Re: Programs to address when the inmate cannotread In-Reply-To: <47E21FF6020000310004CA55@mailsrv4.gsu.edu> References: <47E21FF6020000310004CA55@mailsrv4.gsu.edu> Message-ID: <13CF702D5C6FAB48B08EE460471809AC01427F08@IOTEVSP06VW.shared.state.in.us> Hello, Base eligibility for the literacy programs is determined at intake based on pre sentence investigation reports and public school records. Once a non-reader can score a minimum of a 5.9 grade equivalency on TABE 9 and 10 in the areas of reading, math, and language arts AND complete a basic life skills course, he can apply for the 183-day credit time. On those who are unable to do so there is an opportunity to receive a 90-day time cut but it would take a lot of writing to explain that process. While I'm on line...Indiana has contracts with Indiana-based colleges and universities to provide full-time, on-site associate and bachelor degree programs in adult facilities. These programs, by contract, are the same as those offered on campus with the same programs, materials, instructors, etc. Typically, 20% of the eligible population (eligibility is primarily a GED and enough time to complete the degree program) participates each day. As a general rule, inmates complete the degree programs prior to release so the issue of re-enrollment is absent. However, with our community college partner in particular, once they're enrolled inside, they're automatically enrolled in the college programs after release. As of this morning, 35% adult offenders are illiterate; 55% have their GED's and the balance has already completed the college degree programs. Thanks. John Nally in Indiana -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:28 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 904] Re: Programs to address when the inmate cannotread John, Thanks for sharing this with us. How are the benchmarks determined, and what if an inmate tries very hard (however that would be best defined in your setting-some examples may be attending all instructional sessions, actively engaging during the instruction, handing in homework, etc), but does not meet the benchmarks? Daphne >>> "David J. Rosen" 03/20/08 7:47 AM >>> Posted on behalf of John Nally From: "Nally, John" Date: March 20, 2008 7:20:41 AM EDT To: , Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting Good morning, To encourage non-reading adults in Indiana prisons we have provided an incentive: Those that that hit our literacy benchmarks are provided a 183-day time reduction. Thanks. John Nally Indiana -----Original Message----- Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:35 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to dgreenberg at gsu.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jnally at doc.in.gov From RShutts at doc.state.vt.us Thu Mar 20 10:10:16 2008 From: RShutts at doc.state.vt.us (Shutts, Roberta) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:10:16 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 909] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: <4152061F72B25B40876D89863BA6BA00A2E644@docmail1> 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? Regarding this question, I take pride in Community High School of VT, part of the Dept of Corrections. Our school is accredited by New England Association of Schools and Colleges(NEASC) as an independent school. "The mission of the Community High School of Vermont(CHSVT) is to provide an accredited, coordinated and personalized education that assists students in their academic, social and vocational successes." We have 17 CHSVT campuses(8 facilities & 9 community). VT DOC mandates anyone incarcerated, under the age of 23, without a high school diploma to be enrolled and participating in education, having a GED does not exempt the individual. After a student leaves a facility to return to the community they can access CHSVT to complete their academics they were working on inside the facility and move forward on graduation requirements. All CHSVT faculty are licensed teachers including Special Education teachers who are responsible for meeting VT Special Education regulations and law. For students who reoffend and are in and out, there is open communication between campuses and a database for student records. If you would like more information feel free to contact me at rshutts at doc.state.vt.us ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net This email message may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this email message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this email message from your computer. CAUTION: The Agency of Human Services cannot ensure the confidentiality or security of email transmissions. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/157c1791/attachment.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Thu Mar 20 10:43:09 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:43:09 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 910] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: All Another resource, in Providence, working to assist ex-offenders in the re-entry process. Rhode Island's Family Life Center - resources to assist ex-offenders and their families by providing long-term holistic case management services starting prior to release from prison and extending up to 18 months thereafter. http://www.ri-familylifecenter.org/ The site features a mapping element that many across advocacy interests have utilized to graphically illustrate communities most impacted by their residents' comings and goings into and out of prison. Not surprisingly, some groups are disproportionately represented in prison and out of communities. The state passed legislation last year to restore the vote to former offenders; this kind of mapping data (as well as very energetic efforts by advocates) played a significant part in passing the legislation (I believe) http://www.ri-familylifecenter.org/index.php?name=mapping Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/7f0cde6b/attachment.html From SYNSOL at cableone.net Thu Mar 20 12:19:12 2008 From: SYNSOL at cableone.net (Bill Anthony) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:19:12 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 911] Re: Corrections to Community Education References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: <041001c88aa6$22b2b340$6501a8c0@BillHP> David, I believe that your list of 13 questions is a very good recap of the discussions so far. I will set about suggesting some answers for as many as possible. The two day target is tough - but I'll try. Regarding question #12- I believe that Vance Granville College is trying that technique with the Federal Correctional Center in Butner NC. They are using one of the several authoring systems for delivering on-line courses. They have installed these courses on a closed system "server" within the prison. Such systems normally connect teachers and students through an e-mail feature. I believe the lack of such an e-mail feature to connect student and teachers is a problem that needs to be resolved and possibly can be through older technologies such a direct "Hot Line" phone support. I know that Kentucky and (I believe) West Virginia have an Adult Education Program that teaches GED as a distance education course using an 800 number phone support line to help students complete a largely self study multi media curriculum. I believe it has been rather successful with students at higher grade levels and with reasonable self discipline. I know a feature of the Kentucky program is that the students and teachers sign a "contract" agreeing on what each will bring to the program. Bill anthony ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----- Original Message ----- From: David J. Rosen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:48 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to synsol at cableone.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/d087b3ff/attachment.html From rennies at csusb.edu Thu Mar 20 14:22:45 2008 From: rennies at csusb.edu (Scott Rennie) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:22:45 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 912] Second Chance Act Message-ID: <47E2AB75.2080209@csusb.edu> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/b4aea44d/attachment.html From mtate at sbctc.edu Thu Mar 20 11:42:00 2008 From: mtate at sbctc.edu (Michael Tate) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:42:00 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 913] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE02C78B13@exch-1.sbctc2.local> Here in WA state, when our legislators think about corrections it is either to lower costs or to stop recidivism. In the 1980s, they decided that inmates got too many perks and not enough punishment, so they eliminated inmate access to community college courses (except for a few vocational courses related to inmate jobs). It turned out to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater, since the inmates who took philosophy courses that dealt with ethics, citizen responsibility, the rule of law, the greater good, etc were very unlikely to return to prison. Certainly these inmates had better skills and were more employable on release, but lifelong correctional educators were convinced the subject matter of right and wrong made a big difference. Of course, this kind of opportunity would be wasted on an inmate who was sociopathic, etc. Have any of you seen or heard of similar impacts as a result of classes that focus on more than employability? From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 6:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/ed1d4369/attachment.html From John.Linton at ed.gov Thu Mar 20 11:28:05 2008 From: John.Linton at ed.gov (Linton, John) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:28:05 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 914] Re: Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: In response to the college question -- many don't realize that although state and federal prison inmates are not Pell grant eligible -- persons in jails and half way houses are. If you do not have funds to contract with a college, it may still be possible to fund a program through federal student financial aid. The big issue with doing so is time. Often the turn over of the population in local corrections is too rapid to make this a practical solution. Many community colleges provide educational program in correctional settings. If there is a local community college, perhaps an initial contact with the community college president by your sheriff would open the door for a discussion of whether a program would be possible. I have a fact sheet on federal student financial aid for the incarcerated which I will attach, but I don't know if the listserv allows attachments. I rather suspect it does not. If it doesn't come through and anyone reading this would like to have one, please e mail me directly at john.linton at ed.gov. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Ridolfino, Kiel Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 906] Re: Corrections to Community Education Just some information about our program: The education department of Mercer County Correction Center (NJ) consists of 3 teachers (one ESL), two classrooms, and a "library". Most of our students do not have a GED and their goal is to obtain one. Our three teachers collaborate together to help students achieve their goal. GED testing takes place onsite by a state-certified proctor. We currently do not offer college courses, but we do not turn anyone away, so students who already have their high school diploma enter a program called Life Skills and work on workplace literacy, typing/computer skills, grammar and writing, and we also offer a program based upon ex-offenders re-entering society and obtaining jobs. We have materials that cover resume writing and job interview skills specifically for ex-offenders. Most recently, we started planning for a program that would allow inmates to have their poetry published in a book compiled of writings from all different inmates within the facility. We currently have approx. 165 students enrolled in the education program. At the end of 2006, when our education department was first established, we had 7 high school graduates. With the addition of another teacher in 2007, 18 more students obtained their GEDs. As of right now we have 4 graduates in 2008. There are many security issues/restrictions due to the fact that not only is this a minimum to maximum security facility, but there are also men and women here. Like I had previously mentioned, we do not offer college courses here, but we are trying greatly to connect with local colleges to be able to. Does anyone know what process we must go through or could you tell me what your facility had to do to be able to offer college courses?? We have been left in the dark and communication with colleges has been such a challenge for us! Thank you! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org _____ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/b12ae4e1/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FAQ Incarcerated Individuals FINAL 11.26.07.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 98539 bytes Desc: FAQ Incarcerated Individuals FINAL 11.26.07.pdf Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/b12ae4e1/attachment.obj From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Thu Mar 20 10:49:50 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:49:50 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 915] Re: Corrections to Community Education References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Message-ID: In Iowa we have found fewer and fewer colleges offering hard copy courses for anyone. They are transitioning to online classes, and because our inmates are not allowed internet access, there is less access to higher education. As far as what crimes have been committed, I have many students with drug offenses that range from multiple charges of possession with intent to deliver to manufacturing meth. In the minimum security facility I have many students with multiple drunk driving offenses. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are pedophiles, robbery, armed robbery and murder. I do work in two separate facilities: one minimum and one medium security. Gail Rinderknecht Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Ridolfino, Kiel Sent: Thu 3/20/2008 8:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 906] Re: Corrections to Community Education Just some information about our program: The education department of Mercer County Correction Center (NJ) consists of 3 teachers (one ESL), two classrooms, and a "library". Most of our students do not have a GED and their goal is to obtain one. Our three teachers collaborate together to help students achieve their goal. GED testing takes place onsite by a state-certified proctor. We currently do not offer college courses, but we do not turn anyone away, so students who already have their high school diploma enter a program called Life Skills and work on workplace literacy, typing/computer skills, grammar and writing, and we also offer a program based upon ex-offenders re-entering society and obtaining jobs. We have materials that cover resume writing and job interview skills specifically for ex-offenders. Most recently, we started planning for a program that would allow inmates to have their poetry published in a book compiled of writings from all different inmates within the facility. We currently have approx. 165 students enrolled in the education program. At the end of 2006, when our education department was first established, we had 7 high school graduates. With the addition of another teacher in 2007, 18 more students obtained their GEDs. As of right now we have 4 graduates in 2008. There are many security issues/restrictions due to the fact that not only is this a minimum to maximum security facility, but there are also men and women here. Like I had previously mentioned, we do not offer college courses here, but we are trying greatly to connect with local colleges to be able to. Does anyone know what process we must go through or could you tell me what your facility had to do to be able to offer college courses?? We have been left in the dark and communication with colleges has been such a challenge for us! Thank you! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org ________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4443 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/96e18f32/attachment.bin From cimel at ldawa.org Thu Mar 20 12:23:59 2008 From: cimel at ldawa.org (Cyd Imel) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:23:59 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 916] Re: Posting In-Reply-To: <13CF702D5C6FAB48B08EE460471809AC01427EF0@IOTEVSP06VW.shared.state.in.us> References: <9989191.161205850845984.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> <13CF702D5C6FAB48B08EE460471809AC01427EF0@IOTEVSP06VW.shared.state.in.us> Message-ID: John Nally What a great incentive. Best I have heard. Thanks for responding Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. -----Original Message----- From: Nally, John [mailto:Jnally at idoc.IN.gov] Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:21 AM To: cimel at ldawa.org; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting Good morning, To encourage non-reading adults in Indiana prisons we have provided an incentive: Those that that hit our literacy benchmarks are provided a 183-day time reduction. Thanks. John Nally Indiana -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cyd Imel Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:35 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 901] Re: Posting What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Cyd Imel Executive Director Learning Disabilities Association of Washington 16315 NE 87th Street Suite B-4 Redmond, WA. 98052 425-882-0820 ext #1 cimel at ldawa.org www.ldawa.org "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" Mary Ann Evans Learning Disabiltities Association of WA helps put the pieces together to change lives. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:03 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 895] Re: Posting We have a program called "Storybook" which is run by the recreation department at Newton Correctional Facility. The population at this facility is all male and at one site is medium security and at the other site is minimum security. The men can choose a book which is appropriate for the age of their child and read it on tape. The book and the tape are then sent to the child. The men seem to enjoy keeping in touch with their children in this manner and many of them take advantage of this program. I am not sure how it is funded, although I do know that the men have jobs where they earn money that they can spend on different things; I do believe they are required to pay a nominal fee for this just so they will feel that they are earning something for their children. The books are new, and of course, the titles and stories are approved by the DOC. Gail Rinderknecht Des Moines Area Community College ABE/GED Instructor Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kathy Olesen-Tracey Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 9:34 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 865] Re: Posting Denise, I attended an adult education conference in Illinois several years ago and learned about a program called "Reading from the Inside Out". I don't recall many of the details, so if anyone here has heard of it -please share. Essentially, the program video taped parents reading a story to their child and provide the child with the book and the video tape so the child can experience their parent reading to them. Has anyone heard about a project like this? Kathy Olesen-Tracey -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise McIntire" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:29:33 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 863] Re: Posting Bonnie and all that follow, I am the Ex. Dir. of a very small family literacy program in West Virginia. We are a volunteer literacy program as oppossed to a Dept. of Ed. funded adult basic education program. We have been offering a program since 06 for corrections facilities that works with incarcerated adults for 8 weeks per session. Our job is to keep that bond connected between parent and child and also the child's education stressing the importance of literacy for all ages as well as the caregivers responsible for the children until the family can be reunited. Yes, dollars are limited for all of the needs our society needs especially issues dealing with literacy. Please, help with the message of supporting the entire family along with the educational and workforce training. Most of the women we have worked with have spent their entire lives in the system whether due to parental units away from them as children and the cycle repeats over and over from generation to generation. Our program is still too new to have created any empirical evidence as of yet but according to inmates and families alike, we are making a difference one family at a time. Bonnie Odiorne wrote: Gary, You might call on Literacy Volunteers (now ProLiteracy USA) or some other community-based literacy adult education organization. I once trained a group of tutors who had already been recruited by someone (clergy, chaplain?) at the prison, in a "safe" area outside the high security areas. I insisted, and the director agreed, that if I was going to send tutors into this facility, that I should go in too, and I did. It was a revelation. This was a long time ago, and I really should follow up on whether or not the program is still functioning. I know of labyrinth facilitators that want to do prison work, and while that's not on the topic of educational needs, it could be a way of unlocking, as it were, some means of expressioin that might allow the incarcerated to learn. I've also done a tutor training with a halfway house transition facility, where the staff wanted the training because they saw education as such a great need in the female population they were serving. Dru rehabilitatioin facilities have also requested trainings. So there are lots of avenues that could be followed, at differing entry/exit points of the system. Best regards, Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. ----- Original Message ---- From: "Upham, Gary" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:34:26 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 849] Posting Gary Upham Maine State Prison Principal I have been the Principal of the Maine State Prison for the past year and a half. It has not taken me long to identify that much of this population has special education needs. However I have tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in resources appropriate for identification and strategies to work with my inmates. Funding is a major issue as well as current staffing, which is affected by funding. How do I deal with a major need under these conditions? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to deiswv at yahoo.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jnally at doc.in.gov From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Thu Mar 20 16:42:42 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:42:42 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 917] Re: Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: Perhaps one of the reasons for the lack of response about outcomes for reentry programs is that there is very little actual research on the topic. We all know wonderful programs that are humane and helpful, but very few of them could spend resources on evaluation. The national correctional education data project, under the auspices of John Linton, Director of Correctional Education here at the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes the need for a systematic national data system and has begun working to make that a reality. The article, "Correctional Education: Getting the Data We Need" by Steven Klein and Michelle Tolbert in the Journal of Correctional Education 58(3) September 2007, describes the need for such national data and describes efforts to use existing data to begin to capture the outcomes that we need to know to be successful advocates for correctional education and reentry initiatives. That being said, there are many promising programs that could be accessed to determine practices that might work in individual circumstances. One program from Wyoming works with women who have been released as well as with women seeking to support their families with a living wage. Betty Abbott, the correctional education director in Wyoming, has said that the program has impressive recidivism statistics. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/us/06wyoming.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref= Another article, this one from the Wall Street Journal, gives resources and highlights a Maryland reentry success. You need to follow the site to the October 3, 2007 story. http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/manageyourcareer/20071003-managingyo urcareer.html I would encourage everyone to periodically look for resources on the web site Grants.gov. There is a quick review of all new grant opportunities offered that week, as well as an index by subject area for all available Federal grants. Even if grants are listed as closed, it is possible to obtain lists of the awardees and contact them for ideas and/or resources. Here is a list of those agencies that received 3 year Prisoner Reentry Initiative Training and Technical Assistance Program grants: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/07ReentryAwards.pdf Interesting possibilities turn up in some pretty out of the way places. It would seem there would be opportunities for partnering with veterans' groups for a number of grants addressing housing and addictions issues for veterans. An economic development grant targets communities experiencing chronic high unemployment and low per capita income. Another provides opportunities for training in technology and construction trades in similar communities. My personal favorite, as an old English teacher, is a grant called Access to Artistic Excellence which calls for proposals to make the arts more widely available in underserved populations. I can see returnees establishing galleries and/or performance venues for returning as well as existing community members. The closing date on that one is August 11, 2008. There's still time. Carolyn Buser Adult Education Specialist United States Department of Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy 202-245-6697 carolyn.buser at ed.gov _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 10:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 910] Re: Corrections to Community Education All Another resource, in Providence, working to assist ex-offenders in the re-entry process. Rhode Island's Family Life Center - resources to assist ex-offenders and their families by providing long-term holistic case management services starting prior to release from prison and extending up to 18 months thereafter. http://www.ri-familylifecenter.org/ The site features a mapping element that many across advocacy interests have utilized to graphically illustrate communities most impacted by their residents' comings and goings into and out of prison. Not surprisingly, some groups are disproportionately represented in prison and out of communities. The state passed legislation last year to restore the vote to former offenders; this kind of mapping data (as well as very energetic efforts by advocates) played a significant part in passing the legislation (I believe) http://www.ri-familylifecenter.org/index.php?name=mapping Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/7466ed4b/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Mar 20 18:31:37 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:31:37 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 918] Second Chance Act FAQ References: Message-ID: <78F1FC66-0A42-4997-BBFD-ACE03E7DAEAE@comcast.net> Posted for Steve Steurer -- with the attachment in the body of this message because attachments are not allowed on National Institute For Literacy discussion Lists From: "Steve Steurer" Date: March 20, 2008 5:32:39 PM EDT To: David, Here is a nice summary of the Second Chance Act from Gene Guerrero who heads up a nationwide effort of many associations supporting re- entry. The Second Chance Act Frequently Asked Questions What does the Second Chance Act do? The Second Chance Act primarily authorizes federal funding for state and federal reentry programs. It also directs ?but does not require ? the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to consider giving federal prisoners longer stays in halfway houses, and authorizes funds for a very limited, test program for elderly prisoners (see below for details). The ?second chance? the bill refers to applies almost exclusively to people leaving prison ? it does not give shorter sentences to people already in prison. Does the Second Chance Act help people only when they get out of prison? With few exceptions, yes. The bill is designed to provide programs that help people leaving prison reenter their communities, so that they do not reoffend. Only three parts of the bill may be able to affect how long a person stays in prison. These three parts only affect people in federal prison. 1. The first lengthens the outer limits of the time an individual is guaranteed consideration for pre-release community corrections (halfway house) from six months to 12 months. However, there is no new requirement that the BOP give every person the full 12 months in a halfway house at the end of their sentence. 2. The second creates a limited pilot program called the Elderly and Family Reunification for Certain Nonviolent Offenders provision. This provision will likely only take place in one facility and is unlikely to provide relief for many individuals (see below for requirements). 3. Finally, the bill increases slightly the percentage of a federal sentence that can be served in home confinement. There is no requirement that the BOP give prisoners any time in home confinement. What federal funding is authorized under the Second Chance Act? How is it distributed? The Second Chance Act authorizes federal funding for state and federal reentry programs. In Congress, no money can be spent (appropriated) unless it is first authorized. Once authorized, the appropriations committee appropriates or distributes funds to a program. Sometimes it distributes the full amount authorized. Sometimes the amount available is less than the amount authorized. We do not know yet whether Congress will appropriate some, all or none of the money the Second Chance Act authorizes. The Second Chance Act authorizes funding for: 1. Existing demonstration and long-term adult and juvenile offender state and local reentry programs (does not apply to federal prisons), including: ? Existing adult and juvenile offender state and local reentry demonstration projects (includes educational, literacy, vocational and job placement services; a full continuum of substance abuse treatment services; and provision of comprehensive services upon reentry including mental and physical health care). ? New grants to states, tribal and local reentry courts for demonstration programs that would monitor juvenile and adult offenders reentering the community and provide them with coordinated and comprehensive reentry services and programs, including: coordinated and comprehensive reentry services and programs including drug and alcohol testing and health services and assessment; community impact panels and victim impact classes; and community services to juvenile and adult offenders, including housing assistance, education, job training and conflict intervention skills. ? Development, implementation or expansion of state, tribal or local demonstration drug treatment programs that are alternatives to imprisonment. ? Development, implementation or expansion of comprehensive and clinically appropriate family-based demonstration substance abuse treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent parent drug offenders or prison-based family treatment programs for incarcerated parents of minor children. ? Improvements in education at state, tribal, and local prisons, jails and juvenile facilities. ? Technology career training demonstration programs. 2. Enhanced drug treatment and mentoring programs, including ? Continued and improved drug treatment programs at state, tribal and local prisons, jails or juvenile facilities. (Does not apply to federal prisons.) ? Nonprofit and tribal initiatives to provide mentoring and other transitional services. (Does not apply to federal prisons.) ? Nonprofit initiatives to provide mentoring, job training, and job placement services to eligible offenders (over the age of 18 and never convicted of a violent or a sex-related offense). (Applies to both federal and state prisons.) 3. Improved federal offender reentry (applies to federal prisons only), including: ? Demonstration programs that establish a federal prisoner reentry strategy. ? Assistance to prisoners with obtaining identification prior to release. ? A pilot program called ?Elderly and Family Reunification for Certain Nonviolent Offenders.? This program will probably take place at a single facility designated by the Attorney General and will allow eligible elderly offenders who have served ten years or more of a long sentence to serve out the remainder of their terms in home detention. (Please see FAQ on this program below for more information on who is eligible.) ? A demonstration program to supervise high risk individuals in community corrections facilities and home confinement. 4. Reentry research ? Funding for research on juvenile and adult offender reentry, post-incarceration supervision violations and revocations, the needs of incarcerated parents, and the effectiveness of depot naltrexone for heroin addiction. 5. Community corrections (applies to federal prisons only) ? The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) shall ensure that a prisoner serving a term of imprisonments spends a portion of the final months of that term (not to exceed 12 months) in a community correctional facility or appropriate conditions that will afford the prisoner a reasonable opportunity to adjust and prepare for the reentry of that prisoner to the community. The BOP may place a prisoner in home confinement for the shorter of 10 percent of the term of imprisonment or six months. What is a demonstration program, demonstration project or pilot program? These are all different ways of describing an experimental program that takes place in a limited number of prisons and that is designed to show the government whether the program will work. How does the bill encourage increased use of halfway house placement prior to release from federal prison? The bill clarifies the statute governing federal halfway house placement prior to release, and ensures consideration of longer placements ? but it does not require the BOP put people in halfway houses earlier or for longer periods of time. The bill: ? Requires the BOP to ensure that, to the extent practicable, a prisoner is considered for halfway house placement or other conditions assisting in release preparation for up to 12 months, not just up to six months as set forth in current law. This provision does not require the BOP to grant each prisoner 12 months in a halfway house; ? Makes a strong statement about how the BOP should approach pre-release halfway house decisions. It directs the BOP to issue regulations that ensure that placement in a halfway house is, among other things, determined on an individual basis and of ?sufficient duration to provide the greatest likelihood of successful reintegration into the community.? ? Eliminates 18 U.S.C. ? 3624(c)?s reference to placing a prisoner in a halfway house for only 10 percent of the prisoner?s sentence, a provision the BOP has relied on to limit halfway house time to only the final 10 percent of the person?s good-time adjusted sentence or six months, whichever was shorter. The BOP had relied on a mistaken reading of the 10 percent provision to issue regulations limiting its own ability to consider a prisoner for pre-release halfway house to the final 10 percent or six months of the prisoner?s good-time adjusted sentence; ? Clarifies that BOP?s broad discretion to determine the place of confinement, including to a halfway house (but not home confinement) is not limited by 18 U.S.C. ? 3624(c). That is, any limits expressed in the halfway house provision, 18 U.S.C. ? 3624(c), do not restrain the BOP?s discretion to determine the place of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. ? 3621(b). When can someone be placed on home confinement? The bill gives the BOP discretion to place a prisoner in home confinement for six months or 10 percent of the whole term of imprisonment, whichever is less. This section of the bill does not require the BOP will award six months, 10 percent or any time in prison. Who benefits from the change in halfway house time? When will this go into effect? While the Second Change Act goes into effect immediately upon receiving the President?s signature, the BOP has 90 days after that to issue regulations implementing the new halfway house provisions. The regulations must ensure that halfway house placement is determined on an individualized basis and is sufficiently long to provide the greatest chance for successful reentry. Again, it does not guarantee or give anyone the right to the full 12 months in a halfway house, only the right to be considered for up to 12 months in a halfway house. Will the bill let elderly prisoners out early? The bill includes a pilot program for federal prisoners called the Elderly and Family Reunification for Certain Nonviolent Offenders. It is a demonstration program that may be limited to only one BOP facility. (The law allows the BOP to set up more than one demonstration program, but this is not likely.) At that facility, the BOP will select individuals who meet the following criteria: (i) not less than 65 years of age; (ii) serving a term of imprisonment that is not life imprisonment -- ? based on conviction for an offense or offenses that do not include any crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of title 18, United States Code), sex offense (as defined in section 111(5) of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act), offense described in section 2332b(g)(5)(B) of title 18, United States Code, or offense under chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code, ? and has served the greater of 10 years or 75 percent of the term of imprisonment to which the offender was sentenced (75 percent becomes more than 10 years when the sentence is for longer than 160 months); (iii) has not been convicted in the past of any federal or state crime of violence, sex offense, or other offense described in clause (ii); (iv) has not been determined by the Bureau of Prisons and in the sole discretion of the BOP, to have a history of violence, or of engaging in conduct constituting a sex offense or other offense described in clause (ii), even without a record of convictions; (v) has not escaped, or attempted to escape, from a BOP institution; (vi) with respect to whom the BOP has determined that release to home detention under this section will result in a substantial net reduction of costs to the federal government; and (vii) has been determined by the BOP to be at no substantial risk of engaging in criminal conduct or of endangering any person or the public if released to home detention. The BOP is required to carry out this program in FY 2009 (that is, beginning in October 2009) and FY 2010. Does the bill mean that people in state prisons will get to do drug treatment sooner? Unfortunately, we do not know the answer to this question yet. Many prisons are likely to have increased funding for drug treatment programs. However, we do not know which prisons will be able to expand the number of drug treatment programs available to incarcerated individuals. In addition, increased numbers of programs are not likely to be immediate. Prisons will need to find qualified instructors for the new classes, and this process will take some time. Does the bill mean there will be more RDAP programs in federal prisons? No. The bill does not authorize new funding for more RDAP programs. Does the bill provide drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration? Not in the federal system. The Second Chance Act authorizes funding to states, tribal, or local prosecutors to expand, develop or implement qualified drug treatment programs that are alternatives to imprisonment. This does not apply to individuals convicted in a federal court. State, tribal or local prosecutors must apply for funding from the U.S. government and local entities if they would like to expand, develop or implement drug treatment programs that act as an alternative to incarceration. No state, tribal or local entity is required to enact such a program. Does FAMM know where each demonstration program will be implemented, including alternatives to incarceration, drug treatment programs or the Elderly and Family Reunification program? No, FAMM does not know and is unable to track what prisons will carry out which demonstration programs. We urge you to let us know as new programs are introduced in prisons. Does the bill reinstate federal parole or increase the rate of good conduct time? No, the bill does not reinstate federal parole, nor does it increase the rate at which good conduct time is awarded. Similarly, the bill does not clarify or correct the BOP?s present method of computing good conduct time. Is the Second Chance Act a law? Not yet. It has been passed by both the Senate and the House, but the President still has to sign it into law. The President has to sign the bill, to allow the bill to pass without comment or veto the bill within 10 days after receiving the bill. The President has not yet received the bill as of March 20, 2008. --------------------- Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202 Elkridge, MD 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Thu Mar 20 17:25:51 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:25:51 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 919] Re: Corrections to Community Education Message-ID: Maryland has, for several years, offered programs over the "internet" from two community colleges for medium and maximum security institutions. Each student works at a computer under the supervision of the instructor in the classroom. The computer is not connected to the internet until after all the students have left for the day and the classroom has been cleared by an officer. At that point the instructor physically unlocks the room where the server is located and, with a different key, unlocks the access to the computer. For a short time that computer is connected to the internet while the instructor uploads all the student work for the day and sends it to the college. The computer is then locked, locked in its cabinet, and the room is locked for the night. In the morning, before the students report for class, the instructor uploads the professors' comments to the students and distributes them to the class computers. The server is again disconnected and locked, the cabinet is locked, and the room housing the server is locked. After that students report for class. Students are able to have almost real time access to their professors (not fellow students in the community), and have been able to participate in "on-line" coursework. I, obviously, don't know all the technical aspects of the security system, but it is both technological and physical and was developed with consultants who work with the FBI and CIA on computer security. To my knowledge there has not been a security breach in the more than five years that this program has been in place. Contacts for this program would be Mark Mechlinski, director of correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education mmechlinski at msde.state.md.us or Ray Harbert, project director dharbert at msde.state.md.us Carolyn Buser Adult Education Specialist United States Department of Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy 202- 245 6697 carolyn.buser at ed.gov _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Bill Anthony Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:19 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 911] Re: Corrections to Community Education David, I believe that your list of 13 questions is a very good recap of the discussions so far. I will set about suggesting some answers for as many as possible. The two day target is tough - but I'll try. Regarding question #12- I believe that Vance Granville College is trying that technique with the Federal Correctional Center in Butner NC. They are using one of the several authoring systems for delivering on-line courses. They have installed these courses on a closed system "server" within the prison. Such systems normally connect teachers and students through an e-mail feature. I believe the lack of such an e-mail feature to connect student and teachers is a problem that needs to be resolved and possibly can be through older technologies such a direct "Hot Line" phone support. I know that Kentucky and (I believe) West Virginia have an Adult Education Program that teaches GED as a distance education course using an 800 number phone support line to help students complete a largely self study multi media curriculum. I believe it has been rather successful with students at higher grade levels and with reasonable self discipline. I know a feature of the Kentucky program is that the students and teachers sign a "contract" agreeing on what each will bring to the program. Bill anthony ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----- Original Message ----- From: David J. Rosen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:48 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net _____ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to synsol at cableone.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/1d4ea92f/attachment.html From ktracey at cait.org Thu Mar 20 17:26:32 2008 From: ktracey at cait.org (Kathy Olesen-Tracey) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:26:32 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 920] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <041001c88aa6$22b2b340$6501a8c0@BillHP> Message-ID: <14454637.41206048392790.JavaMail.root@vanadium.sys.ma.cait.org> Hello, In Illinois, the GED-i project (http://ged-i.org) is used by adult education programs to provide online GED test preparation instruction. The system is also being used state -wide in 3 other states. Last year, we modified this system to be delivered in a correctional setting in the state of Washington. The online curriculum was modified to be delivered via a server based curriculum, and we worked closely with the instructors to support their experience. There was a pilot group of students and we found that this method of delivery worked extremely well in the setting. As we progress through the pilot process, we are investigating offering the curriculum via the Interent with security ensuring that offenders can access the content online, but can not navigate away from the site. We are still in discussion and planning for this. Kathy -- Center for the Application of Information Technologies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Anthony" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 11:19:12 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [SpecialTopics 911] Re: Corrections to Community Education David, I believe that your list of 13 questions is a very good recap of the discussions so far. I will set about suggesting some answers for as many as possible. The two day target is tough - but I'll try. Regarding question #12- I believe that Vance Granville College is trying that technique with the Federal Correctional Center in Butner NC. They are using one of the several authoring systems for delivering on-line courses. They have installed these courses on a closed system "server" within the prison. Such systems normally connect teachers and students through an e-mail feature. I believe the lack of such an e-mail feature to connect student and teachers is a problem that needs to be resolved and possibly can be through older technologies such a direct "Hot Line" phone support. I know that Kentucky and (I believe) West Virginia have an Adult Education Program that teaches GED as a distance education course using an 800 number phone support line to help students complete a largely self study multi media curriculum. I believe it has been rather successful with students at higher grade levels and with reasonable self discipline. I know a feature of the Kentucky program is that the students and teachers sign a "contract" agreeing on what each will bring to the program. Bill anthony ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----- Original Message ----- From: David J. Rosen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:48 AM Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to synsol at cableone.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ktracey at cait.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/4c3de303/attachment.html From JURMO at ucc.edu Thu Mar 20 18:14:56 2008 From: JURMO at ucc.edu (JURMO at ucc.edu) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:14:56 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 921] Re: Re-Entry Initiatives In-Reply-To: <874922EF-BF7C-4935-82D1-3EE22D2D3D53@comcast.net> Message-ID: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04600790@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Thanks to everyone participating in this rich discussion about re-entry initiatives and adult education's role in them. The examples from Maryland (cited by Fran Tracy Mumford below), other community colleges in NJ, the Fortune Society, and elsewhere are very informative. Our community college has jumped into prisoner re-entry and is trying to work with local agencies that provide re-entry services and with our One Stop system. We are trying to pull together a more effective system of services in our county. Our non-credit community college division will bring adult education (adult basic education, GED prep, ESL, occupational training, and computer training) and job development to the equation. We are challenged by the difficulties of (a)creating new partnerships in which people have to think and act differently,(b) by a lack of understanding among providers and policy makers about what it takes to help an offender successfully re-integrate into society and the economy, and (c) dwindled public coffers. The good news is the growing number of people recognize the importance of prisoner re-entry for public safety, reduction in the HUGE amounts of public funding devoted to prisons, and the health of our communities, families, and local economies. Those who have developed good practices need to continue to lead the way in showing newcomers what can be done, so resources are used productively. Let me conclude in particular with a thank you to The Fortune Society (a multi-service program for ex-inmates based in New York City), which inspired me to get our college involved in prisoner re-entry in New Jersey. I hope to connect with others in New Jersey to build a more effective re-entry system in our state. Paul Jurmo Union County College Elizabeth, NJ -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5:26 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 868] Re-Entry Initiatives Posted for Fran Tracy-Mumford by David J. Rosen From: Fran Mumford [fmumford at msde.state.md.us] Sent: Tue 3/18/2008 1:28 PM Subject: Re-Entry Initiatives Diana Bailey, Maryland's Program Coordinator for transition and employment at the MD State Department of Education Correctional Education program, has done a tremendous job in leading transition to the community services within each state prison facility and coordinated with the Department of Labor. She plans "Career Fairs" with workshops for offenders who are within 18 months of release. CAREER FAIR. During the career fair, critical contacts from the community present in mini-workshops throughout the day. One stop counselors are part of the presentations. Employers give "tips" for seeking employment in their field. HR people sit one-on-one in a job interview with inmates within 6 months of release. Each interview is sensitively critiqued. Colleges are represented to encourage participation giving information about their job training or degree programs. Goodwill and other non-profits participate. Money management, finding a place to live, and where to get a hot meal are other topics. These events are wildly successful as a means of transitioning individuals back into the community TRANSITION PROGRAM STUDENT CERTIFICATES. One of the Correctional Education program standards of accountability is for a component of the program that provides Transition program completion certificates. Last year more than 3,000 certificates were issued to students statewide. The four components of the student certificate are (I believe I got this right): career awareness, career exploration, employability skills, and career planning. Students are assigned to this class for a minimum of 6 weeks. ONE STOP FOR OFFENDER RE-ENTRY. A one stop has been designated by the Dept of Labor for re-entering offenders. It was created in the Baltimore Metropolitan area where more than 80% are re-entering the community. TRANSITION CHECKLIST. A checklist of transition skills has been created and is placed in the student's file. This is used to guide instruction and inform the student and program about the skills completed and those to be completed before release. LIBRARY CAREER RESOURCE CENTER. The library in each state facility has a career resource center stocked with information about careers. Any inmate can assess this information. Her program is quite impressive. I didn't address other aspects of transition such as: money management, establishing credit, family living, parenting, etc. as other topics included in her programs. To contact Diana, you can reach her at the address listed above. Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford Academic Program Coordinator Correctional Education Maryland State Department of Education 200 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 410.767.0732 David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Thu Mar 20 18:33:38 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:33:38 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 922] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE02C78B13@exch-1.sbctc2.local> References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad><252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE02C78B13@exch-1.sbctc2.local> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD01292564@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> Here in New York City there is an organization called the College Initiative that works with formerly incarcerated individuals to help them get into (and succeed in) college. Staffed mainly by former prisoners, they help with the admissions process, including figuring out financial aid, deciding which schools to apply for, etc. They also run a college prep class (here at the Fortune Society) to help people prepare academically for the demands of college. Perhaps most importantly, they offer counseling and mentoring throughout the time their participants are in school. The College Initiative has an institutional relationship with the City University of New York (CUNY). They have offices on one of the CUNY campuses and are able to get the admissions fee waived for their participants. They have also worked hard to build relationships with the Department of Parole so that college can be one of the options that new releasees are encouraged to consider. John Gordon ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Michael Tate Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 11:42 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 913] Re: Corrections to Community Education Here in WA state, when our legislators think about corrections it is either to lower costs or to stop recidivism. In the 1980s, they decided that inmates got too many perks and not enough punishment, so they eliminated inmate access to community college courses (except for a few vocational courses related to inmate jobs). It turned out to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater, since the inmates who took philosophy courses that dealt with ethics, citizen responsibility, the rule of law, the greater good, etc were very unlikely to return to prison. Certainly these inmates had better skills and were more employable on release, but lifelong correctional educators were convinced the subject matter of right and wrong made a big difference. Of course, this kind of opportunity would be wasted on an inmate who was sociopathic, etc. Have any of you seen or heard of similar impacts as a result of classes that focus on more than employability? From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 6:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/5b8fda93/attachment.html From mtate at sbctc.edu Thu Mar 20 18:37:28 2008 From: mtate at sbctc.edu (Michael Tate) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:37:28 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 923] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> Message-ID: <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE02CEEB79@exch-1.sbctc2.local> Gail, Bill and others: To add to the theme of limits inside the walls, there were a lot of good approaches and tools that I couldn't bring into the prison as the evening ESL teacher if I was to keep faith with the rules about contraband. The most troublesome rule for me was one about not letting inmates get into small groups. The concern wasn't that they would be planning escapes, etc. (there was plenty enough "private" time to do that already), but that the predators might have time to work the inmates who were "prey". I can't remember how I ended up being able to have small groups, but it probably was connected to the fact that these inmates were coming to class at night as a privilege, so there weren't the issues that might have existed in another grouping. While these rules need to exist, it does add another challenge for teachers inside the walls. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 7:50 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 906] Re: Corrections to Community Education In Iowa we have found fewer and fewer colleges offering hard copy courses for anyone. They are transitioning to online classes, and because our inmates are not allowed internet access, there is less access to higher education. As far as what crimes have been committed, I have many students with drug offenses that range from multiple charges of possession with intent to deliver to manufacturing meth. In the minimum security facility I have many students with multiple drunk driving offenses. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are pedophiles, robbery, armed robbery and murder. I do work in two separate facilities: one minimum and one medium security. Gail Rinderknecht Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Ridolfino, Kiel Sent: Thu 3/20/2008 8:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 906] Re: Corrections to Community Education Just some information about our program: The education department of Mercer County Correction Center (NJ) consists of 3 teachers (one ESL), two classrooms, and a "library". Most of our students do not have a GED and their goal is to obtain one. Our three teachers collaborate together to help students achieve their goal. GED testing takes place onsite by a state-certified proctor. We currently do not offer college courses, but we do not turn anyone away, so students who already have their high school diploma enter a program called Life Skills and work on workplace literacy, typing/computer skills, grammar and writing, and we also offer a program based upon ex-offenders re-entering society and obtaining jobs. We have materials that cover resume writing and job interview skills specifically for ex-offenders. Most recently, we started planning for a program that would allow inmates to have their poetry published in a book compiled of writings from all different inmates within the facility. We currently have approx. 165 students enrolled in the education program. At the end of 2006, when our education department was first established, we had 7 high school graduates. With the addition of another teacher in 2007, 18 more students obtained their GEDs. As of right now we have 4 graduates in 2008. There are many security issues/restrictions due to the fact that not only is this a minimum to maximum security facility, but there are also men and women here. Like I had previously mentioned, we do not offer college courses here, but we are trying greatly to connect with local colleges to be able to. Does anyone know what process we must go through or could you tell me what your facility had to do to be able to offer college courses?? We have been left in the dark and communication with colleges has been such a challenge for us! Thank you! Kiel Ridolfino ESL/ABE Teacher Mercer County Correction Center (609) 583 - 3545 ext. 2226 kridolfino at mercercounty.org ________________________________ From SYNSOL at cableone.net Thu Mar 20 18:40:58 2008 From: SYNSOL at cableone.net (Bill Anthony) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:40:58 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 924] Thoughts on your 13 Questions References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: <055701c88adb$77cc5590$6501a8c0@BillHP> David Rosen, I am going to try to respond to your 13 questions. I believe the discussions have been great and I've pickup many Ideas from the group. I'll preface my answers with a quick reference to a few principles: 1. Unfortunately all inmates will not respond successfully to our efforts no matter how well intentioned. We may have to adjust or goals and measures of success. Providing opportunities to inmates may be the best we can do. Remember the old saw ..."there is no rehabilitation except self rehabilitation" 2. The best place to place our efforts may be in training inmates that they are ultimately responsible for their own success. We might spend more time teaching the soft skills and personal responsibilities -- We may think the GED is of critical importance but many successful people have gotten there by hard work and without the benefits we attribute to traditional education. 3. As nice as it may be to have funds, staff, and political support, we may have to live within our means and the structures in which we work. We may have to change or priorities, and accept less than perfect solutions. 4. Many inmates will not follow through with any organized educational involvement after release. We may have to teach them how to learn on their own. With current technology , "Lifelong learning" has never been easier. Can we motivate inmates to learn, and teach them how to learn on their own? 5. The best place to concentrate on linkage between correctional education and community education may be at the local jail levels where the educators can best communicate and work together. At least the inmates will be going back to a smaller local area with which jail staff can become familiar. Given the lack of resources of many jails and the rapid turnover, Community education might profit from actually recruiting students from the jail populations. ********* Now for response to 13 questions:: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Response: We need to know what is available in the community, and convince the inmate that the resources are worth pursuing. Because of the many problems they may be faced with immediately upon release it may be necessary for them to drop in and (possibly) out of programs several times before they complete. Can we help them find "Distance education" opportunities that they can manage on their own schedule and budget. 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? Response: Possibly seven steps types of programs that can be begun in the institution and continues on the street. Think AA. Some would argue that most dysfunctional behavior is a result of addictive personalities and caused by fears of pain, failure, and change. The many seven step programs understand addictive behaviors 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? Response: Try to extend their programs into local correctional facilities. Provide information, attend job fairs, take part in the prisons pre release activities. Operate programs within the prison as possible within their resources and the prisons receptiveness. 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? Response: In my experience I see community education programs referring students to the public or private schools for any long term programs. Where typical Adult Ed, ESL, and GED programs are considered community education. Most such programs are operated by community colleges. I would hope that community education programs not affiliated with public or private schools, their best effort might be at family literacy, family support, and supporting LifeLong learning values. 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? Response: I belive that the statistic will support that a clear majority of inmates have some type of drug, alcohol, and even abusive behavior involved in their incarceration. Employers - especially small employers cannot afford to have undependable employees. In my experience the best chance for these inmates for employment (unfortunately) are with larger companies and traditional day labor with no benefits. Again we are skirting the issues of self defeating personalities and addictive behaviors. How do we get inmates to recognize and improve these limitations 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. Response: I believe most research must be read with care. What is the definition of a successfull transition. One year? two year? three Years or more? The federal Bureau of prisons did a longitudinal study of post release success and over a period of at least three years. They found that GED, Vocational training, and successfull work experience (in prison) were significant in reducing recidivism. A possible weakness in the study was the possibility that through "self selection" the inmates who took part in those programs were most likely to suceed anyway. I beleive you can review this extensive study through the US Bureau of Prisons web site. www.bop.org look under news/information and then research reports. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? Response: I certainly hope so but these issues tend to be more personality based than knowledge based. There are valid computerized assessments of personality tendancies. given the advances in computer power many of these assessments are self interpreting and don't need trained Psycholgists to interpret and use the information like the older test such as the MMPI. Unfortunately all of the above personality type issues may be best developed by long term observations and intervention. Thats why we all really know that prerelease activities should begin on day one of incarceration and not addressed only when inmates are nearing release. 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? Response: Well meaning and politically correct "Privacy Issues" raise their ugly heads. It makes it almost impossible for a prison to provide follow up services to inmates or any official contacts with them. Possibly if community educatioagencies are already working with inmates in the prison they may be in the best position to follow up upon release. 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. response: this issue was addressed by Steve Stuerer in topic #884 - i'm sure his "Correctional Education Association" Web site has a link to the information. I'm also sure his organization has a great deal of information about best practices -- he is being too modest in our discussion group. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? Response: Some of the same video series that are shown on the CEA TLN network are also available on most state public broadcasting stations and many Adult Education programs. I can't specifically name any direct collaborations or partnerships. But there certainly should be more of this. Limitations on internet access by inmates in most prisons is makes the on-line collaborations very limited. I beleive Hawaii and Wisconsin are doing experiments in very secure and limited access to specific internet sites. As Prisons begin to have faith in the possibility of secure internet connection maybe more on-line collaboration will be possible. 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? Response: see 10 above. the whole US Department of Labor's O*Net system and links to Americas Jobs should be made avaialble to inmates. It is possible to get this O*NET data and place it on regular stand alone computers or LANs. User training and user friendliness of the data is somewhat problematic. Too often staff need to be toinvolve in findng and printing out the information. 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? Responded to previously. 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Response: I would suspect that very few prisons, with any education programs, aren't trying their best to improve reading skills. Unfortunately this can be a slow long term process. We can't wait until they learn to read to begin the process of teaching/developing other transition skills. Are there other unanswered questions? YES: Where institutions and inmates are developing good education and reintegration plans -- are inmates able to bring the plans and progress reports with them when they are released? If every inmate had a portfolio of assessments and work record and Shool work to carry with them it might save community education programs from having to cox the information out of released inmates or start them on "step one" in their programs. I suspect that always having to start over in any new educational opportunity is a prime reason (excuse?) for dropping out. Thanks for the opportunity to comment. Sorry the comments are so long! Bill Anthony synsol at cableone.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/86d72986/attachment.html From SSteurer at ceanational.org Thu Mar 20 21:10:46 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:10:46 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 925] Re: Corrections to Community Education In-Reply-To: <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> References: <209CED477D22BE4CB989190F935442850B092B69@MAIL2.Mercer.ad> <252A00E7-7F5B-4F34-B5E1-BBE187E4C063@comcast.net> Message-ID: David, Thanks for taking charge of this great special topic on corrections to community education. As you can see it can be very complicated. I will try to give answers to some of the questions you have posed. In most cases I do not really have anything better to say than others have already answered, but here goes: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? Most inmates upon release have very few financial or family resources and community education programs would probably be low on their list of priorities. Unless the education program is connected to work and income the program is not likely to stick. So it is imperative to set up jobs and programs before release. 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? Lots of folks have already given some good examples. 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? Find out who in the Department of Corrections and/or correctional education programs coordinates re-entry and career technology programs and communicate and coordinate your programs with them. With the strong possibility of the Second Chance Act passing this session of Congress there may be more staff working on connecting with community education, business and labor. 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? Not my area of expertise. Sorry. 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? Inmates have committed the whole spectrum of crimes and, unless they are sex offenders and are on the sex offender registry, you may have a hard time finding out what they did. You can bet that the large majority of them have been involved with drugs, either using or selling. Many of them will not volunteer their crime history although they have probably been counseled to be up front about it and that they should ask for a chance to show how they have changed. There are very few "first offenders" coming out of prison. They may have been incarcerated for their first adult conviction but chances are that they have had a history of juvenile offending as well. Now this may make lots of folks feel uncomfortable dealing with students just released from prison, but my experience is that most of them want to change and need someone to help them along. They slip-slide back to crime because they don't find the support they need. There is little research to show how the severity of the crime predicts later outcomes. 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. There is little research here and this is one of the perennial questions. We know education (vocational and academic) reduce recidivism and that drug programs do as well. We assume that more of these programs lead to better results. We also know that intensive supervision during the first year of parole makes a difference. We need tons of long term research to answer this question. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? This is another area where research is needed. There are so many variables that it is difficult to sort out what areas, "soft or hard skills" make a difference. We like to think that a comprehensive education, hard and soft, makes the most difference. 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? Lots of folks have commented positively on their prograsm but so few of these programs have been studied and analyzed by researchers. 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. I sent out a nice summary from Gene Guerrero earlier. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? Others can comment on this question in the community education setting but there is little or no Internet education programming going on in correctional institutions. This is such a security problem in terms of gang communication that corrections pretty much refuses to let inmates have Internet connectivity. There are plenty of examples of local area network instruction and the use of computers in the classroom. But there are few examples of inmates sending emails to anyone and almost no online courses in prison. CEA sponsors a satellite program network called Transforming Lives Network that broadcasts education programs from basic literacy to ESL to GED to post secondary education into prisons, jails and juvenile facilities. Corrections officials have little problem with inmates watching educational television because it is not Internet. Please go the CEA website and click on TLN for information about program content and schedules and how to become part of the CEA-TLN connection. 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? The Federal Bureau of Prisons is beginning to work with limited and supervised email. The University of New Mexico is delivering online courses to inmates. Ohio allows certain inmates who are in minimum security to establish an email connection as part of their preparation for release. I don't know much about these programs and I am sure there are others. Correctional agencies are reluctant to talk about Internet. Some of the participants in this forum probably have more examples. Until the various departments of corrections feel that they can limit where inmates can go on the Internet and maintain security Internet will be a rare thing in prison. This really handicaps correctional educators in preparing inmates for the outside world and connection to community. More and more career programs use the Internet for direct instruction as well as assessment. 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? Same answer as question 11. 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? This is what prisons and jails do best. ABE, ESL and GED. I am sure there are tons of examples others can give. The biggest problem for corrections is that the need for basic instruction far outstrips the capacity of correctional education programs. Most inmates come to prison without a high school diploma or a GED and leave without having achieved such a basic credential. Correctional education programs are usually full and there are students on waiting lists. The latest National Assessment of Adult Literacy report on corrections highlights this terrible problem in the context of illiteracy among adult Americans generally. CEA is about to launch a Teacher Training and Peer Tutoring program that it developed during the last two years in partnership with the Ohio Central School System (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction). It will be available on CD/DVD along with a training component and possible college credit through Ashland University in Ohio. More to come on our CEA website soon www.ceanational.org. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202 Elkridge, MD 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 907] Re: Corrections to Community Education Colleagues, We have only two more days to devote to this topic. I hope everyone who wants to say something related to the topic will. I am glad that some participants who thought they would only read have decided to contribute to the discussion. I hope others will, too. Now that all four of our guests are with us I hope that we can hear all their perspectives on some of the questions that have not yet been fully answered. (See a list of these below). Thanks, Kiel, for opening up the question of transition from corrections education to college. I would like to hear from our guest experts, and others, about what has been effective in helping released inmates transition to post-secondary education. I know that many years ago there were federal subsidies for inmates to take college courses. (I was an Academic Dean at a small college that had an MA program that served inmates and that was paid for entirely by federal financial aid.) I believe those days are gone, but wonder if there are college courses of any kind offered to inmates with the goal of having them enroll as on-campus or online students once they are released. I would also like to hear from more community-based organizations, if there are some represented here, with their perspectives on what works in transitioning inmates to community-based education. (Thanks John Gordon for the thoughtful and detailed answers you have provided about what the Fortune Society in New York City does, an inspiration for many other community-based programs.) Here are some of the questions that have not yet been fully addressed yet by our guests or by other participants: 1. When an inmate who has been in an education program inside a state corrections institution or county jail is released, what needs to happen for him or her to connect to and stick with a community-based education program? 2. Are you aware of any exemplary models of connections between inside education and community based education programs? Can you tell us about them? 3. What can community-based education programs do to partner with corrections education programs that release inmates back to their communities? 4. What do you see as the main differences between career educational programs through public or private post-secondary institutions and community education programs? How do these differences account for the success or failure of students in these programs? 5. What spectrum of crimes have these students committed? What are the most common? How does the severity of the crime relate to their outcomes in community educational programs and subsequent attempts to find employment...or does it? 6. What are the significant research findings on the topic of successful transitions from prison education to community education programs? What are best practices that might have been discovered from the research. 7. Are the "soft skills" being taught (in corrections and community-based education programs), such things as attitude, attendance, punctuality, honesty, dependability, teamwork, listening skills......? 8. Could you give examples of state or county corrections institutions and community-based institutions where personal relationships have been built and sustained over time so that a referral phone call or an email about an inmate who is being released results in a warm welcome to the community-based education program, perhaps as part of a number of community services (housing, employment, health care, counseling) provided on release. If so, what enables these relationships? What sustains them? What undermines them? 9. The House and Senate have passed the Second Chance Act. Could you describe what provisions this important bill includes. 10. Are there good examples of collaborations or partnerships between corrections and community education programs where they both use the same online learning, videos, or software. If so, could you describe these programs? 11. In a previous discussion here on corrections education we learned that there is at least one corrections program where inmates can -- under careful supervision by teachers -- use the Internet. Are there others? Is this a trend? 12. Are there examples where corrections education programs have taken online options (online software or education web sites for example) and brought them inside as stand-alone (not Internet connected) options? 13. What happens in the prisons and jail when the inmate cannot read? Do you have programs to address this issue? Are there other unanswered questions? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/96ddabaf/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Mar 21 08:42:14 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:42:14 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 926] Last day of corrections education transition discussion Message-ID: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Colleagues, Our discussion will come to a close at the end of today. If you have further questions, please post them this morning so our guests -- and others -- might have a chance to answer them today. I have a few more questions for our guests and others, some questions of my own and some that others have sent me: 1. What are the differences in adult and young adult re-entry issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? For example, for young adults, is it especially important to be aware of possible issues stemming from classmates who are opponent gang members or other potential combatants? Possible issues stemming from those who are current members of the learner?s former gang? What other young adult issues are there for ex-offenders in community education programs? 2. What are the differences in female and male re-entry issues issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? 3. From the perspective of a community-based education program that serves a wide range of adults, not just ex-offenders, what additional or special services should they provide to help ex- offender students to succeed? For example, should they have a policy that allows ex-offenders to withdraw and easily re-enroll? Should they have readily available family, housing, substance abuse, physical abuse and employment counseling services? Should they have Internet-based instructional options as well as classes? What else? 4. What federal resources are currently available for reentry and how can correctional education and community education take advantage of some of the opportunities? 5. Bill Anthony mentioned the idea of a portable learner assessment portfolio, with an education, work and vocational training record that inmates could take with them, upon release, to a community education program so they wouldn?t have to start over on ?step one?. Are there any examples of this kind of portable portfolio being used now? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov Fri Mar 21 09:25:34 2008 From: Carolyn.Buser at ed.gov (Buser, Carolyn) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:25:34 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 927] Re: Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion Message-ID: David -- The differences between male and female reentry issues are most obvious concerning child custody. I have worked with both male and female reentry programs, and the primary reason many women want to succeed in the community is to regain and retain custody of their children. I think in some ways this may make them more motivated to pursue educational programs and remain in drug treatment and counseling. After custody is returned to mothers, community programs need to be aware of issues such as child care during program sessions and providing easy access to family services. Once children are returned, returning parents - and mothers are overwhelmingly seeking and given custody - need even more support as they deal with their children's issues as well as their own. I think, perhaps, it may be easier for returning women to find employment because employers are not as "afraid" of women. I think any community based program would only become more effective were it to incorporate a wide variety of services and opportunities for all adult learners. Community members living in areas to which the vast majority of offenders are returning need many if not most of those services and opportunities as well. Returning offenders can benefit from the same services provided to other community members, assuming those services are comprehensive, caring, and competent. I don't feel that returning offenders should have different standards for attendance or enrollment. The community sets standards, and returning persons need to incorporate community expectations into their consciousness and lifestyles. Maryland's Correctional Education Program has been using portfolios for returning persons for a number of years. I have participated in job fairs for returning offenders both before and after release and observed how job applicants have used those portfolios in interview situations. Having documented skills and successes on paper in the interview situation seemed to enable many applicants to speak with clarity about accomplishments and potential. Carolyn Buser Adult Education Program Specialist United States Department of Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy 202-245-6697 carolyn.buser at ed.gov -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 8:42 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 926] Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion Colleagues, Our discussion will come to a close at the end of today. If you have further questions, please post them this morning so our guests -- and others -- might have a chance to answer them today. I have a few more questions for our guests and others, some questions of my own and some that others have sent me: 1. What are the differences in adult and young adult re-entry issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? For example, for young adults, is it especially important to be aware of possible issues stemming from classmates who are opponent gang members or other potential combatants? Possible issues stemming from those who are current members of the learner's former gang? What other young adult issues are there for ex-offenders in community education programs? 2. What are the differences in female and male re-entry issues issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? 3. From the perspective of a community-based education program that serves a wide range of adults, not just ex-offenders, what additional or special services should they provide to help ex- offender students to succeed? For example, should they have a policy that allows ex-offenders to withdraw and easily re-enroll? Should they have readily available family, housing, substance abuse, physical abuse and employment counseling services? Should they have Internet-based instructional options as well as classes? What else? 4. What federal resources are currently available for reentry and how can correctional education and community education take advantage of some of the opportunities? 5. Bill Anthony mentioned the idea of a portable learner assessment portfolio, with an education, work and vocational training record that inmates could take with them, upon release, to a community education program so they wouldn't have to start over on "step one". Are there any examples of this kind of portable portfolio being used now? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to carolyn.buser at ed.gov -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080321/b69ca2c0/attachment.html From SYNSOL at cableone.net Fri Mar 21 09:40:26 2008 From: SYNSOL at cableone.net (Bill Anthony) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:40:26 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 928] Re: Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion References: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Message-ID: <061801c88b59$1f715390$6501a8c0@BillHP> Regarding David Rosen's question # 4 below 4. What federal resources are currently available for reentry and how can correctional education and community education take advantage of some of the opportunities? Response: You might want to go to the www.bop.gov web site; click on "News and Information", and download the (inmate) "Employment Information Handbook 2008". The handbook is available as a free download. It's very well done and recently revised. There's no reason it couln't be made available to every inmate preparing for release or upon release. Bill Anthony synsol at cableone.net From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Mar 21 10:31:47 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:31:47 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 929] Participant contributor introductions Message-ID: <4EF91B50-A3F4-4601-B45D-6C59D0BFC63F@comcast.net> Colleagues, I have been very impressed by the quality of this discussion, by the information and answers provided by several of our guest experts and by contributing participants. At the suggestion of one of our guests, I would like to invite participants who have contributed to introduce themselves, to tell us where you work and a little about your experience in corrections or community education. Thank you. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From Steve.Schwalb at p-h-s.com Fri Mar 21 14:43:08 2008 From: Steve.Schwalb at p-h-s.com (Steve Schwalb) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:43:08 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 930] Re: Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion In-Reply-To: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> References: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Message-ID: -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 5:42 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 926] Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion Colleagues, Our discussion will come to a close at the end of today. If you have further questions, please post them this morning so our guests -- and others -- might have a chance to answer them today. I have a few more questions for our guests and others, some questions of my own and some that others have sent me: 1. What are the differences in adult and young adult re-entry issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? For example, for young adults, is it especially important to be aware of possible issues stemming from classmates who are opponent gang members or other potential combatants? Possible issues stemming from those who are current members of the learner's former gang? What other young adult issues are there for ex-offenders in community education programs? OUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUTH RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS IS THAT THEIR IMPRESSIONABILITY, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY HIGHER THAN ADULTS, CAN BE EFFECTIVELY USED TO THE PROGRAM'S ADVANTAGE. A PRIORITY IS PLACED ON COGNITIVE THINKING AS PART OF THE EDUCATION PROGRAMS, WITH THE GOAL OF GETTING THEM TO ENVISION A POSITIVE FUTURE, PART OF WHICH IS ENHANCED THROUGH EDUCATION. ADULT OFFENDER EDUCATION AND TRAINING OFTEN TENDS TO BE MORE VOCATIONALLY AND LIFE-SKILLS ORIENTED, DUE TO THE ATTENDANT PRESSURE FOR THESE OFFENDERS TO ACQUIRE AND RETAIN GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT. 2. What are the differences in female and male re-entry issues issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? WOMEN TEND TO HAVE A HIGHER REGARD FOR AND A GREATER RATE OF SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS. THEY HAVE, HOWEVER, HIGHER NEEDS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM, WHICH ARE FACTORS TO BE INCORPORATED INTO FEMALE RE-ENTRY EFFORTS. THE MAJORITY OF FEMALE OFFENDERS SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN THEMSELVES INTO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY THROUGH CO-DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP WITH AN IRRESPONSIBLE MALE IN THEIR LIVES. TEACHING WOMEN SHOULD INCLUDE THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY, THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF SUCCEEDING IN EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SHY AWAY FROM NON-TRADITIONAL OCCUPATIONS. 3. From the perspective of a community-based education program that serves a wide range of adults, not just ex-offenders, what additional or special services should they provide to help ex- offender students to succeed? For example, should they have a policy that allows ex-offenders to withdraw and easily re-enroll? Should they have readily available family, housing, substance abuse, physical abuse and employment counseling services? Should they have Internet-based instructional options as well as classes? What else? MY ORGANIZATION, PIONEER HUMAN SERVICES, HAS FOUND THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO ASSIST WITH HOUSING, CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY TREATMENT AND COUNSELING, JOB TRAINING, AND EVEN DIRECT EMPLOYMENT, IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE MULTIPLE NEEDS MOST EX-OFFENDERS HAVE. IF IT CAN BE PROVIDED UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF ONE ORGANIZATION, THE SERVICE DELIVERY CAN BE MORE INTEGRATED AND EFFICIENT, HOWEVER, IT CAN BE PROVIDED THROUGH COORDINATED REFERRALS AND INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AS WELL. 4. What federal resources are currently available for reentry and how can correctional education and community education take advantage of some of the opportunities? NOT AWARE OF ANY BEYOND THOSE RESOURCES PREVIOUSLY REFERRED TO BY OTHERS 5. Bill Anthony mentioned the idea of a portable learner assessment portfolio, with an education, work and vocational training record that inmates could take with them, upon release, to a community education program so they wouldn't have to start over on "step one". Are there any examples of this kind of portable portfolio being used now? I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY BUT I THINK THIS IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA THAT COULD BE DEVELOPED THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY PROVIDERS AND PRISON SYSTEMS. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to steve.schwalb at p-h-s.com From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Fri Mar 21 17:21:57 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:21:57 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 931] Re: Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion References: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD20E234@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> David, Thank you for hosting this discussion and asking so many good questions. I will comment on your last ones in another email, but I wanted to share a few other comments first. In the formerly incarcerated community, people in general don't use the term "ex-offenders" any more, as it tends to emphasize the offense and not the fact that they have been incarcerated. We tend to us "formerly incarcerated", though that can make for some pretty awkward sentences. "Former prisoners" is also used, though some people don't like it. I realize this gets into the area of political correctness around but what we call each other does matter. There have been a few questions around what crimes people in our programs have committed. I'm not sure where this question is coming from, but the answer, at Fortune, is all kinds of crimes: drug offenses, robbery, computer-based crimes, homicides, sexual crimes. I had a student last year who was convicted of a felony for animal abuse. He had taken his dog on a long run on the pavement. The dog started bleeding from his paws. He stopped by the pond in the park to wash the dog's feet. A woman saw him and called the cops and accused him of abusing the dog. They arrested him, took the dog (which he loved), and charged him with a felony. He was facing two years; his lawyer advised him to plead guilty and he ended up in an alternative to incarceration program at the Fortune Society. My experience has been that the people we work with are, by and large, struggling really hard to change their lives. Not all of them succeed; that's for sure. Sometimes it can be pretty intense working here, but it's been incredibly rewarding, a privilege really. We have a saying at Fortune: "No one should be defined by the worst thing they ever did." I think that applies to all of us. john -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 3835 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080321/6fe43673/attachment.bin From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Fri Mar 21 15:01:23 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:01:23 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 932] Re: Participant contributor introductions References: <4EF91B50-A3F4-4601-B45D-6C59D0BFC63F@comcast.net> Message-ID: I have indicated some of this in a previous post, but I am happy to re-state it here with additional information. My name is Gail Rinderknecht. I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in secondary art education in 1970. As a single-again mom of four sons, I returned to Iowa State to work on my master's degree in special education. As my sons grew, my education went to the back burner as all four of them entered college. I am only short my thesis to complete my master's, but at this stage in my life, I doubt that that will happen. I taught special education, level one at the high school level for 16 years. I began with the Des Moines Area Community College part-time at Newton Correctional Facility 2 1/2 years ago. I loved working with the men, and many of them were the students with learning disabilities or behavior problems who had dropped out of high school or been asked to leave after their 16th birthday. I don't think of myself as a great educator, but rather as a pretty good motivator. When a man says to me that others have "more" than he has, I ask him what the difference is between him and someone who he says has "more." The answer is always the same: education. If I can convince a person that education will help level the playing field when they are released, then I have helped them reach towards something they may have not thought possible before. Nothing thrills me more than having a man pass his first GED test and know that he did it on his own; he didn't cheat; he didn't have anything on tape; he didn't have anyone read it to him. There is pure joy of accomplishment when this happens. In the same manner, when he passes his final test, and I pull out the polaroid camera, the cap and gown and the white shirt and tie, the joy of the accomplishment is his. They are often blown away by their ability to achieve this goal. I have had men from age 17 to 59 complete their GED, and nothing in my experience compares to watching these men work to learn and achieve this goal. --and by the way, the 59 year old enrolled in a two year technical school to learn information technology. As far as programs for those who are behind in reading, writing and math, we use the computer program Plato. We find that this will take men back to basics and allow them to progress at their own rate. Younger men like it because it is on the computer; older men like it because they learn to use a computer at the same time. I find that it allows me to give them a variety of educational experiences instead of sitting with me in a small group or one-on-one with their reading or math. While teaching special education, I used a program called REWARDS to teach the breakdown of polysyllabic words. This has a scripted text and a disposable workbook that a volunteer or an inmate tutor can be trained to use easily. It seems simplistic when started, but it provides measurable gains in a fairly short period of time by teaching consonant, vowel, and consonant blends as well as prefixes, suffixes and base words. It is published by SOPRIS. There is also a computer program that I used successfully in the schools but is too expensive for the DOC to invest in. It's called Autoskill Reading Academy. It requires headphones and teaches everything from letter names and sounds to increasing reading speed. It can be on a server or loaded on individual machines. One motivator I use with the men is one given to me by one of my students after he had seen the parole board. He said the only thing that really impressed them about all the classes he had completed was that he had earned his GED. When asked about this, he could also respond that the FAFSA had been completed and which programs at which community colleges were being considered upon release. Although we don't have a guaranteed time reduction upon GED completion, just knowing that the parole board notices this as a positive seems to be motivating in and of itself. I feel very fortunate that the Iowa Department of Corrections chose to increase the education budget at Newton Correctional Facility to allow me to teach full time. I work at the medium security site from noon until 3 pm, and then I travel to the minimum site until 8 pm. This works well for those men who work off grounds to be able to attend class. Attendance at the minimum site is not mandatory, but I usually have a full classroom for most of the evening. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Box 218 Newton, IA 50208 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Fri 3/21/2008 9:31 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 929] Participant contributor introductions Colleagues, I have been very impressed by the quality of this discussion, by the information and answers provided by several of our guest experts and by contributing participants. At the suggestion of one of our guests, I would like to invite participants who have contributed to introduce themselves, to tell us where you work and a little about your experience in corrections or community education. Thank you. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5743 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080321/f0d45052/attachment.bin From SSteurer at ceanational.org Fri Mar 21 17:52:03 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:52:03 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 933] Re: Last day of corrections educationtransitiondiscussion In-Reply-To: References: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Message-ID: David, Thank you for hosting this great special topic discussion. And thank everyone who participated. I enjoyed reading everyone's responses and questions and hope that I have been of some value. We are busy the rest of the weekend as are many other people so I will end my response with an invitation for everyone to visit the CEA website listed below. Thanks again. Steve Stephen Steurer Ph.D., Executive Director Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road? Suite 202 Elkridge, MD? 21075 Tel: 443-459-3081 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org "Transforming Lives Through Education" -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Schwalb Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 2:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 930] Re: Last day of corrections educationtransitiondiscussion -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 5:42 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 926] Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion Colleagues, Our discussion will come to a close at the end of today. If you have further questions, please post them this morning so our guests -- and others -- might have a chance to answer them today. I have a few more questions for our guests and others, some questions of my own and some that others have sent me: 1. What are the differences in adult and young adult re-entry issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? For example, for young adults, is it especially important to be aware of possible issues stemming from classmates who are opponent gang members or other potential combatants? Possible issues stemming from those who are current members of the learner's former gang? What other young adult issues are there for ex-offenders in community education programs? OUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUTH RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS IS THAT THEIR IMPRESSIONABILITY, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY HIGHER THAN ADULTS, CAN BE EFFECTIVELY USED TO THE PROGRAM'S ADVANTAGE. A PRIORITY IS PLACED ON COGNITIVE THINKING AS PART OF THE EDUCATION PROGRAMS, WITH THE GOAL OF GETTING THEM TO ENVISION A POSITIVE FUTURE, PART OF WHICH IS ENHANCED THROUGH EDUCATION. ADULT OFFENDER EDUCATION AND TRAINING OFTEN TENDS TO BE MORE VOCATIONALLY AND LIFE-SKILLS ORIENTED, DUE TO THE ATTENDANT PRESSURE FOR THESE OFFENDERS TO ACQUIRE AND RETAIN GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT. 2. What are the differences in female and male re-entry issues issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? WOMEN TEND TO HAVE A HIGHER REGARD FOR AND A GREATER RATE OF SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS. THEY HAVE, HOWEVER, HIGHER NEEDS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM, WHICH ARE FACTORS TO BE INCORPORATED INTO FEMALE RE-ENTRY EFFORTS. THE MAJORITY OF FEMALE OFFENDERS SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN THEMSELVES INTO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY THROUGH CO-DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP WITH AN IRRESPONSIBLE MALE IN THEIR LIVES. TEACHING WOMEN SHOULD INCLUDE THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY, THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF SUCCEEDING IN EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SHY AWAY FROM NON-TRADITIONAL OCCUPATIONS. 3. From the perspective of a community-based education program that serves a wide range of adults, not just ex-offenders, what additional or special services should they provide to help ex- offender students to succeed? For example, should they have a policy that allows ex-offenders to withdraw and easily re-enroll? Should they have readily available family, housing, substance abuse, physical abuse and employment counseling services? Should they have Internet-based instructional options as well as classes? What else? MY ORGANIZATION, PIONEER HUMAN SERVICES, HAS FOUND THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO ASSIST WITH HOUSING, CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY TREATMENT AND COUNSELING, JOB TRAINING, AND EVEN DIRECT EMPLOYMENT, IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE MULTIPLE NEEDS MOST EX-OFFENDERS HAVE. IF IT CAN BE PROVIDED UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF ONE ORGANIZATION, THE SERVICE DELIVERY CAN BE MORE INTEGRATED AND EFFICIENT, HOWEVER, IT CAN BE PROVIDED THROUGH COORDINATED REFERRALS AND INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AS WELL. 4. What federal resources are currently available for reentry and how can correctional education and community education take advantage of some of the opportunities? NOT AWARE OF ANY BEYOND THOSE RESOURCES PREVIOUSLY REFERRED TO BY OTHERS 5. Bill Anthony mentioned the idea of a portable learner assessment portfolio, with an education, work and vocational training record that inmates could take with them, upon release, to a community education program so they wouldn't have to start over on "step one". Are there any examples of this kind of portable portfolio being used now? I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY BUT I THINK THIS IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA THAT COULD BE DEVELOPED THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY PROVIDERS AND PRISON SYSTEMS. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to steve.schwalb at p-h-s.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ssteurer at ceanational.org From carole.a.scholl at co.multnomah.or.us Fri Mar 21 18:48:50 2008 From: carole.a.scholl at co.multnomah.or.us (SCHOLL Carole A) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:48:50 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 934] Re: re-entry education in Oregon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hell all-- Sadly I've been out of town for most of this discussion. I manage a re-entry education program in Portland Oregon for adults who are out of prison or jail, or involved in substance abuse treatment. We serve 600 adults a year and see a much higher rate of learning challenges than our community college colleagues. Our program, the Londer Learning Center, is fully part of our county's probation department so program referrals come from probation/parole officers, as well as courts and treatment centers. Teachers are also hired by the probation department, and not contracted through community college. This has had the advantage that our teachers are expected to be knowledgeable --and receive training in-- corrections' best practices--cognitive behavioral change, motivational interviewing, etc. Teachers also must be well-versed in learning disabilities as adults in rehab may have cognition difficulties. The close connection between POs and treatment centers creates a holistic learning environment--caseworkers (POs, counselors, etc) provide the support students need to complete their education. Also, teachers are on the "front lines" of identifying students who may be relapsing and can provide direct referrals for students life crises--common for adults in re-entry. Why a separate program for community college? Unfortunately, many community colleges have institutional barriers that adults in re-entry cannot negotiate. For example, intake may occur just once a term and requires appointments and fees. Most adults in re-entry--who've left jail/prison and are in the community--have so many barriers that any additional difficulty will impede follow-through to finish school. Our program works closely with the community college--once students are stabilized, it is our goal to help them transition. An important note for anyone wishing to start a re-entry program-- corrections professionals look at programs that address "criminogenic risk factors." Lack of education and employment is among the top risk factors that can lead to crime. Educational programs, therefore, can and do reduce recidivism. I'd be happy to provide more information about our program. You can read more about us on our website: http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dcj/asdllcindex.html Carole Scholl Manager Londer Learning Center Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Portland, Oregon -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Schwalb Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 11:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 930] Re: Last day of corrections educationtransitiondiscussion From jgordon at fortunesociety.org Fri Mar 21 21:33:32 2008 From: jgordon at fortunesociety.org (John Gordon) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:33:32 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 935] Re: Last day of corrections education transitiondiscussion References: <196829B2-EFE3-4716-8951-D70D56A0AE0D@comcast.net> Message-ID: <25AB4DBCECBD574F8A8EE92F47848BBD20E235@mail2.fortunesociety.internal> David, A few last responses: 1. What are the differences in adult and young adult re-entry issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? For example, for young adults, is it especially important to be aware of possible issues stemming from classmates who are opponent gang members or other potential combatants? Possible issues stemming from those who are current members of the learner's former gang? What other young adult issues are there for ex-offenders in community education programs? It's easy to overgeneralize here, but here are a couple of thoughts. The younger folks who come through our programs tend to be closer to the streets and the activities that got them locked up than the (generally older) students who did significant state prison time. Those with more time tend to come back more centered and more focused than the younger students we work with. That's not to say they don't have significant issues to deal with - around substance use, employment, and mental health, for example. But they tend to be more clear about why they're here. The influx of younger students has forced us to revisit our guidelines for participation as many of them are pretty ambi- valent about coming back to school. Lateness, acting out in class, etc. have become more prevalent as the number of young students has grown. Still, I believe it's just as important, maybe even more so, to develop those guidelines with the participation of the students themselves. And the younger students bring a lot of dynamic energy to the learning process. 2. What are the differences in female and male re-entry issues issues in community-based education programs for ex-offenders? I think, by and large, the difference in female and male reentry issues mirror those in the society at large. Women are much more likely to need child care and be survivors of domestic violence, for example. One big difference here at Fortune is that women only make up about 15% of the people coming through our doors. That makes it important that we really pay attention to how they are experiencing the program, both inside and outside of our classes. john -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 3879 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080321/897cdb07/attachment.bin From djrosen at comcast.net Sun Mar 23 09:58:34 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:58:34 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 936] Corrections discussion: introductions Message-ID: <61BA67CB-C9E2-4806-ACCD-D83BA37BC32B@comcast.net> Forwarded for Bill Anthony, in response to my request that participants introduce themselves. David, Thank you for hosting our discussion group. I know we have all learned from the experience. Following is a brief introduction. My name is Bill Anthony. I spent 10 years teaching vocational subjects in Jr./ Sr. High Schools, I worked in the education branch of the Federal Bureau of Prisons - 5 as a teacher in a youth facility, 9 as a "principal" in a medium security prison, and 11 as a Regional Education Administrator. After retirement from the prison system I started up a company,"Synergetic Solutions", that represents a number of publishers of adult, correctional, and workforce development instructional resources. Our resources are mostly video, DVD's, computer assisted instruction, internet delivered instruction,and multimedia teaching systems. I have been selling these "solutions" to corrections, community education, adult education and workforce development programs for the last 14 years. I am convinced that correctional education must make maximum use of the new educational technologies if they are to complete their missions in an environment of diminishing resources and escalating populations. I am firmly convince that we need to teach all students, correctional and other, how to learn. I am constantly looking for new Lifelong Learning Resources. I can be reached at: Bill Anthony Synergetic Solutions 228-255-0369 synsol at cableone.net From jataylor at utk.edu Thu Mar 20 23:17:59 2008 From: jataylor at utk.edu (Taylor, Jackie) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:17:59 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 937] AALPD - Join or Renew Membership Today Message-ID: <0913EC48F2B05C4FBE4878BAFCABBFEC01D44BC4@KFSVS2.utk.tennessee.edu> Dear Colleagues: The Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD) is wrapping up its annual membership drive. We actually start our membership list from scratch each year so that we can keep our records current and provide new ways for members to become active in the organization. We will be launching into some exciting activities this year but before we do, we'd like to make sure everyone who is interested has had the opportunity to join or renew membership. http://www.aalpd.org/membership_leadership08.cfm Though you can join or renew membership at any time, we hope you will do so today. Thank you for your support. We have some exciting initiatives coming up this year! Best, Jackie Jackie Taylor, Chair AALPD jataylor at utk.edu ---------------------------------------------------- The Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD) is hosting an annual membership drive through mid-March. If you are working or interested in professional development and dedicated to advancing the field, please join or renew today. Membership is free. By joining or renewing membership each year you help AALPD build support for adult literacy professional development while providing members the best possible services. ======================================================================== ======== Join or Renew Now: http://www.aalpd.org/membership_leadership08.cfm ======================================================================== ======== AALPD is... * a national professional organization for those working or interested in professional development * an affiliate of the Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) * a member of the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) Who are AALPD members? * Professional development staff, instructors, administrators, state staff, volunteers, researchers, and learner leaders working or interested in professional development * Individuals committed to advancing the field of adult literacy professional development How is it run? * AALPD is comprised of a volunteer Executive Board, volunteer chairs over committees that represent member-identified priorities for professional development (PD standards, PD advocacy; PD research, PD programming, PD resources) * Volunteer committees work on PD priorities and make recommendations to the Executive Board; major decisions go to the membership for a vote What does AALPD do? AALPD: * Provides programming and resources for members by: * Hosting an annual PreConference at COABE: http://www.aalpd.org/conference.html * Co-sponsoring the Adult Literacy Professional Development discussion list in partnership with the National Institute for Literacy: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Professionaldevelopment * Providing a Professional Development Registry ( http://www.aalpd.org/pdregistry/index.html) of materials to which you can find and contribute facilitator materials * Advances member-identified priorities for professional development * Advocates for funding for professional development What are AALPD's plans for 2008? AALPD will be: * Continuing current activities * Visioning and strategic planning for AALPD's role in advancing adult literacy professional development * Increasing leadership and participation opportunities with AALPD * Finalizing the AALPD draft quality professional development standards with feedback from the field (online and in-person at national PD events) * Planning the 2009 PreConference and AALPD strand at COABE * Strengthening PD networking opportunities What are the membership benefits? * Membership is free! * You can vote for AALPD officers and on special issues that arise (Only AALPD members will be eligible to vote). * We will send you the latest information about upcoming trainings, events and resources. * You can have input into the design of the COABE pre-conference session next year (2009). * You can choose to participate at various levels of involvement to further member-identified PD priorities * You can help to strengthen AALPD's voice in advocacy by demonstrating a strong membership of concerned practitioners committed to professional development. How to Join: http://www.aalpd.org/membership_leadership08.cfm Questions? Contact Jackie Taylor, Chair, jataylor at utk.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/6ba9b2db/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 7534 bytes Desc: image001.jpg Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080320/6ba9b2db/attachment.jpe From djrosen at comcast.net Sun Mar 23 10:03:50 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:03:50 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 938] Corrections education discussion conclusion Message-ID: <1F9324BD-38D0-409A-9F37-AA362B62A0E8@comcast.net> Colleagues, Our discussion about transition from corrections education to community education is now over. It has been a rich and fruitful discussion. Gina Lobaccaro, the Corrections Education Topic Leader on the Adult Literacy Education Wiki, will be assembling the messages in one place on the ALE Wiki and she or I will post a message here when this is available. I want to thank our guests for their participation, especially Cay Buser and John Gordon who participated every day and added so much to the discussion. Steve Steurer contributed as he could given that he was traveling this week and had some technical challenges in connect to the Internet, and I am sure we all appreciated his "heads up" on the Second Chance Act. I also want to thank our subscribers, who added a great deal to this discussion, especially Fran Tracy Mumford, Gail Rinderknecht, Bill Anthony, Michael Tate and John Linton. Highlights of the discussion for me included learning about the impressive efforts in corrections education and transition to the community in Maryland, learning about the Second Chance Act -- which may offer many more opportunities to improve transitions to the community -- and learning about the fine work that is done in New York City by the Fortune Society. What were the highlights for you? (I will post your thoughts on Wednesday, March 26th.) David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Apr 18 18:17:47 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:17:47 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 939] Formative Assessment Publications Available on OECD/CERI Web site Message-ID: Colleagues, If you participated in the discussion on formative assessment in February, you might be interested to read the OECD/CERI conference presentations, case studies and literature reviews (all free, online. See below.) Key stakeholders discussing teaching, learning and assessment for adults On February 13-15 2008, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) brought together policy makers, researchers and practitioners from over twenty countries to focus on formative assessment in adult literacy education. The conference was also the occasion to launch a new report, Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills. To find out more: Presentations and notesfrom the conference sessions http://www.oecd.org/document/ 59/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_40166779_1_1_1_1,00.html Executive summary of the publication http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/22/40026459.pdf Related case studies and literature reviews http://www.oecd.org/document/ 18/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_39972050_1_1_1_1,00.html David J. Rosen special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080418/14882308/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Sat Apr 19 08:27:18 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:27:18 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 940] Help shape a discussion on implementing content standards Message-ID: <8F0A85C2-38EF-40FF-99DC-3ED09D2B4AB9@comcast.net> Special Topics Colleagues, Beginning on June 9th we will hold a discussion here about implementing adult literacy education content standards. Content standards experts from several states are being invited to talk about the opportunities and challenges they have experienced as they work with teachers, administrators and others who are developing curriculum and designing teaching lessons that reflect the content standards. I would like to invite you to help shape that discussion. What would you like to know about how content standards are being implemented in other states? What would you like to see discussed? Please send your thoughts directly to me at djrosen at comcast.net I will not be posting these thoughts. I will use them to help prepare the guests and also to help shape the discussion so it might better meet the needs of subscribers. Let's see how this works. If it's successful I may try this again in the future. Thanks for your help. David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Thu May 8 07:44:11 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:44:11 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 941] Free NAAL data training seminar Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B1B59276B@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Forwarded Message from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): May 14th is the registration deadline for the upcoming free NAAL data training seminar that starts on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 through Friday, June 27, 2008, in Washington, DC. Only a few people have signed up and we still have capacity to accept between 10-12 more people. The overall goal of the seminar is to equip participants with knowledge and skills on the use of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) data files and tools for substantive research as well as policy analyses. Topics covered in the seminar include instruction on how to analyze NAAL data, with hands-on practice, and help in designing and carrying out a research study. NAAL data training seminar training is open to everyone including researchers and planners, education practitioners, policymakers, and association members, as well as faculty and advanced graduate students from colleges and universities nationwide. There are no registration fees and NCES is paying for the travel and lodging cost. I encourage everyone to go to the following site to learn more about the training and if you are interested, use the link within the site to register. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. Jaleh Behroozi Soroui jsoroui at air.org 202/403-6958 From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Thu May 8 14:35:45 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 14:35:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 942] Notice from the National Institute for Literacy References: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B1B59276B@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B153835DE@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Dear List subscribers, I just wanted to send out a little note of apology for emails that were sent out from our development server. We are currently re-configuring the server, which inadvertently sent out emails to subscribers within the past 2 hours. Consequently, you may have received an email from mailman-owner at dev.nifl.gov. Please disregard those emails and accept my sincere apologies. As subscribers, we understand the volume of mail that you receive daily and we will take steps to avoid instances like this in the future. If you have any questions, please let me know. I can be reached at mmaralit at nifl.gov. Sincerely, Jo Maralit National Institute for Literacy mmaralit at nifl.gov From djrosen at comcast.net Thu May 29 20:54:56 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 20:54:56 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 943] Implementation of state adult education content standards Message-ID: Colleagues, Beginning on Monday, June 9th, and continuing through Friday, June 20th, on the National Institute for Literacy Special Topics list, we will discuss the implementation of state adult education content standards. Experts from several states have been invited to talk about the opportunities and challenges they have experienced as they work with teachers, administrators and others who are developing curriculum, and designing and teaching lessons that reflect their state's content standards. Our guests include: Miriam Kroeger, from Arizona; Raye Nell Spillman, from Louisiana; Karen Lisch Gianninoto, from Maryland; Judy Franks, from Ohio; Pam Blundel, from Oklahoma; Philip Anderson, from Florida; and Federico Salas, from Texas. I hope you will join us for this discussion. You will find background information on several of our guest experts below. To subscribe to the discussion, go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics You can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or, if you prefer, you can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested! Background on Discussion Guests Pam Blundell has been involved in Oklahoma's development and implementation of content standards since 2002-2003 when the state held its first discussions around the possibility of introducing the Equipped for the Future (EFF) teaching and learning system to the field. Pam was given the task of overseeing the state's first EFF pilot project in 2003-2004. During the EFF pilot year, the state decided to expand the EFF training and officially adopt EFF content standards statewide. At that time, Pam was asked to coordinate this long-term process. Pam has continued to be directly involved in the implementation and oversight of the integration of content standards into the adult education classroom. This process has involved the development of new tools and training processes and most recently, leading the state's Standards-In-Action (SIA) team. Prior to coming to the state, Pam worked as an adult education teacher integrating EFF standards into instruction. Judy Franks is currently on staff at the Ohio Literacy Resource Center as a Literacy Projects Coordinator. She was involved originally with the Equipped for the Future (EFF) Standards-based System Reform Initiative, coordinating the Ohio Research Field Sites and training as a Certified State Facilitator. Judy has had experience developing and working with the standards at the program, state, and national levels. As a veteran instructor of training and development courses, Judy's background in adult basic education since 1992 includes family literacy, GED classroom instruction and the development of a workforce training program. Karen Lisch Gianninoto's involvement with the Maryland Content Standards for Adults ESL/ESOL began when she was working part-time as an ESL instructor. She "was one of the teachers complaining from the field that we needed standards". As a full time high school teacher, she knew how helpful standards were in guiding instruction. Not long after, she was appointed to the ESL Workgroup that developed the content standards document. Four years ago, she became the ESL Specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education. When she took the position, she was "grateful the content standards were finished. Little did I know that my work was just beginning. Over the past four years, the content standards have been revised three times, the ESL content standards have been implemented in all of Maryland's programs, state trainers have completed a training process, and a training manual was completed. Yet, there is more to learn about standards. Maryland has been most fortunate to participate in the CAELA and SIA Projects funded through OVAE. These projects have helped Maryland refine our training and provided instructors with the tools to understand content standards." Miriam Kroeger has been involved in Adult Education as a volunteer, teacher, coordinator, administrator and specialist since 1972 and in Arizona since 1978. She has taught adult English learners and adults studying for their secondary school credential at a variety of locations including elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, jails, and prisons; she works with K-12 and adult educators, and has visited teachers throughout the state of Arizona. Miriam has served on state, regional and national committees; on the boards of the Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning, the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association and Arizona Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has been on national working groups involved with adult education standards and teacher development and was an original team member in the development and implementation of Arizona's Standards for Adult Learners. She was also a member of the Standards Specialist/Resource Teachers team that assisted programs and instructors in the implementation of the standards. As an Education Program Specialist in the Arizona Department of Education, Adult Education Services unit during the past six years, one of her responsibilities was to spearhead the revisions to the Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies and ELAA (ESOL) Arizona Adult Education Standards. These revisions were published in December 2007, and the training process in understanding and utilizing the standards continues. Raye Nell D. Spillman has worked in the Louisiana State Department of Education, Office of School and Community Support, Adult and Family Literacy Services for four years. Ms. Spillman holds an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in the field of education. She has taught in the K-12 public education system and served on numerous committees to advance the education of children and adults. After the approval and adoption of The Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards in October 2006, Ms. Spillman was instrumental in introducing the standards to adult education instructors across the state in collaboration with the Louisiana Association for Public, Community and Adult Education. The following summer, Louisiana applied for and was one of six states accepted to participate in OVAE's Standards-in-Action (SIA) project. Ms. Spillman headed the Louisiana team who accepted their charge to pilot test training materials for implementing adult education standards use in the classroom. Again this year, Ms. Spillman and the Louisiana team are looking forward to participating in Part 2 of the Standards-in-Action project. David J. Rosen National Institute for Literacy Special Topics Discussion Moderator Djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080529/bb138778/attachment.html From kbeall at onlyinternet.net Mon May 12 18:51:30 2008 From: kbeall at onlyinternet.net (Kaye Beall) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 22:51:30 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 944] Call for Presenters for Effective Transitions Conference 2008 Message-ID: <00e701c8b482$7f7c2650$020ba8c0@D14J7YD1> Dear Colleagues, The National College Transition Network at World Education invites you to submit a proposal to present at its conference on Effective Transitions in Adult Education to be held on November 17-18, 2008 in Providence, RI. If you wish to submit a proposal, please visit http://collegetransition.org/callforpresenters08.html to complete and submit the online form. You will receive an email from NCTN confirming the receipt of your proposal within 48 hours of submission. Please click on the above link for more details about the proposal submission process. The submission deadline is May 30, 2008. Please forward widely to colleagues and others who may be interested and feel free to email me at psharma at worlded.org or call me at (617) 385-3788 if you have any further questions. Regards, Priyanka Sharma ******************* Kaye Beall Project Director World Education 6760 West Street Linn Grove, IN 46711 765-717-3942 kaye_beall at worlded.org www.worlded.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080512/eee39d6a/attachment.html From kbeall at onlyinternet.net Wed May 28 12:54:40 2008 From: kbeall at onlyinternet.net (Kaye Beall) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 12:54:40 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 945] Focus on Basics--New Numeracy Issue Message-ID: <006501c8c0e3$8598ec40$020ba8c0@D14J7YD1> The new issue of "Focus on Basics" (Volume 9, Issue A) is now available at www.worlded.org. Published by World Education, the theme is Numeracy. Articles include: -using part-whole thinking in math -the importance of numeracy in adult basic education -designing instruction that addresses all of the components of numeracy -techniques for introducing new types of activities into the math classroom -the cultural aspects of mathematics -teaching algebraic thinking in lower level mathematics classes -TIAN: a professional learning model for ABE math teachers ************************* Kaye Beall Project Director World Education 6760 West Street Linn Grove, IN 46711 765-717-3942 kaye_beall at worlded.org www.worlded.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080528/e46cd435/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Sat Jun 7 18:22:21 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 18:22:21 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 946] Adult Education Content Standards Discussion begins Monday Message-ID: <67BA28C0-2099-4DCA-B783-BC4FBCDD42D6@comcast.net> Special Topics Discussion List Colleagues, Beginning Monday, June 9th, and continuing through Friday, June 20th, we will discuss here the implementation of state adult education content standards. Experts from several states will talk about the opportunities and challenges they have experienced as they work with teachers, administrators and others who are developing curriculum, and designing and teaching lessons that reflect their state's content standards. Our guests include: Miriam Kroeger, from Arizona; Raye Nell Spillman, from Louisiana; Karen Lisch Gianninoto, from Maryland; Judy Franks, from Ohio; Pam Blundel, from Oklahoma; Philip Anderson, from Florida; and Federico Salas, from Texas. You will find background information on all of our guest experts below. I hope you will join us for this discussion and that you will also forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested! A colleague may subscribe to the discussion by going to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics S/he can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or can simply stay subscribed for the next discussion. Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse "provides access to materials for developing, aligning, and implementing adult education content standards in the areas of English language acquisition, mathematics, and reading. On this site you can find content standards from a variety of states and organizations; learn about the process of developing standards in A Process Guide for Establishing State Adult Education Content Standards; and find field resources on professional development and national and international standards." The web site address is: http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Background on Discussion Guests Philip Anderson started his English teaching career in 1974 as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. English teaching was a sideline to his main project of helping farmers groups with pig raising projects. After Peace Corps, Phil continued to live in the Dominican Republic as a pastor for small church groups, and he continued to teach English to adults who wanted to emigrate to the U.S. In 1986, he returned to the states to finish college at UC Davis. With a MS in community development, Phil went to Haiti in 1991. There, Phil taught woodworking at a vocational school, taught English, managed a large soil conservation project (not all at the same time)! In 1995, Phil returned to the states, and became a part- time adult ESOL instructor at night for Palm Beach county in Belle Glade, Florida. In 1998, he joined the adult ESOL program at South Florida Community College, where he was department chair from 2000-2004. Since 2004, Phil has worked at the Florida Department of Education. There Phil manages EL Civics state leadership grants and provides technical assistance trainings to adult ESOL instructors statewide. Pam Blundell has been involved in Oklahoma's development and implementation of content standards since 2002-2003 when the state held its first discussions around the possibility of introducing the Equipped for the Future (EFF) teaching and learning system to the field. Pam was given the task of overseeing the state's first EFF pilot project in 2003-2004. During the EFF pilot year, the state decided to expand the EFF training and officially adopt EFF content standards statewide. At that time, Pam was asked to coordinate this long-term process. Pam has continued to be directly involved in the implementation and oversight of the integration of content standards into the adult education classroom. This process has involved the development of new tools and training processes and most recently, leading the state's Standards-In-Action (SIA) team. Prior to coming to the state, Pam worked as an adult education teacher integrating EFF standards into instruction. Judy Franks is currently on staff at the Ohio Literacy Resource Center as a Literacy Projects Coordinator. She was involved originally with the Equipped for the Future (EFF) Standards-based System Reform Initiative, coordinating the Ohio Research Field Sites and training as a Certified State Facilitator. Judy has had experience developing and working with the standards at the program, state, and national levels. As a veteran instructor of training and development courses, Judy's background in adult basic education since 1992 includes family literacy, GED classroom instruction and the development of a workforce training program. Karen Lisch Gianninoto's involvement with the Maryland Content Standards for Adults ESL/ESOL began when she was working part-time as an ESL instructor. She "was one of the teachers complaining from the field that we needed standards". As a full time high school teacher, she knew how helpful standards were in guiding instruction. Not long after, she was appointed to the ESL Workgroup that developed the content standards document. Four years ago, she became the ESL Specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education. When she took the position, she was "grateful the content standards were finished. Little did I know that my work was just beginning. Over the past four years, the content standards have been revised three times, the ESL content standards have been implemented in all of Maryland's programs, state trainers have completed a training process, and a training manual was completed. Yet, there is more to learn about standards. Maryland has been most fortunate to participate in the CAELA and SIA Projects funded through OVAE. These projects have helped Maryland refine our training and provided instructors with the tools to understand content standards." Miriam Kroeger has been involved in Adult Education as a volunteer, teacher, coordinator, administrator and specialist since 1972 and in Arizona since 1978. She has taught adult English learners and adults studying for their secondary school credential at a variety of locations including elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, jails, and prisons; she works with K-12 and adult educators, and has visited teachers throughout the state of Arizona. Miriam has served on state, regional and national committees; on the boards of the Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning, the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association and Arizona Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has been on national working groups involved with adult education standards and teacher development and was an original team member in the development and implementation of Arizona's Standards for Adult Learners. She was also a member of the Standards Specialist/Resource Teachers team that assisted programs and instructors in the implementation of the standards. As an Education Program Specialist in the Arizona Department of Education, Adult Education Services unit during the past six years, one of her responsibilities was to spearhead the revisions to the Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies and ELAA (ESOL) Arizona Adult Education Standards. These revisions were published in December 2007, and the training process in understanding and utilizing the standards continues. Federico Salas-Isnardi is Assistant State Director of Adult Education in Texas. He oversees the Professional Development System in the state. He has worked for 20 years in the field of adult Education as an ESL and GED instructor, professional developer, curriculum writer, and program administrator. He has trained adult educators for over 18 years on topics ranging from language acquisition to individualized professional development planning, and from cross- cultural communication and multicultural awareness to educational leadership. Between 2004 and 2007, Federico represented the state office of adult education in the AE Content Standards Project team that adopted the standards and wrote the benchmarks for Texas AE Content Standards document. In that capacity he worked with the project staff and observed the work of the standards writers. He also helped articulate the vision of the state in regards to the adoption process. During the first two years of the project, Federico was the state?s liaison to the National Adult Education Content Standards Consortium. Raye Nell D. Spillman has worked in the Louisiana State Department of Education, Office of School and Community Support, Adult and Family Literacy Services for four years. Ms. Spillman holds an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in the field of education. She has taught in the K-12 public education system and served on numerous committees to advance the education of children and adults. After the approval and adoption of The Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards in October 2006, Ms. Spillman was instrumental in introducing the standards to adult education instructors across the state in collaboration with the Louisiana Association for Public, Community and Adult Education. The following summer, Louisiana applied for and was one of six states accepted to participate in OVAE's Standards-in-Action (SIA) project. Ms. Spillman headed the Louisiana team who accepted their charge to pilot test training materials for implementing adult education standards use in the classroom. Again this year, Ms. Spillman and the Louisiana team are looking forward to participating in Part 2 of the Standards-in-Action project. David J. Rosen National Institute for Literacy Special Topics Discussion Moderator Djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080607/acc2b552/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Jun 9 08:10:39 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:10:39 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 947] Implementing state adult education content standards: the discussion begins Message-ID: <43E8A9FA-3AEF-403E-8E73-68859A1FC161@comcast.net> Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a two-week discussion on implementing state adult education content standards. I would like to welcome you and our guest experts: Miriam Kroeger, from Arizona; Raye Nell Spillman, from Louisiana; Karen Lisch Gianninoto, from Maryland; Judy Franks, from Ohio; Pam Blundel, from Oklahoma; Philip Anderson, from Florida; and Federico Salas, from Texas. From today through Tuesday next week, we will have reports from our guests on how their states are implementing state adult education standards. They will also try to answer your questions. I have asked each guest to respond to the following questions: 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? 2. What standards has your state adopted? 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? You can send your questions for a particular guest -- or for any or all the guests -- or for anyone in the discussion -- at any time. You can also describe your own experience in your state with implementing content standards, and ask for suggestions, raise concerns, or share good practices. Send your messages to specialtopics at nifl.gov . I will hold some questions for next week, including some of the questions that some subscribers, at my request, sent me some time ago. Let's begin with Pam Blundell, from Oklahoma. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Mon Jun 9 09:49:05 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:49:05 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 948] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards Message-ID: First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. Below are my responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over the next two weeks. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? ? Informal discussions around content standards began at the state level prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of which was the belief that at some point in the future they would be required of all states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state needed to provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, Oklahoma?s K-12 system had been implementing standards for several years and since adult education is part of the Department of Education, it should have equally strong standards. ? In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the development of content standards. The state decided to explore the Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of three local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF standards were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the pilot project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for content standards. ? In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program directors, teachers and state staff was established to determine if content standards should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our current state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all the tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended that the state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force agreed that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based foundation, there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and writing. It was recommended that further resources be invested in the development of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work began, and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. Work in the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. 2. What standards has your state adopted? ? Equipped for the Future [ http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm ]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm ? Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been added to the EFF work. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? ? PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF pilot project already underway when the decision was made to officially adopt the EFF standards. ? The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, directors, local programs, and the state. An application process was used to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year training process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying degrees of the content standards training over the last five years. An additional five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by 2009-10 all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content standards training. ? The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the following: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation ? An introduction to the EFF system ? Focus on the state?s goal setting policy and using student goals to direct instruction ? Conference calls 2. Read with Understanding ? Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning ? Three 3-day sessions (9 days) ? Conference calls between sessions ? Site visits between sessions ? Interim activity assignments ? Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two teachers. ? $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation ? $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all training and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate ? Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum Framework within the EFF system ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) ? Conference calls as needed ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments ? Site visits as needed by state staff ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. Convey Ideas in Writing ? Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum Framework within the EFF system ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and preferably Year 2 ? In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in reading and 3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the state will add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted by state specialists rather than national trainers. ? In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a one-day Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state specialists. This training will address the need for shorter trainings and more local or regional options. ? A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by the national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various resources has been critically important to the process. ? Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, short video conferences on topics that support the use of content standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of speaking and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? ? Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved from year to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction was here to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our national EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference calls in the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs have made to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher planning time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to attend in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and written lesson plans. ? Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers unable to attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional development for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to support standards-based instruction since they are the key element in supporting transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for programs to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) is a challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you have to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new tools to support instruction is an ongoing process. ? Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been involved in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these challenges. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? ? The first thought is always additional money for adult education which would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. ? The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action project are two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier for local programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state?s content standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In-Action project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is doing with content standards. Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look forward to hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished colleagues share information over the next two weeks. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Jun 9 10:43:38 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:43:38 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 949] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <672AB2AF-09A4-414F-B480-B3387DECAC8E@comcast.net> Pam, Can you tell us more about the Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-in-Action Project? What are these resources? Which of the Standards-in-Action tools have you used in Oklahoma, and how have you used them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Jun 9, 2008, at 9:49 AM, Pam Blundell wrote: > First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you > Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. > Below > are my > responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over > the > next two weeks. > > 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? > ? Informal discussions around content standards began at the state > level > prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several > reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of > which was > the belief that at some point in the future they would be required > of all > states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there > were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to > look > like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level > expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state > needed to > provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, > Oklahoma?s K-12 > system had been implementing standards for several years and since > adult > education is part of the Department of Education, it should have > equally > strong standards. > ? In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality > instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the > development of content standards. The state decided to explore the > Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot > project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of > three > local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF > standards > were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the > pilot > project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for > content standards. > ? In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program > directors, > teachers and state staff was established to determine if content > standards > should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be > taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task > Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our > current > state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all > the > tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were > representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like > in the > classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of > systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended > that the > state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force > agreed > that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based > foundation, > there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and > writing. > It was recommended that further resources be invested in the > development > of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the > following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. > Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work > began, > and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. > Work in > the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. > > 2. What standards has your state adopted? > ? Equipped for the Future [ > http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm > ]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm > ? Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been > added to > the EFF work. > > 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to > actual > implementation? > ? PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional > development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF > pilot project already underway when the decision was made to > officially > adopt the EFF standards. > ? The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, > directors, local programs, and the state. An application process > was used > to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year > thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year > training > process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, > twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the > trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying > degrees of > the content standards training over the last five years. An > additional > five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by > 2009-10 > all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content > standards training. > ? The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the > following: > > > Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation > ? An introduction to the EFF system > ? Focus on the state?s goal setting policy and using student goals to > direct instruction > ? Conference calls > 2. Read with Understanding > ? Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum > Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning > ? Three 3-day sessions (9 days) > ? Conference calls between sessions > ? Site visits between sessions > ? Interim activity assignments > ? Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two > teachers. > ? $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation > ? $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all > training > and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate > ? Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum > Framework > within the EFF system > ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) > ? Conference calls as needed > ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments > ? Site visits as needed by state staff > ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. > Convey Ideas > in Writing > ? Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum > Framework within the EFF system > ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) > ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments > ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and > preferably > Year 2 > ? In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in > reading and > 3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the > state will > add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted > by state > specialists rather than national trainers. > ? In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a > one-day > Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state > specialists. This training will address the need for shorter > trainings > and more local or regional options. > ? A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by > the > national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, > conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various > resources > has been critically important to the process. > ? Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, > short video conferences on topics that support the use of content > standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of > speaking > and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. > > 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the > content standards? > ? Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum > Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved > from year > to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and > coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction > was here > to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our > national > EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been > done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and > support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference > calls in > the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the > changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs > have made > to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and > managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher > planning > time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to > attend > in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and > written > lesson plans. > ? Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers > unable to > attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional > development > for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to > support > standards-based instruction since they are the key element in > supporting > transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for > programs > to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based > instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) > is a > challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you > have > to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new > tools to > support instruction is an ongoing process. > ? Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been > involved > in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these > challenges. > > 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the > development of standards-based adult basic education by states? > ? The first thought is always additional money for adult education > which > would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. > ? The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action > project are > two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to > states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier > for local > programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state?s content > standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In- > Action > project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is > doing with content standards. > > > Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look > forward to > hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished > colleagues share information over the next two weeks. > > Pam > > > Pam Blundell, Assistant Director > Lifelong Learning Section > Oklahoma State Department of Education > 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 > Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 > 405-521-3321 > 1-800-405-0355 > pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Mon Jun 9 12:09:57 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:09:57 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 950] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?Implementing_State_Adult_Education_Content_=09?= =?iso-8859-1?q?Standards?= In-Reply-To: <672AB2AF-09A4-414F-B480-B3387DECAC8E@comcast.net> References: <672AB2AF-09A4-414F-B480-B3387DECAC8E@comcast.net> Message-ID: David, The Content Standards Warehouse is located at http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov. It has Examples of standards from various states, a Guide for Establishing Standards, and Field Resources. I especially like the Professional Development Materials which are divided into Start-up, Standards Development, and Implementation and Rollout categories. These resources include powerpoint presentations, word documents and templates designed to provide technical assistance to states. I have recently been looking over some of the materials as I develop a training specifically for our Program Directors. Oklahoma applied and was selected in PY2007-08 by OVAE to participate in the Standards-In-Action project. We are happy to say we will be participating again in PY2008-09 in this project. The focus is to field test tools and provide support to states as they work to integrate content standards into instruction. The beauty of the project is that the tools can be adjusted to further and/or fit into the work that has already been started in a state. States have such different approaches to standards, are in such different stages of implementation, and are structured so differently at the state level in regards to professional development, that the SIA tools can be used in ways that work for the individual state. While we found all the tools to have benefit, the following are the ones we are currently working to integrate into our professional development process. In Oklahoma, we will integrate the Unpacking Tool into a newly developed beginning introduction training. In our pilot SIA project, we found the Unpacking tool beneficial in helping teachers and directors understand what was actually being addressed in each teaching and learning objective (TLO) at each learning level by breaking the TLO's into the concept(s) being addressed and the thinking skill(s) required to address these concepts/skills. Another tool we hope to share in training is the Alignment of our standard (by the way, we only worked with our math standard in this project) to the TABE. The value we have found in having this information is that it shows teachers that if they teach to the standard, they are not only addressing skills measured by the TABE but much, much more. The final tool I would mention is the Alignment to Materials tool. The two local programs that worked with me on the first year SIA project are still working to complete a document that aligns the EMPower math materials to our math standard. We believe this will give programs a valuable reference tool as they teach the math standard. These two programs plan to have this work completed by early fall in the form of a document we can produce and have on our website. There are other SIA tools that address designing lesson plans and coherent units of instruction that states would find very beneficial. However, in Oklahoma we had already been involved in so much work and training around the EFF Teaching/Learning Cycle and the development of a lesson plan template to be used in training and for sample lesson plans for our website, that we did not feel those tools were as important to us at this time. Our second year SIA work will focus on tools for teachers and directors to use in evaluating how well standards are being integrated into instruction in the adult education classroom. Oklahoma is excited to start this work in August. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From djrosen at comcast.net Mon Jun 9 13:22:48 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:22:48 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 951] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Oklahoma Message-ID: <18FF888B-BFCD-4F50-B469-E2C066637398@comcast.net> Colleagues, For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html If you have questions about implementing state content standards -- especially for Pam Blundell from Oklahoma -- please post them. Pam, You wrote "Another tool we hope to share in training is the Alignment of our standard (by the way, we only worked with our math standard in this project) to the TABE. The value we have found in having this information is that it shows teachers that if they teach to the standard, they are not only addressingskills measured by the TABE but much, much more." Some people may be surprised by this. How can you both align a standard to a test, in this case the TABE, but also teach much more? This seems like a great advantrage to standards-based teaching. How does it work? Also why did Oklahoma choose the EMPower math materials with which to align its math standard? Was it because the EMPower materials fit well with EFF standards? With National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards, and/or other reasons? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From forrest at crosslink.net Mon Jun 9 14:11:05 2008 From: forrest at crosslink.net (Forrest Chisman) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 14:11:05 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 952] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <002501c8ca5c$30fdf1d0$92f9d570$@net> Pam, Under the category of "successes" I expected you to list some measure of improved student performance and/or retention. Have you been able to document that, or is it too early in the game? Forrest Chisman -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Pam Blundell Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 9:49 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 948] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. Below are my responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over the next two weeks. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? . Informal discussions around content standards began at the state level prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of which was the belief that at some point in the future they would be required of all states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state needed to provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, Oklahoma's K-12 system had been implementing standards for several years and since adult education is part of the Department of Education, it should have equally strong standards. . In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the development of content standards. The state decided to explore the Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of three local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF standards were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the pilot project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for content standards. . In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program directors, teachers and state staff was established to determine if content standards should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our current state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all the tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended that the state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force agreed that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based foundation, there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and writing. It was recommended that further resources be invested in the development of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work began, and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. Work in the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. 2. What standards has your state adopted? . Equipped for the Future [ http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm ]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm . Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been added to the EFF work. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? . PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF pilot project already underway when the decision was made to officially adopt the EFF standards. . The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, directors, local programs, and the state. An application process was used to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year training process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying degrees of the content standards training over the last five years. An additional five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by 2009-10 all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content standards training. . The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the following: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation . An introduction to the EFF system . Focus on the state's goal setting policy and using student goals to direct instruction . Conference calls 2. Read with Understanding . Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning . Three 3-day sessions (9 days) . Conference calls between sessions . Site visits between sessions . Interim activity assignments . Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two teachers. . $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation . $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all training and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate . Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum Framework within the EFF system . Three 2-day sessions (6 days) . Conference calls as needed . E-mail feedback of interim assignments . Site visits as needed by state staff . Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. Convey Ideas in Writing . Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum Framework within the EFF system . Three 2-day sessions (6 days) . E-mail feedback of interim assignments . Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and preferably Year 2 . In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in reading and 3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the state will add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted by state specialists rather than national trainers. . In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a one-day Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state specialists. This training will address the need for shorter trainings and more local or regional options. . A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by the national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various resources has been critically important to the process. . Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, short video conferences on topics that support the use of content standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of speaking and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? . Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved from year to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction was here to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our national EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference calls in the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs have made to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher planning time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to attend in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and written lesson plans. . Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers unable to attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional development for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to support standards-based instruction since they are the key element in supporting transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for programs to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) is a challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you have to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new tools to support instruction is an ongoing process. . Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been involved in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these challenges. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? . The first thought is always additional money for adult education which would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. . The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action project are two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier for local programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state's content standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In-Action project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is doing with content standards. Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look forward to hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished colleagues share information over the next two weeks. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to forrest at crosslink.net From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Mon Jun 9 14:12:29 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:12:29 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 953] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?Implementing_State_Adult_Education_Content_=09?= =?iso-8859-1?q?Standards=3A__Okl?= In-Reply-To: <18FF888B-BFCD-4F50-B469-E2C066637398@comcast.net> References: <18FF888B-BFCD-4F50-B469-E2C066637398@comcast.net> Message-ID: I need to clarify the alignment to the TABE process. Maybe a better description would be a comparison of the skills being assessed on the TABE and the skills we are addressing in our math standard (curriculum framework). We did not align our standard TO the TABE, we looked at the TABE and we looked at our standard and compared the skills being addressed by both. We found that our math standard addressed the skills being assessed by the TABE but our standard actually covered more than just skills to raise a TABE score. We have been emphasizing for many years that adult education is not just about a TABE score or passing the GED even though these are very important pieces of what we do. Adult education should provide adults with the skills they need to effectively carry out their roles as family members, citizens, and workers. This "alignment" process simply reinforces what we have been suggesting to teachers and that is, if you teach to the standard, adult learners will not only be better prepared for life but you get at explicit skill gaps and TABE scores are likely to increase. I think many of our teachers would agree they are beginning to see this happen - especially in math. We chose the EMPower materials for a couple of reasons. First, we have been integrating these materials into our math training for a couple of years now. The SIA team felt that due to our time constraints with this project, the EMPower materials would be the best use of our time and the end product would be a resource that teachers would find most beneficial. We may do this same alignment process with other materials in the future but time, money, and what would support our work the most at this time was what we considered first. Second, these materials are complimentary of our EFF math standard and were written with adult learners in mind. There is not a lot of math material out there that is written specifically for the adult learner. Our teachers LOVE the EMPower materials. Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Mon Jun 9 17:13:33 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:13:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 954] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?Implementing_State_Adult_Education_=09Content?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=09=09Standards?= In-Reply-To: <002501c8ca5c$30fdf1d0$92f9d570$@net> References: <,> <002501c8ca5c$30fdf1d0$92f9d570$@net> Message-ID: Forrest, Thank you for this important question and the one that everyone really wants an answer to. It really is too early to make any concrete statements regarding improved student performance and/or retention. However, we are moving in that direction and I am collecting more and more data each year as the number of EFF students taught by EFF-trained teachers increases in the state and we get our programs focused on ways to compare EFF students with other students. In 2005-06 our state moved from using LiteracyPro's EDvantage data collection system to using the Literacy, Adult Education, and Community Education System (LACES) which is web-based. That was a huge transition year for our programs and I was unable to collect the type of data I wanted regarding student performance comparisons between EFF students and other students. In 2006-07 I asked our programs to "keyword" each student in their system who was enrolled in a class being taught by an EFF-trained teacher. While many programs followed this procedure, not all participated and I did not feel like I had complete information for that year. This year (2007-08) will be the first year that all of our EFF programs have keyworded their students and I am anxious to look at the data when it is finalized in a couple of months. By keywording these students, I will be able to run reports on each group and do some achievement and retention comparisons. Several of my local programs have reported to me they are seeing a general trend in increased retention of the EFF students which is boosting their postassessment percentages. Of those students being pre and postassessed, EFF students tend to achieve level gains at a 6-9% greater rate (depending on subject area) than other students. Of course you expect this to happen if contact hours go up; however, it is happening even when contact hours are about the same for both groups. Program directors and teachers tell me they believe it is due to a greater focus on student goal-setting, use of the curriculum frameworks, and system changes they have made such as managed-entry intake or managed-entry classes that have been initiated due to the content standards training. Pam specialtopics at nifl.gov writes: >Pam, > >Under the category of "successes" I expected you to list some measure of >improved student performance and/or retention. Have you been able to >document that, or is it too early in the game? > >Forrest Chisman > >-----Original Message----- >From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov >[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.go[v] >On Behalf Of Pam Blundell >Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 9:49 AM >To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >Subject: [SpecialTopics 948] Implementing State Adult Education Content >Standards > >First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you >Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. Below >are my >responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over the >next two weeks. > >1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? >. Informal discussions around content standards began at the state >level >prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several >reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of which was >the belief that at some point in the future they would be required of all >states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there >were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look >like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level >expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state needed to >provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, Oklahoma's K-12 >system had been implementing standards for several years and since adult >education is part of the Department of Education, it should have equally >strong standards. >. In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality >instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the >development of content standards. The state decided to explore the >Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot >project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of three >local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF standards >were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the pilot >project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for >content standards. >. In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program >directors, >teachers and state staff was established to determine if content standards >should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be >taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task >Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our current >state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all the >tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were >representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the >classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of >systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended that the >state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force agreed >that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based foundation, >there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and writing. >It was recommended that further resources be invested in the development >of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the >following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. >Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work began, >and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. Work in >the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. > >2. What standards has your state adopted? >. Equipped for the Future [ >http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm >]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm >. Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been added >to >the EFF work. > >3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual >implementation? >. PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional >development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF >pilot project already underway when the decision was made to officially >adopt the EFF standards. >. The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, >directors, local programs, and the state. An application process was used >to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year >thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year training >process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, >twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the >trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying degrees of >the content standards training over the last five years. An additional >five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by 2009-10 >all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content >standards training. >. The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the >following: > > > Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation >. An introduction to the EFF system >. Focus on the state's goal setting policy and using student goals to >direct instruction >. Conference calls >2. Read with Understanding >. Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum >Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning >. Three 3-day sessions (9 days) >. Conference calls between sessions >. Site visits between sessions >. Interim activity assignments >. Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two >teachers. >. $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation >. $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all >training >and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate >. Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum >Framework >within the EFF system >. Three 2-day sessions (6 days) >. Conference calls as needed >. E-mail feedback of interim assignments >. Site visits as needed by state staff >. Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. >Convey Ideas >in Writing >. Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum >Framework within the EFF system >. Three 2-day sessions (6 days) >. E-mail feedback of interim assignments >. Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and >preferably >Year 2 > . In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in >reading and >3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the state will >add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted by state >specialists rather than national trainers. >. In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a >one-day >Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state >specialists. This training will address the need for shorter trainings >and more local or regional options. >. A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by >the >national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, >conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various resources >has been critically important to the process. >. Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, >short video conferences on topics that support the use of content >standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of speaking >and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. > >4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the >content standards? >. Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum >Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved from year >to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and >coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction was here >to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our national >EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been >done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and >support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference calls in >the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the >changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs have made >to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and >managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher planning >time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to attend >in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and written >lesson plans. >. Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers unable >to >attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional development >for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to support >standards-based instruction since they are the key element in supporting >transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for programs >to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based >instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) is a >challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you have >to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new tools to >support instruction is an ongoing process. >. Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been >involved >in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these >challenges. > >5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the >development of standards-based adult basic education by states? >. The first thought is always additional money for adult education >which >would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. >. The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action project >are >two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to >states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier for local >programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state's content >standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In-Action >project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is >doing with content standards. > > >Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look forward to >hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished >colleagues share information over the next two weeks. > >Pam > > >Pam Blundell, Assistant Director >Lifelong Learning Section >Oklahoma State Department of Education >2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 >Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 >405-521-3321 >1-800-405-0355 >pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us > > >------------------------------- >National Institute for Literacy >Special Topics mailing list >SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >Email delivered to forrest at crosslink.net > >------------------------------- >National Institute for Literacy >Special Topics mailing list >SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >http://wsww.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >Email delivered to pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From djrosen1 at comcast.net Mon Jun 9 20:42:09 2008 From: djrosen1 at comcast.net (David Rosen) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:42:09 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 955] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Ohio Message-ID: Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Pam Blundell. Today, however, I would also like to welcome Judy Franks who will report on Ohio's experience in implementing adult education content standards. Judy will answer the same questions I asked Pam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions you have asked Pam. For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From jfranks at literacy.kent.edu Tue Jun 10 09:14:10 2008 From: jfranks at literacy.kent.edu (Judy Franks) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:14:10 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 956] Implementing standards in Ohio Message-ID: <004901c8cafb$e20c5440$fe607b83@jfranks> Good Morning All and thank you, David, for the challenge to provide a succinct description of what has been happening in Ohio these past 12 years as we've worked to develop our standards-based system. Hopefully, I've captured some of the major ideas and look forward to expanding my knowledge as I hear from other states about how they are tackling this important issue. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? Because of our affiliation with the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), we invited Sondra Stein to present about the research they were doing concerning standards for adults at one of our conferences in 1997. The standards development process had been going on for the K-12 system and Ohio ABLE - being the pioneers that we are - wanted to be part of the process at the grassroots level. Ohio was involved initially with the development of the Equipped for the Future (EFF) standards as Field Development Partners from 1998 - 2004 with NIFL. Six programs, interested in improving the quality of their practice, were involved with the research over those years and worked diligently to incorporate their learning at each stage of the development of the EFF content framework. As well as defining content, accountability measures, assessment (performance) and cognitive science were being discussed at the federal level in the area of adult education. Ohio was seeking a systematic approach to program improvement and the state leadership saw EFF as the tool for this system-reform to happen in Ohio. Alignment of all components of the ABLE system was our goal. 2. What standards has your state adopted? (If you can, include a Web link to them) Ohio adopted the EFF Standards http://eff.cls.utk.edu/default.htm in 2001 once they were finalized by the national center. Our ABLE Evaluation & Design team at OSU lead the process to bring together a team of content experts (reading, writing, math) and practitioners to create and validate benchmarks against the NRS descriptors. You can find those benchmark charts at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3 &TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453. This work was completed in 2002 with the ESOL benchmark teams completing their work in 2004. This gave us a framework for accountability and teaching with a common language for further defining our content standards. Our "colored charts" are used by teachers in lesson planning preparation. Please contact Jim Austin offline at austin.38 at osu.edu for more details about the benchmark creation process. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? We have timelines and plans that I could share with those of you who are interested, please contact me at jfranks at literacy.kent.edu, but I've tried to glean some important things to consider as you think about your standards implementation process. A. People and Time Creating teams that share the joint vision/goal for standards-based education (SBE) was extremely important to Ohio. We have had the Research Teams (Field Development Partners) that consisted of administrators and teachers and then, as we moved to implementation, established Training Teams consisting of a local program teacher and a Resource Center staff member was crucial. Involving key people in your system allows for buy-in as you go through your development process. States need visionaries or pioneers who are willing to advocate for change at all the levels - national, state and local - and we've had a great cohort of those folks working on this initiative. Our state directors - Jim Bowling (initially) and Denise Pottmeyer (currently) have supplied direction and financial means; the OSU team (above) has managed the standards and benchmark project; our Resource Center Network (RCN) has worked to incorporate the standards into professional development offerings; and I have served as the standards liaison - working on various state committees to coordinate services and develop resources. Teams need to build knowledge together both at the program level and at the state level. EFF allowed us to do this in a "grassroots" fashion, from a top-down and the bottom-up means. Strategically, plan for standards adoption to take time! Remember that this has been a process for Ohio - started in 1996 with the worker role map - and we still haven't completely "arrived." Of course, that was the development of a national system, but even if you consider that SBE became part of the Ohio ABLE system in 2001 - that's still 7 years of creating and refining the development plan. Give yourself time to institutionalize this new learning into your existing system. We looked at many things that we were already doing; such as, using the teaching and learning cycle of planning, teaching and assessing - then looking at how we would incorporate standards into that cycle, creating a new model for teachers. B. Alignment Standards became the means that we sought to align Instruction, Assessment and Professional Development in our system. The standards would be the framework for planning real-life lessons. Now we had a definition for each of the content areas - we had a common language for what it means to "read with understanding" (for example). Other parts of the EFF Model were used, such as the Program Practices (purpose/transparency, contextual and building expertise) as a way to strengthen instruction. These have been incorporated into a lesson planning template and are available at Eureka! http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka along with 88 lesson plans that teachers can download and use immediately in their classrooms. Ohio uses standardized tests (TABE, CASAS, Best Plus, etc.) for our assessments and have developed TABE assessment alignments http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3 &TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453 for teachers to use as they build their student's educational plan. This plan and the standards are the framework for our portfolio system that guides student learning and instruction. Ohio also advocated for a performance-based test using the standards, but to date haven't been able to accomplish this goal. Much of our efforts have been focused on professional development and incorporating standards into our current system. Initially, we built interest across the state by using practitioners who were being successful in their practice to provide PD for other interested programs. Grants were given to programs to support this work regionally, using the Training Team (2001-2003) to train and provide technical assistance to 30 programs. We also presented at state conferences, created print resources and wrote model lesson plans. In 2003, the state held the Summer Standards Institute, where the Standards and Benchmarks were rolled-out at a two-day training for all 134 programs - teams of administrators and teachers coming from programs. Several core trainings have been developed post Institute and continue to be presented every year for new staff and staff who need a refresher. Any trainers are welcome to this training, please contact me offline and I would be happy to provide the outline. Since 2003, we have continued to focus on a variety of methods to bring information about the standards to programs: regional professional days each year have a session presenting standards-based topical resources; a lesson-planning lock-in where 10 teachers created 40 SBE lessons in 24 hours; CDs distributed to programs with lessons ready to use for their program orientations; ABE/ESOL Snapshots http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3 &TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453 provide a student's profile at each of the NRS functioning levels; site visits to programs requesting training; three thematic lesson plan packets distributed to all program sites; various topical publications; and an online Eureka lesson-plan-of-the-month http://literacy.kent.edu/ spotlighting new lessons. Currently the state leadership network (SLN) has built a standards-based professional development system in an attempt to connect our six sets of standards - practitioner, professional development, program, content, data and performance - into a coherent, inter-related system of quality services for our adult learners. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? Many of the issues that I've already discussed could answer this question as well. I like to think we can learn from our challenges to build successes, so I'll start with a few additional challenges. In retrospect, we probably tried to take on too much at once. Initially, juggling the Research and Training Teams was a load for our system. I am continuously reminded to be realistic and take "baby steps." Our timing was not always the best - working in conjunction with development and implementation caused confusion at time for programs as they grappled with all the jargon and changes they were experiencing. Give yourself the needed time and financial support to build and sustain your system. Resistance to change is a strong force and needs to be addressed during your development process, consider the sacred cows in your system and address them as part of the process. Many programs saw EFF as an "add-on" or "something they were already doing" - leading to confusion, others thought this was "just another mandate" and would eventually go away. We had six years of intense change and needed time to stabilize. In 2004-2005, we became proactive with the development of instructional supports listed above. We also participated in national initiatives such as STAR (reading) and TIAN (math) - where the focus was on how those standards fit into instruction. Additional initiatives, such as our LD manual and required trainings, have happened since and will often take the focus off standards, but keep your big picture in mind as your state moves forward, incorporating and inter-connecting all components. Many teachers have commented about their depth of professional learning during the time they were involved as research field sites. This has shaped their practice and given them a level of expertise not easily acquired through other types of professional development. Ohio ABLE professionals continue to work toward their goal of system-alignment as evidenced by our latest endeavor by the SLN. Quality resources and professional development offerings are continually being developed by the RCN to support the standards and build expertise. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? This discussion list is a great start! Providing communication methods - e-lists, websites, e-meetings, newsletters, etc. - nationally, where states can share their experiences, is such a benefit to our learning. That was greatly appreciated by local programs in Ohio as they were able to share with programs from Washington to Maine during the EFF Initiative. ABLE is always seeking additional funding sources both nationally and at the state level to continue and strengthen our standards-based system. Looking forward to a great discussion, J Judy Franks Literacy Projects Coordinator Ohio Literacy Resource Center 330-672-0753 jfranks at literacy.kent.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080610/f1e173b8/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Jun 10 21:21:10 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (djrosen at comcast.net) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:21:10 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 957] Re: Implementing standards in Ohio Message-ID: <061120080121.15197.484F288600005A5200003B5D2215553894020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> Hello Judy, Thanks for this comprehensive view of the content standards implementation process in Ohio. I wonder if you could expand on a few things. You wrote: "Ohio was seeking a systematic approach to program improvement and the state leadership saw EFF as the tool for this system-reform to happen in Ohio. Alignment of all components of the ABLE system was our goal." In what ways have you seen programs improve? Is there a pattern? And what evidence do you have (or look for) of their improvement? "Our ABLE Evaluation & Design team at OSU lead the process to bring together a team of content experts (reading, writing, math) and practitioners to create and validate benchmarks against the NRS descriptors" What is the relationship of benchmarks in Ohio to the EFF standards? Are the benchmarks simply a more specific articulation of the standards, closer to actual measures, or something else? "Currently the state leadership network (SLN) has built a standards-based professional development system in an attempt to connect our six sets of standards – practitioner, professional development, program, content, data and performance – into a coherent, inter-related system of quality services for our adult learners." Can you tell us more about this? What are examples of some of these professional development system standards? Is there a deliberate overlap of program improvement standards and professional development standards? If so, why? "Resistance to change is a strong force and needs to be addressed during your development process, consider the sacred cows in your system and address them as part of the process. Many programs saw EFF as an “add-on” or “something they were already doing” – leading to confusion, others thought this was “just another mandate” and would eventually go away. " Can you say more about what has helped you to overcome this resistance? My interpretation of some key features of standards implementation in Ohio are: • Committed leadership • Starting with a good set of standards • Allowing enough time (years!) • Careful alignment • Teams at all levels and in al parts of the planning and implementation process • Tools that make it easy for teachers to use the standards • Simultaneous top-down and bottom-up implementation efforts • Investment in considerable professional development Would you agree? Have I missed any? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Jun 10, 2008, at 9:14 AM, Judy Franks wrote: Good Morning All and thank you, David, for the challenge to provide a succinct description of what has been happening in Ohio these past 12 years as we’ve worked to develop our standards-based system. Hopefully, I’ve captured some of the major ideas and look forward to expanding my knowledge as I hear from other states about how they are tackling this important issue. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? Because of our affiliation with the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), we invited Sondra Stein to present about the research they were doing concerning standards for adults at one of our conferences in 1997. The standards development process had been going on for the K-12 system and Ohio ABLE – being the pioneers that we are – wanted to be part of the process at the grassroots level. Ohio was involved initially with the development of the Equipped for the Future (EFF) standards as Field Development Partners from 1998 – 2004 with NIFL. Six programs, interested in improving the quality of their practice, were involved with the research over those years and worked diligently to incorporate their learning at each stage of the development of the EFF content framework. As well as defining content, accountability measures, assessment (performance) and cognitive science were being discussed at the federal level in the area of adult education. Ohio was seeking a systematic approach to program improvement and the state leadership saw EFF as the tool for this system-reform to happen in Ohio. Alignment of all components of the ABLE system was our goal. 2. What standards has your state adopted? (If you can, include a Web link to them) Ohio adopted the EFF Standards http://eff.cls.utk.edu/default.htm in 2001 once they were finalized by the national center. Our ABLE Evaluation & Design team at OSU lead the process to bring together a team of content experts (reading, writing, math) and practitioners to create and validate benchmarks against the NRS descriptors. You can find those benchmark charts at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453. This work was completed in 2002 with the ESOL benchmark teams completing their work in 2004. This gave us a framework for accountability and teaching with a common language for further defining our content standards. Our “colored charts” are used by teachers in lesson planning preparation. Please contact Jim Austin offline at austin.38 at osu.edu for more details about the benchmark creation process. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? We have timelines and plans that I could share with those of you who are interested, please contact me at jfranks at literacy.kent.edu, but I’ve tried to glean some important things to consider as you think about your standards implementation process. A. People and Time Creating teams that share the joint vision/goal for standards-based education (SBE) was extremely important to Ohio. We have had the Research Teams (Field Development Partners) that consisted of administrators and teachers and then, as we moved to implementation, established Training Teams consisting of a local program teacher and a Resource Center staff member was crucial. Involving key people in your system allows for buy-in as you go through your development process. States need visionaries or pioneers who are willing to advocate for change at all the levels – national, state and local – and we’ve had a great cohort of those folks working on this initiative. Our state directors – Jim Bowling (initially) and Denise Pottmeyer (currently) have supplied direction and financial means; the OSU team (above) has managed the standards and benchmark project; our Resource Center Network (RCN) has worked to incorporate the standards into professional development off erings; and I have s erved as the standards liaison – working on various state committees to coordinate services and develop resources. Teams need to build knowledge together both at the program level and at the state level. EFF allowed us to do this in a “grassroots” fashion, from a top-down and the bottom-up means. Strategically, plan for standards adoption to take time! Remember that this has been a process for Ohio – started in 1996 with the worker role map – and we still haven’t completely “arrived.” Of course, that was the development of a national system, but even if you consider that SBE became part of the Ohio ABLE system in 2001 – that’s still 7 years of creating and refining the development plan. Give yourself time to institutionalize this new learning into your existing system. We looked at many things that we were already doing; such as, using the teaching and learning cycle of planning, teaching and assessing – then looking at how we would incorporate standards into that cycle, creating a new model for teachers. B. Alignment Standards became the means that we sought to align Instruction, Assessment and Professional Development in our system. The standards would be the framework for planning real-life lessons. Now we had a definition for each of the content areas – we had a common language for what it means to “read with understanding” (for example). Other parts of the EFF Model were used, such as the Program Practices (purpose/transparency, contextual and building expertise) as a way to strengthen instruction. These have been incorporated into a lesson planning template and are available at Eureka! http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka along with 88 lesson plans that teachers can download and use immediately in their classrooms. Ohio uses standardized tests (TABE, CASAS, Best Plus, etc.) for our assessments and have developed TABE assessment alignments http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453 for teachers to use as they build their student’s educational plan. This plan and the standards are the framework for our portfolio system that guides student learning and instruction. Ohio also advocated for a performance-based test using the standards, but to date haven’t been able to accomplish this goal. Much of our efforts have been focused on professional development and incorporating standards into our current system. Initially, we built interest across the state by using practitioners who were being successful in their practice to provide PD for other interested programs. Grants were given to programs to support this work regionally, using the Training Team (2001-2003) to train and provide technical assistance to 30 programs. We also presented at state conferences, created print resources and wrote model lesson plans. In 2003, the state held the Summer Standards Institute, where the Standards and Benchmarks were rolled-out at a two-day training for all 134 programs – teams of administrators and teachers coming from programs. Several core trainings have been developed post Institute and continue to be presented every year for new staff and staff who need a refresher. Any trainers are welcome to this training, please contact me offline and I would be happy to provide t he ou tline. Since 2003, we have continued to focus on a variety of methods to bring information about the standards to programs: regional professional days each year have a session presenting standards-based topical resources; a lesson-planning lock-in where 10 teachers created 40 SBE lessons in 24 hours; CDs distributed to programs with lessons ready to use for their program orientations; ABE/ESOL Snapshots http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453 provide a student’s profile at each of the NRS functioning levels; site visits to programs requesting training; three thematic lesson plan packets distributed to all program sites; various topical publications; and an online Eureka lesson-plan-of-the-month http://literacy.kent.edu/ spotlighting new lessons. Currently the state leadership network (SLN) has built a standards-based professional development system in an attempt to connect our six sets of standards – practitioner, professional development, program, content, data and performance – into a coherent, inter-related system of quality services for our adult learners. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? Many of the issues that I’ve already discussed could answer this question as well. I like to think we can learn from our challenges to build successes, so I’ll start with a few additional challenges. In retrospect, we probably tried to take on too much at once. Initially, juggling the Research and Training Teams was a load for our system. I am continuously reminded to be realistic and take “baby steps.” Our timing was not always the best – working in conjunction with development and implementation caused confusion at time for programs as they grappled with all the jargon and changes they were experiencing. Give yourself the needed time and financial support to build and sustain your system. Resistance to change is a strong force and needs to be addressed during your development process, consider the sacred cows in your system and address them as part of the process. Many programs saw EFF as an “add-on” or “something they were already doing” – leading to confusion, others th ought this was “just another mandate” and would eventually go away. We had six years of intense change and needed time to stabilize. In 2004-2005, we became proactive with the development of instructional supports listed above. We also participated in national initiatives such as STAR (reading) and TIAN (math) – where the focus was on how those standards fit into instruction. Additional initiatives, such as our LD manual and required trainings, have happened since and will often take the focus off standards, but keep your big picture in mind as your state moves forward, incorporating and inter-connecting all components. Many teachers have commented about their depth of professional learning during the time they were involved as research field sites. This has shaped their practice and given them a level of expertise not easily acquired through other types of professional development. Ohio ABLE professionals continue to work toward their goal of system-alignment as evidenced by our latest endeavor by the SLN. Quality resources and professional development offerings are continually being developed by the RCN to support the standards and build expertise. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? This discussion list is a great start! Providing communication methods – e-lists, websites, e-meetings, newsletters, etc. – nationally, where states can share their experiences, is such a benefit to our learning. That was greatly appreciated by local programs in Ohio as they were able to share with programs from Washington to Maine during the EFF Initiative. ABLE is always seeking additional funding sources both nationally and at the state level to continue and strengthen our standards-based system. Looking forward to a great discussion, J Judy Franks Literacy Projects Coordinator Ohio Literacy Resource Center 330-672-0753 jfranks at literacy.kent.edu From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Jun 10 22:30:24 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:30:24 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 958] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Arizona Message-ID: <33B70100-D756-456E-B7B1-BB59E70D67A2@comcast.net> Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks and Pam Blundell. Today, however, I would also like to welcome Miriam Kroeger who will report on Arizona's experience in implementing adult education content standards. Miriam will answer the same questions I asked Pam and Judy to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked Pam and Judy . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From Gary.Upham at maine.gov Tue Jun 10 10:02:58 2008 From: Gary.Upham at maine.gov (Upham, Gary) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:02:58 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 959] Re: How contant standards are working in prisons In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DBE3@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> As principal of the maine state prison we are developing programs but not currently based on content standards - we are using PLATO - I had heard the EFF was not being extensively used in Maine. Any programs out there that are currently being touted as success stories in Prison? Gary Upham -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 12:00 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 2 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 947] Implementing state adult education content standards: the discussion begins (David J. Rosen) 2. [SpecialTopics 948] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards (Pam Blundell) 3. [SpecialTopics 949] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards (David J. Rosen) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:10:39 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 947] Implementing state adult education content standards: the discussion begins To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <43E8A9FA-3AEF-403E-8E73-68859A1FC161 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a two-week discussion on implementing state adult education content standards. I would like to welcome you and our guest experts: Miriam Kroeger, from Arizona; Raye Nell Spillman, from Louisiana; Karen Lisch Gianninoto, from Maryland; Judy Franks, from Ohio; Pam Blundel, from Oklahoma; Philip Anderson, from Florida; and Federico Salas, from Texas. From today through Tuesday next week, we will have reports from our guests on how their states are implementing state adult education standards. They will also try to answer your questions. I have asked each guest to respond to the following questions: 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? 2. What standards has your state adopted? 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? You can send your questions for a particular guest -- or for any or all the guests -- or for anyone in the discussion -- at any time. You can also describe your own experience in your state with implementing content standards, and ask for suggestions, raise concerns, or share good practices. Send your messages to specialtopics at nifl.gov . I will hold some questions for next week, including some of the questions that some subscribers, at my request, sent me some time ago. Let's begin with Pam Blundell, from Oklahoma. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:49:05 -0500 From: "Pam Blundell" Subject: [SpecialTopics 948] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. Below are my responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over the next two weeks. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? ? Informal discussions around content standards began at the state level prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of which was the belief that at some point in the future they would be required of all states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state needed to provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, Oklahoma?s K-12 system had been implementing standards for several years and since adult education is part of the Department of Education, it should have equally strong standards. ? In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the development of content standards. The state decided to explore the Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of three local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF standards were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the pilot project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for content standards. ? In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program directors, teachers and state staff was established to determine if content standards should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our current state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all the tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like in the classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended that the state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force agreed that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based foundation, there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and writing. It was recommended that further resources be invested in the development of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work began, and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. Work in the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. 2. What standards has your state adopted? ? Equipped for the Future [ http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm ]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm ? Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been added to the EFF work. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? ? PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF pilot project already underway when the decision was made to officially adopt the EFF standards. ? The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, directors, local programs, and the state. An application process was used to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year training process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying degrees of the content standards training over the last five years. An additional five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by 2009-10 all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content standards training. ? The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the following: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation ? An introduction to the EFF system ? Focus on the state?s goal setting policy and using student goals to direct instruction ? Conference calls 2. Read with Understanding ? Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning ? Three 3-day sessions (9 days) ? Conference calls between sessions ? Site visits between sessions ? Interim activity assignments ? Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two teachers. ? $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation ? $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all training and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate ? Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum Framework within the EFF system ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) ? Conference calls as needed ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments ? Site visits as needed by state staff ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. Convey Ideas in Writing ? Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum Framework within the EFF system ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and preferably Year 2 ? In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in reading and 3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the state will add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted by state specialists rather than national trainers. ? In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a one-day Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state specialists. This training will address the need for shorter trainings and more local or regional options. ? A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by the national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various resources has been critically important to the process. ? Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, short video conferences on topics that support the use of content standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of speaking and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? ? Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved from year to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction was here to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our national EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference calls in the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs have made to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher planning time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to attend in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and written lesson plans. ? Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers unable to attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional development for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to support standards-based instruction since they are the key element in supporting transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for programs to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) is a challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you have to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new tools to support instruction is an ongoing process. ? Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been involved in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these challenges. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? ? The first thought is always additional money for adult education which would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. ? The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action project are two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier for local programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state?s content standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In-Action project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is doing with content standards. Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look forward to hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished colleagues share information over the next two weeks. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:43:38 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 949] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <672AB2AF-09A4-414F-B480-B3387DECAC8E at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; format=flowed Pam, Can you tell us more about the Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-in-Action Project? What are these resources? Which of the Standards-in-Action tools have you used in Oklahoma, and how have you used them? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net On Jun 9, 2008, at 9:49 AM, Pam Blundell wrote: > First, thank you David for this opportunity to share with all of you > Oklahoma's work in the area of adult education content standards. > Below > are my > responses to your questions. I look forward to the discussion over > the > next two weeks. > > 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? > ? Informal discussions around content standards began at the state > level > prior to my coming to the state in January 2001. There were several > reasons for considering content standards at that time, one of > which was > the belief that at some point in the future they would be required > of all > states. However, apart from the idea of it being a requirement, there > were serious concerns about what Oklahoma wanted adult education to > look > like in the classroom. There was agreement that if we had state level > expectations for providing quality instruction, then the state > needed to > provide guidance as to what that looked like. In addition, > Oklahoma?s K-12 > system had been implementing standards for several years and since > adult > education is part of the Department of Education, it should have > equally > strong standards. > ? In Program Year (PY)2002-03, the state reviewed research on quality > instruction and various approaches other states had taken in the > development of content standards. The state decided to explore the > Equipped for the Future teaching and learning system through a pilot > project that began in the summer of 2003. The pilot consisted of > three > local programs and one Department of Corrections site. The EFF > standards > were not officially adopted by the state at that time; however, the > pilot > project provided feedback from the field that supported the need for > content standards. > ? In the spring of 2004 a state Task Force made up of program > directors, > teachers and state staff was established to determine if content > standards > should be adopted, why or why not, and if so, what direction should be > taken and what resources should be invested in this process. The Task > Force made two important decisions that led to the adoption of our > current > state standards. First, they agreed that the EFF standards and all > the > tools associated with this system of teaching and learning were > representative of what Oklahoma wanted adult education to look like > in the > classroom. This system provided direction and guidance supportive of > systemic change needed throughout the state. It was recommended > that the > state officially adopt the EFF standards. Second, the Task Force > agreed > that while the EFF standards provided a strong research-based > foundation, > there was not enough detail in the areas of reading, math, and > writing. > It was recommended that further resources be invested in the > development > of Curriculum Frameworks (CF) for reading, math, and writing over the > following three years with reading being the focus of the first year. > Formatting recommendations were made by the Task Force, the work > began, > and the first reading training was implemented during PY2004-05. > Work in > the area of math took place in 2005-06 and in writing in 2006-07. > > 2. What standards has your state adopted? > ? Equipped for the Future [ > http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm > ]http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm > ? Curriculum Frameworks in reading, math, and writing have been > added to > the EFF work. > > 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to > actual > implementation? > ? PY2008-09 will begin the sixth year of this process. Professional > development was implemented from the very beginning with the first EFF > pilot project already underway when the decision was made to > officially > adopt the EFF standards. > ? The state set EFF Goals and Objectives for learners, teachers, > directors, local programs, and the state. An application process > was used > to select programs for the pilot project in 2003-04. Each year > thereafter, additional programs applied to begin the three-year > training > process with an average of five new programs per year. To date, > twenty-six of thirty-five local programs have participated in the > trainings. Over 300 participants have been involved in varying > degrees of > the content standards training over the last five years. An > additional > five programs will be added in 2008-09 and it is planned that by > 2009-10 > all local programs will have been engaged in some level of content > standards training. > ? The three-year process which began in 2004-05 includes the > following: > > > Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 1. EFF Orientation > ? An introduction to the EFF system > ? Focus on the state?s goal setting policy and using student goals to > direct instruction > ? Conference calls > 2. Read with Understanding > ? Focused on the reading standard and using the Reading Curriculum > Framework within the EFF system of teaching and learning > ? Three 3-day sessions (9 days) > ? Conference calls between sessions > ? Site visits between sessions > ? Interim activity assignments > ? Program EFF teams must include the director and a minimum of two > teachers. > ? $5,500 program incentive added to their allocation > ? $1,000 individual participant incentive upon completion of all > training > and assignments 1. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate > ? Focused on the math standard and using the Math Curriculum > Framework > within the EFF system > ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) > ? Conference calls as needed > ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments > ? Site visits as needed by state staff > ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process 1. > Convey Ideas > in Writing > ? Focused on the writing standard and using the Writing Curriculum > Framework within the EFF system > ? Three 2-day sessions (6 days) > ? E-mail feedback of interim assignments > ? Requires having gone through the Year 1 training process and > preferably > Year 2 > ? In PY2006-07 the state selected EFF State Specialists (3 in > reading and > 3 in math) for a train-the-trainer project. In PY2008-09, the > state will > add writing specialists and the EFF Orientation will be conducted > by state > specialists rather than national trainers. > ? In PY2008-09 the state will add a one-day EFF Orientation and a > one-day > Curriculum Framework training that will be facilitated by the state > specialists. This training will address the need for shorter > trainings > and more local or regional options. > ? A key to the implementation process has been the onsite visits by > the > national trainers, state staff, and state EFF specialists. Mentoring, > conference calls, and the ability to seek support from various > resources > has been critically important to the process. > ? Future plans for PY2008-09 include content-specific online courses, > short video conferences on topics that support the use of content > standards and the EFF teaching/learning system, development of > speaking > and listening curriculum frameworks and work on ESL standards. > > 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the > content standards? > ? Successes: Development of the Reading, Math, and Writing Curriculum > Frameworks; A strong three-year training plan that has improved > from year > to year from participant feedback and has provided a consistency and > coherence that sent the message that standards-based instruction > was here > to stay and not just a one-shot deal; Excellent support of our > national > EFF trainers and EFF staff without whom this work would not have been > done; Training of our EFF State Specialists to provide training and > support to the field; Inclusion of onsite visits and conference > calls in > the training; Positive feedback from our participants regarding the > changes they are making in instruction; System changes programs > have made > to support standards-based instruction such as managed-intake and > managed-entry classes, materials and resources purchased, teacher > planning > time, team meetings, sharing of information with teachers unable to > attend > in-depth training, and greater focus on student goal-setting and > written > lesson plans. > ? Challenges: Meeting the training needs of part-time teachers > unable to > attend multiple day in-depth training; Additional professional > development > for program directors to be sure they recognize and know how to > support > standards-based instruction since they are the key element in > supporting > transfer of training to classroom instruction; Money and time for > programs > to support the planning process that is needed for standards-based > instruction; and, Staff turnover (directors, teachers, state staff) > is a > challenge when you invest in training and then people leave and you > have > to start over. Also providing directors and teachers with new > tools to > support instruction is an ongoing process. > ? Many of the plans for 2008-2009 and the work our state has been > involved > in with the Standards-In-Action project are an effort to address these > challenges. > > 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the > development of standards-based adult basic education by states? > ? The first thought is always additional money for adult education > which > would allow faster expansion of the work already started in Oklahoma. > ? The Content Standards Warehouse and the Standards-In-Action > project are > two examples of support that I hope will continue to be available to > states. Funds attached to special projects would make it easier > for local > programs to carry out the work necessary in moving the state?s content > standards work forward. Tools developed through the Standards-In- > Action > project will are being used in ways that support the work Oklahoma is > doing with content standards. > > > Again, thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look > forward to > hearing about the work being done in other states as my distinguished > colleagues share information over the next two weeks. > > Pam > > > Pam Blundell, Assistant Director > Lifelong Learning Section > Oklahoma State Department of Education > 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 > Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 > 405-521-3321 > 1-800-405-0355 > pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at comcast.net David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 2 ******************************************** From Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov Wed Jun 11 11:34:20 2008 From: Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov (Kroeger, Miriam) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:34:20 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 960] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Arizona In-Reply-To: <33B70100-D756-456E-B7B1-BB59E70D67A2@comcast.net> References: <33B70100-D756-456E-B7B1-BB59E70D67A2@comcast.net> Message-ID: <914B6658FFC2C74EAF866A48985C3A8E038F2448FF@prodmail5.prod.root> Thank you, David, for the opportunity to share with others Arizona's experiences with Standards development, adoption and implementation. Why standards? Arizona embarked on this evolutionary process starting in 1998. The genesis for our Standrds Initiative was comments from the field. Our Arizona adult educators expressed frustration over a lack of common definitions of skills and abilities for students at the ABE/ASE and ESOL levels. At the same time, Arizona's K-12 system was also developing and refining their standards. Several programs had developed compentencies but nothing was in use on a statewide basis. I want to reiterate again - the majority of Arizona's standards are field driven and make use of the knowledge and expertise that exists in the field. I mentioned our K-12 system for a few reasons. First, Arizona Adult Education is administered through the Arizona Department of Education. Our highest adminstrator is the Superintendent of Public Instruction Second, our providers include not only community colleges, non-profits, and government-related agencies, but also elementary and secondary school districts. Many of our teachers come from K-12 systems. We wanted to be sure that we employed easily recongizable and meaningful language, ideas and concepts. Third, we wanted to develop standards that helped our adult learners transition to more learning and ways of knowing that would help them in further education, in their family interactions and responsibilitise, and in their communities and on their jobs. We thought, and think, of our standards as bridges to their future. 2. What standards: We started with the development of Reaindg, Writing, Math, ESOL and Citizenship Standards. We added Science, Social Studies and Technology. Our standards included Content (what students should know and be able to do), and Performance/Proficiency Standards (how well should they know this, and what does a continuum of knowing look like). We also developed Sample Activities at each level, in each content area, applied to each indicator and put these activities in the context of Family, Workplace and Community. http://www.ade.az.gov/adult-ed/adult_ed_standards.asp 2. Process: Whew - 10 years and still working on it! Our field really stepped up to the plate. Over 100 teachers and administrators were involved and worked on various teams - a Design Team who particpated in extensive training on the change process, because, believe me, standards were a big change in how adult education operated. Task forces in each of the content areas, Focus groups for feedback on what was being developed, task forces for performance/proficiency standards, a steering committee to review the final products, standards specialists to help programs understand and implement the standards and to deal with change, summer institutes for teachers to learn how to and to align their materials, lessons, etc. to the standards. It is a continuous process, and there have been interesting outcomes. As I visit programs throughout our state, teachers are not asking questions about what are these standards?, instead they speak "standards-speak". They know levels of profiency, they know what materials and resources they would use for a learner who is ABE I in math. They post lessons aligned to the standards on our state association website. (www.az-aall.org) 3/4. Implementation, Successes and Challenges I think I have mentioned these - the greatest being helping the field understand and deal with change. Understanding the change process; working with all of our teams to understand and embrace the process. But it worked, and because the field was involved from the beginning, the field was able to work with their colleagues and lead them through the process. People were/are learning together. When we review a program in depth, we ask about standards understanding and use. Our experience now is that we don't have to ask that question; we see evidence of standards use in the classrooms wherever we go. We see notations of standards and indicators in lessons, and see integrated lessons aligned to standards such as social Studies and writing, or Science and math. 5. Support on the federal level is evident. I'm not sure if there should be "national" standards in adult education. I think the Standards Warehouse and the taxonomies that were developed for each of the content areas identify the common measures that states need to address in their standards. I look forward to hearing form others. I've already linked to several resources that my colleagues have mentioned in their posts. There is a richness of experience and knowledge in adult education that often goes unnoticed. Our collective work in standards I believe will help our stakeholders understand the value that we can contribute to the success of our learners and our country. -Miriam Kroeger Miriam A. Kroeger, Education Program Specialist Arizona Department of Education/Adult Education 1535 W. Jefferson Bin 26 Phoenix, AZ 85007 Phone: (602) 364-2703 FAX: (602) 258-4986 miriam.kroeger at azed.gov The information contained in this email transmission and any attachments is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated named herein. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document and its attachment in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communcation in errror, please notify the sender and return and delete the original message immediately. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 7:30 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 958] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Arizona Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks and Pam Blundell. Today, however, I would also like to welcome Miriam Kroeger who will report on Arizona's experience in implementing adult education content standards. Miriam will answer the same questions I asked Pam and Judy to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked Pam and Judy . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to miriam.kroeger at azed.gov NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. From djrosen at comcast.net Wed Jun 11 22:43:03 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:43:03 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult Education ContentStandards: Louisiana Message-ID: Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From ochykheyr at yahoo.com Thu Jun 12 06:31:34 2008 From: ochykheyr at yahoo.com (Ochieng kh) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:31:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 962] Re: Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Arizona In-Reply-To: <914B6658FFC2C74EAF866A48985C3A8E038F2448FF@prodmail5.prod.root> Message-ID: <60943.76017.qm@web39104.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Well thought out, systematic and highly enriching. Only to add that national standards will be instructive in guiding sectoral and thematic programs. In my view adult-education should be need based and talent driven so as to respond to specific needs, talents and opportunities. Such courses as family administration, environmental education and civic participation are imperative. Best wishes to all, Ochieng M.K "Kroeger, Miriam" wrote: Thank you, David, for the opportunity to share with others Arizona's experiences with Standards development, adoption and implementation. Why standards? Arizona embarked on this evolutionary process starting in 1998. The genesis for our Standrds Initiative was comments from the field. Our Arizona adult educators expressed frustration over a lack of common definitions of skills and abilities for students at the ABE/ASE and ESOL levels. At the same time, Arizona's K-12 system was also developing and refining their standards. Several programs had developed compentencies but nothing was in use on a statewide basis. I want to reiterate again - the majority of Arizona's standards are field driven and make use of the knowledge and expertise that exists in the field. I mentioned our K-12 system for a few reasons. First, Arizona Adult Education is administered through the Arizona Department of Education. Our highest adminstrator is the Superintendent of Public Instruction Second, our providers include not only community colleges, non-profits, and government-related agencies, but also elementary and secondary school districts. Many of our teachers come from K-12 systems. We wanted to be sure that we employed easily recongizable and meaningful language, ideas and concepts. Third, we wanted to develop standards that helped our adult learners transition to more learning and ways of knowing that would help them in further education, in their family interactions and responsibilitise, and in their communities and on their jobs. We thought, and think, of our standards as bridges to their future. 2. What standards: We started with the development of Reaindg, Writing, Math, ESOL and Citizenship Standards. We added Science, Social Studies and Technology. Our standards included Content (what students should know and be able to do), and Performance/Proficiency Standards (how well should they know this, and what does a continuum of knowing look like). We also developed Sample Activities at each level, in each content area, applied to each indicator and put these activities in the context of Family, Workplace and Community. http://www.ade.az.gov/adult-ed/adult_ed_standards.asp 2. Process: Whew - 10 years and still working on it! Our field really stepped up to the plate. Over 100 teachers and administrators were involved and worked on various teams - a Design Team who particpated in extensive training on the change process, because, believe me, standards were a big change in how adult education operated. Task forces in each of the content areas, Focus groups for feedback on what was being developed, task forces for performance/proficiency standards, a steering committee to review the final products, standards specialists to help programs understand and implement the standards and to deal with change, summer institutes for teachers to learn how to and to align their materials, lessons, etc. to the standards. It is a continuous process, and there have been interesting outcomes. As I visit programs throughout our state, teachers are not asking questions about what are these standards?, instead they speak "standards-speak". They know levels of profienc y, they know what materials and resources they would use for a learner who is ABE I in math. They post lessons aligned to the standards on our state association website. (www.az-aall.org) 3/4. Implementation, Successes and Challenges I think I have mentioned these - the greatest being helping the field understand and deal with change. Understanding the change process; working with all of our teams to understand and embrace the process. But it worked, and because the field was involved from the beginning, the field was able to work with their colleagues and lead them through the process. People were/are learning together. When we review a program in depth, we ask about standards understanding and use. Our experience now is that we don't have to ask that question; we see evidence of standards use in the classrooms wherever we go. We see notations of standards and indicators in lessons, and see integrated lessons aligned to standards such as social Studies and writing, or Science and math. 5. Support on the federal level is evident. I'm not sure if there should be "national" standards in adult education. I think the Standards Warehouse and the taxonomies that were developed for each of the content areas identify the common measures that states need to address in their standards. I look forward to hearing form others. I've already linked to several resources that my colleagues have mentioned in their posts. There is a richness of experience and knowledge in adult education that often goes unnoticed. Our collective work in standards I believe will help our stakeholders understand the value that we can contribute to the success of our learners and our country. -Miriam Kroeger Miriam A. Kroeger, Education Program Specialist Arizona Department of Education/Adult Education 1535 W. Jefferson Bin 26 Phoenix, AZ 85007 Phone: (602) 364-2703 FAX: (602) 258-4986 miriam.kroeger at azed.gov The information contained in this email transmission and any attachments is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated named herein. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document and its attachment in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communcation in errror, please notify the sender and return and delete the original message immediately. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 7:30 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 958] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Arizona Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks and Pam Blundell. Today, however, I would also like to welcome Miriam Kroeger who will report on Arizona's experience in implementing adult education content standards. Miriam will answer the same questions I asked Pam and Judy to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked Pam and Judy . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to miriam.kroeger at azed.gov NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to ochykheyr at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080612/19e5ea63/attachment.html From RayeNell.Spillman at LA.GOV Thu Jun 12 08:12:40 2008 From: RayeNell.Spillman at LA.GOV (RayeNell Spillman) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:12:40 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 963] Implementing Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards Message-ID: <56E6B0B819751741A3B045C2B16A014135912ADDF1@MAILMBX02.MAIL.LA.GOV> Good morning and thank you David for the invitation and opportunity to share what Louisiana has done in the area of adult education content standards. 1. Why did your state choose to adopt content standards? Louisiana began the process of developing adult education content standards for several reasons: to follow the directive from the Louisiana State Superintendent; to become compliant with Title II, Workforce Investment Act of 1998; to adhere to the State Plan's 5 year goal "to identify content standards" in the Louisiana State Department of Education; to assist local programs with curriculum development and/or accountability; to develop a document that will guide the teaching process in adult education; align and advance Adult Education & Literacy initiatives in Louisiana The Louisiana Department of Education developed the Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards to emulate Louisiana K-12 standards where appropriate, distinguish among educational functioning levels, and account for the vast needs of adult learners. The content standards were designed to raise accountability levels among adult education programs and ensure that similar concepts are taught at educational functioning levels throughout the state. The State Standards for Curriculum Development provides consistency, accountability, programmatic quality and integrity statewide in the execution of classroom lessons. The content standards document helps provide students who transfer from parish to parish with a continuum of services. The content standards provide teachers with a guide of necessary skills and information that students should know to obtain basic competency skills along with developing higher-level critical thinking skills and acquiring basic workforce readiness skills. The intent of the content standards document is to provide a tool that will ease the processes of developing curriculum frameworks and planning instruction for adult educators throughout Louisiana. The process of developing the standards began with a review of Louisiana K-12 standards and adult education standards from other states. The Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards project was designed to emulate Louisiana K-12 standards where appropriate, distinguish among educational functioning levels, and account for the vast needs of adult learners. The Louisiana Department of Education developed the Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards over the course of two years through a committee comprised of adult education personnel from both city and parish school districts and private literacy providers. A writing team was formed to begin the process of developing the standards. Priority for membership in the writing team was extended to certified adult education instructors who have participated in Louisiana's Connecting Practice, Policy and Research (Study Circles) project in conjunction with the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. Upon completion of the work of the writing team, it was determined that a steering committee should be formed that is composed of members from the writing team. Following the development of a draft of the standards, the Louisiana Department of Education conducted regional meetings to allow local adult educators the opportunity to review and critique the standards. Following these meetings, the Louisiana Department of Education contracted with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to conduct an external review of the standards. The cadre of subject matter experts from CCSSO assisted in affirming the validity and reliability of the standards. The steering committee met after the regional meetings and review of standards by CCSSO to consider revisions to the standards. The steering committee reviewed comments and made appropriate revisions to the document. Throughout the process, the charge of the steering committee was to represent the interests of the original writing team. Throughout the course of the project, the Louisiana Department of Education participated in the Adult Education Content Standards Consortia project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Louisiana was one of 15 states in the consortia and participated in the Adult Basic Education strand of the project. 2. What standards has your state adopted? Include web link(s) to them. The curriculum development provides a framework for instruction in five instructional strand areas: Language Arts-Reading, Language Arts-Writing, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Bulletin 123: Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards can be found at the Louisiana Department of Education website at http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/osr/lac/28v129/28v129.doc. Also, a copy of the Language Arts and Mathematics standards can be obtained on the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse (AECSW) website at http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? FY 2008-2009 will be the third year of our standards implementation process. The initial "roll-out" and professional development opportunities involving the standards began after the adult education content standards were approved and adopted by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in October 2006. Year 1 (FY 2006-2007): The Adult and Family Literacy Services Section partnered with the Louisiana Association for Public, Community, and Adult Education (LAPCAE) to introduce the Louisiana Content Standards to teachers and administrators through regional meetings and presentations across the state. In preparation for the regional trainings, adult education teachers across the state were asked to send to the State some of their favorite lesson plans. The goal was to collect a variety of lessons for each subject area that we would use for a hands-on activity during the workshops to introduce the standards. At the end of the presentation, each teacher was given a set of 25 lesson plans that were correlated to the standards. In some cases these helped to "jump-start" the teacher's collection of classroom lesson plans. There were approximately 250 adult education teachers/supervisors that attended the workshops. Then, Louisiana had the opportunity to apply for the Project TIAN (Teachers Investigating Adult Numeracy) pilot project and was one of six states to be selected to participate in Project TIAN pilot project, so our focus for the remainder of FY 2006-2007 was on the math standards and using the math curriculum. This project included three 2-day sessions (6 days) of training, regional meetings between each training, completing/submitting interim assignments/forms, incorporating the EmPower lessons in their adult education classrooms and providing feedback on each lesson that was presented. Twenty creative and energetic teachers were trained on the EmPower materials during this project. Technical assistance was provided via email and conference calls by state staff and the TIAN trainers. These teachers were given professional development hours and paid a modest $250 stipend for their work with this project; however, when applying for the project they were not aware that they would be compensated at all for their participation in the project. Since the TIAN pilot year ended, participating teachers and state staff continue to follow-up with this project via internet discussions, sharing lessons correlated to the state mathematics standards through hands-on workshops using the materials to train other teachers within their local programs and at our annual summer conference for teachers across the state. Year 2 (FY 2007-2008): Louisiana received the application for Standards-in-Action (SIA), Part I. This pilot project was the next logical step in developing a true understanding of how best to use our standards, in particular our Language Arts strand to help improve reading instruction in the adult education classrooms throughout the state. Louisiana applied and was selected to participate in the SIA project with the focus on the Language Arts-Reading content standards. Two 1 ? day national workshops, along with workshops at the local level, were conducted throughout the project. Site visits were also conducted by the national trainer and state staff. Technical assistance was provided via site visits (when needed), email and conference calls. Along with state staff, there were approximately 30 full-time and/or part-time teachers and the supervisors in 2 parishes that participated in this project. Program participation incentive was professional development hours for the participants. Year 3 (FY 2008-2009): Louisiana has been accepted for SIA, Part II. This series of workshops will provide teaching and training materials designed to assess the implementation of the standards in the adult education. We will be using the same local team members for this part of the project which we think is a benefit because of their prior experience with using the tools on the reading standards. Future plans include: ? Online access to the SIA completed project which will include the thematic units and resource alignment to the standards. * Standards for ESL ? Further training and development for teachers o Professional development must be sustained ? Quarterly Supervisors' Meetings ? Regional Workshops in collaboration with LAPCAE ? Annual State Summer Conference-Achievement Beyond the Classroom (ABC) ? Alignment o Develop cross reference guides for curriculum ? Use the SIA, Part I tools on the remaining content areas. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? Successes: Development of the Language Arts-Reading/Writing, Math, Science & Social Studies standards that provide teachers with a framework of necessary skills. Trainings that provided teachers with resources that would help in developing future lessons. The train-the-trainer model for TIAN and SIA will help disseminate materials/lessons to other adult education instructors at our summer conference and LAPCAE regional meetings throughout the year. The "teamwork" and support at both the state and local level has been amazing and rewarding. Challenges: Changing the mindset of some adult education instructors when it comes to content standards, lesson planning, and teaching adults -vs- teaching children; Local program staff turnover, trainings and resources in lesson planning must be ongoing; state staff manpower/time to conduct workshops, conduct onsite monitoring to check for lesson plan/content standard correlations, and to provide technical assistance; monies at both the state and local level to send teachers to the trainings. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? Hopefully, at the federal level funding will continue to be provided for trainings and resources, such as SIA & the Content Standards Warehouse. Thank you for the opportunity to share what Louisiana has done with Adult Education Content Standards. It has been very interesting to hear what other states have done to implement standards in their states. Awaiting your questions! Raye Nell Spillman Education Program Consultant Louisiana Department of Education 1201 North 3rd Street Baton Rouge, LA 70802 225-219-0404 1-877-453-2721 Rayenell.Spillman at la.gov Raye Nell Spillman Education Program Consultant Adult and Family Literacy 1201 North 3rd Street Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Phone: 225-219-0404 Fax: 225-219-4439 Email: RayeNell.Spillman at la.gov The vision of the Department of Education is to create a world-class education system for all students in Louisiana. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080612/fdc407cf/attachment.html From JURMO at ucc.edu Thu Jun 12 12:00:23 2008 From: JURMO at ucc.edu (JURMO at ucc.edu) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:00:23 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu From jpiazza at fcusd.org Thu Jun 12 08:48:03 2008 From: jpiazza at fcusd.org (Joseph Piazza) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:48:03 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State Adult Education ContentStandards Message-ID: <4850B894020000EE0003ED00@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us> David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org From rsrshoemake at yahoo.com Thu Jun 12 21:14:55 2008 From: rsrshoemake at yahoo.com (Sharon L.) Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:14:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 966] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: <395138.64017.qm@web33608.mail.mud.yahoo.com> I think a lack of understanding and a fear of extra work drive much resistance to change Sharon L. Shoemaker --- On Thu, 6/12/08, JURMO at ucc.edu <JURMO at ucc.edu> wrote: From: JURMO at ucc.edu <JURMO at ucc.edu> Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:00 AM Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rsrshoemake at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080612/eda165ff/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 13 06:00:52 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (djrosen at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:00:52 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 967] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Maryland Message-ID: <061320081000.9303.48524554000A125D000024572215551724020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> Colleagues, Please continue to post your questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell, Miriam Kroeger and Raye Nell Spillman. Today I would like to welcome Karen Lisch Gianninoto. She will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Maryland. She will answer the same questions I asked the previous guests to address and will perhaps add other information based on the questions we have asked the other guests and the new questions below . This is the fifth presentation of seven from those in several states that have been implementing state content standards well. Several subscribers have asked, both in the discussion forum, and in emails to me, variations on this question that I received from a subscriber: "Ultimately standards-based education depends on teachers understanding and using standards. How did your state get buy in, especially from those who were reluctant or who resisted? " I hope all of our guests will talk about this in detail. What were the strategies that worked best in your state? Another question, from a subscriber, that I hope all of our panelists will address: "Do you have any data (or anecdotal evidence) on the extent to which teachers are meaningfully using standards?" And another: "What does it look like when teachers are using standards-based education in the classroom? Are there rich text descriptions available somewhere, maybe in state newsletters, or on the EFF Web site, where teachers describe their practice -- and also their growth -- in using standards-based education? " (Incidentally, one answer to this question might be the Media Library of Teaching Skills, at http://mlots.org , which I have had a hand in producing. The MLoTS hopes to address that issue by posting in its free, online collection short videos of standards-based adult education classes and tutorials.) For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 13 15:32:30 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (djrosen at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:32:30 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 968] Ohio's Q&A Message-ID: <061320081932.27777.4852CB4E00075A0800006C812216551406020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> Posted for Judy Franks: From: jfranks at wadsnet.com [ Save Address ] To: "specialtopics at nifl.gov" Subject: Ohio's Q&A Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:58:29 -0400 (EDT) Greetings All -- First, let me apologize for not responding earlier - I'm having remote computer issues - trying this approach to communicate. David had asked me to expand on a few of my original answers, so I've completed these two and will continue the next two a little later. He's also synthesized some key concepts from my answers. Here goes: "Our ABLE Evaluation & Design team at OSU lead the process to bring together a team of content experts (reading, writing, math) and practitioners to create and validate benchmarks against the NRS descriptors" What is the relationship of benchmarks in Ohio to the EFF standards? Are the benchmarks simply a more specific articulation of the standards (yes), closer to actual measures, or something else? If you had a chance to look at our benchmark (colored) charts [Benchmarks by Core Components of Performance http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRel ationID=966&ContentID=6749&Content=33453], you will see that we used the components of performance (COPs) as the beginning framework for building the benchmarks. Then using multiple sources - Ohio's K-12 standards and other state standards - we identified skills that students would need to master at each of the NRS levels, creating strands across the levels. These became our benchmarks. The benchmarks are a way for teachers to use their diagnostic testing to identify concepts that students need to work on in class. Since the standard is holistic, teachers plan lessons using all the COPs and specific identified benchmarks as they plan their lessons. "Currently the state leadership network (SLN) has built a standards-based professional development system in an attempt to connect our six sets of standards - practitioner, professional development, program, content, data and performance - into a coherent, inter-related system of quality services for our adult learners." Can you tell us more about this? What are examples of some of these professional development system standards? Is there a deliberate overlap of program improvement standards and professional development standards? If so, why? Kathi Polis has been working with the SLN to develop our comprehensive system, these are the definitions of each of the standards currently being implemented in Ohio: -- Practitioner standards define what teachers, administrators, and support staff need to know and be able to do in order to provide quality services; -- Professional development standards define the essential elements of meaningful professional growth activities; -- Program standards (ABLE?s Indicators of Program Quality) define the characteristics that exemplary local programs should demonstrate; -- Content standards clarify the skills and knowledge that adult learners need to know and be able to do in their roles as workers, parents and community members; -- Data quality standards (ABLE?s Data Certification Checklist) ensure that reliable and valid data are available to make informed decisions and guide program management; and -- Performance standards (ABLE?s Core Indicators of Performance) set high expectations for program outcomes Being part of ODE (Ohio Department of Education) at the origin of the project (we are currently in the process of transferring to the University System of Ohio), we chose to use the Professional Development Standards http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRel ationID=513&ContentID=8561&Content=37548 that K-12 had already outlined - although we made them applicable to adult students where needed - as quality professional development should be the same for either adults or children. Each standard consists of a statement, a narrative summary and elements and reflect these ideas: Standard 1: Effective professional development is a purposeful, structured and continuous process that occurs over time. Standard 2: Effective professional development is informed by multiple sources of data. Standard 3: Effective professional development is collaborative. Standard 4: Effective professional development includes varied learning experiences that accommodate the individual educator?s knowledge and skills. Standard 5: Effective professional development results in the acquisition, enhancement or refinement of skills and knowledge. Standard 6: Effective professional development is evaluated by its short- and long-term impact on professional practice and achievement of all students. As we are in the process of field testing this new system, all these resources are not readily available online. Check back with me later in the summer for their location and I would be happy to share the link. Comparisons to the AALPD standards find that Ohio's standards and elements mirror their concepts, albeit the formats vary. The writer of our Ohio ABLE Standards-Based Professional Development System Guide has summed up the inter-connectedness or overlap of our standards, I'll let the document explain: "Collectively, these standards make clear the shared expectations for success and help to delineate what matters in learning and teaching. The standards also facilitate communication through a common language. The role of the ABLE professional development system is to connect these six sets of standards into a coherent, interrelated system of quality services to adult learners. At the foundation of the professional development system are practitioner and professional development standards. The practitioner standards provide a pathway for professional growth and guide the development of high quality activities that reflect the professional development standards. Through responsive professional development, practitioners gain a better understanding of how to implement program standards that lead to effective teaching, learning, administration and support. Professional development provides the tools and processes to help practitioners use the content standards to help adult learners gain the skills and knowledge they need to reach their educational and personal goals. Through effective professional development, programs learn how to implement reliable and valid data standards that can be used to analyze progress and make necessary adjustments for continuous improvement. When these five sets of standards are being fully implemented, the result is a high quality delivery system that leads to strong student outcomes and meeting and exceeding the performance standards." My (David's) interpretation of some key features of standards implementation in Ohio are: -- Committed leadership -- Starting with a good set of standards -- Allowing enough time (years!) -- Careful alignment -- Teams at all levels and in al parts of the planning and implementation process -- Tools that make it easy for teachers to use the standards -- Simultaneous top-down and bottom-up implementation efforts -- Investment in considerable professional development Would you agree? Have I missed any? Financial support - we used small grants to support programs as they were making changes. Hope this helps to clarify, Judy From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Fri Jun 13 09:36:45 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:36:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 969] Re: Implementing Content Standards Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDF9@msebex1.msde.net> Good Morning, Thank you for inviting me to present today. I have enjoyed reading about how the content standards have been implemented in other states. Why did your state choose to adopt ESL/ESOL content standards? The demand to provide services for non-native English speaking adults in the mid to late 90's greatly increased the demand for ESL/ESOL instruction. Instructors across the state were concerned about what language skills they should teach at specific levels. Based on the concerns expressed, the Maryland ESL /ESOL Workgroup was formed and was assigned the task of designing and developing the Content Standards for Adult ESL/ESOL for the state of Maryland. The group began by gathering, comparing, and contrasting models that had been developed in states such as Arizona, New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Florida. While some models provided very detailed standards and curricula, Maryland's approach to Content Standards is to provide a framework as a resource, rather than a prescription, for local programs to use to align their instruction. The Maryland Content Standards for Adult/ESL/ESOL published in 2003 is a blueprint for ESL/ESOL administrators and instructors. The ESL/ESOL content standards document includes the following sections: Content Standards by Level, Content Standards by Skill, Competencies, Cultural Skills, Workplace Skills, Technology Skills, Metacognitive Skills, Unit Planning, Lesson Planning, and Ten Strategies for Success. The content standards are reviewed and revised frequently. The latest revised edition and training materials are available on the Maryland Adult Literacy Resource Center website, www.umbc.edu/alrc . All instructors are required to complete Maryland ESL/ESOL Content Standards Training. What standards has your state adopted? In addition to the ESL/ESOL Content Standards, Maryland has adopted Maryland Adult ESL Quality Program Standards and Maryland Adult Education Technology Standards. This year, Maryland has developed Professional Standards for Teachers in Adult Education. Currently they are in the draft form and available for review by the field. In the future, the Maryland State Department of Education plans to develop reading and math standards. Links: ESL Program Standards http://www.umbc.edu/alrc/Standards/Texts/MdESLStand.html Technology Standards http://www.umbc.edu/alrc/Standards/Texts/TechnologyStandards.pdf What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? The process Maryland used for implementing the standards had several steps, which involved a key position in each local program. The role of the instructional specialist is important for each program because the instructional specialist is a member of the program's leadership team and responsible for mentoring teachers and providing professional development for instructors. In fact, we have created a content standards training manual (http://www.umbc.edu/alrc/standards.html) for the instructional specialists to ensure consistency in training across the state and have plans to offer an online content standards course for instructors this fall. The early stages of implementing the content standards included an unveiling of the content standards at the state adult education conference, and a three-day training for instructional specialists was held to familiarize the instructional specialists with the content standards document and to explain how each section of the content standards document would be used in planning instruction. During the next three years, targeted local programs developed a content standards training plan. By the third year, all the programs had implemented training and positive reports were indicated about the use of the standards. Maryland continues to provide state training each year for new instructional specialists and relies on the instructional specialists to provide training locally and provide the support instructors may need to implement the standards in their lessons. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? We completed a state content standards survey in June 2006. One of the biggest outcomes of implementing the content standards was that instructors can validate their instruction. It has brought them a degree of professionalism as well. Some other successes the survey indicated were the following: ? 90% have received training ? 78% use the document for planning lessons ? 94% think they are easily understood and have clear and appropriate expectations for learners at each level. ? 86% think they provide guidance for lesson and unit planning ? 95% think they focus on relevant skills and knowledge ? 84% think they provide knowledge and skills for learners transferring to further education or training The real challenge is keeping the content standards alive and off the shelf. Instructors need reinforcement about why the standards are important link to instruction and assessment. I think the real challenge is getting instructors to change their practice and keeping the momentum going when they do decide to make changes. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? Maryland has benefited from the support we have received from the federal level, and I hope that federal support can continue to support initiatives that help states develop and implement standards. Maryland participated in the CAELA Pilot, which provided us guidance on content standards training and provided us with tools for looking at our ESL data to develop an ESL training plan. We also had the opportunity to pilot ESL training materials developed by CAELA. Last year, we participated in Standards in Action. The tools we used through this pilot, we have now added to our content standards training. The SIA Tools helped instructors and instructional specialists analyze the language skills indicators, see the connection between the standards and assessment, connect the standards to texts and other resources, and develop unit and lesson plans aligned to the content standards. In summary, SIA refined the content standards training process in Maryland. Our plan is to continue using the tools this year and provide additional assistance to instructional specialists in examining student work. The purpose will be to develop a deeper understanding of the state content standards, and model a process for instructional specialist to use when mentoring instructors, to diagnose student strengths and needs to inform instruction. Also, the Content Standards Warehouse is a wonderful resource to use in developing, reviewing, and revising standards. Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/00d9a454/attachment.html From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Fri Jun 13 09:52:39 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:52:39 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 970] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards References: <395138.64017.qm@web33608.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFA@msebex1.msde.net> Human behavior is a result of habit, and teaching practices are similar. It is difficult to move from a comfortable known situation to a new situation because one does not know what the results might be. For example, New Year's resolutions begin well intended, and similarly instructors/educators attending trainings/conferences leave well intended to make changes in their practices. But this rarely happens, unless there is a network of support that can help the person work through and sustain the change. Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Sharon L. Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 9:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 966] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana I think a lack of understanding and a fear of extra work drive much resistance to change Sharon L. Shoemaker --- On Thu, 6/12/08, JURMO at ucc.edu wrote: From: JURMO at ucc.edu Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:00 AM Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rsrshoemake at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 6346 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/e4170a7b/attachment.bin From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Fri Jun 13 09:55:34 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:55:34 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 971] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards References: <4850B894020000EE0003ED00@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us> Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFB@msebex1.msde.net> Joseph, I don't know much about California, but you can find out more about standards based education at the following website. http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Joseph Piazza Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 8:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4971 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/fcef48e1/attachment.bin From wrmuth at vcu.edu Fri Jun 13 11:49:45 2008 From: wrmuth at vcu.edu (William R Muth/FS/VCU) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:49:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both perspectives, as a prison-based ABE teacher and as an agency administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the level of engagement was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment on second wave, etc. Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow proportionately. So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and address misunderstandings. Bill Muth Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/12/2008 07:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/8d28e57d/attachment.html From carole.a.scholl at co.multnomah.or.us Fri Jun 13 11:50:58 2008 From: carole.a.scholl at co.multnomah.or.us (SCHOLL Carole A) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:50:58 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 973] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: Regarding resistance to change: Here in corrections (and in recovery programs) we look at change as a continuum that moves through stages--precontemplative, contemplative, preparation, maintenance, relapse, etc. At each stage programs/teachers could implement strategies that would aid or strengthen the change process. Here's an example that applies to adult ed: Pre-contemplative: a student thinks about enrolling in an adult ed class. At this point an advisor would have the role of "tipping the balance": having the potential student figure out what the advantage / disadvantages of school. It's extremely important that the student come up with these and not the program! Contemplative: Students may make the call!!! At this point the educational program needs to be sure to "hook" the student and not create another barrier such as having intake at difficult times, or ignoring the student when they walk in, etc. Again, teh program needs to reinforce the decision to make a life change. Maintenance: The student starts class. Again, at this point the program/teacher needs to reinforce the advantages of change and check in with student to make sure needs are met... Relapse: Life interferes for the student and he/she stops coming to school!!! At this point, the program needs to draw the student back in. There must not be barriers to re-entry; student must again see the advantage of school in terms of meeting goals, etc. Once we started to look at our program (a community corrections adult ed program) we were able to better meet student needs, and really develop unique retention strategies to overcome resistance.... Carole Scholl Multnomah County Adult Community Justice Londer Learning Center Portland, OR http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dcj/asdllcindex.html -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of JURMO at ucc.edu Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to carole.a.scholl at co.multnomah.or.us From akohring at utk.edu Fri Jun 13 16:04:45 2008 From: akohring at utk.edu (Kohring, Aaron M) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:04:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 974] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards In-Reply-To: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFB@msebex1.msde.net> References: <4850B894020000EE0003ED00@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us> <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFB@msebex1.msde.net> Message-ID: <97F4E860F3C8FB42A399A2B1A4C0311F34195C@KFSVS4.utk.tennessee.edu> Joseph, In addition to the Content Standards Warehouse that Karen provided the link for, you may want to check the Standards section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Standards There is some information on California there, but very limited. Regards, Aaron Aaron Kohring Research Associate UT Center for Literacy Studies 600 Henley St, Ste 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 Ph: 865-974-4258 Main: 865-974-4109 Fax: 865-974-3857 akohring at utk.edu ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards Joseph, I don't know much about California, but you can find out more about standards based education at the following website. http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Joseph Piazza Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 8:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/481abf19/attachment.html From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Fri Jun 13 16:18:49 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:18:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 975] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?Implementing_State_Adult_Education_Content_=09?= =?iso-8859-1?q?Standards=3A__Mar?= In-Reply-To: <061320081000.9303.48524554000A125D000024572215551724020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> References: <061320081000.9303.48524554000A125D000024572215551724020A9C019D060B@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hello again to everyone, I would like to respond to the question regarding buy in from reluctant participants and/or resistance to change. The first lesson I have learned is patience - it takes time!!! Not something I was really very good at in the beginning. I'm not sure I've really made a lot of progress in this area over five years but I have made some. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, these are my thoughts on how buy in has taken place (and still in the process of taking place) in Oklahoma. Oklahoma started with four pilot programs using an application process so it was the local program's choice to participate from the beginning. We spent a lot of time (at various meetings) emphasizing that we wanted programs that wanted to participate. We received applications from five programs and ended up with four programs after an introductory meeting. Each year we have added programs to the process but always on a voluntary basis. With that in mind, we have consistently had 4 to 6 new programs start the 3-year training process each year and will have at least four of our remaining 10 programs begin the process next year. Each year directors talk to directors and teachers talk to teachers (finding out what it was like to participate in the training, how much work was involved, etc.) before they decide to start the process. Participants are honest and express mixed feelings about how much work is involved in the training and in lesson planning. Everyone does agree that it is pretty overwhelming the first year - a lot to process. However, almost all of the programs report increased student retention and student goal achievements in classes that are integrating standards-based instruction. Several program directors have told me (usually after the training is over) that they decided to begin the process only because another director or other teachers encouraged them to participate. They have also told me they were advised that it was a lot of work, overwhelming in the beginning, gets better as you go along, don't try to change too much too fast, etc. Programs were trusting of other programs who had been through the process - this was important. Many of our programs have started a second team through the process as a way to expand the training to other teachers or new teachers in their program. >From the beginning the state felt that it was critically important that the training be a positive and successful experience for the participants since the field was the key to moving standards-based instruction forward. For this reason, we ask for feedback each year. The field has been honest with us about the training process whether it be in general terms or in specific areas of reading, math, or writing. The state has tried hard to listen and has made changes from year to year based on their suggestions (and still are making changes) without compromising the integrity or depth of the training. This is always challenging. You must remember (and I constantly have to remind myself of this) that this is a PROCESS that takes time. I have seen programs get to the third year of training and suddenly say "this is really starting to make sense now" or "I finally understand how to put all these pieces together." This is why we are just now to the point where we feel we are ready to collect example lesson plans and maybe even video examples of standards-based instruction taking place in the classroom to use as models for future participants. EFF has videos available but our participants have asked for models from within our state. Another project we plan to work on. I can't say that we have total buy in from all our programs or teachers who have been EFF trained; however, I do feel confident that we have more buy in than resistance at this time. Programs are now saying to me that in the beginning they were skeptical that this was just the "latest thing" the state wanted them to do and it would soon pass; however, time has proven that content standards are here to stay and that the state is going to continue to invest in this process. In summary, the main points I would share are: Our EFF National Trainers are experts in their fields so the training participants receive is excellent and our programs acknowledge this excellence. The state's message regarding EFF and standards-based instruction has been consistent and continuous over the last five years in an effort to assure programs this was not just "the latest thing the state wants us to do." Local program participation has been on a voluntary basis so buy in has come slowly, steadily, and over time. Participants are all over the performance continuum, learning "light bulbs" come on at all different times, so don't make assumptions and be patient!! The state listened to feedback regarding the process each year and made changes the following year based on participant's suggestions. This is an ongoing process that the state will always be involved in. When directors tell directors and teachers tell teachers about the changes they are beginning to see in retention, achievement, student involvement and ownership in the learning process - even before they have documented evidence - buy in starts to take place in ways we could never orchestrate from the State level. Thanks and have a great week-end. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From andrejh at vcu.edu Fri Jun 13 17:53:17 2008 From: andrejh at vcu.edu (James H Andre/FS/VCU) Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:53:17 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 976] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I would agree, Bill, that the resistance, at least at the instructional level, comes from instructors' perceptions of how standards have been implemented and not from the standards themselves. In Virginia, our adult education content standards for GED and ESOL are still in the formative stages, but we anticipate final publishing soon. We have begun professional development to introduce standards and help programs throughout the state devise plans to align curricula and assessment with standards. During trainings, time is allotted to discuss perceptions of standards. Participants, many of whom have taught in the K-12 system, appreciate knowing what students should know and be able to do within a defined content area and agree that standards improve learner outcomes and provide a level playing field for all learners. Although they understand the influence of standards on curriculum and assessment, their resistance emerges when they think about instruction. "I don't want anyone telling me how to teach," seems to be the perception fueling the resistance. We spend a good amount of time during the training discussing how standards affect what we teach but not how we teach. Using a black box model* that follows the student cycle from intake to goal attainment, participants identify the importance of aligning curriculum, assessment, and standards and the effected elements of each stage of the cycle. We identify the "black box" as the uniqueness, the magic--the instruction-- that each teacher brings to the classroom to transform curriculum into student learning. What to teach remains independent of how to do it. *adapted from Mark O'Shea's From Standards to Success: A Guide for School Leaders Jim Andre' Program Development Specialist Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center www.valrc.org William R Muth/FS/VCU Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/13/2008 03:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both perspectives, as a prison-based ABE teacher and as an agency administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the level of engagement was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment on second wave, etc. Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow proportionately. So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and address misunderstandings. Bill Muth Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/12/2008 07:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to andrejh at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080613/f0a3ac28/attachment.html From rdunn at wdklawfirm.com Sat Jun 14 12:23:49 2008 From: rdunn at wdklawfirm.com (Richard Dunn) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:23:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 977] Re: ImplementingState Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana References: Message-ID: <002101c8ce3b$074cdfd0$0501a8c0@richard> ----- Original Message ----- From: James H Andre/FS/VCU To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 4:53 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 976] Re: ImplementingState Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana I would agree, Bill, that the resistance, at least at the instructional level, comes from instructors' perceptions of how standards have been implemented and not from the standards themselves. In Virginia, our adult education content standards for GED and ESOL are still in the formative stages, but we anticipate final publishing soon. We have begun professional development to introduce standards and help programs throughout the state devise plans to align curricula and assessment with standards. During trainings, time is allotted to discuss perceptions of standards. Participants, many of whom have taught in the K-12 system, appreciate knowing what students should know and be able to do within a defined content area and agree that standards improve learner outcomes and provide a level playing field for all learners. Although they understand the influence of standards on curriculum and assessment, their resistance emerges when they think about instruction. "I don't want anyone telling me how to teach," seems to be the perception fueling the resistance. We spend a good amount of time during the training discussing how standards affect what we teach but not how we teach. Using a black box model* that follows the student cycle from intake to goal attainment, participants identify the importance of aligning curriculum, assessment, and standards and the effected elements of each stage of the cycle. We identify the "black box" as the uniqueness, the magic--the instruction-- that each teacher brings to the classroom to transform curriculum into student learning. What to teach remains independent of how to do it. *adapted from Mark O'Shea's From Standards to Success: A Guide for School Leaders Jim Andre' Program Development Specialist Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center www.valrc.org William R Muth/FS/VCU Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/13/2008 03:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both perspectives, as a prison-based ABE teacher and as an agency administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the level of engagement was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment on second wave, etc. Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow proportionately. So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and address misunderstandings. Bill Muth Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/12/2008 07:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to andrejh at vcu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rdunn at wdklawfirm.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080614/69fe2673/attachment.html From rdunn at wdklawfirm.com Sat Jun 14 12:24:53 2008 From: rdunn at wdklawfirm.com (Richard Dunn) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:24:53 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 978] Re: Implementing StateAdultEducation ContentStandards References: <4850B894020000EE0003ED00@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us><2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFB@msebex1.msde.net> <97F4E860F3C8FB42A399A2B1A4C0311F34195C@KFSVS4.utk.tennessee.edu> Message-ID: <005f01c8ce3b$42a28a80$0501a8c0@richard> [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandardsPlease unsubscribe. Thank you. Richard Dunn ----- Original Message ----- From: Kohring, Aaron M To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 3:04 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 974] Re: Implementing StateAdultEducation ContentStandards Joseph, In addition to the Content Standards Warehouse that Karen provided the link for, you may want to check the Standards section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Standards There is some information on California there, but very limited. Regards, Aaron Aaron Kohring Research Associate UT Center for Literacy Studies 600 Henley St, Ste 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 Ph: 865-974-4258 Main: 865-974-4109 Fax: 865-974-3857 akohring at utk.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards Joseph, I don't know much about California, but you can find out more about standards based education at the following website. http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Joseph Piazza Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 8:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rdunn at wdklawfirm.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080614/52b00b13/attachment.html From jpiazza at fcusd.org Sun Jun 15 11:46:19 2008 From: jpiazza at fcusd.org (Joseph Piazza) Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:46:19 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 979] Thank You Both Message-ID: <4854D6DB020000EE0003EF20@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us> Thank you both for the assistance. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School 916-635-6810 >>> "Kohring, Aaron M" 06/13/08 1:04 PM >>> Joseph, In addition to the Content Standards Warehouse that Karen provided the link for, you may want to check the Standards section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Standards There is some information on California there, but very limited. Regards, Aaron Aaron Kohring Research Associate UT Center for Literacy Studies 600 Henley St, Ste 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 Ph: 865-974-4258 Main: 865-974-4109 Fax: 865-974-3857 akohring at utk.edu ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards Joseph, I don't know much about California, but you can find out more about standards based education at the following website. http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Joseph Piazza Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 8:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us From djrosen at comcast.net Sun Jun 15 22:22:39 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:22:39 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 980] Implementing State Adult Education Content Standards: Texas Message-ID: <623D8AF7-3F84-41B9-B336-BAD7AF43A07D@comcast.net> Colleagues, Please continue to post your questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell, Miriam Kroeger, Raye Nell Spillman and Karen Lisch Gianninoto. On Monday, Federico Salas will report on his experience in implementing adult education content standards in Texas. He will answer the same questions I asked the previous guests to address, and will perhaps add other information based on the questions we have asked the other guests as well as the new question below . This is the sixth presentation of seven from those in several states that have been implementing state content standards well. Here's another question from a subscriber for all our guests: ?One way of preventing content standards from gathering dust on teachers? shelves is to provide meaningful and sustained professional development that helps teachers understand and use standards to improve instruction and student performance. What are some of the promising professional development best practices that help to bring standards to life in the classroom? Can we convince reluctant teachers that standards-based education can have a value- added impact on their teaching and is not just added paperwork?? For those who have joined the discussion late, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From seacesl at yahoo.com Mon Jun 16 12:14:17 2008 From: seacesl at yahoo.com (South-East Asia Center) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:14:17 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 981] Re: Thank You Both In-Reply-To: <4854D6DB020000EE0003EF20@GW_1.fcusd.k12.ca.us> Message-ID: <144160.20897.qm@web30607.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi everyone,    I'm an ESL program coordinator for a community organization and I've been following all of your emails. I'm familiar with the issues involved in providing English language instruction to adult learners as part of my job and also from my studies. However, I'm new to content standards and the field of ABE more generally. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. Is there a basic primer out there or short course I could take to get me caught up to speed on the current issues?   Thanks, Carol   Carol Williams ESL/Literacy Program Coordinator South-East Asia Center 5120 North Broadway Street Chicago , IL 60640 Phone: 773-989-6927 Fax: 773-989-7755 E-mail: seacesl at yahoo.com Website: http://www.se-asiacenter.org/    --- On Sun, 6/15/08, Joseph Piazza <jpiazza at fcusd.org> wrote: From: Joseph Piazza <jpiazza at fcusd.org> Subject: [SpecialTopics 979] Thank You Both To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008, 10:46 AM Thank you both for the assistance. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School 916-635-6810 >>> "Kohring, Aaron M" <akohring at utk.edu> 06/13/08 1:04 PM >>> Joseph, In addition to the Content Standards Warehouse that Karen provided the link for, you may want to check the Standards section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Standards There is some information on California there, but very limited. Regards, Aaron Aaron Kohring Research Associate UT Center for Literacy Studies 600 Henley St, Ste 312 Knoxville, TN 37996-4135 Ph: 865-974-4258 Main: 865-974-4109 Fax: 865-974-3857 akohring at utk.edu ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards Joseph, I don't know much about California, but you can find out more about standards based education at the following website. http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/ Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Joseph Piazza Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 8:48 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 965] Re: Implementing State AdultEducation ContentStandards David and Friends, I am a new Adult School Principal in California. Can you share with me the history of Standards-based Adult School instruction in California? I am not seeing much evidence of any. Peace, Joseph Piazza Folsom Cordova Adult School ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jpiazza at fcusd.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to seacesl at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/5b5bb89c/attachment.html From Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov Mon Jun 16 10:13:39 2008 From: Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov (Kroeger, Miriam) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:13:39 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 982] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana In-Reply-To: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> References: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: <914B6658FFC2C74EAF866A48985C3A8E0391C5E0E9@prodmail5.prod.root> Paul, I think when people have been doing somethng for a long time, and having "relative" success - they're students are happy, they "know" more than when they first came to you, there could easily be resistance and the question of "why mess with a good thing". Over the years I have found that if you explain the "why" of a task or a process to people, even if it's unpleasant, they will go along. As for standards, the sooner you get the users involved in the process, the better. And it is also inportant for them to know that the standards" are not written in stone". I think Arizona proved this to the field when, in 2004, we said we needed to revise our standards. This was as a result of feedback from the field as well as some other factors, and the revisions are products of the field. -Miriam Miriam A. Kroeger Education Program Specialist Arizona Department of Education (602)364-2703 Miriam.kroeger at azed.gov -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of JURMO at ucc.edu Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to miriam.kroeger at azed.gov NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Mon Jun 16 09:27:26 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:27:26 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 983] Re: ImplementingState standards References: Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FE0B@msebex1.msde.net> I think that over the years, as teachers have worked on various projects, they understand the content standards at a deeper level. The Standards in Action pilot helped us realize we need to continue to do more analyzing of the standards and have discussions with our teachers about what the individual language indicators mean, and how they can evaluate students performance based on the standards taught. It has been a shift in thinking from planning lessons based on activities and matching standards to fit with the activities, to planning performance activities that align with the standards. I think our instructional specialist play an important role in guiding teachers through this process. Developing and implementing lesson plans can be a difficult skill for inexperienced teachers to master. I also encourage instructional specialist to begin with a small pilot that includes teachers who want to improve their instruction. This way they can work out the kinks, review the data, and encourage others to join in the following year. I think it really helps to have teachers who can say to their peers, this really works! Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of James H Andre/FS/VCU Sent: Fri 6/13/2008 5:53 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 976] Re: ImplementingState Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana I would agree, Bill, that the resistance, at least at the instructional level, comes from instructors' perceptions of how standards have been implemented and not from the standards themselves. In Virginia, our adult education content standards for GED and ESOL are still in the formative stages, but we anticipate final publishing soon. We have begun professional development to introduce standards and help programs throughout the state devise plans to align curricula and assessment with standards. During trainings, time is allotted to discuss perceptions of standards. Participants, many of whom have taught in the K-12 system, appreciate knowing what students should know and be able to do within a defined content area and agree that standards improve learner outcomes and provide a level playing field for all learners. Although they understand the influence of standards on curriculum and assessment, their resistance emerges when they think about instruction. "I don't want anyone telling me how to teach," seems to be the perception fueling the resistance. We spend a good amount of time during the training discussing how standards affect what we teach but not how we teach. Using a black box model* that follows the student cycle from intake to goal attainment, participants identify the importance of aligning curriculum, assessment, and standards and the effected elements of each stage of the cycle. We identify the "black box" as the uniqueness, the magic--the instruction-- that each teacher brings to the classroom to transform curriculum into student learning. What to teach remains independent of how to do it. *adapted from Mark O'Shea's From Standards to Success: A Guide for School Leaders Jim Andre' Program Development Specialist Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center www.valrc.org William R Muth/FS/VCU Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/13/2008 03:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both perspectives, as a prison-based ABE teacher and as an agency administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the level of engagement was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment on second wave, etc. Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow proportionately. So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and address misunderstandings. Bill Muth Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/12/2008 07:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to andrejh at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 11964 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/0552618a/attachment.bin From jfranks at literacy.kent.edu Mon Jun 16 12:24:59 2008 From: jfranks at literacy.kent.edu (Judy Franks) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:24:59 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 984] Ohio Q&A Message-ID: <019201c8cfcd$8913ca40$fe607b83@jfranks> Greetings All -- David had asked me to expand on a few of my original answers, so I've completed the last two questions. "Ohio was seeking a systematic approach to program improvement and the state leadership saw EFF as the tool for this system-reform to happen in Ohio. Alignment of all components of the ABLE system was our goal." In what ways have you seen programs improve? Is there a pattern? And what evidence do you have (or look for) of their improvement? Ohio has shown continuous improvement in federal performance measures and student outcomes of reaching their long-term goals over the timeframe from 2003 until present. Total numbers of students receiving GEDs and advancing to post-secondary education/training have also steadily improved over this time. Ohio has met or exceeded core indicator of performance #1 - students completing one or more educational functioning levels - as measured against the minimum performance goals. A desk review (like a report card) is completed for each program annually to evaluate program effectiveness. Measure #1 of the desk review covers student achievement. For more information about what is tracked on the desk review, check out http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3 &TopicRelationID=882&ContentID=6828&Content=33778. Anecdotal records are also kept as site visits are completed by state consultants. "Resistance to change is a strong force and needs to be addressed during your development process, consider the sacred cows in your system and address them as part of the process. Many programs saw EFF as an add-on, or something they were already doing, leading to confusion, others thought this was just another mandate and would eventually go away." Can you say more about what has helped you to overcome this resistance? Fortunately for Ohio, we had a few risk-takers that were willing to take the leap of faith needed to initiate this process. Also, acknowledge that there will always be resisters, no matter what you do. Listen and pay attention to them as they may help you better understand their issues and give you insights about how to address them. Skeptics have a way of vetting the change idea so the process can be improved. If the change is worthwhile, it probably isn't perfect from the start, but will need to be honed and shaped continuously. Allowing folks to vent their emotional feelings of being over-loaded and overwhelmed, but then turning the negative into positive by helping them find solutions to their issues, was the proactive approach our state leadership took. Focus on teachers and administrators that can see the benefits to the change - keeping the big picture in front of them and using them as advocates - is important. Practitioners need role models for the new behavior - we used pilot programs to model the changes they were experiences in their programs/classrooms (at both levels). This is why we're always seeking more creative ways to demonstrate how standards can work in the classroom, by providing teachers with model lessons and administrators with staff development options. Our Standards Institute was "mandated" for all 134 programs. We had established pilots and had gone from 9 to 30 programs, but now we wanted ALL programs to be using standards in their programs. Using the team concept, we presented the newly developed benchmark charts at a two-day training. Our state director presented the rationale/plan for SBE (standards-based education) and trainings were developed to address each of the standards. We established 2 core trainings for additional and new staff and have presented those regionally, statewide and continually since the 2003 Institute. In our current revision process for our PD system, we are considering how to present the sequence of standards-based trainings at each level of our professional development strands for novice to expert staff. As you can see, building competency is a never-ending job, given the nature of staff turnover and that reinforcement has to continuously happen or practitioners will go back to their old skill sets and progress won't be as steady, continual evaluation and adaptations are necessary considerations as you build your system. Hope this helps, Judy Judy Franks Literacy Projects Coordinator Ohio Literacy Resource Center 330-672-0753 jfranks at literacy.kent.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/da310251/attachment.html From CPorter at thecenterweb.org Mon Jun 16 12:25:13 2008 From: CPorter at thecenterweb.org (Catherine Porter) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:25:13 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 985] Re: ImplementingState Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana References: Message-ID: This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I'd like to add my comments to the topic of resistance to change as it relates to the implementation of ESL content standards. I agree with both Bill and Jim that it is not the standards themselves that teachers have an issue with but rather the process by which the standards are expected to be implemented. The key to Illinois' success in both developing and implementing ESL content standards has hinged on two factors: 1) involving practitioners (both classroom teachers and program administrators) in all phases of the development and implementation process and 2) providing ongoing professional development. The Illinois ESL Content Standards were developed over a period of years by a work group of experienced teachers and program administrators. The draft document was reviewed by local programs as well as field tested in a large number of classrooms. The Illinois Community College Board then sponsored a series of Curriculum Institutes (currently ongoing) to assist programs in aligning local curricula to the Illinois standards. To date, 59 Illinois adult education programs have participated in an ESL Curriculum Institute with the goal of aligning local curricula and materials to the state standards. The response to these institutes has been overwhelmingly positive. More information about Illinois ESL Content Standards' development as well as a link to the standards document can be found at www.excellenceinadulted.com Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of James H Andre/FS/VCU Sent: Fri 6/13/2008 4:53 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 976] Re: ImplementingState Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana I would agree, Bill, that the resistance, at least at the instructional level, comes from instructors' perceptions of how standards have been implemented and not from the standards themselves. In Virginia, our adult education content standards for GED and ESOL are still in the formative stages, but we anticipate final publishing soon. We have begun professional development to introduce standards and help programs throughout the state devise plans to align curricula and assessment with standards. During trainings, time is allotted to discuss perceptions of standards. Participants, many of whom have taught in the K-12 system, appreciate knowing what students should know and be able to do within a defined content area and agree that standards improve learner outcomes and provide a level playing field for all learners. Although they understand the influence of standards on curriculum and assessment, their resistance emerges when they think about instruction. "I don't want anyone telling me how to teach," seems to be the perception fueling the resistance. We spend a good amount of time during the training discussing how standards affect what we teach but not how we teach. Using a black box model* that follows the student cycle from intake to goal attainment, participants identify the importance of aligning curriculum, assessment, and standards and the effected elements of each stage of the cycle. We identify the "black box" as the uniqueness, the magic--the instruction-- that each teacher brings to the classroom to transform curriculum into student learning. What to teach remains independent of how to do it. *adapted from Mark O'Shea's From Standards to Success: A Guide for School Leaders Jim Andre' Program Development Specialist Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center www.valrc.org William R Muth/FS/VCU Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/13/2008 03:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To specialtopics at nifl.gov cc Subject [SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both perspectives, as a prison-based ABE teacher and as an agency administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the level of engagement was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment on second wave, etc. Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow proportionately. So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and address misunderstandings. Bill Muth Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 06/12/2008 07:51 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to andrejh at vcu.edu From mtate at sbctc.edu Mon Jun 16 15:50:24 2008 From: mtate at sbctc.edu (Michael Tate) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:50:24 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 986] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards In-Reply-To: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFA@msebex1.msde.net> References: <395138.64017.qm@web33608.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FDFA@msebex1.msde.net> Message-ID: <0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE0358FCD6@exch-1.sbctc2.local> Paul, Karen, others: I think a lot of the friction that occurs during dissemination comes from the clash between the needs of the "senders" and needs of the "receivers". The "receivers" will need to challenge the new idea to see how well it is designed or articulated. This is a very important step in acquisition. If "we" can't break it, it has the endurance, resilience, power that will be needed The receivers of the new information/idea/method will also need to "play around" with the new information to test its versatility ( an important value) and in order to make it theirs. The receivers will also try to fit it in to their constructs/ system (which are seen as unique, or more important, are BELIEVED to be unique) adjusting it to fit the local personalities of "pioneers", "settlers", "resisters", etc., and the power structure in place locally. This is another required test (and important value): Is it viable in the local situation? The receivers, who may also have thought about the problem, may have launched, or have plans to launch a remedy that may not mesh with the plan being disseminated. This is another key test (impact/functionality): will it add to our momentum? Will it be a tool that we can use, or not? The "senders" (the disseminators) need there to be integrity in the transmission and adoption of the new information. To guarantee integrity, they often insist upon identicality in speech and in the steps or process of adoptions, even to the point of requiring adherence to an imposed timeline not based on any local considerations. They want their "students" to learn it as they did. (This, of course, is the classic dilemma of teaching: do I have the patience to let my students learn in the ways they need and in the time they need? Do I have the courage to let them come up with a different answer, even an answer that contradicts what I learned, and what I am teaching?) The "senders" often feel like they have to oppose the "natural" needs of receivers listed above, because of the potential negative consequences for the new plan/information/method being disseminated. Add to this clash, that there is a built-in bias against local inventions/solutions in favor of the solutions of a higher echelon which are perceived to have a broader perspective, greater expertise, more political sophistication and the capacity for greater rewards (money, esteem, etc.), and the stage is set for classic oppositional/defiant behaviors in the receivers, and the typical dictatorial/compliance-based behaviors in the senders. When it gets to this point, nothing good will come out of it. From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 6:53 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards Human behavior is a result of habit, and teaching practices are similar. It is difficult to move from a comfortable known situation to a new situation because one does not know what the results might be. For example, New Year's resolutions begin well intended, and similarly instructors/educators attending trainings/conferences leave well intended to make changes in their practices. But this rarely happens, unless there is a network of support that can help the person work through and sustain the change. Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Sharon L. Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 9:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 966] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana I think a lack of understanding and a fear of extra work drive much resistance to change Sharon L. Shoemaker --- On Thu, 6/12/08, JURMO at ucc.edu wrote: From: JURMO at ucc.edu Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:00 AM Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rsrshoemake at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/7dad1dca/attachment.html From cherylthornett at hotmail.com Mon Jun 16 16:24:09 2008 From: cherylthornett at hotmail.com (Cheryl Thornett) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:24:09 +0100 Subject: [SpecialTopics 987] Re: Implementing State Adult Education ContentStandards: Texas References: <623D8AF7-3F84-41B9-B336-BAD7AF43A07D@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hello, everyone. Here in the UK we went through a similar process some years ago. On the whole, content standards have been welcomed, because previously provision was very uneven. If someone moved from one city to another, or even from one institution to another, there was no way of knowing what 'basic' or 'level 2' meant. Even if students could show an ESL exam certificate (for example) from a recognised organization, there was no way of knowing whether they had just been coached for that exam, or whether they had had a broader curriculum. The problem was the same for literacy and numeracy, I understand. Initially, national curricula for adults were brought in for literacy and numeracy, following the creation of national curricula for 5-18 education. After representations and discussion, an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) was brought in, separate from literacy in some respects, but following the literacy curriculum. The main difference in content was the inclusion of listening as a distinct skill area. This created a problem in that the priorities for second language speakers are not necessarily the same as the priorities of first language literacy learners. There is also a presumption of previous academic failure and/or learning difficulties in the literacy curriculum which is less likely to be true of second language learners in the UK context. We were told that we should select relevant areas and ignore the irrelevant, but many of us believe this presumption colours much of the curriculum. Some years further on, the debate still continues. In many ways, the National Curricula for adults have been very useful. If a teacher is asked to take on a new level, the curricula provide a starting place. If a student has been in an Entry 2 class in another institution, the new provider has better information to use in assessment and placement. If a teacher moves to a new city or institution, they are going to use the same content standards. However, problems remain. A reasonable expectation for a full-time course (12-16 guided learning hours per week) is not a reasonable expectation for a part time course of as little as 2 GLH per week. Funding bodies don't always take this into account, nor of the recommended classroom hours for moving from level to level. This, of course, is not directly content, but the amount of content that can be covered will be limited if financial resources are limited. Another problem is that with standardized formal tests, there is a temptation to teach to the test, thus restricting what is actually learned. This is compounded for those of us who cannot offer the full-time study envisioned by the curriculum materials. The promised free teaching and learning materials did not always lead to successful learning without such heavy use of supplemental material that for many of us it seemed easier just to use the supplements or to turn to commercial materials. I believe it is fair to say that many of the difficulties and grievances have not been with the contents standards themselves, but with their implementation by civic and institutional authorities. An additional problem has been the imposition, and imposition is the only word, of additional teaching requirements without additional time, pay or resources. A teacher who spends only a few hours a week with a class who have no other access to learning is now expected to include IT with literacy and, in the case of ESOL, citizenship in the same amount of class time. Many classes have no access to IT facilities. The people who have reported here seem to have gone to considerable effort to avoid some of these difficulties, and I wish them and their programs well. Cheryl Thornett ESOL and Literacy tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/9af5add4/attachment.html From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Mon Jun 16 22:49:56 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:49:56 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 988] The Texas Experience with Content Standards Message-ID: Thank you, David, for inviting me to represent the Texas adult education content standards experience. Sorry to all who may read this a day late, as I was not able for personal and work reasons to post earlier today as it had been my intention. I apologize. Below you will see answers to the five questions David has asked me to answer for the standards implementation effort in Texas. I will admit that for the most part I am not the one writing these answers. I am quoting, paraphrasing, and to a great extent copying straight from our Texas Adult Education Standards and Benchmarks for ABE ASE and ESL Learners Implementation Guide which you can find on the web at: http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/taesp/index.htm I encourage you to read the Implementation Guide which, not to brag, is one of the most complete documents on using content standards that I have seen. If its being complete does not entice you sufficiently, you should take a look at the guide because it was written by people a lot more eloquent and with a lot more knowledge of the standards than me. The staff of the Texas Adult Education Standards Project, TAESP, at the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) of Texas A&M University wrote the implementation guide to serve as a professional development tool for teachers and administrators alike. Within the introduction to the guide you will find a history and overview of the project and the standard adoption process in Texas. You will also find each of the standards we adopted, the strands and benchmarks our writing teams developed, the sample activities, and a wealth of resources, links, and other helpful implementation ideas. Now, for the answers: 1. Why did Texas choose to adopt content standards? We wanted to develop standards to accurately describe what adult learners should know and be able to do as a result of instructional content and delivery, as well as to develop the statements of how well learners need to be able to demonstrate levels of proficiency. We believe that standards provide a foundation for developing curricula, learning activities, and individualized instruction without being prescriptive. Collectively these standards can: 1. Ensure consistency; 2. Assist in meeting state performance measures; 3. Link assessments to curriculum and instruction; 4. Orient new adult education practitioners; and 5. Serve as a reference for experienced instructors. The standards, in the words of Dr. Dominique Chlup, who led the content standards team after 2005, represent new possibilities in the dimensions of teaching, administration, program development, and student growth. 2. What standards has your state adopted? During the process of reviewing different standards from around the nation, the staff of TAESP conducted focus groups around the state engaging not only 75 adult education instructors, but also nearly 100 students! There were more focus groups with students than teachers to help us decide what content students need to master in Texas. The results of the focus groups indicated that the EFF standards would best match the needs identified by the participants in the focus groups. Thus we adopted the following five EFF standards: * Listen Actively, * Speak So Others Can Understand, * Read With Understanding, * Convey Ideas in Writing, and * Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate. Even though reviewing standards and conducting the focus groups took the better part of a full year, selecting the EFF standards was the easy part. Three groups of standards writers devoted the next two years to writing benchmarks and activities for each of the standards we had selected. Originally we intended the same standards and benchmarks for both the ABE/GED student and the English Language Learner. After an initial pilot of the first document, it was decided that we would write different benchmarks for the Reading and Writing standards for ABE and for ESL. The links below take you directly to each of the standard documents that appear within our implementation guide: * Read with Understanding Standards and Benchmarks * Convey Ideas in Writing Standards and Benchmarks * Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate Standards and Benchmarks * Listen Actively for ESL * Speak So Others Can Understand for ESL * Read With Understanding for ESL * Convey Ideas in Writing for ESL The benchmarks are separated into different strands - each standard has a different number of strands. Each strand represents a set of benchmarks that increase in difficulty as the learner progresses through the levels in the strand. The order of the strands is not an indicator of greater or lesser importance, and not all students will fit into exactly the same level throughout all the strands. The benchmarks are written for instructors, not learners. Examples found within each benchmark help to clarify the meaning. Text in Bold indicates words that can be found in the Glossary. The description of the benchmarks' levels follows the Educational Functioning Level Descriptors that have been designed by the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS). The Texas Adult Education Benchmark levels are written as exit levels, not entry levels. In other words, the levels represent what learners should be able to do upon exiting the level and moving to the next level. 3. What has been the process of moving from official adoption to actual implementation? We have yet to fully implement the standards. At the launch of the standards the state office (Texas LEARNS) made a commitment not to make them mandatory yet but to give people the opportunity to try them out, to become comfortable with the new standards. Everyone has access to the document, thousands have had professional development, hundreds participated in our official launch, yet the state office has never mandated the adoption. Programs have not been pressured one way or the other. We believe that this approach has allowed programs to experiment with standards-based-education without feeling an imposition. Slowly programs are asking for more help and more professional development because they don't see the standards as a threat anymore. An interest (and somewhat surprising) development during our launch conference is that the teachers who had piloted the standards before adoption came to us to ask us to please make the standards mandatory. The teachers felt a sense of ownership of the document and contended that the only way they would have the full support of program administrators for the implementation of the content standards was to make them mandatory. This year, Texas joined the Standards in Action project, SIA, project that has developed materials to help us implement our standards and has served us to see where our document may need adjustments and our professional development re-energized. I will let my colleagues comment on the success of our participation in SIA. 4. What successes and challenges have you found in implementing the content standards? This is a question that I would rather invite my colleagues in the trenches to answer. They are the ones with first hand knowledge of the successes and the challenges. If any of you, Texans, is reading this, please chime in. We have just started to implement the standards and have not completed yet the first year of implementation. We have no data to show success in terms of student performance. But an anecdotal indicator of success is the unexpected number of trainings of teachers to implement standards at the local level that our regional training centers, the GREAT Project Centers, have received during this year. Over 3,700 implementation guides were printed and distributed prior to training over the last year. The greatest success was the significant support from the field for our standards launching conference a year ago, Texas...Reaching New Standards. The finalized standards and benchmarks were unveiled and professional development on how to teach using the standards and benchmarks was provided at this statewide conference held at the Austin Convention Center in downtown Austin, Texas, June 24-26, 2007. Over 500 instructors and 200 adult education administrators participated in three days of PD on the standards. One of our earliest challenges was not, interestingly enough, to convince teachers but in many cases to convince administrators. During the June 07 conference, there were two PD tracks, one for instructors and one for administrators. Many administrators thought the standards were great but insisted that teachers didn't need "an additional burden" added to their already heavy load. Teachers, on the other hand, particularly newer or less experienced instructors, were overwhelmingly appreciative of a document that gave them a point of reference, a framework for their teaching, and access to a number of resources. 5. What do you recommend happen at the federal level to support the development of standards-based adult basic education by states? Obviously, additional funding for adult education in general would go a long way in supporting the development of standards-based adult education in the states. Also, the renewed support not only for the Standards Warehouse (http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov/) but also, particularly to revive the now defunct Adult Education Content Standards Consortium which was a project instrumental in providing the type of support that Texas needed in the process. The consortium worked for three years with a small number of states, and it should be brought back to life to continue supporting other states. The warehouse alone cannot accomplish the in-depth level of professional development, networking, and coordinated support that the American Institutes for Research provided during the life of the consortium. The SIA (Standards in Action) project needs to continue fully supported, as it is the kind of approach that can really help states in the process of implementing the standards. However, I think that states "sitting on the fence" and not sure if they should pursue the development of standards, or states that had a negative experience in their attempt to implement and wish to start again will benefit more not from SIA but from a comprehensive approach as that offered by the old consortium. Thanks for your patience. I invite you wholeheartedly to visit our website http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/taesp/index.htm and become acquainted with our implementation guide. Federico Salas-Isnardi federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/24285529/attachment.html From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Mon Jun 16 23:36:30 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:36:30 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach to overcoming "standards aversion" Message-ID: I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080616/4a3ccef4/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Jun 17 09:18:28 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:18:28 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 990] Implementation of State Content Standards: Florida Message-ID: <4E35D0B8-B5D3-4359-97C3-25D6C26AA2E7@comcast.net> Colleagues, Today our last guest, Philip Anderson, will tell us about how Florida implements its adult education content standards. It's great to hear from Catherine Porter, describing what Illinois has done, and from Cheryl Thornett, describing implementation of standards in the U.K. I would like to hear from colleagues in other states and countries describing their experiences, too. I have three questions for all our subscribers and guests: 1. What do you see as the themes or "take-aways" from this discussion that you can use in your own work? 2. What are the similarities and differences with how content standards are being implemented where you are? 3. A subscriber interested in research on whether implementation of content standards leads to improvement in instruction asks: "Over the past decade the [U.S.] federal government has been encouraging the development of content standards for adult education (even though there is no requirement for content standards mandate in WIA [ the U.S. Workforce Investment Act] ) yet it is unclear what local, state- level or federal data supports the connection between the use of content standards and improvement in instruction and or student performance. If this body of research does not currently exist, is there anybody out there trying to establish this connection?? I hope these questions intrigue you. Let's hear from everyone! David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Tue Jun 17 10:35:13 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:35:13 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 991] Re: Implementation of State Content Standards:Florida References: <4E35D0B8-B5D3-4359-97C3-25D6C26AA2E7@comcast.net> Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E14D0DE90@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080617/12042213/attachment.html From jengel at communityaction.com Tue Jun 17 13:27:07 2008 From: jengel at communityaction.com (Jon Engel) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:27:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 992] Reception of Adult Education Content Standards at the local level Message-ID: <000601c8d09f$5dfa6e90$9e00000a@cainc.local> Good Morning All, While I do not have a lot to say, I thought I would take Federico up on his invitation for someone from the Texas trenches to speak up. I have little doubt that I would be one of those local administrators that he thought expressed a bit of resistance to the rollout of the Texas standards. Part of this resistance is right in line with Michael Tate's thoughtful contribution in regard to the needs of "senders" and "receivers". I am a big believer in the validity of local innovation. This doesn't make me an automatic resistor to top/down change, but I am guilty of a certain intellectual wariness of said initiatives. Typically, I voice what my teachers are unwilling to say in a statewide forum. I invited all coordinators and many teachers to the roll out conference of the State Adult Education Standards. Several of my best and most experienced staff declined the invitation. Standards were a red flag to them. To them the standards were code for why they left K-12 teaching in the first place. I think that we have to keep in mind that this is a very real and valid reaction. The other point of resistance that I and a lot of my staff share is a certain resistance to the Texas standard lesson plan format. There is just something about using numbered benchmarks (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, etc.) to signify what a student will have mastered or learned that is, for lack of a better word, unappealing. Having said all that, I do think that Texas has taken the right approach, for the most part, with the rolling out of the standards. The decision to not make them mandatory, at least for now, was the right one, and I congratulate Federico and Joanie Rethlake for making it. I have had as many of my teachers as possible trained in the Standards. We talk about the Standards at every program wide staff meeting. We are still struggling on how to implement all or part of them. Lately we have been thinking about the best way of incorporating the Standards into our internal reporting systems. I would not say that my program is comfortable with the standards yet, but we are dong our best to become familiar with them. Jon Engel Adult Education Director Community Action Inc. PO Box 748 San Marcos, TX 78666 Voice (512)392-1161 ext. 334 Fax (512)396-4255 Email jengel at communityaction.com Web www.communityaction.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080617/722e3c5c/attachment.html From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Tue Jun 17 15:41:18 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:41:18 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 993] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards In-Reply-To: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: Another thought on the issue of resistance. Last year I attended a conference where the keynote speaker spoke about standards based education. She did a quick survey of the audience to bring out the number of us who think "standards based" is the same as "standardized." To many "standardized" has negative connotations; the idea that education becomes a "one size fits all" endeavor, all the same, boring, inflexible (pretty much like it happens when every student has to take a standardized test.) My suggestion is that whenever we can do professional development we emphasize the difference between standards-based and standardized. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of JURMO at ucc.edu Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to fsalas at hcde-texas.org From WMaxwell at cde.ca.gov Tue Jun 17 16:08:22 2008 From: WMaxwell at cde.ca.gov (Wendi Maxwell) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:08:22 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards In-Reply-To: References: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F04B08BA8@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Message-ID: California spent many years promoting competency-based education. We have had model program standards for quite some time, but have not yet issued our new standards. (New standards have been developed by teams of practitioners with state staff providing support.) How have any of you addressed the relationship between competency-based and standards-based education? Wendi Maxwell Education Programs Consultant Adult Education Office California Department of Education -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 12:41 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 993] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards Another thought on the issue of resistance. Last year I attended a conference where the keynote speaker spoke about standards based education. She did a quick survey of the audience to bring out the number of us who think "standards based" is the same as "standardized." To many "standardized" has negative connotations; the idea that education becomes a "one size fits all" endeavor, all the same, boring, inflexible (pretty much like it happens when every student has to take a standardized test.) My suggestion is that whenever we can do professional development we emphasize the difference between standards-based and standardized. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of JURMO at ucc.edu Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level. My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others. (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems. Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report on her experience in implementing adult education content standards in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to fsalas at hcde-texas.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wmaxwell at cde.ca.gov From bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net Tue Jun 17 17:26:15 2008 From: bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net (Bonnie Odiorne) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:26:15 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 995] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards Message-ID: <152499.39087.qm@web83308.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> I'm a little shaky on my terminology, but is "standards-based" the same as "skills-based?" CT is also a competencies-based state in terms of assesssment (CASAS) but I found very often that in order to do a skills breakdown and an IEP for a student/tutor pairing I had to analyze the tasks that the students were being asked to do, doing a sort of literacy audit, in order to decipher the skills that needed addressing. Just asking. ----- Original Message ---- From: Federico Salas To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 3:41:18 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 993] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards Another thought on the issue of resistance.? Last year I attended a conference where the keynote speaker spoke about standards based education.? She did a quick survey of the audience to bring out the number of us who think "standards based" is the same as "standardized." To many "standardized" has negative connotations; the idea that education becomes a "one size fits all" endeavor, all the same, boring, inflexible (pretty much like it happens when every student has to take a standardized test.)? My suggestion is that whenever we can do professional development we emphasize the difference between standards-based and standardized.? federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of JURMO at ucc.edu Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State AdultEducationContentStandards: Louisiana Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at the state level.? My guess is that some readers who are new to the notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some standards developed by others.? (Or some might have had a bad experience with "standards.") Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve, some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome.? Several people in this discussion have mentioned "resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards- based systems.? Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? Paul Jurmo Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Louisiana Colleagues, Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and? Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - ) Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report? on her experience in implementing adult education content standards? in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam,? Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other? information based on the questions we have asked other guests . For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will? find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at http://www.nifl..gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to fsalas at hcde-texas.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080617/fbc94c6b/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Tue Jun 17 21:50:02 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:50:02 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion Message-ID: <2DEF07B5-9862-4CC4-AA50-D26A1DEB8BAA@comcast.net> Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : ?Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?? ?National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn?t there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn?t we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?? ?Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From JSabater at WorkforceAdvantageUSA.com Wed Jun 18 00:02:03 2008 From: JSabater at WorkforceAdvantageUSA.com (Julio Sabater) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:02:03 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 997] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Texas In-Reply-To: References: <623D8AF7-3F84-41B9-B336-BAD7AF43A07D@comcast.net> Message-ID: <1598960B6A155C4EAE90DC9412B7F89C01D8D0@waes2.WorkforceUSA.com> Standards can be a practical tool for communication purposes, by providing a common language and definitions, particularly useful for language levels of ESL students moving around in the system. They can define priorities... How much time should we spend on survival or on occupational vocabulary or on family literacy, or all of the above... In New Jersey we have been implementing the EFF Standards. To our surprise, the diversity of the ESL population in our program is so extreme that in many cases our students have as many or more of the so call "soft skills" than our own staff; while others required a lot of intervention. So, the problem is when we overly simplify the quality of a program, tempted to use the standards to judge performance. We, practitioners are legitimately very resistant to such a trap. Simply said, Cheryl Thornett from the UK hit the nail on the head with the email bellow. From my perspective, "standards" can become only ideals driving curriculums, classroom materials design and teaching practices but "not always lead(ing) to successful learning". As standards trickle down, practitioners become overly concern for documenting students' success reaching "standards" in "standardized" test, regretfully, restricting learning. Julio Sabater President/CEO Workforce Advantage 908-355-2299 908-347-8673 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cheryl Thornett Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 3:24 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 987] Re: Implementing State Adult EducationContentStandards: Texas Hello, everyone. Here in the UK we went through a similar process some years ago. On the whole, content standards have been welcomed, because previously provision was very uneven. If someone moved from one city to another, or even from one institution to another, there was no way of knowing what 'basic' or 'level 2' meant. Even if students could show an ESL exam certificate (for example) from a recognised organization, there was no way of knowing whether they had just been coached for that exam, or whether they had had a broader curriculum. The problem was the same for literacy and numeracy, I understand. Initially, national curricula for adults were brought in for literacy and numeracy, following the creation of national curricula for 5-18 education. After representations and discussion, an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) was brought in, separate from literacy in some respects, but following the literacy curriculum. The main difference in content was the inclusion of listening as a distinct skill area. This created a problem in that the priorities for second language speakers are not necessarily the same as the priorities of first language literacy learners. There is also a presumption of previous academic failure and/or learning difficulties in the literacy curriculum which is less likely to be true of second language learners in the UK context. We were told that we should select relevant areas and ignore the irrelevant, but many of us believe this presumption colours much of the curriculum. Some years further on, the debate still continues. In many ways, the National Curricula for adults have been very useful. If a teacher is asked to take on a new level, the curricula provide a starting place. If a student has been in an Entry 2 class in another institution, the new provider has better information to use in assessment and placement. If a teacher moves to a new city or institution, they are going to use the same content standards. However, problems remain. A reasonable expectation for a full-time course (12-16 guided learning hours per week) is not a reasonable expectation for a part time course of as little as 2 GLH per week. Funding bodies don't always take this into account, nor of the recommended classroom hours for moving from level to level. This, of course, is not directly content, but the amount of content that can be covered will be limited if financial resources are limited. Another problem is that with standardized formal tests, there is a temptation to teach to the test, thus restricting what is actually learned. This is compounded for those of us who cannot offer the full-time study envisioned by the curriculum materials. The promised free teaching and learning materials without such heavy use of supplemental material that for many of us it seemed easier just to use the supplements or to turn to commercial materials. did not always lead to successful learning I believe it is fair to say that many of the difficulties and grievances have not been with the contents standards themselves, but with their implementation by civic and institutional authorities. An additional problem has been the imposition, and imposition is the only word, of additional teaching requirements without additional time, pay or resources. A teacher who spends only a few hours a week with a class who have no other access to learning is now expected to include IT with literacy and, in the case of ESOL, citizenship in the same amount of class time. Many classes have no access to IT facilities. The people who have reported here seem to have gone to considerable effort to avoid some of these difficulties, and I wish them and their programs well. Cheryl Thornett ESOL and Literacy tutor Birmingham UK Adult Education -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/9cc6719f/attachment.html From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Wed Jun 18 08:55:42 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:55:42 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 998] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion In-Reply-To: <2DEF07B5-9862-4CC4-AA50-D26A1DEB8BAA@comcast.net> Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E53A@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> David, In response to your question about developing assessments that are aligned to our standards, Florida has looked into developing its own tests for all of its adult education content standards. Several reasons this has not happened are: 1) The cost of developing a test that would have a chance of being accepted for NRS reporting purposes is quite high. 2) The long-range maintenance and updating work to keep a test current, valid and relevant are not tasks that a state adult education office can easily commit to, given the frequent turnover of state staff and the changes in budget from one legislative cycle to the next. 3) The state adult education office in Florida is an executive/administrative arm of the governor's office, and this role makes it difficult for state staff to become highly knowledgeable in any one aspect of program implementation, especially to the level it would take for staff to manage the design, implementation and maintenance of a standardized test tailored to the state's content standards. Another comment I might add is that in the workshops sponsored by USDOE and in our workshops contracted with Susan Pimentel, I didn't get the impression that we were being encouraged to develop widely different standards. We were encouraged to pay close attention to the characteristics of our student population, and to make sure we were addressing their needs. Broad standards have guidance built in that ensures teachers will cover the same content as those that are prescriptive in their presentation. An observation made by one of Florida's practitioners has stuck with me through this process, "The standards need to be packaged in a way that makes it easier for part time teachers to read them quickly and use them right away in the classroom!'" Since hearing that, we were reminded frequently to be careful about the "packaging" that carries the standards to the teachers. What Florida has today reflects the input of a group of about 40 practitioners that have prepared a document that they believe will work well for their fellow teachers. Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|08:55:47%20Wed%2018%20Jun%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to philip.anderson at fldoe.org From tmechem at doe.mass.edu Wed Jun 18 09:19:58 2008 From: tmechem at doe.mass.edu (Mechem, Thompson) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:19:58 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: <2DEF07B5-9862-4CC4-AA50-D26A1DEB8BAA@comcast.net> Message-ID: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A5045@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : ?Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?? ?National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn?t there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn?t we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?? ?Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Jun 18 14:37:47 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:37:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1000] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM References: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A5045@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> Message-ID: HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 10207 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/38469582/attachment.bin From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Wed Jun 18 15:39:37 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:39:37 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1001] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Thank you, Mr. Mechem, for saying it as it is; thank you also to Ms. Rinderknecht for reminding us that adults are individuals, each with different needs. Also, congratulations on your students' excellent passing rate on the GED test! Now, I agree with both of you and I still am a proponent of standards based education (to a certain extent). As I said yesterday referring to the issue of resistance, I think that in adult education we are at risk of becoming standardized; and yet, I still believe that a well defined set of content standards are not a bad idea to offer teachers, particularly new teachers, a framework of reference for their teaching while offering programs a reference against which to compare teaching materials before making decisions on new curriculum. Our standards are for the teachers, Mr. Mechem. We agree that the best way to help a student is to know what that person needs, not to teach to someone else's idea of what all adults should know. That's why in writing benchmarks in Texas we asked for the input of students selected from all over our diverse state. That's why with that input as a reference it was teachers who wrote the benchmarks. As for "faceless bureaucrats" making teachers and programs "jump through hoops" or adding to the burden of paperwork, in Texas nothing of the sort has happened (and it will not as long as the state director and I can help it from where we are today.) The standards and benchmarks have been used in the last year as instruments for professional development; as aides in learning how to teach, as reminders of what students told us they need to learn. Nothing coming from our state office has indicated that there is new paperwork to be filled out, new requirements of proof. What we want is to give teachers an opportunity and a tool. As a teacher I didn't have time to write lesson plans everyday (and I never did) but I am glad I learned over the years what components or activities make for a good lesson; and after I learned that there were different models for a lesson plan I realized that I could combine things from one or another that worked for me. That's the freedom we want to give our teachers. The state office will continue visiting classrooms and students (we do at each program we visit) and one of the things we look for is evidence that the standards are used not by requiring a prolix checklist filled out for our benefit but by observing the teaching/learning interaction in the class. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/60c58fe3/attachment.html From nancy.markus at gmail.com Wed Jun 18 16:47:11 2008 From: nancy.markus at gmail.com (Nancy Markus) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:47:11 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1002] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: References: <29CFEE83EDF92741BF0ED3F5D9BC7E876A5045@exchange2.doe.mass.edu> Message-ID: <883cafd90806181347q37775928v8953422618708d34@mail.gmail.com> But can't those standards and benchmarks be tied to what you want to teach? It's nice that you know what needs to be taught for the GED, but how about other teachers? Or a brand new teacher? Must we all reinvent the wheel and figure out what needs to be done? I think it depends on how you use the standards. There doesn't have to be extra paperwork. Nancy Markus Ohio Literacy Resource Center On 6/18/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > HURRAY! > > Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have > worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of > speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first > concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In > Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the > ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main > "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to > pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in > literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED > classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. > > I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen > the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful > guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject > matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all > students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess > and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from > there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of > individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I > have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I > treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is > receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his > GED or increase his literacy. > > By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that > we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are > teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way > to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five > months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My > little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks > other than those needed to pass the GED. > > Gail A. Rinderknecht > Newton Correctional Facility > GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College > Box 218 > Newton, IA > > ________________________________ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson > Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > > > I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and > Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? > Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged > expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the > specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum > and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will > actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure > that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; > you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge > resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then > developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our > state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with > Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you > are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or > preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or > raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. > > Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than > it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly > going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a > state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless > bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see > that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump > through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are > using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan > without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking > place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based > documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond > to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's > really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators > to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high > standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors > can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. > > Tom Mechem > GED State Chief Examiner > Department of Elementary & Secondary Education > Commonwealth of Massachusetts > 781-338-6621 > "GED to Ph.D." > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen > Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more > answers,more discussion > > > Colleagues, > > Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have > some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder > if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too > basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards > are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content > standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. > > I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) > implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for > teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who > are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that > Jon has broached this. > > Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests > and others : > > "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that > developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they > have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities > to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate > compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to > alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers > (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no > prep time, etc.)?" > > "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide > diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across > states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very > broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system > in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, > isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about > what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be > successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we > have a common understanding about how content standards are going to > be used?" > > "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely > different content standards, the majority continue to use a very > limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not > be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly > tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop > NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their > standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards > will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do > teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if > what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST > Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at comcast.net > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/3ef00e2e/attachment.html From dheath at odessa.edu Wed Jun 18 17:22:27 2008 From: dheath at odessa.edu (David Heath) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:22:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1003] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello Federico and All, I have appreciated the many comments concerning the difficulty and the complexity of accommodating change. It has been a beneficial reminder as to why we resist so strongly. The entire subject is so complex that a forum like a listserv discussion can hardly scratch the surface of the many issues surrounding what might be legitimate disagreement and resistance to programmatic policy mandates of any kind, and particularly resistance to content standards. I am seriously concerned, for many reasons, about the possibility of a mandate in regards to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. I will address only one concern for now: unrealistic expectations and what I see as misplaced idealism. My comments are restricted to Texas and to ESOL as this is what I know. I believe we are doing the field an injustice, and certainly our teachers and students, if we do not speak plainly and forthrightly. The content standards are curriculum, if only a piece of curriculum. And the standards and benchmarks are certainly standardized if following a rule or protocol is standardization. Here are some recalcitrant facts. I am speaking of Texas adult education here, but I would think there are commonalities across states. * Of 2,235 AE teachers in Texas, only 188 are full time * Only a fraction of ESOL instructors have degrees in language acquisition theory * A significant majority of new ESOL instructors have no prior ESOL training of any kind * Only a small portion of ESOL teachers receive any significant planning time * Many teachers have second jobs * Many have compelling life interests that demand their time (one reason they seek employment in our field) * Many want instructional and curriculum tools that are ready-made and do not require a great deal of investment of time they feel they do not have * The average ESOL student in Texas attends fewer than 100 class hours a year (This is true across the nation I believe.) * In Texas, only 50% or so complete an instructional level * Students come and go, attending then "stopping out" then returning * Many of our ESOL students have limited academic backgrounds and have never experienced an educational environment like they discover in adult education These facts are serious and relevant to our discussion because they tell us a great deal about what is possible and what is necessary. One example: Just to "train" my existing staff in content standards required a six hour training provided by a skilled presenter in the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, then 10 more hours of follow-up to unpack and critically consider exactly what the standards and benchmarks were expecting students to know and do and ESOL instructors to understand. Then, we had to consider, as a program, exactly how we were willing to take on this new "standard". All of this takes time...time...time... Now, I have a new teacher. Although he is bright and creative, he has never had training in content standards, portfolios, credentialing, adult education theory, learning disabilities, language acquisition theory, program operations, or ESOL instructional materials. Well, you get the point I hope. Here is how Eduardo Honold, a leader in the standardization process, describes the "unpacking" of the Texas content standards and the demands required to "do it right". Effective Standards-Based Education for Adults: The Standards-in-Action Pilot in Texas by Eduardo Honold ..."Ten teachers in Socorro ISD and 15 teachers in Harris County Department of Education participated in a year-long effort to implement the new Texas content standards by using several "tools" provided by the SIA national consultants. The philosophy of this pilot is that teachers must first work collaboratively within their programs to understand what the new standards and benchmarks actually require students to know and do and then, determine how to teach from those benchmarks. The goal of the pilot is to provide adult education programs in Texas with ideas on how to deepen teachers' understanding of the new standards. ...After stripping the benchmark to its essence, teachers determine the level of thinking required by the benchmark based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Forehand, 2005). By "unpacking" the benchmark in this manner, teachers are ready to develop sample classroom activities that illustrate the requirement of the standard and are appropriate for students in a particular level." My questions would be: 1. Is there compelling evidence that it needs to be done? 2. And if so, are we going to do it right? 3. Are we going to be honest and transparent about what it will take? 4. Is our field structured and funded in such a way as it is doable? If the answers to these questions are positive, then I am on board. If not, I am a resistor. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/32678a92/attachment.html From Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov Wed Jun 18 18:57:25 2008 From: Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov (Kroeger, Miriam) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:57:25 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1004] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <914B6658FFC2C74EAF866A48985C3A8E0391C5E11D@prodmail5.prod.root> Federico, I think you have expressed the ideas of many of us who have worked on standards and who have seen teachers use them as a tools and "jumping off points for creative, yet targeted teaching for learners. When we started our standards initiative in Arizona, one of the primary goals was to not limit the teaching to the GED. We wanted to be sure that learners had opportunities to learn so that if they chose to go to higher education, or they chose to go to training programs, or chose to be a carpenter or a mechanic, our standards would help them and teachers know what was available and to provide pieces of the puzzle to complete their goal. We can't afford to short-change our learners. I'm sure many have seen the quote " a high school diploma is the new eighth grade". As for "paperwork" for teachers - I'm rather glad that Betty Crocker, Julia Childs, Rachel Ray, and even Martha, took the time to complete the paperwork. How about the guy who took the time to figure out the circuitry for your computer? Of course if someone had not written down how two toggles up and one toggle down on some humongous board with wires draped on the back, and a room filled with oversized reel-to-reel- tape recorders became a hand-held blackberry, we mgiht still be using an abacus! I would hope that with guides such as standards and tools to help us and learners know where they are in the process, teachers would see that they have more time to be creative in their teaching, and to write down the treasures of their creativity (aka, a lesson plan). If they take the time to write it down once, they have it the next time they need to teach it, along with the insights they discovered, or a learner pointed out the first time they taught it. We used to use maps when we traveled, now we have our nav systems, and Tom-Toms and Garmins. Of course you usually have to read something about these tools before you start to use them, and the more you use them, the more proficient you become with them. Finally, just as we want our learners to be responsible for their choices, and come to think of it, they have demonstrated this responsibility by making a choice to attend adult education, our teachers must be responsible for their choices. They choose to be adult educators; they choose to work part-time in the field; with choice comes responsibilities. As an educator I have a responsibility to my learners and to the program for whom I have chosen to work. My program has a responsibility to the entity that funds it; hmmm - how is my program funded? - My tax dollars - so - it comes back to me - I have a responsibility to myself. What will I think of how I have spent my money, my time, my creativity? And thank you, Nancy, too. Standards are broad statements - how they are implemented in the classroom by the teacher is how they are tied to what you teach. That's one good reason why we developed our sample activities for our standards and levels and contextualized them for family, workplace or community. Sampel acitivities can be a starting point for new teachers, or a new adventure for "experienced" ones. -Miriam Miriam A. Kroeger, Education Program Specialist Arizona Department of Education/Adult Education 1535 W. Jefferson Bin 26 Phoenix, AZ 85007 Phone: (602) 364-2703 FAX: (602) 258-4986 miriam.kroeger at azed.gov The information contained in this email transmission and any attachments is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated named herein. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document and its attachment in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communcation in errror, please notify the sender and return and delete the original message immediately. Thank you. ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 12:40 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1001] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM Thank you, Mr. Mechem, for saying it as it is; thank you also to Ms. Rinderknecht for reminding us that adults are individuals, each with different needs. Also, congratulations on your students' excellent passing rate on the GED test! Now, I agree with both of you and I still am a proponent of standards based education (to a certain extent). As I said yesterday referring to the issue of resistance, I think that in adult education we are at risk of becoming standardized; and yet, I still believe that a well defined set of content standards are not a bad idea to offer teachers, particularly new teachers, a framework of reference for their teaching while offering programs a reference against which to compare teaching materials before making decisions on new curriculum. Our standards are for the teachers, Mr. Mechem. We agree that the best way to help a student is to know what that person needs, not to teach to someone else's idea of what all adults should know. That's why in writing benchmarks in Texas we asked for the input of students selected from all over our diverse state. That's why with that input as a reference it was teachers who wrote the benchmarks. As for "faceless bureaucrats" making teachers and programs "jump through hoops" or adding to the burden of paperwork, in Texas nothing of the sort has happened (and it will not as long as the state director and I can help it from where we are today.) The standards and benchmarks have been used in the last year as instruments for professional development; as aides in learning how to teach, as reminders of what students told us they need to learn. Nothing coming from our state office has indicated that there is new paperwork to be filled out, new requirements of proof. What we want is to give teachers an opportunity and a tool. As a teacher I didn't have time to write lesson plans everyday (and I never did) but I am glad I learned over the years what components or activities make for a good lesson; and after I learned that there were different models for a lesson plan I realized that I could combine things from one or another that worked for me. That's the freedom we want to give our teachers. The state office will continue visiting classrooms and students (we do at each program we visit) and one of the things we look for is evidence that the standards are used not by requiring a prolix checklist filled out for our benefit but by observing the teaching/learning interaction in the class. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ________________________________ NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/434fabba/attachment.html From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Wed Jun 18 20:56:25 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:56:25 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1005] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion References: <2DEF07B5-9862-4CC4-AA50-D26A1DEB8BAA@comcast.net> Message-ID: So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 7377 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080618/17affbd5/attachment.bin From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Jun 19 07:47:48 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:47:48 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1006] Classroom videos related to content standards Message-ID: <868AC806-8422-4356-9A36-5E113D6F983E@comcast.net> Colleagues, What do state content standards look like as implemented in the classroom? Here's a free resource that may be of interest to those implementing content standards and that might help to answer that question. The Media Library of Teaching Skills (MLoTS) for adult learning and literacy project is an online digital library of short videos of adult education teachers and their classes, intended for use in professional development. Each video is an example of a state- approved content standard, research-based practice, preferred approach, or specific teaching method or skill. In some cases these videos are examples in practice of a particular state's approved curriculum frameworks or content standards. The videos on the main page, http://mlots.org were made and edited by the MLoTS Team. The linked videos, http://mlots.org/ Other_video.html , were made by others. The online library project began in March, 2007, and has grown since then to include over 60 short videos. State content standards people who are interested in having classroom videos based on their own state standards could contact me for more information. Those who know of good classroom or tutorial adult education videos (including basic literacy, ABE, ASE, ESOL/ESL, numeracy, and transition to Higher Ed) that could be digitized and made available (at no cost) in the MLoTS online video library could also contact me. David J. Rosen djrosen at mlots.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/f7b2bfe9/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Jun 19 07:57:42 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:57:42 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1007] More questions on state content standards Message-ID: <30EEC659-C2A2-448D-A686-AFCB73A50194@comcast.net> Colleagues, We have just today and tomorrow left for this discussion. If you have more questions and comments, especially if you have new ideas, information or a point of view to add, now is the time. Here are several more great questions from subscribers for our guests -- and others. Please read them all. You may have some answers to them which others would appreciate. ? ?The business of standards: Weeks after content standards were officially launched in our state, textbook publishers were busily developing correlations between their textbooks and our standards. Many publishers are already making dubious claims about how their text is ?aligned? with our standards, yet, as far as I know, nobody has checked their work. Have any other states experienced problems with publishers trying to cash in on adult education content standards? Have any states attempted to work with publishers in any way in order to avoid false or inflated standards claims?? ? ?Unintended Consequences: A few our most experienced teachers that were beginning to work with standards got the feeling that in order to ?comply? with standards education, they were going to have to teach from a textbook rather than developing their own creative activities. While there was nothing in our professional development that pointed in this direction, this is the impression that many teachers had: standards meant falling into line with some textbook or established curriculum. Have any other state experienced this unintended effect of standards-based education? Are content standards in any limiting the creativity and initiative or our best teachers?? ? How can we use content standards as we teach a diverse group of adult learners, keeping their motivation high and reaching their individual needs? ? What will your state do to align standards to the NRS when it changes? ? What will your state do to align standards with diploma programs that have Carnegie units like those in K-12 to earn a diploma in the adult education arena? ? Does your state ? does any state ? have content standards for workforce education? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From betsywong at comcast.net Thu Jun 19 09:24:18 2008 From: betsywong at comcast.net (Betsy Wong) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:24:18 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1008] Re: More questions on state content standards In-Reply-To: <30EEC659-C2A2-448D-A686-AFCB73A50194@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20080619132423.7022011CA1@mail.nifl.gov> This discussion has been very helpful. Our program is among those planning to adopt state adult ESL content standards. So, as we look at where to start, I'd like to ask others how their programs have assessed learner outcomes. Simply put, how do we measure whether learners are attaining the competencies that they need to meet their language-learning goals? Virginia's adult ESL content standards, although still in draft form, have identified competencies for each language skill and proficiency level - and benchmarks and progress indicators to determine whether the competencies are being attained. However, I'm wondering how other programs have measured progress. Learner self-assessment? Teacher observations? Portfolios? Or formal assessment tools, like standardized tests? Many thanks for sharing ideas! -------------------------- Betsy Lindeman Wong Lead ESL Teacher Alexandria Adult and Community Education -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 7:58 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1007] More questions on state content standards Colleagues, We have just today and tomorrow left for this discussion. If you have more questions and comments, especially if you have new ideas, information or a point of view to add, now is the time. Here are several more great questions from subscribers for our guests -- and others. Please read them all. You may have some answers to them which others would appreciate. . "The business of standards: Weeks after content standards were officially launched in our state, textbook publishers were busily developing correlations between their textbooks and our standards. Many publishers are already making dubious claims about how their text is "aligned" with our standards, yet, as far as I know, nobody has checked their work. Have any other states experienced problems with publishers trying to cash in on adult education content standards? Have any states attempted to work with publishers in any way in order to avoid false or inflated standards claims?" . "Unintended Consequences: A few our most experienced teachers that were beginning to work with standards got the feeling that in order to "comply" with standards education, they were going to have to teach from a textbook rather than developing their own creative activities. While there was nothing in our professional development that pointed in this direction, this is the impression that many teachers had: standards meant falling into line with some textbook or established curriculum. Have any other state experienced this unintended effect of standards-based education? Are content standards in any limiting the creativity and initiative or our best teachers?" . How can we use content standards as we teach a diverse group of adult learners, keeping their motivation high and reaching their individual needs? . What will your state do to align standards to the NRS when it changes? . What will your state do to align standards with diploma programs that have Carnegie units like those in K-12 to earn a diploma in the adult education arena? . Does your state - does any state - have content standards for workforce education? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to betsywong at comcast.net From afrench at sccd.ctc.edu Thu Jun 19 09:55:38 2008 From: afrench at sccd.ctc.edu (French, Allan) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:55:38 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1009] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion References: <2DEF07B5-9862-4CC4-AA50-D26A1DEB8BAA@comcast.net> Message-ID: <0C988598E761184F93D5E740DF3D3AA6569414@SCCDMAIL.SCCD.CTC.EDU> First a comment on teacher buy-in and then a few questions on implementation of content standards. I teach ESL at a community college with a very experienced faculty who have seen mandates from above come and go. Instead of trying to convince them that the new Washington State Learning Standards (adapted from EFF) are the be-all and end-all, instead of warning them of funding cuts if we don't use these, instead of limiting our effort to the question "how to implement state standards," we decided to (1) survey what we have been doing in our classes, (2) have discussions on the creation of our own learning "outcomes", and currently (3) start work on how to implement these outcomes in the classroom. The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control. The product so far is the creation of the faculty, but I am convinced it falls within the broad parameters of the state standards. Virtually all instructors who have participated in this local project have praised the effort; they truly enjoy talking to each other about their own teaching! This is an on-going process, with starts and stops (because of such obstacles as time and money), ever evolving, and hardly complete. Indeed, such faculty discussions should be a permanent part of any program's existence. My questions involve implementation. Many have talked about developing discrete lessons that teach to the standards. However, I can't help but look at this question holistically. Most of our faculty teach a single level of ESL and a few teach two adjacent levels. Each of our core classes works with all four communicative modalities. At the end of each ten-week quarter we make decisions on whether to promote students to the next level or keep them in the same level for an additional quarter. Given this, I can't confine myself to individual lessons that relate to one of the indicators of, for example, the reading standard. I need to plan for teaching all the modalities during an entire quarter. I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? (2) how do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? (3) how do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? and (4) can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. These are questions we are only beginning to come to grips with and I would appreciate any advice from the field. Allan French ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator South Seattle Community College afrench at sccd.ctc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 5:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 14034 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/7eff227c/attachment.bin From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Thu Jun 19 10:02:02 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:02:02 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion In-Reply-To: Message-ID: To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/48c7b36e/attachment.html From Lorraine.Christensen at maine.gov Thu Jun 19 10:01:13 2008 From: Lorraine.Christensen at maine.gov (Christensen, Lorraine) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:01:13 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1011] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Question for Gail: Is it legislatively mandated that you bring an inmate to a TABE 6 level before they no longer need to be assigned to school? While I agree with you that the number of graduates is important, I have always believed that if we had particular "benchmarks" we would be more accountable and in "respected" in the educational community! Lorraine Christensen Women's Center - Maine Correctional -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/6b7dff7a/attachment.html From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Thu Jun 19 10:31:46 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:31:46 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1012] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM References: Message-ID: I'm not sure if it the 6th grade level is legislatively mandated or just a department of corrections goal, but it's a something we try to achieve in education within the limits of our capacity to serve the men. For example, I recently had a man assigned to my literacy class who was served his entire life in special education. He has an IQ of 50; there is no way that I will ever get him to the 6th grade level. I have suggested that he be allowed to opt out of education and be put in a supervised vocational program. And as someone earlier noted, we also use Plato to tutor our students toward their GED. I personally also use the REWARDS reading program to advance reading levels. It's published by Sopris and can be used individually or with small groups to learn to decode multi-syllabic words. It's a totally scripted program, so a tutor or volunteer can be taught to use the program in a short period of time. To be quite frank, the educational community at large, i.e. the public schools, do not think much of the GED. I've heard this from administrators and teachers alike even though we know that nearly one-third of high school graduates could not pass the GED. As I said before, I have many high school graduates in my literacy program. I don't think having benchmarks will make anyone think better of the GED. It's an elitist thing at this point. I find it to be enormously rewarding to the men to achieve their GED especially considering many of those incarcerated have been suspended from school many times over. I hear over and over, "I didn't think I could do this on my own." It's exciting to see a grown man excited about learning for the first time. Our benchmarks are simple: pass a half test with a 500 or better; pass the GED test with a 450 or better. Complete all tests. And the final goal is a couple of polaroid pictures in a white shirt and tie and cap and gown. The pictures mean a lot to these men. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Christensen, Lorraine Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:01 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1011] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Is it legislatively mandated that you bring an inmate to a TABE 6 level before they no longer need to be assigned to school? While I agree with you that the number of graduates is important, I have always believed that if we had particular "benchmarks" we would be more accountable and in "respected" in the educational community! Lorraine Christensen Women's Center - Maine Correctional -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 8940 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/11206cd3/attachment.bin From kmiller at caspercollege.edu Thu Jun 19 10:41:31 2008 From: kmiller at caspercollege.edu (Kelsee Miller) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:41:31 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <485A1BBB.4553.009D.0@caspercollege.edu> Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Thu Jun 19 10:46:15 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:46:15 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1014] Response to Questions from David Rosen Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E74D@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> David, I will try to answer your questions from Florida's perspective. * "The business of standards: Weeks after content standards were officially launched in our state, textbook publishers were busily developing correlations between their textbooks and our standards. Many publishers are already making dubious claims about how their text is "aligned" with our standards, yet, as far as I know, nobody has checked their work. Have any other states experienced problems with publishers trying to cash in on adult education content standards? Have any states attempted to work with publishers in any way in order to avoid false or inflated standards claims?" Yes, almost all textbook publishers develop correlations between the Florida standards and their texts. At the state level, we encourage local programs to evaluate the correlations to see how "close" or "loose" these correlations are by comparing the text pages with the benchmarks. This is an important topic that we plan to address more thoroughly in future professional development trainings for adult education administrators. The larger and more established textbook publishers do not contact the state office to advertise their products. When any company contacts our office to see if they can make a presentation to FL DOE staff, they are not provided with the opportunity. My perception is that most program administrators and teachers do not see publishing companies and their texts as a problem that hinders them from teaching their students well, but a benefit overall. The largest programs in the state train teachers to look for more than one text, in order to ensure sufficient coverage of all the benchmarks. My own review of texts in comparison to the standards has shown that no company has made any false claims, and that most claims are not so inflated as to cause alarm. * "Unintended Consequences: A few our most experienced teachers that were beginning to work with standards got the feeling that in order to "comply" with standards education, they were going to have to teach from a textbook rather than developing their own creative activities. While there was nothing in our professional development that pointed in this direction, this is the impression that many teachers had: standards meant falling into line with some textbook or established curriculum. Have any other state experienced this unintended effect of standards-based education? Are content standards in any limiting the creativity and initiative or our best teachers?" As the state's ESOL specialist, I have not seen any direct consequences of the use of standards limiting the creativity or initiative of teachers to the point of greatly causing a negative impact. I would encourage any Florida teachers or program administrators to respond to this question by giving their own point of view on this. My perception is that in Florida, virtually all programs and teachers use some type of text in their classes for about 50% of the class time, most often as a springboard for the lesson of the day or week. The rest of the time, they and their students design activities, do in-class and community-based projects and create materials that reinforce the lesson's objectives. I can say this is the result of the state's efforts to communicate with teachers about practices that are proving to give positive results from around our state, the nation and the world. I get the great opportunity to visit regional workshops put on by teachers for other teachers from 10-12 programs in their area on what they are doing in their classrooms. Our urban and rural programs enjoy getting together to spend a Saturday morning every 3-4 months to collaborate and share. While we are not at the goal, our teachers report to us that we are on the way there. * How can we use content standards as we teach a diverse group of adult learners, keeping their motivation high and reaching their individual needs? In professional development trainings, Florida emphasizes that the standards are guides (very comprehensive and solid guides) for teachers to use in teaching. These very organic, living documents are so full of good things for students and teachers, I venture to say that the majority of our teachers, part-time and full-time, really appreciate these guides to instruction. The students also are reassured and impressed that the state cares enough about them to try our best to make sure that all their needs in learning are met. Teachers are encouraged to get to know their students, and to leave off or add to the benchmarks in order to meet the needs of their students. The standards in Florida are not intended to be a rigid prescription that fills gaps, rather a delectable grand buffet of savory items that will appeal to all appetites as well as meet real needs. * What will your state do to align standards to the NRS when it changes? Florida has used task forces that focus on program areas, ESOL, ABE, GED, Learning Disabilities, and Family Literacy. It is in the process of setting up groups of practitioners and administrators selected through an application process to convene as ad hoc committees of 10-15 members to address critical functions in adult education: assessment, standards, professional development, learning disabilities, etc. When the NRS changes, the state office will convene meetings of the ad hoc committees to do research and come up with recommendations to the state on the issue. The state has final responsibility for making the decision. The state often conducts pilots for a certain length of time before it goes into full implementation of any redesigned standards or process. * What will your state do to align standards with diploma programs that have Carnegie units like those in K-12 to earn a diploma in the adult education arena? Florida does not use Carnegie units; we use credits based on performance. Florida offers a course called Adult High School, which is aligned to have the same requirements as a standard high school diploma with a few exceptions-no physical education, and the electives requirements are slightly different. * Does your state - does any state - have content standards for workforce education? Florida has a "Curriculum Framework" called "Workplace Readiness Skills for the Limited English Proficient Adult." This curriculum framework does not qualify as a set of standards, perhaps, because it is designed to be a framework for local programs and employers to design a course that meets the needs of adult ESOL students that face English language/literacy/workplace challenges at their job. The course is set up so that the employees will learn specific skills they need in order to do their job better and to advance in the workplace. It can be seen online at http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/dwdframe/ad_frame.asp. We welcome any comments, questions, as well as suggestions for making our program better! Thanks to everyone who has posted their thoughts! CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|10:46:16%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/62dac057/attachment.html From aggrognet at aol.com Thu Jun 19 10:59:52 2008 From: aggrognet at aol.com (aggrognet at aol.com) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:59:52 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1015] Re: More questions on state content standards In-Reply-To: <30EEC659-C2A2-448D-A686-AFCB73A50194@comcast.net> References: <30EEC659-C2A2-448D-A686-AFCB73A50194@comcast.net> Message-ID: <8CAA0342F56C211-16F4-10BA@Webmail-mg16.sim.aol.com> David- Attached find some comments and questions. -----Original Message----- From: David J. Rosen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 6:57 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1007] More questions on state content standards Colleagues, We have just today and tomorrow left for this discussion. If you have more questions and comments, especially if you have new ideas, information or a point of view to add, now is the time. Here are several more great questions from subscribers for our guests -- and others. Please read them all. You may have some answers to them which others would appreciate. ? ?The business of standards: Weeks after content standards were officially launched in our state, textbook publishers were busily developing correlations between their textbooks and our standards. Many publishers are already making dubious claims about how their text is ?aligned? with our standards, yet, as far as I know, nobody has checked their work. Have any other states experienced problems with publishers trying to cash in on adult education content standards? Have any states attempted to work with publishers in any way in order to avoid false or inflated standards claims?? ? ?Unintended Consequences: A few our most experienced teachers that were beginning to work with standards got the feeling that in order to ?comply? with standards education, they were going to have to teach from a textbook rather than developing their own creative activities. While there was nothing in our professional development that pointed in this direction, this is the impression that many teachers had: standards meant falling into line with some textbook or established curriculum. Have any other state experienced this unintended effect of standards-based education? Are content standards in any limiting the creativity and initiative or our best teachers?? ? How can we use content standards as we teach a diverse group of adult learners, keeping their motivation high and reaching their individual needs? ? What will your state do to align standards to the NRS when it changes? ? What will your state do to align standards with diploma programs that have Carnegie units like those in K-12 to earn a diploma in the adult education arena? ? Does your state ? does any state ? have content standards for workforce education? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to aggrognet at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b0a116a7/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: David.doc Type: application/msword Size: 30720 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b0a116a7/attachment.doc From djrosen at comcast.net Thu Jun 19 11:25:46 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:25:46 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Message-ID: Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states? responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath?s description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven?t lost that much. As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students? listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics From ehonol at sisd.net Thu Jun 19 11:25:45 2008 From: ehonol at sisd.net (Eduardo Honold) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:25:45 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1017] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear David, Your post raises many interesting questions about the implementation of content standards in a large and diverse state such as Texas. I share many of your concerns about some of the challenges that are involved in implementing standards and about the long-term effect of using standards on local programs. One of the reasons for participating in the Standards-in-Action pilot program was to explore the issues of implementation before going to scale. In working with programs in Houston and El Paso, we learned much about what works and doesn't work with teachers. Many of the "recalcitrant facts" about adult education you describe are true, but they may also be the reason for using content standards in the first place. In my limited experience in this pilot, I found that often it was the part-time teachers who were happy to have some kind of guideline regarding the content they could be teaching at a particular level of instruction. It is often the new teacher who has little experience with adult education who used the content standards as a guideline. Many of the more experienced and full time teachers saw less of a benefit in using the standards. My own philosophy (which may not reflect official policy) is that 1) Standards should do no harm. If programs are performing effectively with their own curricular guidelines, then they should be left alone. Now, if programs are struggling, content standards could be one of the elements to consider in a program improvement plan 2) A corollary to this principle is that content standards should provide a value added to programs and teachers, not an added layer of bureaucracy. We really need to convince teachers that using these broad guidelines is going to make their lives easier, not harder. 3) We need to continually monitor the implementation of standards to see what is really going on in the classroom. 4) Implementation, especially in a state like Texas, should be flexible and dependent on local conditions. So while I'm in favor of encouraging programs to use content standards ( mandate may be too strong a word), I'm in favor of giving local programs wide latitude in terms of how they are going to be implemented. So being labeled "a leader in the standardization process" stings a little, but that's OK. Of course, Standards-in-Action was a year-long pilot program designed to learn what might work in Texas, not to replicate the pilot statewide. And some of the things we did learn will help to make standards implementation more realistic. In my report evaluating the SIA pilot (which I will be happy to send to you) I recommend that the "unpacking tool" you allude to in your post be used in a limited way, perhaps as a remedial activity for teachers who might need help with a particular area of instruction. Local programs should decide whether or not it worth their while to use a particular standards activity. Texas is still working out the standards implementation process, and all stakeholders should contribute to the process of shaping its future. Let's keep the conversation going. All the best, Eduardo Honold Far West Project GREAT Coordinator (915) 937-1703 fax: (915) 937-1795 SISD Community Services 313 S. Rio Vista Rd. El Paso, TX 79927 www.farwestgreat.org ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Heath Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:22 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1003] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" Hello Federico and All, I have appreciated the many comments concerning the difficulty and the complexity of accommodating change. It has been a beneficial reminder as to why we resist so strongly. The entire subject is so complex that a forum like a listserv discussion can hardly scratch the surface of the many issues surrounding what might be legitimate disagreement and resistance to programmatic policy mandates of any kind, and particularly resistance to content standards. I am seriously concerned, for many reasons, about the possibility of a mandate in regards to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. I will address only one concern for now: unrealistic expectations and what I see as misplaced idealism. My comments are restricted to Texas and to ESOL as this is what I know. I believe we are doing the field an injustice, and certainly our teachers and students, if we do not speak plainly and forthrightly. The content standards are curriculum, if only a piece of curriculum. And the standards and benchmarks are certainly standardized if following a rule or protocol is standardization. Here are some recalcitrant facts. I am speaking of Texas adult education here, but I would think there are commonalities across states. * Of 2,235 AE teachers in Texas, only 188 are full time * Only a fraction of ESOL instructors have degrees in language acquisition theory * A significant majority of new ESOL instructors have no prior ESOL training of any kind * Only a small portion of ESOL teachers receive any significant planning time * Many teachers have second jobs * Many have compelling life interests that demand their time (one reason they seek employment in our field) * Many want instructional and curriculum tools that are ready-made and do not require a great deal of investment of time they feel they do not have * The average ESOL student in Texas attends fewer than 100 class hours a year (This is true across the nation I believe.) * In Texas, only 50% or so complete an instructional level * Students come and go, attending then "stopping out" then returning * Many of our ESOL students have limited academic backgrounds and have never experienced an educational environment like they discover in adult education These facts are serious and relevant to our discussion because they tell us a great deal about what is possible and what is necessary. One example: Just to "train" my existing staff in content standards required a six hour training provided by a skilled presenter in the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, then 10 more hours of follow-up to unpack and critically consider exactly what the standards and benchmarks were expecting students to know and do and ESOL instructors to understand. Then, we had to consider, as a program, exactly how we were willing to take on this new "standard". All of this takes time...time...time... Now, I have a new teacher. Although he is bright and creative, he has never had training in content standards, portfolios, credentialing, adult education theory, learning disabilities, language acquisition theory, program operations, or ESOL instructional materials. Well, you get the point I hope. Here is how Eduardo Honold, a leader in the standardization process, describes the "unpacking" of the Texas content standards and the demands required to "do it right". Effective Standards-Based Education for Adults: The Standards-in-Action Pilot in Texas by Eduardo Honold ..."Ten teachers in Socorro ISD and 15 teachers in Harris County Department of Education participated in a year-long effort to implement the new Texas content standards by using several "tools" provided by the SIA national consultants. The philosophy of this pilot is that teachers must first work collaboratively within their programs to understand what the new standards and benchmarks actually require students to know and do and then, determine how to teach from those benchmarks. The goal of the pilot is to provide adult education programs in Texas with ideas on how to deepen teachers' understanding of the new standards. ...After stripping the benchmark to its essence, teachers determine the level of thinking required by the benchmark based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Forehand, 2005). By "unpacking" the benchmark in this manner, teachers are ready to develop sample classroom activities that illustrate the requirement of the standard and are appropriate for students in a particular level." My questions would be: 1. Is there compelling evidence that it needs to be done? 2. And if so, are we going to do it right? 3. Are we going to be honest and transparent about what it will take? 4. Is our field structured and funded in such a way as it is doable? If the answers to these questions are positive, then I am on board. If not, I am a resistor. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/95e1463b/attachment.html From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Thu Jun 19 12:13:43 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:13:43 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1018] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM References: <485A1BBB.4553.009D.0@caspercollege.edu> Message-ID: We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 3954 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/f5d2e7fa/attachment.bin From nancy.markus at gmail.com Thu Jun 19 12:20:36 2008 From: nancy.markus at gmail.com (Nancy Markus) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:20:36 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: References: <485A1BBB.4553.009D.0@caspercollege.edu> Message-ID: <883cafd90806190920h4dfec684u6dfcf28260a86a77@mail.gmail.com> Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/91c6c751/attachment.html From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Thu Jun 19 12:30:49 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:30:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1020] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach to overcoming "standards aversion" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Thank you, Eduardo for your comments in this discussion. This is what I wanted when I invited the field to comment and participate. Your message reminded me that I should say to all that some of my comments, such as my strong opposition to standardized testing, are personal opinion and not official policy of Texas LEARNS or the Texas Education Agency. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Eduardo Honold Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 10:26 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1017] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" Dear David, Your post raises many interesting questions about the implementation of content standards in a large and diverse state such as Texas. I share many of your concerns about some of the challenges that are involved in implementing standards and about the long-term effect of using standards on local programs. One of the reasons for participating in the Standards-in-Action pilot program was to explore the issues of implementation before going to scale. In working with programs in Houston and El Paso, we learned much about what works and doesn't work with teachers. Many of the "recalcitrant facts" about adult education you describe are true, but they may also be the reason for using content standards in the first place. In my limited experience in this pilot, I found that often it was the part-time teachers who were happy to have some kind of guideline regarding the content they could be teaching at a particular level of instruction. It is often the new teacher who has little experience with adult education who used the content standards as a guideline. Many of the more experienced and full time teachers saw less of a benefit in using the standards. My own philosophy (which may not reflect official policy) is that 1) Standards should do no harm. If programs are performing effectively with their own curricular guidelines, then they should be left alone. Now, if programs are struggling, content standards could be one of the elements to consider in a program improvement plan 2) A corollary to this principle is that content standards should provide a value added to programs and teachers, not an added layer of bureaucracy. We really need to convince teachers that using these broad guidelines is going to make their lives easier, not harder. 3) We need to continually monitor the implementation of standards to see what is really going on in the classroom. 4) Implementation, especially in a state like Texas, should be flexible and dependent on local conditions. So while I'm in favor of encouraging programs to use content standards ( mandate may be too strong a word), I'm in favor of giving local programs wide latitude in terms of how they are going to be implemented. So being labeled "a leader in the standardization process" stings a little, but that's OK. Of course, Standards-in-Action was a year-long pilot program designed to learn what might work in Texas, not to replicate the pilot statewide. And some of the things we did learn will help to make standards implementation more realistic. In my report evaluating the SIA pilot (which I will be happy to send to you) I recommend that the "unpacking tool" you allude to in your post be used in a limited way, perhaps as a remedial activity for teachers who might need help with a particular area of instruction. Local programs should decide whether or not it worth their while to use a particular standards activity. Texas is still working out the standards implementation process, and all stakeholders should contribute to the process of shaping its future. Let's keep the conversation going. All the best, Eduardo Honold Far West Project GREAT Coordinator (915) 937-1703 fax: (915) 937-1795 SISD Community Services 313 S. Rio Vista Rd. El Paso, TX 79927 www.farwestgreat.org ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Heath Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:22 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1003] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" Hello Federico and All, I have appreciated the many comments concerning the difficulty and the complexity of accommodating change. It has been a beneficial reminder as to why we resist so strongly. The entire subject is so complex that a forum like a listserv discussion can hardly scratch the surface of the many issues surrounding what might be legitimate disagreement and resistance to programmatic policy mandates of any kind, and particularly resistance to content standards. I am seriously concerned, for many reasons, about the possibility of a mandate in regards to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. I will address only one concern for now: unrealistic expectations and what I see as misplaced idealism. My comments are restricted to Texas and to ESOL as this is what I know. I believe we are doing the field an injustice, and certainly our teachers and students, if we do not speak plainly and forthrightly. The content standards are curriculum, if only a piece of curriculum. And the standards and benchmarks are certainly standardized if following a rule or protocol is standardization. Here are some recalcitrant facts. I am speaking of Texas adult education here, but I would think there are commonalities across states. * Of 2,235 AE teachers in Texas, only 188 are full time * Only a fraction of ESOL instructors have degrees in language acquisition theory * A significant majority of new ESOL instructors have no prior ESOL training of any kind * Only a small portion of ESOL teachers receive any significant planning time * Many teachers have second jobs * Many have compelling life interests that demand their time (one reason they seek employment in our field) * Many want instructional and curriculum tools that are ready-made and do not require a great deal of investment of time they feel they do not have * The average ESOL student in Texas attends fewer than 100 class hours a year (This is true across the nation I believe.) * In Texas, only 50% or so complete an instructional level * Students come and go, attending then "stopping out" then returning * Many of our ESOL students have limited academic backgrounds and have never experienced an educational environment like they discover in adult education These facts are serious and relevant to our discussion because they tell us a great deal about what is possible and what is necessary. One example: Just to "train" my existing staff in content standards required a six hour training provided by a skilled presenter in the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, then 10 more hours of follow-up to unpack and critically consider exactly what the standards and benchmarks were expecting students to know and do and ESOL instructors to understand. Then, we had to consider, as a program, exactly how we were willing to take on this new "standard". All of this takes time...time...time... Now, I have a new teacher. Although he is bright and creative, he has never had training in content standards, portfolios, credentialing, adult education theory, learning disabilities, language acquisition theory, program operations, or ESOL instructional materials. Well, you get the point I hope. Here is how Eduardo Honold, a leader in the standardization process, describes the "unpacking" of the Texas content standards and the demands required to "do it right". Effective Standards-Based Education for Adults: The Standards-in-Action Pilot in Texas by Eduardo Honold ..."Ten teachers in Socorro ISD and 15 teachers in Harris County Department of Education participated in a year-long effort to implement the new Texas content standards by using several "tools" provided by the SIA national consultants. The philosophy of this pilot is that teachers must first work collaboratively within their programs to understand what the new standards and benchmarks actually require students to know and do and then, determine how to teach from those benchmarks. The goal of the pilot is to provide adult education programs in Texas with ideas on how to deepen teachers' understanding of the new standards. ...After stripping the benchmark to its essence, teachers determine the level of thinking required by the benchmark based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Forehand, 2005). By "unpacking" the benchmark in this manner, teachers are ready to develop sample classroom activities that illustrate the requirement of the standard and are appropriate for students in a particular level." My questions would be: 1. Is there compelling evidence that it needs to be done? 2. And if so, are we going to do it right? 3. Are we going to be honest and transparent about what it will take? 4. Is our field structured and funded in such a way as it is doable? If the answers to these questions are positive, then I am on board. If not, I am a resistor. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/8b8d7f08/attachment.html From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Thu Jun 19 12:40:44 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM References: <485A1BBB.4553.009D.0@caspercollege.edu> <883cafd90806190920h4dfec684u6dfcf28260a86a77@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54f/attachment.bin From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Thu Jun 19 12:37:21 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12:37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d2/attachment.html From Linnell.L.Rantapaa at doc.state.or.us Thu Jun 19 12:53:05 2008 From: Linnell.L.Rantapaa at doc.state.or.us (Rantapaa Linnell L) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8@docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu From garinderknecht at dmacc.edu Thu Jun 19 13:22:30 2008 From: garinderknecht at dmacc.edu (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion References: Message-ID: You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d82827/attachment.bin From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Thu Jun 19 13:55:09 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:55:09 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1028] Course Standards CASAS Required After GED? In-Reply-To: <883cafd90806190920h4dfec684u6dfcf28260a86a77@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E78B@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Nancy's suggestion to advocate for change to the state office is one I resonate with. I also feel that Gail has information that is crucial to take into account, however. Her account is so vivid and real, spoken with a sense of one who knows how to stand in the shoes of another and tell their story. Thank you for painting a picture with words, which sends a message that I read as "Take off these burdens!" It brings us to setting a higher standard for project design: "If we must require this step, have we fully informed the teacher and student why it is necessary?" "If this information is necessary to make the project beneficial to the student, can we obtain this information any other way that avoids burdening the student and teacher?' >From the perspective of a state office program specialist, it is a real dilemma for us that our "office" has a status all its own that is often tagged with a negative reputation. Our intention is to do our best to meet the needs of teachers and students. Sometimes we have certain rules that are tied to the federal money we are responsible for. But always, our intention is never to ignore the needs of the teachers and students, and always to make it as easy and beneficial for them as we possibly can. We at the state level are given opportunities to provide input to federal initiatives, which more often than not, brings about positive results. Input from the teachers and administrators is very welcome, because we cannot possibly be experts in every aspect of adult education to know how best to meet every need effectively. Projects we design in collaboration with teachers and administrators, using the best knowledge available at the moment, sometimes result in consequences that were not foreseen. While I am speaking on behalf of Florida DOE, I think it is likely that this rings true in other state offices. The comments posted by Gail and others are very welcome, and inform us in Florida. Thank you for them. CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|13:55:11%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Nancy Markus Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 12:21 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/92253a72/attachment.html From Linnell.L.Rantapaa at doc.state.or.us Thu Jun 19 13:59:13 2008 From: Linnell.L.Rantapaa at doc.state.or.us (Rantapaa Linnell L) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:59:13 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1025] FW: Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044BC@docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu From dheath at odessa.edu Thu Jun 19 14:18:02 2008 From: dheath at odessa.edu (David Heath) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:18:02 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1029] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Eduardo, Thank you for your thoughtful response. See my comments below. Dear David, Your post raises many interesting questions about the implementation of content standards in a large and diverse state such as Texas. I share many of your concerns about some of the challenges that are involved in implementing standards and about the long-term effect of using standards on local programs. One of the reasons for participating in the Standards-in-Action pilot program was to explore the issues of implementation before going to scale. In working with programs in Houston and El Paso, we learned much about what works and doesn't work with teachers. I would be interested to know what the percentages were: part-time / full-time. I would also be interested to know what the average years in the program were for your group. Perhaps, your report provides this information. I would very much appreciate reading your findings. Many of the "recalcitrant facts" about adult education you describe are true, but they may also be the reason for using content standards in the first place. In my limited experience in this pilot, I found that often it was the part-time teachers who were happy to have some kind of guideline regarding the content they could be teaching at a particular level of instruction. It is often the new teacher who has little experience with adult education who used the content standards as a guideline. Many of the more experienced and full time teachers saw less of a benefit in using the standards. Eduardo, I consistently here people advocate for content standards based on this reason. When I hear this, I wonder what these new teachers are going into the ESOL classroom with as resources. Here at OC, teachers have a list of "essential elements" for each of our five levels of ESOL instruction, both life skills and grammar elements. They also have a list of level-appropriate text, audio, and video materials for each of the five levels. In addition, they have many materials cross-walked with the TSCF (the modified Florida standards that Texas first supported). They have a rich set of published ESOL materials (L/S/R/W) in our bookroom. (Why these materials are receiving such a bad rap of late, I do not really understand. I do not use published materials nearly as often as my new teachers, but I have been teaching ESOL off and on for 20 years.) They have an Environmental Print binder of real-world reading materials. New teachers and returning teachers have several "guidelines" of what content or language elements to teach at any particular level of instruction. I know Texas is diverse and instructional environments vary greatly, but here at OC, I do not believe my teachers feel that they need additional guidance as to "what" they should be teaching. What they need and what none of us ever get enough of, I believe, is "how" we should be delivering that content. And it is the "how", the ESOL approaches and methods, that I feel is being neglected by too many state and federal initiatives or top-down driven models of program improvement. My own philosophy (which may not reflect official policy) is that 1) Standards should do no harm. If programs are performing effectively with their own curricular guidelines, then they should be left alone. Now, if programs are struggling, content standards could be one of the elements to consider in a program improvement plan 2) A corollary to this principle is that content standards should provide a value added to programs and teachers, not an added layer of bureaucracy. We really need to convince teachers that using these broad guidelines is going to make their lives easier, not harder. 3) We need to continually monitor the implementation of standards to see what is really going on in the classroom. 4) Implementation, especially in a state like Texas, should be flexible and dependent on local conditions. So while I'm in favor of encouraging programs to use content standards ( mandate may be too strong a word), I'm in favor of giving local programs wide latitude in terms of how they are going to be implemented. So being labeled "a leader in the standardization process" stings a little, but that's OK. I find your position on this subject to be remarkably reasonable and fair. I certainly have no objection to standards being approached in this manner. As far as referring to you as a "leader", you have my apologies for any "sting". It certainly was not intended. I made that assumption from reading your articles and seeing your involvement in the standards process. Thank you for your comments and, again, please send me your report. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College Of course, Standards-in-Action was a year-long pilot program designed to learn what might work in Texas, not to replicate the pilot statewide. And some of the things we did learn will help to make standards implementation more realistic. In my report evaluating the SIA pilot (which I will be happy to send to you) I recommend that the "unpacking tool" you allude to in your post be used in a limited way, perhaps as a remedial activity for teachers who might need help with a particular area of instruction. Local programs should decide whether or not it worth their while to use a particular standards activity. Texas is still working out the standards implementation process, and all stakeholders should contribute to the process of shaping its future. Let's keep the conversation going. All the best, Eduardo Honold Far West Project GREAT Coordinator (915) 937-1703 fax: (915) 937-1795 SISD Community Services 313 S. Rio Vista Rd. El Paso, TX 79927 www.farwestgreat.org ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Heath Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:22 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1003] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" Hello Federico and All, I have appreciated the many comments concerning the difficulty and the complexity of accommodating change. It has been a beneficial reminder as to why we resist so strongly. The entire subject is so complex that a forum like a listserv discussion can hardly scratch the surface of the many issues surrounding what might be legitimate disagreement and resistance to programmatic policy mandates of any kind, and particularly resistance to content standards. I am seriously concerned, for many reasons, about the possibility of a mandate in regards to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. I will address only one concern for now: unrealistic expectations and what I see as misplaced idealism. My comments are restricted to Texas and to ESOL as this is what I know. I believe we are doing the field an injustice, and certainly our teachers and students, if we do not speak plainly and forthrightly. The content standards are curriculum, if only a piece of curriculum. And the standards and benchmarks are certainly standardized if following a rule or protocol is standardization. Here are some recalcitrant facts. I am speaking of Texas adult education here, but I would think there are commonalities across states. * Of 2,235 AE teachers in Texas, only 188 are full time * Only a fraction of ESOL instructors have degrees in language acquisition theory * A significant majority of new ESOL instructors have no prior ESOL training of any kind * Only a small portion of ESOL teachers receive any significant planning time * Many teachers have second jobs * Many have compelling life interests that demand their time (one reason they seek employment in our field) * Many want instructional and curriculum tools that are ready-made and do not require a great deal of investment of time they feel they do not have * The average ESOL student in Texas attends fewer than 100 class hours a year (This is true across the nation I believe.) * In Texas, only 50% or so complete an instructional level * Students come and go, attending then "stopping out" then returning * Many of our ESOL students have limited academic backgrounds and have never experienced an educational environment like they discover in adult education These facts are serious and relevant to our discussion because they tell us a great deal about what is possible and what is necessary. One example: Just to "train" my existing staff in content standards required a six hour training provided by a skilled presenter in the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, then 10 more hours of follow-up to unpack and critically consider exactly what the standards and benchmarks were expecting students to know and do and ESOL instructors to understand. Then, we had to consider, as a program, exactly how we were willing to take on this new "standard". All of this takes time...time...time... Now, I have a new teacher. Although he is bright and creative, he has never had training in content standards, portfolios, credentialing, adult education theory, learning disabilities, language acquisition theory, program operations, or ESOL instructional materials. Well, you get the point I hope. Here is how Eduardo Honold, a leader in the standardization process, describes the "unpacking" of the Texas content standards and the demands required to "do it right". Effective Standards-Based Education for Adults: The Standards-in-Action Pilot in Texas by Eduardo Honold ..."Ten teachers in Socorro ISD and 15 teachers in Harris County Department of Education participated in a year-long effort to implement the new Texas content standards by using several "tools" provided by the SIA national consultants. The philosophy of this pilot is that teachers must first work collaboratively within their programs to understand what the new standards and benchmarks actually require students to know and do and then, determine how to teach from those benchmarks. The goal of the pilot is to provide adult education programs in Texas with ideas on how to deepen teachers' understanding of the new standards. ...After stripping the benchmark to its essence, teachers determine the level of thinking required by the benchmark based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Forehand, 2005). By "unpacking" the benchmark in this manner, teachers are ready to develop sample classroom activities that illustrate the requirement of the standard and are appropriate for students in a particular level." My questions would be: 1. Is there compelling evidence that it needs to be done? 2. And if so, are we going to do it right? 3. Are we going to be honest and transparent about what it will take? 4. Is our field structured and funded in such a way as it is doable? If the answers to these questions are positive, then I am on board. If not, I am a resistor. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/60b40260/attachment.html From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Thu Jun 19 15:01:54 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:01:54 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1030] Standards in Adult Education - Response to Allene Grognet Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E7A7@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> In response to Allene Grognet's comments and questions: Allene and I just finished talking about the post she made to the discussion on standards, and I appreciate her input about Florida's adult ESOL programs very much. I hope that other participants in Florida's standards workshops will send in their comments too. Allene wrote: "I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosanct and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven't lost that much." Phil's response: The workshops themselves were set up for a team of 30 adult education experts, not for new and part-time teachers. The participants completed an application form that was reviewed by committee, looking for people who had experience and formal training in curriculum design for adult education. The intent of the workshops was to provide extra training to these experts on specific steps on writing and implementing standards, with a focus on how to improve Florida's standards in particular. The three groups, ABE, ESOL and GED Preparatory, each had their own report on what they felt should be done with the standards in their program area. These experts proved to be a "dream group" that worked very well together, and had many hundreds of years of experience (and anecdotes to tell)! The state's purpose is to develop a way for these experts to become mentors, coaches, and trainers for other practitioners in all the regions of the state on what the standards are for, and how to use them in their local programs. This next year, the ad hoc committee on standards will convene to develop the training modules with these experts. As Allene says, a four hour or more training may not the ideal amount of time for new teachers, and it is not a good idea to expect them to write standards. While the tasks for the ad hoc committee on standards have not yet been approved, it is likely that its members will be asked for input on the design of these types of training. As for Allene's view on the state's products and initiatives being "sacrosanct and viewed with suspicion, if not hostility," this is something that we at Florida's state office are certainly aware of and, I believe I can honestly say, are giving it our level best to work on and to mitigate as much as possible. It does seem that the DOE state office certainly has a status of its own that individual state staff members often have little control over from year to year. And each state government administration/legislature has unique circumstances (budget for one) whose decisions make for either positive or negative impacts on teachers and students, over which state office staff members sometimes have no control at all. The greatest positive impact for adult education programs comes about when local programs and teachers invite their legislator and his or her staff to visit their programs and speak to their students. When students write letters to their legislator and to the governor about the good things their teacher is doing for them, this really does make a difference. We who are employed by an executive office of the governor cannot lobby except as private citizens during our non-work hours. We have seen that Florida legislators who have introduced bills benefiting adult education teachers and students were also the same legislators who responded to invitations by teachers and administrators to visit adult education classes. The impact of these visits is hard to measure - they give real time civics practice to students, they invariably provide a positive image about the program to the legislators, which can ripple onward to benefit adult education programs state wide. Phil CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|15:01:56%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/d598a55f/attachment.html From CPorter at thecenterweb.org Thu Jun 19 16:38:53 2008 From: CPorter at thecenterweb.org (Catherine Porter) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:38:53 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards References: Message-ID: This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states? responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath?s description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven?t lost that much. As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students? listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL.doc Type: application/msword Size: 139776 bytes Desc: Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL.doc Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/584fb260/attachment.doc From Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov Thu Jun 19 16:57:25 2008 From: Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov (Kroeger, Miriam) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:57:25 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1027] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <914B6658FFC2C74EAF866A48985C3A8E0391C5E131@prodmail5.prod.root> Quite some good comments - if I can add a few - Fortunately, our choice to develop stadnrds was made before OVAE and the NRS came out with the standardized assessment mandate. As a matter of fact, when we first developed our standards, there were only 4 levels of ABE/ASE and 4 of ESOL - we had to scramble when NRS changed things to six. Recently we've seen changes in "cut scores" for the mandated assessments. As I've mentioned several times, our standards have been field-based form the get-go. Teachers put their best efforts into this initiatives; teachers believed in what they were doing and through sue continue to believe in what was produced, and know that when we didn't get it quite right the first time, they were/are involved in the updates. One thing that we have to watch out for, and that is the "teaching to the test" trap. Of course if you test what you teach, that's different. What we found, and even, what we planned for, was that the standards were "greater" than any test - the standards have more and are richer than a TABE, CASAS, BEST, or GED Test. It took as a while, and is still something that we have to stop and think about but - if you teach with the Standards, don't worry about the test. What's on the test is in the standards and so much more. And that "more" is what better prepare learners for the world beyond Adult Education. Adult Education has to be more than "just getting by". For some of our learners it's their last stop in "formal" education; for others it's the beginning of more higher education. WE owe it to them to give them the tools to make informed choices. -Miriam Kroeger -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 7:32 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1012] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM I'm not sure if it the 6th grade level is legislatively mandated or just a department of corrections goal, but it's a something we try to achieve in education within the limits of our capacity to serve the men. For example, I recently had a man assigned to my literacy class who was served his entire life in special education. He has an IQ of 50; there is no way that I will ever get him to the 6th grade level. I have suggested that he be allowed to opt out of education and be put in a supervised vocational program. And as someone earlier noted, we also use Plato to tutor our students toward their GED. I personally also use the REWARDS reading program to advance reading levels. It's published by Sopris and can be used individually or with small groups to learn to decode multi-syllabic words. It's a totally scripted program, so a tutor or volunteer can be taught to use the program in a short period of time. To be quite frank, the educational community at large, i.e. the public schools, do not think much of the GED. I've heard this from administrators and teachers alike even though we know that nearly one-third of high school graduates could not pass the GED. As I said before, I have many high school graduates in my literacy program. I don't think having benchmarks will make anyone think better of the GED. It's an elitist thing at this point. I find it to be enormously rewarding to the men to achieve their GED especially considering many of those incarcerated have been suspended from school many times over. I hear over and over, "I didn't think I could do this on my own." It's exciting to see a grown man excited about learning for the first time. Our benchmarks are simple: pass a half test with a 500 or better; pass the GED test with a 450 or better. Complete all tests. And the final goal is a couple of polaroid pictures in a white shirt and tie and cap and gown. The pictures mean a lot to these men. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Christensen, Lorraine Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:01 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1011] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Is it legislatively mandated that you bring an inmate to a TABE 6 level before they no longer need to be assigned to school? While I agree with you that the number of graduates is important, I have always believed that if we had particular "benchmarks" we would be more accountable and in "respected" in the educational community! Lorraine Christensen Women's Center - Maine Correctional -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transitions students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to observe a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Thu Jun 19 17:58:28 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:58:28 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1031] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approach to overcoming "standards aversion" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E7E5@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Everyone that has posted and read the postings on standards, The point raised by David Heath is valid, that a discussion listserv such as this only scratches the surface on the issues that surround state policies in general, and specifically content standards. The list of "recalcitrant facts" posted below is certainly similar to the situation in Florida. If I had a few spare moments I would hunt down Florida's specific data for these facts; suffice it to say they would probably fall within close range to these he cites from Texas. >From my perspective, there is not any strong compelling evidence that the time-consuming process of learning to unpack, analyze according to taxonomies and correlate them to specific texts is necessary for all classroom teachers, either part-time or full-time, or experienced or with experience. However, the process that Florida just completed seems to have been a beneficial so far: a solid team of interested instructors, professional development trainers and administrators have gone through four workshops of 1 ? day each (total of 40 hours) to learn to write and implement standards, in order that they can act as mentors, coaches and trainers to local programs in their regions. The intent envisioned at this time is that these trained experts will do troubleshooting with teachers who struggle with using the standards in their classrooms, not teach them how to do the entire process of unpacking, etc. Visits with follow up over time may be one way that the trained standards experts will work with teachers in their area. Another may be to have mini-workshops with teachers from 3-4 local programs to compare notes and to share what works for them. Two things that I believe excite us adult educators when we get together seems to be that the world of adult education has so many interesting facets to explore, and that the human element of caring about people who come to class because they want to learn is very much alive in adult educators. CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|17:58:29%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Heath Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 5:22 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1003] Re: Resistance to Change and Texas' approachtoovercoming "standards aversion" Hello Federico and All, I have appreciated the many comments concerning the difficulty and the complexity of accommodating change. It has been a beneficial reminder as to why we resist so strongly. The entire subject is so complex that a forum like a listserv discussion can hardly scratch the surface of the many issues surrounding what might be legitimate disagreement and resistance to programmatic policy mandates of any kind, and particularly resistance to content standards. I am seriously concerned, for many reasons, about the possibility of a mandate in regards to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. I will address only one concern for now: unrealistic expectations and what I see as misplaced idealism. My comments are restricted to Texas and to ESOL as this is what I know. I believe we are doing the field an injustice, and certainly our teachers and students, if we do not speak plainly and forthrightly. The content standards are curriculum, if only a piece of curriculum. And the standards and benchmarks are certainly standardized if following a rule or protocol is standardization. Here are some recalcitrant facts. I am speaking of Texas adult education here, but I would think there are commonalities across states. * Of 2,235 AE teachers in Texas, only 188 are full time * Only a fraction of ESOL instructors have degrees in language acquisition theory * A significant majority of new ESOL instructors have no prior ESOL training of any kind * Only a small portion of ESOL teachers receive any significant planning time * Many teachers have second jobs * Many have compelling life interests that demand their time (one reason they seek employment in our field) * Many want instructional and curriculum tools that are ready-made and do not require a great deal of investment of time they feel they do not have * The average ESOL student in Texas attends fewer than 100 class hours a year (This is true across the nation I believe.) * In Texas, only 50% or so complete an instructional level * Students come and go, attending then "stopping out" then returning * Many of our ESOL students have limited academic backgrounds and have never experienced an educational environment like they discover in adult education These facts are serious and relevant to our discussion because they tell us a great deal about what is possible and what is necessary. One example: Just to "train" my existing staff in content standards required a six hour training provided by a skilled presenter in the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, then 10 more hours of follow-up to unpack and critically consider exactly what the standards and benchmarks were expecting students to know and do and ESOL instructors to understand. Then, we had to consider, as a program, exactly how we were willing to take on this new "standard". All of this takes time...time...time... Now, I have a new teacher. Although he is bright and creative, he has never had training in content standards, portfolios, credentialing, adult education theory, learning disabilities, language acquisition theory, program operations, or ESOL instructional materials. Well, you get the point I hope. Here is how Eduardo Honold, a leader in the standardization process, describes the "unpacking" of the Texas content standards and the demands required to "do it right". Effective Standards-Based Education for Adults: The Standards-in-Action Pilot in Texas by Eduardo Honold ..."Ten teachers in Socorro ISD and 15 teachers in Harris County Department of Education participated in a year-long effort to implement the new Texas content standards by using several "tools" provided by the SIA national consultants. The philosophy of this pilot is that teachers must first work collaboratively within their programs to understand what the new standards and benchmarks actually require students to know and do and then, determine how to teach from those benchmarks. The goal of the pilot is to provide adult education programs in Texas with ideas on how to deepen teachers' understanding of the new standards. ...After stripping the benchmark to its essence, teachers determine the level of thinking required by the benchmark based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Forehand, 2005). By "unpacking" the benchmark in this manner, teachers are ready to develop sample classroom activities that illustrate the requirement of the standard and are appropriate for students in a particular level." My questions would be: 1. Is there compelling evidence that it needs to be done? 2. And if so, are we going to do it right? 3. Are we going to be honest and transparent about what it will take? 4. Is our field structured and funded in such a way as it is doable? If the answers to these questions are positive, then I am on board. If not, I am a resistor. David Heath ESOL Coordinator Odessa College ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Federico Salas Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:37 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 989] Resistance to Change and Texas' approach toovercoming "standards aversion" I have just posted the Texas experience with content standards implementation. Now, however, I want to jump in on the discussion addressing the issue of resistance to implementation and resistance to change. Before I do, however, I want to say hi to my friend Paul Jurmo. Long time no see, Paul. The question is the source of the resistance to the adoption and/or implementation of standards. I cannot hope to answer that question here, but I can share some of the resistance that we faced in Texas and some of the comments we have heard over the now four years since we started the standards process. I would like to share some history that is very relevant to the question Paul asks and that actually sheds light on the process of overcoming that resistance and addressing change. Paul mentions that "some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too cumbersome. We have seen some of this attitude along with concerns by some that the standards are something imposed "in addition to everything we already do." Bill's observes that resistance to change sometimes is about "trust and intention" while dealing with strategic planning. In Texas we had a difficult and, at times, contentious experience with the process of adopting standards. There was a first iteration of the adoption when, under a different administration of the office of adult education, we experienced a process that was, as Bill puts it, "estranged from (and less accepted by) the grass roots." In the early 2000s, standards from another state were imposed on all of us in Texas by a shortsighted administration without input, with little buy-in, and with virtually no opportunity to pilot them or to make necessary adaptations to suit our population or our needs. Local administrators (our state director, Joanie Rethlake, and I were both such local program directors) were told that we needed to have 100% of our teachers trained to implement the standards by the end of that fiscal year or our grants would be in jeopardy. Talk about "trust and intention." To be sure, some programs saw this as an opportunity to adopt a much needed content framework and dived head on into the process making the standards their own and developing their own checklists and other means of implementing them which had not been offered by the state. Other programs felt overwhelmed, didn't like the standards, didn't feel they would work, and saw them as "rigid and irrelevant." Many tried their best to understand the situation they were facing and invested a lot of time and resources -along with emotion and stress-to make the standards work. Yet, by the end of the fiscal year, when it was apparent that as much as everyone tried many teachers had not been trained, the state office announced the standards would not be adopted after all. If programs wanted them they could use them; if they didn't they were free to do without them. The process had been costly, time consuming, and frustrating. Fast forward one year, and in 2003 Texas LEARNS came into existence and a completely new leadership was breathing new life into the adult education program in Texas. One of our first priorities was to address the issue of the adoption of content standards. Our initial idea was to continue what the former administration had started but to add some Texas flavor, engaging some programs in piloting the standards to give them a sense of ownership of any edits. At our first meeting we were not prepared for the level of emotion, of resistance, of outright hostility that the idea was about to generate. The issue of our intentions and the trust of the field was now on the table for us to tackle. Our decision was then, with the help and leadership of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) to go back to the field and conduct a number of focus groups with instructors and with students; in fact more students than instructors from all over the state participated in the focus groups. After analyzing the feedback from these groups, Texas decided to scrap our plans and start anew. As I have said in my other posting earlier tonight, we adopted five of the EFF standards because they closely matched what the focus groups were telling us. We then proceeded to involve teachers and local program administrators in the process of writing benchmarks. Standards Writers had to apply or be nominated, and they were selected by committee to participate in the process. Writing the benchmarks and agreeing on the appropriate level and examples took nearly two years of meetings and a lot of give and take, but the result was a document which teachers considered their own. During this process, the state office and the standards project kept local programs, teachers and administrators abreast of developments. Then came time to pilot the standards; we had two pilots one conducted by many of the teachers who had written the benchmarks. We wanted these writers to pilot the materials because they were closer to their development. The second pilot was an expanded pilot which came after the changes which resulted from analyzing the feedback from the first pilot. In June 2007 came time for the official launch and nearly 700 people from all adult education and EL Civics programs in the state registered for the three day conference. After the launch, a group of the standards writers volunteered to be trained by external consultants to become "Standards Specialists." These specialists became the trainers helping us provide expert professional development that was "close to the source" of the standards. Why do I tell you step by step what happened in the process? I think that one of the keys to overcoming the initial resistance was our willingness to invest in a process that would take time but would involve all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and expert consultants. The documents were written by the people who will use them with feedback from their students. Involving 100 students in the process indicates a true commitment to listen to their voices; we were not simply paying lip service to student participation. The standards were then piloted and re-worked immediately based on feedback. This showed we were listening. We then involved a large number of teachers in the second pilot. Finally, the project provided training to volunteer standards specialists to become trainers of their colleagues. All throughout, the process stayed very close to the field. The bottom line is we tried to enable a bottom up process to ensure buy-in. Even administrators who were afraid to embrace the document have slowly come to see the new document as something worth giving a try. While full implementation will take a long time, by addressing the fundamental objections teachers and programs had with the earlier experience the leadership of Texas LEARNS and TAESP were able to get significant buy-in from the field. federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/18ff730d/attachment.html From aggrognet at aol.com Thu Jun 19 19:23:13 2008 From: aggrognet at aol.com (aggrognet at aol.com) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:23:13 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1032] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CAA07A941BB066-16F4-35B0@Webmail-mg16.sim.aol.com> Catherine- Thank you for the criteria for adopting a core textbook. It is very good, and I hope Florida looks at it with a critical eye. -----Original Message----- From: Catherine Porter To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 3:38 pm Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states? responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath?s description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven?t lost that much. As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students? listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to aggrognet at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/729c8cf4/attachment.html From selover200 at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 03:30:34 2008 From: selover200 at comcast.net (selover200 at comcast.net) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:30:34 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1033] Re: Which book has IL chosen for Adult Ed ESL?? Message-ID: <062020080730.26886.485B5C9A00086FE7000069062212059214CFCFCD9D0A9001040A9C@comcast.net> Catherine - I work at a very small Adult Ed program, and when I ask other teachers I just get told -- go look in the cupboard. Some teachers change their books each semester, some do mainly handouts. So, I get no real advice at all. I am curious as to which book IL Adult Ed has chosen for Literacy, Beginners (low) and High Beginners and Intermediates. Thank you, Linda Selover I teach a multi-level ESL class, with students who are barely literate, to college educated. -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Catherine Porter" > This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. > I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook > correlations with state content standards. > > In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired > at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day > or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically > sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a > textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: > > > "As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I > would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a > textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual > which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give > shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills > they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- > time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a > lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and > extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." > > > To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum > development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" > receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. > In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish > correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases > these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative > stretch. > > We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train > teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting > a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for > ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the > checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from > popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to > applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the > "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a > textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content > Standards being addressed. > > After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are > encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, > select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education > instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no > other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the > materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and > implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with > our state standards. > > Catherine Porter > Professional Development Specialist > Adult Learning Resource Center > Arlington Heights, IL > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Cc: > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards > > Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet > > From: aggrognet at aol.com > Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT > > Federico, Phil, et al- > > I have read with interest all of the states? responses to the > questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from > contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I > know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with > oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills > needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students > may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with > which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an > end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That > something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and > clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be > to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it > may be to get th GED or go to college. > > I was struck how closely David Heath?s description of teachers in > Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion > than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and > part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; > experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and > curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to > communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the > standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil > Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, > but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little > from. I say this because professional development is out next step, > and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good > the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is > not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything > coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, > if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will > be back for more. If they quit, we haven?t lost that much. > > As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I > would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a > textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual > which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give > shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills > they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- > time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a > lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and > extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. > > As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to > each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and > stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government > gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized > testing and NRS as examples. > > One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a > student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in > language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher > or the test administrator a good picture of the students? listening/ > speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? > > Allene Grognet > Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Catherine Porter" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:23:36 +0000 Size: 190004 Url: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/9f6e9c8c/attachment.mht From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 07:19:27 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:19:27 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Message-ID: <2C48A935-609E-48C2-A25B-B38846424E26@comcast.net> Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/f02e1e81/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 08:05:44 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:05:44 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system Message-ID: Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/ webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/ index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/1593a8bc/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 08:07:36 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:07:36 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom Message-ID: <5E460B91-A34C-4B4F-A3ED-31BF723F9CF9@comcast.net> Colleagues, We would like to invite you to join us in a discussion about professional wisdom that we will be holding on the AAACE-NLA discussion list from June 23rd to June 27th. In November last year, we (John Comings and David J. Rosen) had a series of email exchanges because we believe it is important for our field to come to agreement on how professional wisdom might be used as part of evidence-based practice. We discussed how our field might build a model for achieving a body of professional wisdom that teachers and administrators might use to improve basic skills teaching, learning and programs for adults. On June 23rd and June 24th we will post that discussion on the AAACE- NLA discussion list in two parts. From June 25th-June 27th we will welcome your questions and comments. Please pass this invitation on to your colleagues who might like to join us, too. To subscribe to the AAACE-NLA Discussion List, go to: http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla Once there, scroll down the page and follow the subscription directions. John Comings David J. Rosen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/cabb825e/attachment.html From jschneider at eicc.edu Fri Jun 20 08:31:13 2008 From: jschneider at eicc.edu (Schneider, Jim) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:31:13 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* From jschneider at eicc.edu Fri Jun 20 09:00:56 2008 From: jschneider at eicc.edu (Schneider, Jim) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:00:56 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1039] Rethinking mission of adult literacy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867F3@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> I want to preface my remarks that I am in complete agreement with the desired end of a year of post-secondary education for adult literacy students. The research is clear and there is no doubt of the economic benefits of postsecondary education over merely attaining a GED. I wonder about the willingness of our nation to provide adequate resources for an enhanced program when there has never been any sign of willingness to fund beyond the bare minimum in the past? Is it really necessary to toss aside an infrastructure and programming that has been in place and accomplished quite a bit in spite of lack-luster funding and support? And, given the lack of resources in the past, I am leery that these proposed "improvements" will provide the necessary funding and supports to be a real improvement over the current programming. I feel very strongly that we need to be cautious and recognize that for many adult learners merely attaining the GED is nearly an impossible dream. To establish a higher "standard" as a professional objective is one thing... to raise the bar when there are so many for which the current bar seems unattainable seems inhumane. I strongly advocate for postsecondary education with all of our learners - the reality is that for too many there are significant barriers (daycare, transportation, housing, etc.) to pursuing postsecondary education in the short-term. Yet, many come back to us 2-5 years later (when the kids are in school?) to inquire and enroll in postsecondary education - of course there is no recognition of this accomplishment by NRS since it happens more than 6 months after the program year. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:35 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! (David J. Rosen) 2. [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system (David J. Rosen) 3. [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom (David J. Rosen) 4. [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... (Schneider, Jim) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:19:27 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <2C48A935-609E-48C2-A25B-B38846424E26 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/f02e1e8 1/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:05:44 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/ webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/ index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/1593a8b c/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:07:36 -0400 From: David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom To: The Assessment Discussion List , diversity at nifl.gov, The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List , The Family Literacy Discussion List , The Health and Literacy Discussion List , The Learning Disabilities Discussion List , The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List , specialtopics at nifl.gov, The Workplace Literacy Discussion List Message-ID: <5E460B91-A34C-4B4F-A3ED-31BF723F9CF9 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, We would like to invite you to join us in a discussion about professional wisdom that we will be holding on the AAACE-NLA discussion list from June 23rd to June 27th. In November last year, we (John Comings and David J. Rosen) had a series of email exchanges because we believe it is important for our field to come to agreement on how professional wisdom might be used as part of evidence-based practice. We discussed how our field might build a model for achieving a body of professional wisdom that teachers and administrators might use to improve basic skills teaching, learning and programs for adults. On June 23rd and June 24th we will post that discussion on the AAACE- NLA discussion list in two parts. From June 25th-June 27th we will welcome your questions and comments. Please pass this invitation on to your colleagues who might like to join us, too. To subscribe to the AAACE-NLA Discussion List, go to: http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla Once there, scroll down the page and follow the subscription directions. John Comings David J. Rosen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/cabb825 e/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:31:13 -0500 From: "Schneider, Jim" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... To: Message-ID: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE at eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 ********************************************* From marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com Fri Jun 20 09:01:03 2008 From: marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com (Marie Cora) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:01:03 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1038] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <05c401c8d2d5$b282c240$0702a8c0@LITNOW> Hi everyone, Wow, I'm surprised that any of the GED recipients even bother to do this (take the CASAS after taking the GED battery). They certainly do not have to. They can simply walk away with their GED certificate once they complete it. But perhaps, this information is not shared with students - or I doubt that the state would be able to continue carrying on this curious practice. Marie Cora -----Original Message----- From: Rinderknecht, Gail A. [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 12:41 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 09:52:12 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:52:12 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1040] Fwd: Auto-discard notification References: Message-ID: <4BBBC8CC-E13A-48FA-98E4-BD0B3867ED36@comcast.net> Posted for Karen Greer who sent this message on June 17th From: "Greer, Karen" Date: June 17, 2008 4:29:47 PM EDT To: Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: ImplementingState AdultEducationContentStandards Hats off to Federico for his description of our state's standards process. I am one of those teachers in the trenches and welcomed the standards. I was shown my classroom,the students, and a large book closet and that was my orientation. After many years, trial and error, and many hours in the bookroom , I have come up with a workable plan. The standards are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning(foreign to some teachers}. Texas followed the introduction of the standards with concrete lesson plan training. A curriculum with concrete flow is very important and the standards give us a way to divide level instruction guidelines. I encourage all in this field to use the standards and it will only benefit our students. Karen Greer, teacher Victoria College Adult Ed. Victoria, Tx From Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org Fri Jun 20 11:31:48 2008 From: Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org (Anderson, Philip) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:31:48 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1041] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E838@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Thanks to Catherine for the checklist criteria for selecting a text. I did a few additions and revisions to adapt it for our programs in Florida, and I am attaching it here, in case anyone finds it useful. I added three more criteria regarding the three "Cs" - Content Standards, Components, and Cost. Perhaps other criteria that are part of components could be included: workbooks, reproducible masters, video, and audio? CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|11:31:50%20Fri%2020%20Jun%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Catherine Porter Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:39 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states' responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath's description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven't lost that much. As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students' listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Criteria for Selecting a Text for Adult ELLs.doc Type: application/msword Size: 88576 bytes Desc: Criteria for Selecting a Text for Adult ELLs.doc Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/4702463a/attachment.doc From Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov Fri Jun 20 11:37:01 2008 From: Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov (South, Shauna) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:37:01 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1042] Standards and the rationale for correlating assessment to your standards In-Reply-To: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> References: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Message-ID: <3767AF61C1C1FA439CDF7C0360C8306EA67DF19140@DellMail.usoe.k12.ut.us> Standards must be correlated to assessment and most of the states that have written standards have aligned them to the NRS levels that in and of themselves have outcome measures. If we want to be able to show data that is relevant to any stake holder in adult education, standardized assessment (if not compromised in the administration) gives more accurate and valid data. The standardized assessments approved address several goals: to place students accurately, to diagnose learner strengths and weaknesses, to guide instruction, and to show evidence of learning gains. Thus is the reason for pre and post-testing using the same instrument. Shauna South Education Specialist Utah -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Schneider, Jim Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:31 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to shauna.south at schools.utah.gov From jengel at communityaction.com Fri Jun 20 11:46:53 2008 From: jengel at communityaction.com (Jon Engel) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:46:53 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1043] Standards, Standardized Tests & Real World Outcomes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <004301c8d2ec$dcb01060$9e00000a@cainc.local> Thanks to David Rosen for moderating yet another interesting discussion. I must admit I have found the level significance and rhetoric generated around the distinction between standards and standardized tests to be remarkable in its irrelevance, kind of like a smoke ring inside a soap bubble. Standardized tests appear to be designed to demonstrate that students have mastered (or not) a certain standard of knowledge or content. Standards appear to be designed to demonstrate to teachers what standards of knowledge or content they should teach to students. It is at least implicit that teaching to the standards should equip students to demonstrate the content mastery necessary to perform well on the standardized tests, almost by definition a neat and tidy closed system of tax dollar accountability. Of course, the real world is not so neat and tidy as evidenced by the fool's errand of administering standardized post tests to students who have already attained their GED. David's question about the endpoint of the adult literacy education system is an important one to focus on. Throughout my career in adult education I have been somewhat obsessed and perplexed in my quest to answer the question of "GED and then What?". I remain so. As I write, the State of Texas has a new request for proposal on the street to implement a state funded Dropout Recovery Pilot Program. The RFP defines a college readiness track that appears to define minimal success as * Successful completion of GED * Successful completion of state approved college placement test * Successful completion of a college credit "core" course The RFP encourages collaboration with our workforce colleagues who are in the business of preparing people for demand occupations at the local level. Often our colleagues utilize WIA Title One money to assist people in the completion of occupation specific certification and training programs that can and do lead to good paying jobs and enhanced quality of life. My workforce colleagues tell me that these programs rarely require the completion of a "core" college course. It seems to me that our responsibility is to prepare our students to achieve enhanced real world outcomes that would include multiple "endpoints" that should not necessarily be tied solely to completion of conventional postsecondary education coursework. Sincerely, Jon Engel Adult Education Director Community Action Inc. PO Box 748 San Marcos, TX 78666 Voice (512)392-1161 ext. 334 Fax (512)396-4255 Email jengel at communityaction.com Web www.communityaction.com _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the endpoint of the state adult literacy system Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? >From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/41a4dd91/attachment.html From Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov Fri Jun 20 12:01:40 2008 From: Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov (South, Shauna) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:01:40 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1044] Standards and the rationale for correlating assessment to your standards In-Reply-To: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> References: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Message-ID: <3767AF61C1C1FA439CDF7C0360C8306EA67DF19158@DellMail.usoe.k12.ut.us> Standards must be correlated to assessment and most of the states that have written standards have aligned them to the NRS levels that in and of themselves have outcome measures. If we want to be able to show data that is relevant to any stake holder in adult education, standardized assessment (if not compromised in the administration) gives more accurate and valid data. The standardized assessments approved address several goals: to place students accurately, to diagnose learner strengths and weaknesses, to guide instruction, and to show evidence of learning gains. Thus is the reason for pre and post-testing using the same instrument. Shauna South Education Specialist Utah -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Schneider, Jim Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:31 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to shauna.south at schools.utah.gov From gbundy at rmi.net Fri Jun 20 11:54:32 2008 From: gbundy at rmi.net (Gail B) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:54:32 -0600 (GMT-06:00) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1045] Re: Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Message-ID: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/db8c1e02/attachment.html From CPorter at thecenterweb.org Fri Jun 20 12:00:19 2008 From: CPorter at thecenterweb.org (Catherine Porter) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:00:19 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1046] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards References: <8CAA07A941BB066-16F4-35B0@Webmail-mg16.sim.aol.com> Message-ID: Dear Allene, Thank you for the feedback. Elliot Judd and I developed that criteria list for a TESOL Academy workshop we co-presented in 2001, and it has served us well in Illinois for a number of years. I also want to apologize for misspelling your name in my previous email! Catherine Porter -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of aggrognet at aol.com Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 6:23 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1032] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards Catherine- Thank you for the criteria for adopting a core textbook. It is very good, and I hope Florida looks at it with a critical eye. -----Original Message----- From: Catherine Porter To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 3:38 pm Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states? responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath?s description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven?t lost that much. As to David?s question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers? Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students? listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to aggrognet at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 7093 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/3b2a2698/attachment.bin From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Fri Jun 20 12:07:01 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:07:01 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1047] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?A_different_state_standards_issue=3A_the_end_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=09point__of_the?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David and All, Since this is the final day of our discussion, I wanted to take a minute to share some thoughts. First, what have I learned through this experience? Mostly, I have learned that the approaches, attitudes, and purposes for having content standards are extremely different from state to state, administrator to administrator and teacher to teacher. All of whom have legitimate points worth considering. In Oklahoma the reason we chose EFF standards as our foundation was because EFF offered not only standards from which we could start and expand through the Curriculum Frameworks, but other tools (role maps, 4 purposes of learning, teaching/learning cycle, etc.) that made up a teaching and learning system we have found to be of value in aligning what happens in the classroom with students, at the local program level, and at the state level. This system provides direction as we determine how best (professional development, materials and resources, allocations, teacher planning time, etc.) to support this process. From the beginning we asked ourselves "just what is it we want to see happen by implementing this process?" Thus, we started with written objectives for students, teachers, directors, and state staff. Each year we revisit those objectives, and when necessary, we have rewritten, adjusted, added to, and even tossed out. It is truly an ongoing process that involves all stakeholders. I also wanted to mention that I have not heard much about individual student goal setting except for obtaining the GED or NRS program goals of which we are all held accountable. In Oklahoma, as I'm sure happens everywhere, the public connects adult education with "getting your GED." As you all know, we are much, much, more and we work hard to get this message out. Only about 15-18% of the students enrolled in our classes entered at a level that makes obtaining a GED a realistic goal within the time they are usually willing to invest in the class. Therefore, teaching students about setting goals and the goal setting process is an essential part of our instruction. Actually, it should be the foundation of instruction that determines which standards may need the most focus. I know, the teachers tell us all the time, "but they just want their GED." Yes they do, (even if they are functioning at an ABE Beginning Level) and you should respect that goal, support that goal, and encourage that goal; BUT, in the meantime, let's look at all the other goals you might accomplish while working on the skills you need to obtain a GED. And guess what, the skill set referred to as the "specific skill set" needed for the GED, well, that skill set also includes the skills you need in everyday life - they just look different. Our goal setting policy states that both program goals and personal student goals are addressed in the classroom. When students start considering personal goals such as health issues, dreams of a career or job they want, attending a parent-teacher conference and not feel intimidated, build or create something, read a novel and comprehend its meaning, plan summer activities for a family that has little money for such, estimate the cost of taking a trip to see a relative, write a complaint letter, or express an opinion about a local election topic, and they start to look at the skills they need in order to do these things - they start to see connections between learning skills that will make life better now as well as move me toward passing the GED. As you take students through the goal-setting process, even those that are determined that all they want is a GED, start to expand their thinking, their vision, and their confidence about what they really might be able to accomplish - today, tomorrow, and well beyond passing the GED. Isn't that what we should be doing? Someone said earlier in the discussion something about if you teach to the standards, and I would add, teach in the context of student goals, then the tests take care of themselves. I agree and am seeing that happen - especially in the area of math skills. In our content standard training for math, our trainer, Donna Curry, hit this issue head-on when teachers kept talking about "all they (students) want is enough math to pass the GED." We started looking at the skills found on the GED and then started asking the question "what does that look like when you use it in real life?" Then, we looked at skills students were already somewhat comfortable using in real life (hobbies, cooking, health issues, construction, etc.) and turned it around to ask the question "what might that skill look like on a test?" Hmmm....same kinds of skills. Sometime students have more skills then they realize, they just can't show it on a test. This may sound really simple but it was really, really enlightening not only for students but for teachers who were not really comfortable with their own math skills much less teaching math for the GED. Similar activities happen in the reading and writing training. We never forget about the GED - but - we certainly want teachers and students to think way beyond any test and directly into their own lives so that wherever they are when they enter (functioning level), they will leave at a much higher level and with skills that make an immediate difference in what they know and are able to do in life. Standards-based instruction requires planning on the part of teachers and students. Our intent has never been to create more paperwork. Though lesson plans do make us accountable for why and what we are teaching in the classroom. Still, it is not about paperwork. It IS about students moving forward in their lives to be productive members of society and achieving their personal goals. It IS about providing teachers and students tools, structure, focus, guidelines, road maps, whatever you want to call it, that assist the process of achievement in the most effective and efficient manner. Thanks to Karen Greer from Texas for her comments as a teacher. She is correct when she says that standards "are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning." The "curriculum" or context in which you teach to the standards should be coming from the lives and goals of our students. You can address program goals without ignoring individual personal goals and vice versa. Our EFF teaching and learning system, of which content standards are the foundation, is designed to do both without sacrificing the creativity and individuality of teachers or students. Thank you for this incredible opportunity. I respect the wisdom and experiences of all contributors and wish my colleagues continued future success. I think the one thing I consistently find in the field of adult education is that we are all passionate about what we do. I hope everyone has a great week-end. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From glyndalin at yahoo.com Fri Jun 20 12:33:09 2008 From: glyndalin at yahoo.com (Glenda Lynn Rose) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:33:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1048] Re: A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <119548.35938.qm@web81904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Just a thought on this. While we all agree on the importance of finding out what the students' goals are, when it comes to making policy we always seem to take the superior approach and decide what is best for them. Honestly, neither of my parents have much education. They are both in their 60s now, retired, no bills other than property taxes..... We were "working poor" when I was a kid (and sometimes not so much working), but my parents gave me a good life and met their personal goals of taking care of our family and providing for their own future. They value education, but only as far as it helps you reach your goals. I am the first and only (as far as I know) 4-year college graduate in my family. Yet, my brother and sister, neither of whom went to college, earn more than me and have stable and comfortable home lives. Lack of a college education does not relegate you to "the working poor." Especially with regard to ESL, the end point of literacy education should be determined by the individual student. Some want to have just enough English to survive outside of their language community. Others want enough English to communicate with clients so they can advance in their positions or start their own company. Some want to get their GED. Others think it is a waste of time because they have high school or college degrees already, even though they may not be recognized in the US (or need to be validated). And, yes, some want to pursue a career, technical or professional. It is not up to me to make the decision of "how much literacy is enough" for them (although, if I see a student with great potential who only lacks confidence I will, of course, encourage him or her to open up to the possiblities.) We need to be careful not to impose our goals on our students' goals. My goal is to help each student reach his or her personal goal, perhaps to gain a broader view of the opportunities available, but never to dictate goals to them. "David J. Rosen" wrote: Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to glyndalin at yahoo.com Grace and Peace! Glenda Lynn Rose, PhD Executive Director, English Now 512-719-9979 (work) 512-789-5131 (cell) glyndalin at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/fd1182ea/attachment.html From ds43 at txstate.edu Fri Jun 20 12:35:14 2008 From: ds43 at txstate.edu (Stedman, Deborah) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:35:14 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1049] Re: Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! In-Reply-To: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: "The results in this report have shown that candidates who passed the GED Tests met and, in many test areas, exceeded performance standards exceeding that of the lower 40 percent of graduating high school seniors." This statement and much additional information can be found in the GED Testing Service/American Council on Education publication entitled Examinee and High School Senior Performance on the GED Tests. The publication can be found at http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=GEDTS&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=22944 . Deborah Stedman, Ph.D. Grant Director, Texas Family Literacy Resource Center Lecturer, Developmental and Adult Education Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666 512-245-9757 fax: 512-245-8151 ds43 at txstate.edu ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1045] Re: Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! In following this discussion, data has been cited that the GED is harder than high school graduation -- that 30% of high school graduates can't pass the GED -- I have heard this statistic since I've been in adult ed -- but have not found the source or actual study. Does anyone know the actual source of this data? Thank you. Gail Bundy Native American Multi-cultural Education School 3600 Morrison Road Denver, CO 80219 -----Original Message----- From: "David J. Rosen" Sent: Jun 20, 2008 5:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/75946061/attachment.html From Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov Fri Jun 20 12:42:24 2008 From: Shauna.South at schools.utah.gov (South, Shauna) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:42:24 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1050] Re: Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! In-Reply-To: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <3767AF61C1C1FA439CDF7C0360C8306EA67DF19179@DellMail.usoe.k12.ut.us> It may be in this study by ace, if not this has a lot of information that may be helpful. http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/pdf/GEDASR06.pdf Shauna South Education Specialist Utah From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 9:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1045] Re: Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! In following this discussion, data has been cited that the GED is harder than high school graduation -- that 30% of high school graduates can't pass the GED -- I have heard this statistic since I've been in adult ed -- but have not found the source or actual study. Does anyone know the actual source of this data? Thank you. Gail Bundy Native American Multi-cultural Education School 3600 Morrison Road Denver, CO 80219 -----Original Message----- From: "David J. Rosen" Sent: Jun 20, 2008 5:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/26e2d854/attachment.html From jengel at communityaction.com Fri Jun 20 12:42:03 2008 From: jengel at communityaction.com (Jon Engel) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:42:03 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1051] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! In-Reply-To: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <26222383.1213977273448.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <001f01c8d2f4$91ed7290$9e00000a@cainc.local> I do not know if this is still true, but in the old days the GED test was "normed" by administering the test to graduating high school seniors. The "norm" was that 40% of graduating high school seniors did not pass the GED test. I know this was the case on the GED test version before the current one, and I have assumed that is still the case. Of course, a new one is coming soon. Jon Engel Adult Education Director Community Action Inc. PO Box 748 San Marcos, TX 78666 Voice (512)392-1161 ext. 334 Fax (512)396-4255 Email jengel at communityaction.com Web www.communityaction.com _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1045] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! In following this discussion, data has been cited that the GED is harder than high school graduation -- that 30% of high school graduates can't pass the GED -- I have heard this statistic since I've been in adult ed -- but have not found the source or actual study. Does anyone know the actual source of this data? Thank you. Gail Bundy Native American Multi-cultural Education School 3600 Morrison Road Denver, CO 80219 -----Original Message----- From: "David J. Rosen" Sent: Jun 20, 2008 5:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/aa649a39/attachment.html From Sally.Gabb at bristolcc.edu Fri Jun 20 13:45:35 2008 From: Sally.Gabb at bristolcc.edu (Gabb, Sally S.) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:45:35 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1052] Re: Rethinking mission of adult literacy Message-ID: <699143E842E1CA4BB449A06CF0C53EAC834A53C107@srv-mail.bcc.local> As one who has made the transition from 30+ years in adult basic education to working with developmental education in a community college, I applaud Jim Schneider's comments. In my new position, I am acutely aware of the challenges implicit for adult basic education students in continuing on to the post secondary level. I am also aware that a very small percentage of ABE students actually are able to go on. I agree that adults carry responsibilities that make commitment to further education tremendously difficult. In no way would I diminish the importance for many of gaining that HS diploma. Nevertheless, I encourage all ABE educators to think creatively about how we can open more opportunities beyond GED for our students, especially those who need further credentials to enhance their economic well being. In addition, I believe strongly that increased educational experience enables a greater number of adults to participate more fully in public life and to advocate for opportunity for themselves and others - to be agents for change. Education is not just for jobs alone. Of course we have wonderful 'transitions' programs that provide support for GED grads going on to college. These programs create 'cohorts' of students so that there is peer as well as professional support for moving on. But these programs are still only available to a few. I have just heard presentations about 'Early College High School' programs for at risk students that enable HS kids to take college courses while completing high school - on the college campus. I hope to work with the ABE program here to look into support for such opportunities for GED students - enabling GED students to 'try out' a college course while studying to pass the test. In my new job, I am keenly aware of the learning demands at the college level that are more complex and intense than passing the GED. I do believe that we should continue to seek to strengthen the 'bridges' of support for GED students so that post secondary education is more available and possible. Sally Gabb Reading Skills Specialist Bristol Community College Fall River, MA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Schneider, Jim Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 9:01 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1039] Rethinking mission of adult literacy I want to preface my remarks that I am in complete agreement with the desired end of a year of post-secondary education for adult literacy students. The research is clear and there is no doubt of the economic benefits of postsecondary education over merely attaining a GED. I wonder about the willingness of our nation to provide adequate resources for an enhanced program when there has never been any sign of willingness to fund beyond the bare minimum in the past? Is it really necessary to toss aside an infrastructure and programming that has been in place and accomplished quite a bit in spite of lack-luster funding and support? And, given the lack of resources in the past, I am leery that these proposed "improvements" will provide the necessary funding and supports to be a real improvement over the current programming. I feel very strongly that we need to be cautious and recognize that for many adult learners merely attaining the GED is nearly an impossible dream. To establish a higher "standard" as a professional objective is one thing... to raise the bar when there are so many for which the current bar seems unattainable seems inhumane. I strongly advocate for postsecondary education with all of our learners - the reality is that for too many there are significant barriers (daycare, transportation, housing, etc.) to pursuing postsecondary education in the short-term. Yet, many come back to us 2-5 years later (when the kids are in school?) to inquire and enroll in postsecondary education - of course there is no recognition of this accomplishment by NRS since it happens more than 6 months after the program year. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:35 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! (David J. Rosen) 2. [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system (David J. Rosen) 3. [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom (David J. Rosen) 4. [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... (Schneider, Jim) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:19:27 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <2C48A935-609E-48C2-A25B-B38846424E26 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/f02e1e8 1/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:05:44 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/ webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/ index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/1593a8b c/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:07:36 -0400 From: David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom To: The Assessment Discussion List , diversity at nifl.gov, The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List , The Family Literacy Discussion List , The Health and Literacy Discussion List , The Learning Disabilities Discussion List , The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List , specialtopics at nifl.gov, The Workplace Literacy Discussion List Message-ID: <5E460B91-A34C-4B4F-A3ED-31BF723F9CF9 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, We would like to invite you to join us in a discussion about professional wisdom that we will be holding on the AAACE-NLA discussion list from June 23rd to June 27th. In November last year, we (John Comings and David J. Rosen) had a series of email exchanges because we believe it is important for our field to come to agreement on how professional wisdom might be used as part of evidence-based practice. We discussed how our field might build a model for achieving a body of professional wisdom that teachers and administrators might use to improve basic skills teaching, learning and programs for adults. On June 23rd and June 24th we will post that discussion on the AAACE- NLA discussion list in two parts. From June 25th-June 27th we will welcome your questions and comments. Please pass this invitation on to your colleagues who might like to join us, too. To subscribe to the AAACE-NLA Discussion List, go to: http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla Once there, scroll down the page and follow the subscription directions. John Comings David J. Rosen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/cabb825 e/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:31:13 -0500 From: "Schneider, Jim" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... To: Message-ID: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE at eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 ********************************************* ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to sgabb at bristol.mass.edu From dwilliams52 at sbcglobal.net Fri Jun 20 14:10:30 2008 From: dwilliams52 at sbcglobal.net (David Williams) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:10:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1053] Re: Regarding CASAS Posting... In-Reply-To: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE@eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Message-ID: <254408.69935.qm@web83512.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> I strongly agree with using the official GED tests in combination with a passing GED exam score as acceptable pre & post tests. The CASAS reading and math tests can give an iinstructor a general sense of the students entry capabilities in those areas, but we have found that giving the learners the official practice tests is much more relevent to assisting the learners in establishing individual plans and goals for improving in the specific GED test areas. We attempt to meet the cretieria of the CASAS post tests by offering students a discount on the GED test fees, if they receive the recommendation of their instructor to take the test (of course the recommendation requires that they complete the CASAS post tests). Dave Williams Beaumont, CA "Schneider, Jim" wrote: As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government === message truncated === -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/f5492231/attachment.html From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Fri Jun 20 14:14:30 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:14:30 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1054] Re: content standards References: Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D4FE3F@msebex1.msde.net> Thank you for including me in the content standards discussion. I think it has reinforced for me the importance of listening to the field and working as a team to make positive changes and provide the support at all levels to make change happen. We have many dedicated teachers in the adult education field, and it is important to see the issues from a variety of vantage points. Karen Lisch Gianninoto ESL and Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Pam Blundell Sent: Fri 6/20/2008 12:07 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1047] Re: A different state standards issue: the end point of the David and All, Since this is the final day of our discussion, I wanted to take a minute to share some thoughts. First, what have I learned through this experience? Mostly, I have learned that the approaches, attitudes, and purposes for having content standards are extremely different from state to state, administrator to administrator and teacher to teacher. All of whom have legitimate points worth considering. In Oklahoma the reason we chose EFF standards as our foundation was because EFF offered not only standards from which we could start and expand through the Curriculum Frameworks, but other tools (role maps, 4 purposes of learning, teaching/learning cycle, etc.) that made up a teaching and learning system we have found to be of value in aligning what happens in the classroom with students, at the local program level, and at the state level. This system provides direction as we determine how best (professional development, materials and resources, allocations, teacher planning time, etc.) to support this process. From the beginning we asked ourselves "just what is it we want to see happen by implementing this process?" Thus, we started with written objectives for students, teachers, directors, and state staff. Each year we revisit those objectives, and when necessary, we have rewritten, adjusted, added to, and even tossed out. It is truly an ongoing process that involves all stakeholders. I also wanted to mention that I have not heard much about individual student goal setting except for obtaining the GED or NRS program goals of which we are all held accountable. In Oklahoma, as I'm sure happens everywhere, the public connects adult education with "getting your GED." As you all know, we are much, much, more and we work hard to get this message out. Only about 15-18% of the students enrolled in our classes entered at a level that makes obtaining a GED a realistic goal within the time they are usually willing to invest in the class. Therefore, teaching students about setting goals and the goal setting process is an essential part of our instruction. Actually, it should be the foundation of instruction that determines which standards may need the most focus. I know, the teachers tell us all the time, "but they just want their GED." Yes they do, (even if they are functioning at an ABE Beginning Level) and you should respect that goal, support that goal, and encourage that goal; BUT, in the meantime, let's look at all the other goals you might accomplish while working on the skills you need to obtain a GED. And guess what, the skill set referred to as the "specific skill set" needed for the GED, well, that skill set also includes the skills you need in everyday life - they just look different. Our goal setting policy states that both program goals and personal student goals are addressed in the classroom. When students start considering personal goals such as health issues, dreams of a career or job they want, attending a parent-teacher conference and not feel intimidated, build or create something, read a novel and comprehend its meaning, plan summer activities for a family that has little money for such, estimate the cost of taking a trip to see a relative, write a complaint letter, or express an opinion about a local election topic, and they start to look at the skills they need in order to do these things - they start to see connections between learning skills that will make life better now as well as move me toward passing the GED. As you take students through the goal-setting process, even those that are determined that all they want is a GED, start to expand their thinking, their vision, and their confidence about what they really might be able to accomplish - today, tomorrow, and well beyond passing the GED. Isn't that what we should be doing? Someone said earlier in the discussion something about if you teach to the standards, and I would add, teach in the context of student goals, then the tests take care of themselves. I agree and am seeing that happen - especially in the area of math skills. In our content standard training for math, our trainer, Donna Curry, hit this issue head-on when teachers kept talking about "all they (students) want is enough math to pass the GED." We started looking at the skills found on the GED and then started asking the question "what does that look like when you use it in real life?" Then, we looked at skills students were already somewhat comfortable using in real life (hobbies, cooking, health issues, construction, etc.) and turned it around to ask the question "what might that skill look like on a test?" Hmmm....same kinds of skills. Sometime students have more skills then they realize, they just can't show it on a test. This may sound really simple but it was really, really enlightening not only for students but for teachers who were not really comfortable with their own math skills much less teaching math for the GED. Similar activities happen in the reading and writing training. We never forget about the GED - but - we certainly want teachers and students to think way beyond any test and directly into their own lives so that wherever they are when they enter (functioning level), they will leave at a much higher level and with skills that make an immediate difference in what they know and are able to do in life. Standards-based instruction requires planning on the part of teachers and students. Our intent has never been to create more paperwork. Though lesson plans do make us accountable for why and what we are teaching in the classroom. Still, it is not about paperwork. It IS about students moving forward in their lives to be productive members of society and achieving their personal goals. It IS about providing teachers and students tools, structure, focus, guidelines, road maps, whatever you want to call it, that assist the process of achievement in the most effective and efficient manner. Thanks to Karen Greer from Texas for her comments as a teacher. She is correct when she says that standards "are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning." The "curriculum" or context in which you teach to the standards should be coming from the lives and goals of our students. You can address program goals without ignoring individual personal goals and vice versa. Our EFF teaching and learning system, of which content standards are the foundation, is designed to do both without sacrificing the creativity and individuality of teachers or students. Thank you for this incredible opportunity. I respect the wisdom and experiences of all contributors and wish my colleagues continued future success. I think the one thing I consistently find in the field of adult education is that we are all passionate about what we do. I hope everyone has a great week-end. Pam Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9751 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/bd44d424/attachment.bin From JURMO at ucc.edu Fri Jun 20 14:26:50 2008 From: JURMO at ucc.edu (JURMO at ucc.edu) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:26:50 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1055] Re: Rethinking mission of adult literacy References: <699143E842E1CA4BB449A06CF0C53EAC834A53C107@srv-mail.bcc.local> Message-ID: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F0446DD5D@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> As we think of post-secondary options for adult basic education students, let's consider the many kinds of non-credit certification programs available through community colleges. These programs can help adult learners develop useful credentials, contextualized basic skills and technical knowledge, support networks, a plan for the future, and a sense of confidence and momentum that they need to take on new opportunities (occupational and otherwise). It's thus not just a matter of having either a high school diploma/GED or an associate's or bachelor's degree. There are other educational opportunities between the GED and a college degree that can be very relevant, rewarding, and attainable for busy adults who come out of ABE programs. Those adults also need not see these noncredit programs as their final destination. They can keep going to the associate's or bachelor's degree -- or higher levels of noncredit technical training -- as their time and energy permit. The National College Transition Network conference last fall highlighted examples of such programs, and there are many good reports (e.g., from the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy, www.caalusa.org and a new one on the web site of the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning) available that describe the potential of these noncredit certificate programs. Just as we need to move away from traditional classroom-based, teacher-centered models of education, we need to think beyond the traditional high school-then-associate's or bachelor's degree route. Paul Jurmo, Ed.D. Dean, Economic Development and Continuing Education Union County College New Jersey -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Gabb, Sally S. Sent: Fri 6/20/2008 1:45 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1052] Re: Rethinking mission of adult literacy As one who has made the transition from 30+ years in adult basic education to working with developmental education in a community college, I applaud Jim Schneider's comments. In my new position, I am acutely aware of the challenges implicit for adult basic education students in continuing on to the post secondary level. I am also aware that a very small percentage of ABE students actually are able to go on. I agree that adults carry responsibilities that make commitment to further education tremendously difficult. In no way would I diminish the importance for many of gaining that HS diploma. Nevertheless, I encourage all ABE educators to think creatively about how we can open more opportunities beyond GED for our students, especially those who need further credentials to enhance their economic well being. In addition, I believe strongly that increased educational experience enables a greater number of adults to participate more fully in public life and to advocate for opportunity for themselves and others - to be agents for change. Education is not just for jobs alone. Of course we have wonderful 'transitions' programs that provide support for GED grads going on to college. These programs create 'cohorts' of students so that there is peer as well as professional support for moving on. But these programs are still only available to a few. I have just heard presentations about 'Early College High School' programs for at risk students that enable HS kids to take college courses while completing high school - on the college campus. I hope to work with the ABE program here to look into support for such opportunities for GED students - enabling GED students to 'try out' a college course while studying to pass the test. In my new job, I am keenly aware of the learning demands at the college level that are more complex and intense than passing the GED. I do believe that we should continue to seek to strengthen the 'bridges' of support for GED students so that post secondary education is more available and possible. Sally Gabb Reading Skills Specialist Bristol Community College Fall River, MA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Schneider, Jim Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 9:01 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1039] Rethinking mission of adult literacy I want to preface my remarks that I am in complete agreement with the desired end of a year of post-secondary education for adult literacy students. The research is clear and there is no doubt of the economic benefits of postsecondary education over merely attaining a GED. I wonder about the willingness of our nation to provide adequate resources for an enhanced program when there has never been any sign of willingness to fund beyond the bare minimum in the past? Is it really necessary to toss aside an infrastructure and programming that has been in place and accomplished quite a bit in spite of lack-luster funding and support? And, given the lack of resources in the past, I am leery that these proposed "improvements" will provide the necessary funding and supports to be a real improvement over the current programming. I feel very strongly that we need to be cautious and recognize that for many adult learners merely attaining the GED is nearly an impossible dream. To establish a higher "standard" as a professional objective is one thing... to raise the bar when there are so many for which the current bar seems unattainable seems inhumane. I strongly advocate for postsecondary education with all of our learners - the reality is that for too many there are significant barriers (daycare, transportation, housing, etc.) to pursuing postsecondary education in the short-term. Yet, many come back to us 2-5 years later (when the kids are in school?) to inquire and enroll in postsecondary education - of course there is no recognition of this accomplishment by NRS since it happens more than 6 months after the program year. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:35 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! (David J. Rosen) 2. [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system (David J. Rosen) 3. [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom (David J. Rosen) 4. [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... (Schneider, Jim) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:19:27 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <2C48A935-609E-48C2-A25B-B38846424E26 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion. Here's today's question: What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable. For those who subscribed late, the discussion archives will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/f02e1e8 1/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:05:44 -0400 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1035] A different state standards issue: the end point of the state adult literacy system To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, In our discussion about state content standards, one of the issues that has emerged implicitly is what the state standard should be for the end point of adult literacy education. Should it be the passing the GED? Successful transition to higher education? Success in at least a year of post-secondary education? In the past, the answer was clear: passing the GED. Now, in many states there is a push toward successful transition to higher education, and/or post-secondary job training and/or apprenticeship. One state professional association, the New Jersey State Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) now calls for one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard. (See the conclusion and recommendations in this policy paper below.) Of course, many students want a GED, and only a GED. They want the pride of having earned the credential, or they need it to keep their present job. But the earnings research done by John Tyler and others ( A National Institute for Literacy-sponsored video panel discussion on this with Dr. Tyler will be found at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/ webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html ) shows that if the student's goal is to affect his/her earnings through increased education, then more is needed, that passing the GED plus at least a year of college and a certificate or degree are required. Has your state been discussing this issue? What are the considerations? Has your state made a decision on the end point? If so, what? I did say in my earlier message that I would post only one question today, but then I saw the recommendations in the policy paper from the NJALL, and I thought it was so interesting and pertinent that I couldn't help but raise this in the context of our discussion of state content standards, especially as for some states an important goal may be to align adult literacy education with successful preparation for college. Your thoughts? From the NJALL policy paper: Conclusion Considering the available data, the conclusion is inescapable. If adult literacy educators want to do more than educate our students to become members of the working poor, we must rethink our mission. Completion of adult literacy must become the half-way point in a trajectory that leads to transition to and success in post secondary education. This will require new partnerships between adult literacy programs and post secondary institutions at both the state policy level and the local operational level. If we accept anything less, are we meeting our professional responsibility? Recommendations 1. Establish a high-level taskforce between the SETC, the Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to study the transitions issue and recommend a state policy response. 2. Accept one year of post secondary education and a certificate as the new standard for completion of adult literacy education and insure that resources are adequate to meet this standard. The full NJALL policy paper will be found at http://www.njall.org/ index.php David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/1593a8b c/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:07:36 -0400 From: David J. Rosen Subject: [SpecialTopics 1036] Discussion on Professional Wisdom To: The Assessment Discussion List , diversity at nifl.gov, The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List , The Family Literacy Discussion List , The Health and Literacy Discussion List , The Learning Disabilities Discussion List , The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List , specialtopics at nifl.gov, The Workplace Literacy Discussion List Message-ID: <5E460B91-A34C-4B4F-A3ED-31BF723F9CF9 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Colleagues, We would like to invite you to join us in a discussion about professional wisdom that we will be holding on the AAACE-NLA discussion list from June 23rd to June 27th. In November last year, we (John Comings and David J. Rosen) had a series of email exchanges because we believe it is important for our field to come to agreement on how professional wisdom might be used as part of evidence-based practice. We discussed how our field might build a model for achieving a body of professional wisdom that teachers and administrators might use to improve basic skills teaching, learning and programs for adults. On June 23rd and June 24th we will post that discussion on the AAACE- NLA discussion list in two parts. From June 25th-June 27th we will welcome your questions and comments. Please pass this invitation on to your colleagues who might like to join us, too. To subscribe to the AAACE-NLA Discussion List, go to: http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla Once there, scroll down the page and follow the subscription directions. John Comings David J. Rosen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/cabb825 e/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:31:13 -0500 From: "Schneider, Jim" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1037] Regarding CASAS Posting... To: Message-ID: <208D21E3AC92D449A31336961A46FB870BF867CE at eiccd-exch1.eiccd.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" As was mentioned in another message the CASAS post-test must be administered to register any learning gain for NRS reporting. There is a movement to recognize the official practice tests and GED test scores as an acceptable pre & post-test measure for the NRS which would make INFINITELY more sense for those individuals who are focused on attaining the GED and prevent the current over-assessment nonsense that must be undertaken for programs to document the progress and accountability of their efforts. Jim Schneider Davenport, IA -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 5:14 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) 2. [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French (Anderson, Philip) 3. [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM (Rantapaa Linnell L) 4. [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion (Rinderknecht, Gail A.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:40:44 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1021] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" We are in the process of doing just that. Evidently "they" do not think it is irrelevant. They want it for statistical purposes to show growth when the GED is completed. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Nancy Markus Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 11:20 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1019] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Why not contact your state leadership and ask why the CASAS is required? If it really is irrelevant then advocate for change. Nancy On 6/19/08, Rinderknecht, Gail A. wrote: > > We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of > Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. > > The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems > to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after > completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when > the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know > of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I > suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said > before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test > and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. > > Gail Rinderknecht > garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller > Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more > answers, more discussion-TM > > Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is > the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? > > I have found this discussion very insightful! > Thank you, > Kelsee > > > > Kelsee Miller > Casper College > Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor > 125 College Dr. > Casper, WY 82601 > 307-268-2895 > 307-268-2230 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to nancy.markus at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4400 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/b673c54 f/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:37:21 -0400 From: "Anderson, Philip" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1022] Standards - Response to Questions by Allan French To: Message-ID: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E761 at MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a response from Phil Anderson, Florida DOE Adult Education Program Specialist to the questions posed by Allan French, ESL Instructor, Assessment Coordinator, Norming Project Coordinator at South Seattle Community College: This statement made by Allan resonates strongly: "The new state standards were brought into the project to inform and suggest (especially in terms of language), not to limit and control." This is the intention of Florida's standards as well. Allan's questions: "I see standards as not just a guideline for a lesson, but a destination (after all, they define what we expect our students to know and be able to do as they exit a particular level). I am concerned with how we get to that destination, especially given the multitude of standards and indicators, the need for multiple types of assessment, and the time limitations. So I would like to ask all of you out there who have worked some time with standards, (1) how do you determine that a student is ready for the next level of an integrated ESL class, using standards? Florida has several adult ESOL courses that are funded only with state dollars, and are not reported to the NRS. Literacy Skills for the Adult ESOL Learner is one of these. In 1999-2000, this course was developed by a group of adult ESOL experts that included a University of Florida researcher in adult ESOL literacy, Dr. Edwidge Crevecoeur-Bryant, consultants with years of adult education experience in Florida, teachers, and Dr. Edwina Hoffman, a Miami-Dade program administrator of refugee programs. This course is designed for students that have low levels of education and literacy in their home language(s). Most students are Haitian, or from various language groups in Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Tarasco, Quechua, and Kanjobal. This course has been put through implementation and revision stages in several schools around the state, and it has been tweaked almost yearly since its inception. It has a set of benchmarks that are divided into three levels, A, B, C. Last year, the state database shows that 13,794 students were enrolled in this course. We developed a "User Guide" for this course to explain to teachers how it is used and suggestions on how to teach the course. Documents related to this course can be found on the Florida Adult Education website, http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/adult_ed.asp. (2) How do you determine what constitutes satisfactory performance of any one standard/indicator, and that such performance has in fact been achieved? For the present, the only method the state prescribes is that the teacher of the course and the program administrator must sign off on a state-created "Progress Report" that indicates the student has "satisfactorily" mastered the benchmarks shown in the Progress in the standards. What is deemed "satisfactory" is left up to those two persons, the teacher and the program administrator. The state expects local programs to establish a written procedure for how the teachers will determine progress, i.e., portfolio, teacher-designed tests, textbook tests, worksheet samples, documentation of group projects, etc. After the teacher and administrator sign off on the student's Progress Report, the program sends notification to the state that the student mastered the standards. The state then records this in its database and assigns payment to the program accordingly. The local program is required to retain the records showing documentation of the progress report for auditing purposes. The state sends out monitors to all programs to check on the documentation of the progress reports. Since the Florida legislature funds this course through its adult education funding, the FL DOE, for now, uses this method of holding the program to a certain level of accountability. (3) How do you create the assessment tools to evaluate said performance? The state is in the process of exploring the development of a standardized procedure/assessment that can give us a reliable and valid way of measuring progress on the course standards. Hopefully within the next two years, this standardized procedure/assessment will be ready for use. (4) Can you cover all standards/indicators for the level in a single quarter or how much time is needed? Another way of asking this is how do you grapple with the, at times, mind-boggling complexity of all that we are endeavoring to do. Since the standards are "to inform and to suggest," teachers are not expected to cover 100% of the standards within an instructional period of time, but to judiciously select those that are relevant. Maxine McCormick, a Florida trainer, often exhorts us, "Take your students to MMU! Teach them what is meaningful, memorable and useful!" Several Florida programs are piloting short terms of 8 weeks in a "managed enrollment" system with some of their classes. In these classes, students are assigned to a class by level, the class is "closed" after the second week, and kept at 25 students maximum. The first week is assigned to orientation topics (how to study, what the students want to cover in the course from a list of suggested topics from the standards, the teacher's methods), and the last week is assigned to testing. No teacher can teach all the benchmarks in 8 weeks, but the intention of the "managed enrollment" classes is to meet the needs of students who desire to achieve competency in work and life skill areas more efficiently and effectively that in the "open entry - open exit" classes. So far, evaluations of these classes is showing that students and teachers are satisfied with the results. The project in Miami Dade School District is called "Intensive English Academies" and can be reviewed at the Florida Adult ESOL task force website, www.floridaadultesol.org . Look for the pencil under "New Initiatives." CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Specialist Division of Workforce Education Florida Department of Education 325 W. Gaines Street, Room 644 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tel (850) 245-9450 Fax (850) 245-0995 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|12: 37:22%20Thu%2019%20Jun%202008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/fab176d 2/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:53:05 -0700 From: "Rantapaa Linnell L" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1023] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM To: Message-ID: <286FDFA48BE5AF4CA0641A8AE10A9B047044B8 at docmail4.ds.doc.state.or.us> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" CASAS postesting was required after the Feds via the Title II National Reporting System did not allow an official GED test to proxy for a posttest to measure skill level gains. Progress on the NRS "Educational Gain" performance must be measureed by a pre and posttest of the same type. If GED completers are not posttested they have no "opportunity" to demonstrate progress on this performance measure. In Oregon, we have the same difficulties getting valid posttest results from those who have already completed the GED. We try to catch them before they take their last GED test, but it's a struggle. Linnell Phone: 503-934-1006 Fax: 503-378-5815 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:14 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM We use TABE to determine the 6.0 grade level for the Dept. of Corrections. It's quick, easy and non-threatening. The CASAS is required by the State Department of Education. No one seems to know the rationale for requiring the students to take the CASAS after completing their GED. It's one of those mandated things that happens when the State is instituting "Standards". None of the GED teachers that I know of like the idea, but at the same time we are required to re-CASAS. I suppose it is supposed to show growth in the reading and math, but as I said before, most of the men do not see a reason to try very hard on this test and just view it as another hoop that they are required to jump through. Gail Rinderknecht garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Kelsee Miller Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:41 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1013] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Why does your state use both the TABE and CASAS? What is the rationale for testing CASAS again after the GED? I have found this discussion very insightful! Thank you, Kelsee Kelsee Miller Casper College Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor 125 College Dr. Casper, WY 82601 307-268-2895 307-268-2230 ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:30 -0500 From: "Rinderknecht, Gail A." Subject: [SpecialTopics 1024] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 9505 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080619/c4d8282 7/attachment.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 28 ********************************************* ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 33 ********************************************* ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to sgabb at bristol.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/932c7e7e/attachment.html From gbitterl at sdccd.edu Fri Jun 20 14:49:11 2008 From: gbitterl at sdccd.edu (Gretchen Bitterlin) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:49:11 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification In-Reply-To: <4BBBC8CC-E13A-48FA-98E4-BD0B3867ED36@comcast.net> References: <4BBBC8CC-E13A-48FA-98E4-BD0B3867ED36@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hello everyone - I support what Karen Greer has said about the importance of teacher training. I believe there is a huge gap between the standards out there and what is actually happening in the ESL classrooms. Personally I have found the EFF standards to have no direct relevance to teaching ESL. There are good ESL content standards out there, which the textbook companies have been following in writing new core textbooks, but as someone said, if the teachers don't know how to use the textbook, then it is likely the standard will not be implemented. We have a lot of work yet to do. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:52 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1040] Fwd: Auto-discard notification Posted for Karen Greer who sent this message on June 17th From: "Greer, Karen" Date: June 17, 2008 4:29:47 PM EDT To: Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: ImplementingState AdultEducationContentStandards Hats off to Federico for his description of our state's standards process. I am one of those teachers in the trenches and welcomed the standards. I was shown my classroom,the students, and a large book closet and that was my orientation. After many years, trial and error, and many hours in the bookroom , I have come up with a workable plan. The standards are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning(foreign to some teachers}. Texas followed the introduction of the standards with concrete lesson plan training. A curriculum with concrete flow is very important and the standards give us a way to divide level instruction guidelines. I encourage all in this field to use the standards and it will only benefit our students. Karen Greer, teacher Victoria College Adult Ed. Victoria, Tx ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to gbitterl at sdccd.edu From gbitterl at sdccd.edu Fri Jun 20 15:04:52 2008 From: gbitterl at sdccd.edu (Gretchen Bitterlin) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:04:52 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1057] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards In-Reply-To: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E838@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> References: <96E135649F1AD048AA6FF8CBC598C23E18E1E838@MAIL1.FLDOE.INT> Message-ID: The textbook checklists are very valuable. I am attaching one that our district developed to evaluate core texts. It has 3 parts to it. It has served us well in choosing texts for our program. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anderson, Philip Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 8:32 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1041] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards Thanks to Catherine for the checklist criteria for selecting a text. I did a few additions and revisions to adapt it for our programs in Florida, and I am attaching it here, in case anyone finds it useful. I added three more criteria regarding the three "Cs" - Content Standards, Components, and Cost. Perhaps other criteria that are part of components could be included: workbooks, reproducible masters, video, and audio? CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|11:31:50 %20Fri%2020%20Jun%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Catherine Porter Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:39 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states' responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath's description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven't lost that much. As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students' listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Textbook Review From.doc Type: application/msword Size: 77312 bytes Desc: Textbook Review From.doc Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/5aabccb0/attachment.doc From mdryden at mail.utexas.edu Fri Jun 20 16:18:58 2008 From: mdryden at mail.utexas.edu (Marianne Dryden) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:18:58 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1058] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification In-Reply-To: References: <4BBBC8CC-E13A-48FA-98E4-BD0B3867ED36@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hi, I cannot agree more with Karen and Gretchen.> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:49:11 -0700> From: gbitterl at sdccd.edu> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov> Subject: [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification> > Hello everyone - I support what Karen Greer has said about the importance of> teacher training. I believe there is a huge gap between the standards out> there and what is actually happening in the ESL classrooms. Personally I have> found the EFF standards to have no direct relevance to teaching ESL. There> are good ESL content standards out there, which the textbook companies have> been following in writing new core textbooks, but as someone said, if the> teachers don't know how to use the textbook, then it is likely the standard> will not be implemented. We have a lot of work yet to do.> Gretchen Bitterlin> San Diego Continuing Education Program> > -----Original Message-----> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]> On Behalf Of David J. Rosen> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:52 AM> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov> Subject: [SpecialTopics 1040] Fwd: Auto-discard notification> > Posted for Karen Greer who sent this message on June 17th> > > From: "Greer, Karen" > Date: June 17, 2008 4:29:47 PM EDT> To: > Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: ImplementingState > AdultEducationContentStandards> > Hats off to Federico for his description of our state's standards > process. I am one of those teachers in the trenches and welcomed the > standards. I was shown my classroom,the students, and a large book > closet and that was my orientation. After many years, trial and > error, and many hours in the bookroom , I have come up with a > workable plan. The standards are very necessary and need to be the > basis of good planning(foreign to some teachers}. Texas followed the > introduction of the standards with concrete lesson plan training. A > curriculum with concrete flow is very important and the standards > give us a way to divide level instruction guidelines. I encourage all > in this field to use the standards and it will only benefit our > students.> > Karen Greer, teacher> Victoria College Adult Ed. Victoria, Tx> > > > > -------------------------------> National Institute for Literacy> Special Topics mailing list> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics> Email delivered to gbitterl at sdccd.edu> -------------------------------> National Institute for Literacy> Special Topics mailing list> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics> Email delivered to mdryden at mail.utexas.edu _________________________________________________________________ The i?m Talkathon starts 6/24/08.? For now, give amongst yourselves. http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnMore_GiveAmongst -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/43794baf/attachment.html From mcaratini at dcccd.edu Fri Jun 20 18:20:07 2008 From: mcaratini at dcccd.edu (Maria Caratini-Prado) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:20:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1059] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 42 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <485BE6C702000011003EFAE5@DSCSMTP.DCCCD.EDU> This is my first time participating in a discussion thread for this group, and I am extremely impressed and truly glad that I subscribed! Maria Caratini Prado, M. Ed. TESOL Program Director ESL/ESOL Teaching & Learning Programs Continuing Education Division Eastfield College, Texas 972-860-7659 office 972-860-8392 fax mcaratini at dcccd.edu www.eastfieldcollege.edu ( http://www.eastfieldcollege.edu/ ) "Advancing English Education Globally" >>> 6/20/2008 2:24 PM >>> Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification (Gretchen Bitterlin) 2. [SpecialTopics 1057] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards (Gretchen Bitterlin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:49:11 -0700 From: "Gretchen Bitterlin" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain;charset="us-ascii" Hello everyone - I support what Karen Greer has said about the importance of teacher training. I believe there is a huge gap between the standards out there and what is actually happening in the ESL classrooms. Personally I have found the EFF standards to have no direct relevance to teaching ESL. There are good ESL content standards out there, which the textbook companies have been following in writing new core textbooks, but as someone said, if the teachers don't know how to use the textbook, then it is likely the standard will not be implemented. We have a lot of work yet to do. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:52 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1040] Fwd: Auto-discard notification Posted for Karen Greer who sent this message on June 17th From: "Greer, Karen" Date: June 17, 2008 4:29:47 PM EDT To: Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: ImplementingState AdultEducationContentStandards Hats off to Federico for his description of our state's standards process. I am one of those teachers in the trenches and welcomed the standards. I was shown my classroom,the students, and a large book closet and that was my orientation. After many years, trial and error, and many hours in the bookroom , I have come up with a workable plan. The standards are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning(foreign to some teachers}. Texas followed the introduction of the standards with concrete lesson plan training. A curriculum with concrete flow is very important and the standards give us a way to divide level instruction guidelines. I encourage all in this field to use the standards and it will only benefit our students. Karen Greer, teacher Victoria College Adult Ed. Victoria, Tx ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to gbitterl at sdccd.edu ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:04:52 -0700 From: "Gretchen Bitterlin" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1057] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The textbook checklists are very valuable. I am attaching one that our district developed to evaluate core texts. It has 3 parts to it. It has served us well in choosing texts for our program. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anderson, Philip Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 8:32 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1041] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards Thanks to Catherine for the checklist criteria for selecting a text. I did a few additions and revisions to adapt it for our programs in Florida, and I am attaching it here, in case anyone finds it useful. I added three more criteria regarding the three "Cs" - Content Standards, Components, and Cost. Perhaps other criteria that are part of components could be included: workbooks, reproducible masters, video, and audio? CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|11:31:50 %20Fri%2020%20Jun%202008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Catherine Porter Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:39 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent:Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To:specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject:[SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states' responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath's description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven't lost that much. As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students' listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Textbook Review From.doc Type: application/msword Size: 77312 bytes Desc: Textbook Review From.doc Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/5aabccb0/attachment.doc ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 42 ********************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/6e6a3a37/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: Maria Caratini-Prado.vcf Url: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/6e6a3a37/attachment.ksh From djrosen at comcast.net Fri Jun 20 18:58:27 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:58:27 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1060] State content standards discussion coming to a close Message-ID: <2D5701A4-736F-4A03-91FD-4A91035E6943@comcast.net> Colleagues, The content standards discussion comes to an end in a few hours. I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of our guests. They each gave us a great overview of their state's work in implementing content standards, and each state has some terrific accomplishments to be proud of. I also want to thank our guests who posted questions and in some cases provided answers. This has been a rich and thoughtful discussion for all of us, and I think it has also left us with much to think about. David J. Rosen Special Projects Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net From bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net Fri Jun 20 19:53:12 2008 From: bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net (Bonnie Odiorne) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:53:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1061] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM Message-ID: <92407.21987.qm@web83312.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> I'm replying to this particular post, but really, as I'm reflecting over the whole discussion,?to whomever it was who said that "EFF didn't seem to relevant to ESOL students." I was wondering why. I've never been explicitly trained in EFF but it has always intuitively seemed to make sense to me that any learner, at whatever level, even basic learners, are very quick to perceive what communication is all about, what the bigger picture about their status is if they cannot communicate, how they are perceived. As for decision making, problem solving, and the rest, everyone does that all the time, and I don't think it's ever too early for metacognition, even if it can't be explicitly expressed in language. I wonder that learning might increase as awareness about the learning process increases, consciously or not... Just a thought. Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. Writring Center, Post University ----- Original Message ---- From: "Kroeger, Miriam" To: "specialtopics at nifl.gov" Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:57:25 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1027] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM Quite some good comments - if I can add a few - Fortunately, our choice to develop stadnrds was made before OVAE and the NRS came out with the standardized assessment mandate.? As a matter of fact, when we first developed our standards, there were only 4 levels of ABE/ASE and 4 of ESOL - we had to scramble when NRS changed things to six.? Recently we've seen changes in "cut scores" for the mandated assessments. As I've mentioned several times, our standards have been field-based form the get-go. Teachers put their best efforts into this initiatives; teachers believed in what they were doing and through sue continue to believe in what was produced, and know that when we didn't get it quite right the first time, they were/are involved in the updates. One thing that we have to watch out for, and that is the "teaching to the test" trap.? Of course if you test what you teach, that's different.? What we found, and even, what we planned for, was that the standards were "greater" than any test - the standards have more and are richer than a TABE, CASAS, BEST, or GED Test.? It took as a while, and is still something that we have to stop and think about but - if you teach with the Standards, don't worry about the test.? What's on the test is in the standards and so much more.? And that "more" is what better prepare learners for the world beyond Adult Education.? Adult Education has to be more than "just getting by".? For some of our learners it's their last stop in "formal" education; for others it's the beginning of more higher education.? WE owe it to them to give them the tools to make informed choices. -Miriam Kroeger -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 7:32 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1012] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM I'm not sure if it the 6th grade level is legislatively mandated or just a department of corrections goal,? but it's a something we try to achieve in education within the limits of our capacity to serve the men.? For example, I recently had a man assigned to my literacy class who was served his entire life in special education.? He has an IQ of 50;? there is no way that I will ever get him to the 6th grade level.? I have suggested that he be allowed to opt out of education and be put in a supervised vocational program. And as someone earlier noted, we also use Plato to tutor our students toward their GED..? I personally also use the REWARDS reading program to advance reading levels.? It's published by Sopris and can be used individually or with small groups to learn to decode multi-syllabic words.? It's a totally scripted program, so a tutor or volunteer can be taught to use the program in a short period of time. To be quite frank, the educational community at large, i.e. the public schools, do not think much of the GED.? I've heard this from administrators and teachers alike even though we know that nearly one-third of high school graduates could not pass the GED.? As I said before, I have many high school graduates in my literacy program.? I don't think having benchmarks will make anyone think better of the GED.? It's an elitist thing at this point. I find it to be enormously rewarding to the men to achieve their GED especially considering many of those incarcerated have been suspended from school many times over.? I hear over and over, "I didn't think I could do this on my own."? It's exciting to see a grown man excited about learning for the first time. Our benchmarks are simple:? pass a half test with a 500 or better;? pass the GED test with a 450 or better.? Complete all tests.? And the final goal is a couple of polaroid pictures in a white shirt and tie and cap and gown.? The pictures mean a lot to these men. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Christensen, Lorraine Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:01 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1011] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail:? Is it legislatively mandated that you bring an inmate to a TABE 6 level before they no longer need to be assigned to school?? While I agree with you that the number of graduates is important, I have always believed that if we had particular "benchmarks" we would be more accountable and in "respected" in the educational community! Lorraine Christensen Women's Center - Maine Correctional -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 2:38 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!.? You said it all.? For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern.? I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes.? In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level.? This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with.? A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class.? A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks.? Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there.? Each of my students is an individual.? Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing.? I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching.? Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning.? My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate.? My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transiti ons students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to obse rve a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday.? I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?"? No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time:? Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance.? What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general).? While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment:? While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards.? If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance?? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS?? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed.? It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law.? This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail.? Thank you. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/856b9f7b/attachment.html From rsrshoemake at yahoo.com Fri Jun 20 19:59:10 2008 From: rsrshoemake at yahoo.com (Sharon L.) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:59:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1062] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! In-Reply-To: <001f01c8d2f4$91ed7290$9e00000a@cainc.local> Message-ID: <216480.68727.qm@web33610.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Jon, ? This is true. Sharon L. Shoemaker --- On Fri, 6/20/08, Jon Engel wrote: From: Jon Engel Subject: [SpecialTopics 1051] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! To: "'Gail B'" , specialtopics at nifl.gov Date: Friday, June 20, 2008, 11:42 AM I do not know if this is still true, but in the old days the GED test was ?normed? by administering the test to graduating high school seniors.? The ?norm? was that 40% of graduating high school seniors did not pass the GED test.? I know this was the case on the GED test version before the current one, and I have assumed that is still the case.?? Of course, a new one is coming soon. ? Jon Engel Adult Education Director Community Action Inc. PO Box 748 San Marcos, TX 78666 Voice? (512)392-1161 ext.?334 Fax? (512)396-4255 Email? jengel at communityaction.com Web www.communityaction.com From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1045] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! ? In following this discussion, data has been cited that the GED is harder than high school graduation -- that 30% of high school graduates can't pass the GED -- I have heard this statistic since I've been in adult ed -- but have not found the source or actual study.? Does anyone know the actual source of this data? Thank you. Gail Bundy Native American Multi-cultural Education School 3600 Morrison Road Denver , CO ? 80219 -----Original Message----- From: "David J. Rosen" Sent: Jun 20, 2008 5:19 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1034] Last day of state content standards discussion: please weigh in! Colleagues, ? This is our last day of a very rich, two-week discussion on implementation of state content standards. If you haven't weighed in yet and believe that something else needs to be said, or that an important question hasn't been answered, today's the day to add to the discussion.? ? Here's today's question: ? What have you learned from this discussion that will be useful in your state? ? That's it, only one question from me today. I hope some of you who are beginning the process of implementation of content standards and who joined the discussion today to learn from the (extensive) experience of our guests and other subscribers will use this as an opportunity to reflect, and to share with us what has been especially valuable.? ? For those who subscribed late, the discussion?archives will be found at ? http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html ? ? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ? ?------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to rsrshoemake at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/0d161104/attachment.html From smcgilloway at ccbcmd.edu Fri Jun 20 19:29:56 2008 From: smcgilloway at ccbcmd.edu (McGilloway, Susan) Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:29:56 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1063] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 42 References: <485BE6C702000011003EFAE5@DSCSMTP.DCCCD.EDU> Message-ID: I learned a great deal as well. I don't have much experience in ESOL so it was beneficial for me. Sue McGilloway Coordinator, Volunteers in Partnership CAFL Career Advisor Community College of Baltimore County 410-285-9933 (Phone) 410-285-9557 (Fax) smcgilloway at ccbcmd.edu ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Maria Caratini-Prado Sent: Fri 6/20/2008 6:20 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1059] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 42 This is my first time participating in a discussion thread for this group, and I am extremely impressed and truly glad that I subscribed! Maria Caratini Prado, M. Ed. TESOL Program Director ESL/ESOL Teaching & Learning Programs Continuing Education Division Eastfield College, Texas 972-860-7659 office 972-860-8392 fax mcaratini at dcccd.edu www.eastfieldcollege.edu "Advancing English Education Globally" >>> 6/20/2008 2:24 PM >>> Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification (Gretchen Bitterlin) 2. [SpecialTopics 1057] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards (Gretchen Bitterlin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:49:11 -0700 From: "Gretchen Bitterlin" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1056] Re: Fwd: Auto-discard notification To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain;charset="us-ascii" Hello everyone - I support what Karen Greer has said about the importance of teacher training. I believe there is a huge gap between the standards out there and what is actually happening in the ESL classrooms. Personally I have found the EFF standards to have no direct relevance to teaching ESL. There are good ESL content standards out there, which the textbook companies have been following in writing new core textbooks, but as someone said, if the teachers don't know how to use the textbook, then it is likely the standard will not be implemented. We have a lot of work yet to do. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 6:52 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1040] Fwd: Auto-discard notification Posted for Karen Greer who sent this message on June 17th From: "Greer, Karen" Date: June 17, 2008 4:29:47 PM EDT To: Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 994] Re: ImplementingState AdultEducationContentStandards Hats off to Federico for his description of our state's standards process. I am one of those teachers in the trenches and welcomed the standards. I was shown my classroom,the students, and a large book closet and that was my orientation. After many years, trial and error, and many hours in the bookroom , I have come up with a workable plan. The standards are very necessary and need to be the basis of good planning(foreign to some teachers}. Texas followed the introduction of the standards with concrete lesson plan training. A curriculum with concrete flow is very important and the standards give us a way to divide level instruction guidelines. I encourage all in this field to use the standards and it will only benefit our students. Karen Greer, teacher Victoria College Adult Ed. Victoria, Tx ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to gbitterl at sdccd.edu ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:04:52 -0700 From: "Gretchen Bitterlin" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1057] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The textbook checklists are very valuable. I am attaching one that our district developed to evaluate core texts. It has 3 parts to it. It has served us well in choosing texts for our program. Gretchen Bitterlin San Diego Continuing Education Program. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Anderson, Philip Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 8:32 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1041] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards Thanks to Catherine for the checklist criteria for selecting a text. I did a few additions and revisions to adapt it for our programs in Florida, and I am attaching it here, in case anyone finds it useful. I added three more criteria regarding the three "Cs" - Content Standards, Components, and Cost. Perhaps other criteria that are part of components could be included: workbooks, reproducible masters, video, and audio? CONTACT INFORMATION Philip Anderson Adult ESOL Program Florida Department of Education Tel (850) 245-9450 Please take a few minutes to provide feedback on the quality of service you received from our staff. The Department of Education values your feedback as a customer. Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.Simply use the link below. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. http://data.fldoe.org/cs/default.cfm?staff=Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org|11:31:50 Fri 20 Jun 2008 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Catherine Porter Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:39 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1026] Re: Textbooks and ESL Content Standards This is Catherine Porter, from the Adult Learning Resource Center in Illinois. I would like to add my comments to the discussion about publishers' textbook correlations with state content standards. In Illinois, as in many states, part-time ESL instructors are frequently hired at the last minute, handed a textbook, and told to start teaching the next day or week. For this reason, it is essential that the book both be pedagogically sound AND align with our Illinois ESL Content Standards. Furthermore, I (also a textbook writer!) agree with Arlene Grognet's comments below that: "As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners." To assist programs in selecting appropriate published materials, all curriculum development teams who attend our state-sponsored "ESL Curriculum Institutes" receive training in evaluating and selecting appropriate published materials. In Illinois, as in many states, publishers have been quick to publish correlations between their core series and our state standards. In some cases these correlations are accurate while in others they are a wild and imaginative stretch. We have found that it takes at least two hours of staff development to train teachers and program coordinators to identify appropriate criteria for selecting a core text. The attached checklist, "Ten Criteria for Selecting a Core Text for ESL" has been extremely useful to Illinois adult education programs. Using the checklist, participants in the ESL Curriculum Institutes examine pages from popular textbooks to see if they meet these ten criteria. In addition to applying the ten criteria, participants are also guided in identifying the "Three "Cs" for any textbook series: Cost, Components (as Arlene says, a textbook is only as good as its teacher's manual), and of course, Content Standards being addressed. After this initial training on selecting an appropriate core text, programs are encouraged to set up committees of teachers back at their programs to review, select, and pilot new materials. Those of us working with adult education instructors know how attached teachers become to their materials; in perhaps no other area is "resistance to change" so strong. By involving teachers in the materials selection process, many Illinois programs are selecting and implementing core ESL materials that meet their students' needs and align with our state standards. Catherine Porter Professional Development Specialist Adult Learning Resource Center Arlington Heights, IL -----Original Message----- From:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent:Thu 6/19/2008 10:25 AM To:specialtopics at nifl.gov Cc: Subject:[SpecialTopics 1016] More questions on state content standards Posted on behalf of Arlene Grognet From: aggrognet at aol.com Date: June 19, 2008 10:59:52 AM EDT Federico, Phil, et al- I have read with interest all of the states' responses to the questions raised, but a computer glitch (now solved) has kept me from contributing. I will keep my remarks to ESOL, because that is what I know best. It seems that most ABE and GED students come to class with oral English. However, they lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to lead a full adult life. On the other hand, ESOL students may already have those skills, but they lack the oral English with which to express them. For ESOL students, learning English is not an end in itself; it is a tool with which to do something else! That something else may be to go to the doctor or shop for food and clothing; it may be to work in a factory or a restaurant; it may be to talk with the school personnel or read a note from the teacher; it may be to get th GED or go to college. I was struck how closely David Heath's description of teachers in Texas, matches that in Florida. Yet, I come to a different conclusion than he does. We need standards (not standardization) so that new and part-time teachers are oriented to what students should learn; experienced teachers have a reference guide for their teaching; and curriculum reflects the real world in which students have to communicate. I am a Florida resident, and participated in the standards setting workshops offered buy Susan Pimentel that Phil Anderson described. It was an interesting and challenging exercise, but one which new and part-time teachers would have benefited little from. I say this because professional development is out next step, and more than 4 hours of training on standards, no matter how good the training, with leave teachers angry and bored. I know that it is not enough, but state implementers have to realize that anything coming from the state is sacrosant and will be viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. If new teachers stick with the program, they will be back for more. If they quit, we haven't lost that much. As to David's question about textbook correlations with standards, I would look at all of them as spurious. (And this coming from a textbook writer!) A textbook is only as good as the Teachers' Manual which should accompany it. For each lesson, the Manual should give shape to the the standard, tell teachers how the linguistic skills they are teaching fit into language acquisition, give new and part- time teachers step-by-step ways of presenting and practicing a lesson, and give experienced teachers hints for expansion and extension of the lesson. Without that, textbooks are only page-turners. As to what the federal government can do for standards: give money to each state for refinement, implementation, and experimentation, and stay out of standards writing and setting. If the federal government gets into it, it becomes a slippery slope. Just look at standardized testing and NRS as examples. One question I have concerns assessment. How does know when when a student is ready to advance with the integrated skills needed in language learning? Is there any one assessment that gives the teacher or the test administrator a good picture of the students' listening/ speaking and reading/writing skills, and is aligned with standards? Allene Grognet Vice President (Emeritus), Center for Applied Linguistics ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cporter at thecenterweb.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Textbook Review From.doc Type: application/msword Size: 77312 bytes Desc: Textbook Review From.doc Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/5aabccb0/attachment.doc ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 23, Issue 42 ********************************************* ________________________________ Spam Not spam Forget previous vote -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 16540 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080620/9365b265/attachment.bin From pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Sat Jun 21 09:48:50 2008 From: pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us (Pam Blundell) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:48:50 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1064] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?Content_Standards=3A_More_questions=2C_=09more?= =?iso-8859-1?q?__answers=2C_mor?= In-Reply-To: <92407.21987.qm@web83312.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> References: <92407.21987.qm@web83312.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi Bonnie, In Oklahoma we have ESL teachers go through the same content standards training in reading, math, and writing using our EFF teaching/learning system as the ABE teachers. We have had numerous ESL teachers tell us how appropriate the role maps and other tools are for their ESL students. We are currently starting work to develop the speaking and listening curriculum frameworks and are evaluating what we might need to do (if anything) to the reading and writing frameworks in order to use them as ESL standards as well as ABE. It is a very comprehensive system. Our ESL teachers seem to be comfortable with it even though in the beginning they were not sure it would be relevant to their needs. I think it is all in how you present it, the training that is involved, and being open to allow ESL teachers make adjustments as they find necessary. ESL students carry out roles as family members, community members, and workers just as ABE students. The language they need is related to all those roles and our reading and writing standards address that. Even the math standard which many of the ESL teachers didn't think was relevant to ESL has proven to be very relevant. ESL students have to use math in their everyday lives and there is language involved in math. I am really anxious for us to have the speaking and listening work completed. This will probably be the doorway through which we introduce standards-based instruction in the future to ESL teachers. But, in the meantime, many have walked through the reading, math, and writing door and are doing very well. Thanks for your comment. Pam [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov writes: I'm replying to this particular post, but really, as I'm reflecting over the whole discussion, to whomever it was who said that "EFF didn't seem to relevant to ESOL students." I was wondering why. I've never been explicitly trained in EFF but it has always intuitively seemed to make sense to me that any learner, at whatever level, even basic learners, are very quick to perceive what communication is all about, what the bigger picture about their status is if they cannot communicate, how they are perceived. As for decision making, problem solving, and the rest, everyone does that all the time, and I don't think it's ever too early for metacognition, even if it can't be explicitly expressed in language. I wonder that learning might increase as awareness about the learning process increases, consciously or not... Just a thought. Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. Writring Center, Post University ----- Original Message ---- From: "Kroeger, Miriam" <[ mailto:Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov ]Miriam.Kroeger at azed.gov> To: "specialtopics at nifl.gov" <[ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:57:25 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1027] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM Quite some good comments - if I can add a few - Fortunately, our choice to develop stadnrds was made before OVAE and the NRS came out with the standardized assessment mandate. As a matter of fact, when we first developed our standards, there were only 4 levels of ABE/ASE and 4 of ESOL - we had to scramble when NRS changed things to six. Recently we've seen changes in "cut scores" for the mandated assessments. As I've mentioned several times, our standards have been field-based form the get-go. Teachers put their best efforts into this initiatives; teachers believed in what they were doing and through sue continue to believe in what was produced, and know that when we didn't get it quite right the first time, they were/are involved in the updates. One thing that we have to watch out for, and that is the "teaching to the test" trap. Of course if you test what you teach, that's different. What we found, and even, what we planned for, was that the standards were "greater" than any test - the standards have more and are richer than a TABE, CASAS, BEST, or GED Test. It took as a while, and is still something that we have to stop and think about but - if you teach with the Standards, don't worry about the test. What's on the test is in the standards and so much more. And that "more" is what better prepare learners for the world beyond Adult Education. Adult Education has to be more than "just getting by". For some of our learners it's their last stop in "formal" education; for others it's the beginning of more higher e ducation. WE owe it to them to give them the tools to make informed choices. -Miriam Kroeger -----Original Message----- From: [ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:[ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 7:32 AM To: [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1012] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion-TM I'm not sure if it the 6th grade level is legislatively mandated or just a department of corrections goal, but it's a something we try to achieve in education within the limits of our capacity to serve the men. For example, I recently had a man assigned to my literacy class who was served his entire life in special education. He has an IQ of 50; there is no way that I will ever get him to the 6th grade level. I have suggested that he be allowed to opt out of education and be put in a supervised vocational program. And as someone earlier noted, we also use Plato to tutor our students toward their GED. I personally also use the REWARDS reading program to advance reading levels. It's published by Sopris and can be used individually or with small groups to learn to decode multi-syllabic words. It's a totally scripted program, so a tutor or volunteer can be taught to use the program in a short period of time. To be quite frank, the educational community at large, i.e. the public schools, do not think much of the GED. I've heard this from administrators and teachers alike even though we know that nearly one-third of high school graduates could not pass the GED. As I said before, I have many high school graduates in my literacy program. I don't think having benchmarks will make anyone think better of the GED. It's an elitist thing at this point. I find it to be enormously rewarding to the men to achieve their GED especially considering many of those incarcerated have been suspended from school many times over. I hear over and over, "I didn't think I could do this on my own." It's exciting to see a grown man excited about learning for the first time. Our benchmarks are simple: pass a half test with a 500 or better; pass the GED test with a 450 or better. Complete all tests. And the final goal is a couple of polaroid pictures in a white shirt and tie and cap and gown. The pictures mean a lot to these men. Gail -----Original Message----- From: [ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Christensen, Lorraine Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:01 AM To: [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1011] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM Question for Gail: Is it legislatively mandated that you bring an inmate to a TABE 6 level before they no longer need to be assigned to school? While I agree with you that the number of graduates is important, I have always believed that if we had particular "benchmarks" we would be more accountable and in "respected" in the educational community! Lorraine Christensen Women's Center - Maine Correctional -----Original Message----- From: [ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:[ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 2:38 PM To: [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM HURRAY! Thank you, Mr. Mecham!. You said it all. For the past three years, I have worked in two prisons in Iowa, and getting the men to read at a level of speed and comprehension in order to pass the GED test, is my first concern. I have many high school "graduates" in my literacy classes. In Iowa, all inmates must be in literacy classes if they cannot demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is the main "standard and benchmark" that I have to work with. A man must be able to pass the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) with a 6.0, or he is in literacy class. A man without a high school diploma or GED must attend GED classes although they can "age out" with staff consent. I taught special education in the public schools for 16 years and have seen the rise and use of standards and benchmarks. Although these are wonderful guidelines for schools to help their teachers cover appropriate subject matter at different ages to ensure a well-rounded education for all students, I believe that at the adult level, teachers need to test, assess and determine needs and deficits for individuals and proceed from there. Each of my students is an individual. Each class is full of individuals working on appropriate assignments for him. Very rarely do I have a "class" where more than one man is working on the same thing. I treat my classroom as an old-fashioned resource room where each person is receiving instruction and practice on the skill that he needs to achieve his GED or increase his literacy. By advocating standards and benchmarks for adult learners, I believe that we will just be adding to the burden of paperwork to "prove" that we are teaching. Looking at the results of the teaching method is a far better way to examine teaching success and learning. My students, in the first five months of this year, passed their GED tests with a 96% success rate. My little "resource" room seems to work fine without standards and benchmarks other than those needed to pass the GED. Gail A. Rinderknecht Newton Correctional Facility GED instructor/Des Moines Area Community College Box 218 Newton, IA ________________________________ From: [ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Mechem, Thompson Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 8:19 AM To: [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 999] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion-TM I suppose in the abstract I have no objection to the Standards and Benchmarks described in the various posts this week, but who are they for? Certainly not the teachers. To take an example from my area of alleged expertise, if students are studying to pass the GED test, then it is the specific skill sets needed to pass the test that must drive the curriculum and the teaching. There's a lot of math you can teach, but what math will actually carry our students towards passing the GED tests? You can't figure that out from any Standards document or Curriculum Frameworks or whatever; you can know that only by learning better what literacy skills and knowledge resonate on the tests (the GED Testing Service helps us with that), and then developing the teaching techniques to bring the students to that level. Our state GED Office and our Professional development unit do a lot of work with Massachusetts GED teachers in this regard. The same principle applies if you are helping Transiti ons students do better on the AccuPlacer test or preparing immigrants to pass the citizenship test (nice going, Big Papi!) or raising a grandmother's literacy level so she can read the Bible. Now, it probably takes a higher literacy level to pass the GED tests than it does to graduate from high school, so a successful GED class is certainly going to adhere to any legitimate set of Standards and Benchmarks that a state could come up with. I guess what I am asking of all the faceless bureaucrats (of which I am now one myself, I admit) is to be able to see that for themselves instead of making teachers and program directors jump through hoops with all kind of trumped-up documentary "proof" that they are using the Standards. Just as you can see a gorgeous-looking Lesson Plan without having any idea in the world whether any learning is actually taking place in that class, so the kind of thing often required for Standards-Based documentation, "I have such-and-such Learning Objectives, which correspond to Benchmark 3.1.5 blah blah blah..." doesn't tell you anything about what's really happening in the classroom. I would like the monitors and evaluators to be able to obse rve a classroom and know for themselves that high standards are being adhered to so that the teachers and program directors can focus on the learning needs of the students with no wasted motion. Tom Mechem GED State Chief Examiner Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts 781-338-6621 "GED to Ph.D." -----Original Message----- From: [ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:[ mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ]specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:50 PM To: [ mailto:specialtopics at nifl.gov ]specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator [ mailto:djrosen at comcast.net ]djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list [ mailto:SpecialTopics at nifl.gov ]SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to [ http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics ]"ttp://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to [ mailto:tmechem at doe.mass.edu ]tmechem at doe.mass.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list [ mailto:SpecialTopics at nifl.gov ]SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to [ http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics ]"ttp://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to [ mailto:garinderknecht at dmacc.edu ]garinderknecht at dmacc.edu NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you. ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list [ mailto:SpecialTopics at nifl.gov ]SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to [ http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics ]"ttp://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to [ mailto:bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ]bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us Pam Blundell, Assistant Director Lifelong Learning Section Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd. Room 115 Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599 405-521-3321 1-800-405-0355 pam_blundell at sde.state.ok.us From gbundy at rmi.net Sat Jun 21 11:01:08 2008 From: gbundy at rmi.net (Gail B) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:01:08 -0600 (GMT-06:00) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1065] Re: Last day of state contentstandards discussion: please weigh in! Message-ID: <30932418.1214060468906.JavaMail.root@elwamui-wigeon.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080621/09480d1d/attachment.html From fsalas at hcde-texas.org Sat Jun 21 15:20:48 2008 From: fsalas at hcde-texas.org (Federico Salas) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:20:48 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1066] Re: Content Standards: More questions, more answers, more discussion References: Message-ID: One of the wonderful things about these discussions is the opportunity for professionals to share and disagree; and disagree I must. To me, if the test does not provide a reward and if students must be "bribed" to take it seriously, that's an indication that the test itself is not serious and should not be used. Weeks every year are wasted in schools all over the nation, in my opinion, on test "pep rallies" and many students who pass the test are unable to explain what they learned, what they know, and how any of the information they regurgitated during the test is relevant to their lives. Instead of focusing our efforts on the test we should focus our attention on teaching; to that end good content standards and excellent professional development are our best allies. federico ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Thu 06/19/2008 12:22 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion You decry the use of rewards, but for kids to take a test seriously, they need a reward. In regular classes, the reward is a grade. They often need something tangible to strive for other than the test score. Standardized tests do not provide a reward for someone who is not internally motivated. Even if the reward is "real pizza" for lunch instead of the school pizza or passes to the local movie theater, it may be enough to motivate some students to take the test more seriously than they otherwise would have. Gail -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Federico Salas Sent: Thu 6/19/2008 9:02 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1010] Re: Content Standards: More questions,more answers, more discussion To me the obvious problem with rewarding results on the test is that you are teaching test taking skills. Then the standard is determined by the test, not by your instructional content standards as determined by students and colleagues. Students may have a phenomenal passing rate on the test but be completely unable to actually use their skills and in a practical application at work or as tap their knowledge base as a springboard to learn more at college or the university. Then programs that "offer rewards for improved test scores" have improved test scores but have they improved the proficiency of those test takers in their ability to succeed in life? I am afraid not. That is one of the most insidious problems of public education today. Schools are ranked and rewarded on the performance of their students on standardized tests but nobody pays attention to whether the students have really learned their materials or simply learned to ace a test. I believe the issue is with making the standardized test the focus of education. If we focused on the content standards for instruction instead our success rate would over time improve. To me, focusing on the test is warranted only when the student has obtained sufficient command of the skills and knowledge and a few weeks before the test you pay attention to the form of the test, test strategies, etc. But to devote your adult education program to the test skills rather than teach with a carefully considered set of academic and work related standards is a true disservice to our students. You should know I am an avowed enemy of standardized tests; I don't understand them, I don't like them, and I don't believe the scores tell us much about a student. I also don't believe we are going to fix any of the problems in education if we continue focusing on "the test" instead of teaching. Of course I went through my whole elementary, secondary, and a couple of years of university work in two other countries without ever once facing a standardized test. Tests of my ability to explain scientific facts, yes; tests of my ability to relate knowledge from one field to knowledge from another, yes. Tests that asked me to look for evidence in XX century culture of events that happened in the renaissance, yes. But standardized tests? The first standardized test I ever took was the TOEFL to come to this country. But that's another story... federico Federico Salas-Isnardi, Assistant State Director Texas LEARNS 6005 Westview Dr. Houston, TX 77055 Direct: 713-696-0719 Toll Free: 866-696-4233 Fax: 713-696-0797 The State Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Rinderknecht, Gail A. Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion So I knew I shouldn't have started writing in response to this topic because I have such strong opinions about the matter. Iowa has instituted standards and benchmarks in the public schools and tests the daylights out of the students. Personally, I believe that the success of the test often relies on the attitude of the teacher giving the test. I can see this in the high school where I used to teach when I volunteer to read high school essays in the summer to evaluate reading. The teachers whom I know emphasize the importance of the test have much better results than the teacher who says, "Hey, we have to do this. I don't like it. You don't like it, Your parents don't like it. Just do it and get it over with." Schools that offer rewards for improved test scores have improved test scores. There are many variables when doing any kind of standardized testing to "evaluate teaching results". And as far as getting the federal government involved in adult literacy, please, no. Talk to any special education teacher ( me included) to find out about the results of federal mandates in education. IEP's went from a simple three or four page document to over 12 pages listing standards and benchmarks that were to be worked on for each student. If I had 20 students on my roster, most of whom I never saw but for whose educational programs I was still responsible, then I had 20 IEP's with massive amounts of bi-monthly or weekly testing to determine if progress was being made. Charts had to be kept up on each goal, and I had very little time to teach let alone get to know my students. Several times I introduced myself to a student at his IEP meeting because he was not available when I had a planning time. When it got to the point where a graduation goal was deemed inappropriate and secondary to meeting the standards and benchmarks, I knew it was time for me to get out of special education in a high school. But that's beside the point, you might say; however, it isn't because at the prison I currently have at least 50 students. If I had to show growth along prescribed standards and benchmarks, then I would be back to nothing but paperwork. Oh, you should know, that I keep a running informal individual education plan for each of my men. I have to for me as well as for them; otherwise I would forget who was doing what in which book. All I'm saying is, about the time you have mandated standards from the federal government, then you're going to have to prove that you're meeting those standards. The fact that the men I work with in prison pass their tests would have little to do with it. (Oh, and my 96% passing rate probably has something to do with my "captive" audience who are clean, well-fed, well-rested and required to be in class.) I take very little credit for their success. I am there; they have the GED prep workbooks from several different companies. I give assignments, and they work independently and ask questions when they have them. They are in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere which for some of them is a first. Back to testing. We TABE all offenders upon arrival to get a general reading level. Then we give CASAS reading and math tests to establish deficits. Every six months each man who has been in education classes is required to re-take the CASAS. When a man completes his GED, the State also requires us to CASAS him again. Usually the poor guy has been through the CASAS so many times and is so happy to have his GED that he scores his lowest scores on his last CASAS test. This, of course, reflects poorly on me as a teacher. I can motivate a student to complete his GED, but I cannot motivate him to try his hardest on a test that essentially means nothing to him. Oh, and if he is released before he has completed his GED, which happens a lot, I have to CASAS him before he leaves. And believe me, a man who is on his way home is not likely to try too hard on a test when all he can think about his home-cooked meals and the family and friends waiting for him. And we were also discussing planning time. I plan on the run. I walk around the room and look over shoulders and if someone is struggling, then perhaps a different book or some one-on-one time is warranted. I might have 50 men to teach, but my room only has chairs for 15, so it's a constantly rotating group of guys from noon until 8 pm. Most of the men have jobs either within the prison or off-grounds, so I need to be there to catch them when they're available. At the medium security site where I work from noon til 3 pm, class times are assigned. At the minimum security site, I maintain a welcome mat approach: come when you're well, willing and able, as long as you find five hours per week for class. Like I said, I have a captive audience. Gail Rinderknecht GED instructor/ Des Moines Area Community College Newton Correctional Facility Newton, IA 50208 And this has nothing to do with the topic, but our site is called "Riverview", but with the floods, it's been Lakeview. We are all fine here, but have had to make room for some men where the jails were flooded. The water here in central Iowa is thankfully receding, but it's heading downriver towards some of you. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen Sent: Tue 6/17/2008 8:50 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 996] Content Standards: More questions, more answers,more discussion Colleagues, Our Content Standards discussion continues through Friday. I have some more questions (see below) for guests and subscribers. I wonder if there are some people with questions that they feel are "too basic" such as "How do I find out what my state's Content Standards are, or if my state even has them?" No question about content standards is too basic. This is the place to ask it. I want to hear from teachers and administrators who are (or are not) implementing content standards. Jon Engel (Thank you, Jon) spoke for teachers who might be skeptical. Perhaps there are some teachers who are skeptical that would be willing to speak for themselves now that Jon has broached this. Here are three more questions that were sent to me, for our guests and others : "Part-time teachers and planning time: Teachers tell us that developing lesson plans from standards takes more time because they have to spend time learning the standards, aligning their activities to those standards, and filling out more paper work to demonstrate compliance. What are states implementing standards doing to alleviate the pressure on already burdened adult education teachers (low wages, low job security, part-time, no benefits, little or no prep time, etc.)?" "National standards: As a standards writer, I was struck by the wide diversity of approaches to adult education content standards across states (ranging from the very prescriptive and specific to the very broad and general). While I understand we live in a federal system in which states can do whatever they deem best for their students, isn't there a value in having a broader national discussion about what our adult students should be able to know and do in order to be successful members of society or, at a very minimum, shouldn't we have a common understanding about how content standards are going to be used?" "Assessment: While states have been encouraged to develop widely different content standards, the majority continue to use a very limited set of approved standardized assessments that may or may not be very closely aligned to those standards. If due to increasingly tight financial constraints states are generally unable to develop NRS-approved standardized tests that are aligned with their standards, is it reasonable to expect that their content standards will have an impact on instruction and student performance? Do teachers really have an incentive to teach from those standards if what they are teaching is not going to show up in the TABE or BEST Plus or CASAS? Are there plans to develop such tests?" David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at comcast.net ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to garinderknecht at dmacc.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20080621/b0b5330e/attachment.html From djrosen at comcast.net Sun Jun 22 08:11:19 2008 From: djrosen at comcast.net (David J. Rosen) Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:11:19 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1067] State content standards discussion ends Message-ID: Colleagues, The Content Standards discussion has now ended. No more posts will be accepted for this discussion. If you wish to stay subscribed for the next discussion, which will be announced soon, no further action is needed. If you wish to un- subscribe, go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics David J. Rosen djrosen at comcast.net From info at nifl.gov Thu Jun 26 10:23:35 2008 From: info at nifl.gov (info at nifl.gov) Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:23:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1068] Institute Director Search Underway Message-ID: <20080626142335.DA6DC11DA0@mail.nifl.gov> Institute Director Search Underway About the position: The Director of the National Institute for Literacy works with the Institute's Interagency Group, in consultation with the Advisory Board, in determining priorities and work projects related to the national effort to improve literacy. The Director supervises and guides the Institute's staff of sixteen employees using a variety of leadership skills to encourage a high performance workplace, develop staff leadership capacity, and promote flexibility to ensure that the Institute thrives in a changing environment. The Director ensures that agency administrative, management, and contracting processes are executed in accordance with the Institute's Interagency Agreement and federal regulations and policies. The Director serves as the senior staff person for the Interagency Group and Advisory Board to ensure the Institute fulfills its role as a leader in the field by keeping abreast of major research findings and innovations in education. The Director serves as a spokesperson for literacy issues and the Institute's liaison with literacy organizations. The Director guides strategic planning efforts, assesses future needs for projects and activities, and provides comprehensive recommendations on long-range project planning to the Interagency Group and the Advisory Board. To learn more about the position or to apply: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/career/NIFL_vacancy_11.html For additional information about the Institute and its staff, please visit the National Institute for Literacy website: http://www.nifl.gov From MMaralit at NIFL.gov Tue Jul 15 16:11:09 2008 From: MMaralit at NIFL.gov (Maralit, Mary Jo) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:11:09 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1069] A note of thanks... Message-ID: <4062487BDB6029428A763CAEF4E1FE5B1B592D2B@wdcrobe2m03.ed.gov> Dearest all, I wanted to let you know that my last day at the National Institute for Literacy will be Friday, July 18. Next week, I will be moving to a position at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. In the past 5 years of working at the National Institute for Literacy on the LINCS project and with the discussion lists, I have learned a lot from the field. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a wonderful, committed group adult education researchers, policymakers, administrators, practitioners, and students. I hope that our paths cross in the near future. Many thanks for your support throughout the years. Sincerely, Jo Maralit From djrosen1 at gmail.com Wed Oct 15 08:04:45 2008 From: djrosen1 at gmail.com (djrosen1) Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:04:45 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1070] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Message-ID: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner?s progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan?s Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081015/e93eb505/attachment.html From kbeall at onlyinternet.net Tue Oct 14 13:31:00 2008 From: kbeall at onlyinternet.net (Kaye Beall) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:31:00 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1071] New Issue of Focus on Basic--Health & Literacy Partnerships Message-ID: Health and literacy are inextricably linked, and health and literacy providers are working together in new and exciting ways to use that link for positive results. The newest issue of Focus on Basics is packed with articles on a wide variety of partnerships: between nursing and teacher educators in the university, between medical schools and literacy programs, between health educators and literacy students, between health planners and literacy providers. Also included in the issue is a long-awaited report on a five-year study of the impact of a literacy curriculum that incorporate health information on the literacy skills and health knowledge of learners, a new way to look at what the health information in the National Assessment of Adult Learning reveals, and how to use illustrations effectively in health education materials. Authors include Dr. Susan Levy and colleagues, Dr. Andrew Pleasant, and Dr. Ian Bennett and colleagues, and National Institute for Literacy's Health Literacy discussion list moderator Julie McKinney, among others. Download the new issue of Focus on Basics, Volume 9, Issue B, "Health & Literacy Partnerships" from the right hand column of publisher World Education's home page: www.worlded.org or find the new issue and all past issues at www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/fob/2008/fob_9b.pdf and www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=31 Kaye Beall Project Director World Education 6760 West Street Linn Grove, IN 46711 765-717-3942 kaye_beall at worlded.org www.worlded.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081014/e0dca1d7/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Wed Oct 29 21:38:11 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David Rosen) Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:38:11 -0400 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1072] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning -- your questions Message-ID: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner?s progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan?s Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081029/75c12d8e/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Sun Nov 2 11:06:15 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David Rosen) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 11:06:15 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning -- your questions In-Reply-To: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> Message-ID: <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally- funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org ? What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? ? Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? ? If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion > below. > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest > topic! > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion > begins, > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------- > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > interested in subscribing! > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > Description of the models > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > services from existing local education programs, community based > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > educational resources. The learner?s progress is saved and can be > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the > country. > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > or tutor via an online management system. > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > John Fleischman > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > currently responsible for information and educational technology > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology > (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > conferences. > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > Michigan?s Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > development (projectideal.org). > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > development. The results of this research have led to the > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > publications about his research and its implications for adult > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > levels. > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > participation, the intersection of learning and community > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration > project. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081102/c52a33bd/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Fri Nov 7 11:21:40 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 11:21:40 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1074] USA Learns Launched Today, your questions for our guests Message-ID: Colleagues, Many of you have sent questions for our guests in the upcoming discussion of USA Learns and the Learner Web. Thank you. Some of you have commented that you would like to see USA Learns before sending your questions. Now you can. USA Learns launched today. The web address is: http://usalearns.org Our discussion on the special topics discussion list begins in 10 days, on November 17th. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081107/5e853101/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Mon Nov 17 04:36:54 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:36:54 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Message-ID: Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA Learns which she can best address. I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our guests at any time this week. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/87f774c8/attachment.html From reders at pdx.edu Sun Nov 16 21:09:44 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:09:44 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Message-ID: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081116/d16b8cc8/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Mon Nov 17 05:27:43 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:27:43 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1077] Re: initial response to questions about Learner Web References: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: Thanks, Steve, for this thorough introduction. Those who would like to see a screen capture video showing what the Learner Web looks like from a learner or from an administrator point of view, could go to http://learnerweb.org (Select "View Demonstration" to request a password to view the video.) One series of questions that I am sure many people have concerns telephone helpers. Who are they, what kinds of help do they provide, how are they recruited, how often do they do telephone helping, how do they differ from (face-to-face or online) tutors, and how is the privacy of the learner and the online helper protected? Now would be a good time for others to post their questions about the Learner Web, too. What would you like to know? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Reder To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:09 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/d13d7b68/attachment-0001.html From katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com Sun Nov 2 17:26:49 2008 From: katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com (Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 17:26:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning -- your questions In-Reply-To: <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: > Colleagues, > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, *New Designs in Online and Distance Learning,* and since so far I > have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions for our guests: > > *What questions would you like to ask our guests? * > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded *USA > Learns* will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion > begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at > it if you like. The *Learner Web* is a federally-funded demonstration > project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around > the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the *Learner Web*, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > ? What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* when we begin the discussion on > November 17th and 18th? > ? Do you want to know how *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > ? If you are thinking about using either *USA Learns* or the *Learner Web > *with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? > What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions > do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what *you* want to get from > it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and > the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the > discussion. > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > interested in subscribing! > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > Description of the models > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > services from existing local education programs, community based > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > or tutor via an online management system. > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > John Fleischman > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > currently responsible for information and educational technology > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology > (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > conferences. > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > development (projectideal.org). > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > development. The results of this research have led to the > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > publications about his research and its implications for adult > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > levels. > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > participation, the intersection of learning and community > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com > -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081102/77bfc9db/attachment.html From belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov Sun Nov 2 18:55:22 2008 From: belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov (Omenitsch, Belinda (ES)) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 18:55:22 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1079] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> Hi, I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. Thanks. Belinda Omenitsch ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 16730 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081102/88ba0d68/attachment-0001.bin From dingram at Appalachiantech.edu Mon Nov 17 09:37:20 2008 From: dingram at Appalachiantech.edu (Diane Ingram) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:37:20 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1080] Re: initial response to questions about Learner Web In-Reply-To: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: <0F29A6ADD54029428A60D3E865123205034BE962@mail.Appalachiantech.edu> The website mentions "650 resources' currently in the LW database. What are some of these resources, and can you give a scenario of how they might be used? Thanks, Diane Diane Ingram Executive Director of Adult Education Appalachian Technical College 100 Campus Drive Jasper, GA 30143 706-253-4544 dingram at AppalachianTech.edu A Unit of the Technical College System of Georgia ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Reder Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:10 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/412aeabf/attachment.html From gbundy at rmi.net Sun Nov 2 20:39:00 2008 From: gbundy at rmi.net (Gail B) Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 18:39:00 -0700 (GMT-07:00) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1081] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning -- your questions Message-ID: <28338770.1225676340771.JavaMail.root@elwamui-chisos.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081102/71b57d56/attachment.html From kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us Mon Nov 3 09:25:11 2008 From: kgianninoto at msde.state.md.us (Karen Gianninoto) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:25:11 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1082] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D5021A@msebex1.msde.net> Good Morning, I would like to know how the tool can be used with low level ESL and ABE learners and is this tool better suited for instructors, or intake/assessment specialists? (This is the person who provides orientation, gives the assessments, refers students to other resources, and tracks learner progress. Is the tool feasible to use with large numbers of learners? (those programs over 1000.) In addition, I would like to know more about how state standards and local curriculum can be used/integrated with this program. Thanks, Karen Lisch Gianninoto Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 17366 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081103/3a8983a2/attachment-0001.bin From sdurman at jeffco.k12.co.us Wed Nov 5 12:31:22 2008 From: sdurman at jeffco.k12.co.us (Durman Sherri L.) Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:31:22 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <917DC64C48E557458148F7DFB880C8FE027BBED2@EXCHANGE.jeffco.schools> Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? Will you be covering life-skills based topics? Sherri ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 16338 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081105/0d15d3dc/attachment.bin From wistarwood at aol.com Sat Nov 8 23:01:09 2008 From: wistarwood at aol.com (wistarwood at aol.com) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:01:09 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1084] Re: USA Learns Launched Today, your questions for our guests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CB1036EED6C1A8-B70-7CF@webmail-me08.sysops.aol.com> This is good! Congratulations all around, Bertie Wood -----Original Message----- From: David J. Rosen To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 8:21 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1074] USA Learns Launched Today, your questions for our guests Colleagues, ? Many of you have sent questions for our guests in?the upcoming discussion of USA Learns and the Learner Web. Thank you. Some of you have commented that you would like to see USA Learns before sending your questions. Now you can. USA Learns launched today. The web address is: ? http://usalearns.org ? Our discussion on the special topics discussion list?begins in 10 days, on November 17th. ? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wistarwood at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081108/78c241fe/attachment.html From night-school at usa.net Mon Nov 17 10:37:56 2008 From: night-school at usa.net (Terri Stone) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:37:56 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1085] Re: initial response to questions about Learner Web Message-ID: <400mkqPK53904S09.1226936276@cmsweb09.cms.usa.net> Hello David, Steve, and other participants: I'd like, at this time, to request a definition of "proxy hour equivalents" if I could. Thank you, Terri Stone, Webster, MA ------ Original Message ------ Received: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:29:26 AM EST From: "David J. Rosen" To: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1077] Re: initial response to questions about Learner Web > Thanks, Steve, for this thorough introduction. Those who would like to see a screen capture video showing what the Learner Web looks like from a learner or from an administrator point of view, could go to http://learnerweb.org (Select "View Demonstration" to request a password to view the video.) > > One series of questions that I am sure many people have concerns telephone helpers. Who are they, what kinds of help do they provide, how are they recruited, how often do they do telephone helping, how do they differ from (face-to-face or online) tutors, and how is the privacy of the learner and the online helper protected? > > Now would be a good time for others to post their questions about the Learner Web, too. What would you like to know? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Steve Reder > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:09 PM > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web > > > Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. > > > > Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). > > > > Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. > > > > The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. > > > > Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. > > > > Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. > > > > We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to night-school at usa.net From DJRosen at theworld.com Mon Nov 17 11:09:47 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:09:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1086] Welcome, Your questions, and Posting Messages to the Discussion List Message-ID: <1492CBEBCD3C4FAABFBBC8C6997E1BF5@A1411> Colleagues, Welcome to those who have just joined the discussion. You may wish to see the messages which were posted earlier today. They -- and all the discussion posts -- are archived at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html Thank you to everyone who has sent questions so far. I have posted those that appear to pertain to the Learner Web and am holding those that appear to be focused on USA Learns until tomorrow. There is plenty of opportunity for more questions and comments. When you send a message to the discussion list, please email it to specialtopics at nifl.gov Please choose for a subject line one that pertains to your question or comment unless it is a reply to a message in the same thread. Please do not attach files as some subscribers cannot open them or read them. Include your text within the body of the message. I look forward to receiving more of your questions and comments. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/fb5e498d/attachment.html From mlanen at ndecboston.org Mon Nov 17 11:23:23 2008 From: mlanen at ndecboston.org (Margaret Lanen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:23:23 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1087] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The Learner Web is exciting with all its possibilities. It looks like a very valuable tool. This would be a great opportunity for independent learners with basic computer skills. Finding the learner's needs from the student assessments and developing a learning plan with all the resources to help is a creative use of technology for education. _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:37 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA Learns which she can best address. I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our guests at any time this week. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/054828e4/attachment.html From kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us Mon Nov 17 11:34:18 2008 From: kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us (Kathy Borgone) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:34:18 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1088] Logistics Message-ID: Mr. Rosen More a question on logistics for the moment - more content questions later!!! I am catching bits and pieces of the excellent questions being proposed, but am in the middle of my classes, so was wondering if I will be able to catch up and keep track of all of the info as the week progresses? I will be trying to jump in there in between classes and will try to view on my own time - but just wanted to make sure I can keep up as my schedule allows? P.S. Was very impressed with my visit to usalearns - can't wait to get some individuals hooked up with this!!! Thanks M. Kathy Borgone - Instructor New Brunswick Public Schools ADULT LEARNING CENTER 268 Baldwin St. 2nd Fl. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732)745-5300 xt. 4501 kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us From DJRosen at theworld.com Mon Nov 17 11:52:45 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:52:45 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1089] Re: Logistics References: Message-ID: Kathy and others, ----- Original Message ----- >From: "Kathy Borgone" >am catching bits and pieces of the excellent questions being proposed, but >am in the middle >of my classes, so was wondering if I will be able to >catch up and keep track of all of the >info as the week progresses? I will >be trying to jump in there in between classes and will try >to view on my >own time - but just wanted to make sure I can keep up as my schedule > >allows? Sure -- your questions would be welcome any time this week. The discussion doesn't end until Friday. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 11:43:57 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:43:57 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1090] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web In-Reply-To: References: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: <006201c948d3$af7130e0$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Good question, David. The Learner Web (LW) has a number of user roles. The most important, of course, is the Learner. There are also roles for a number of assistants - individuals who use the LW to interact with Learners in ways specified by particular learning plans. There are various types of assistants - Teachers, Tutors, Helpers, Counselors. Helpers are telephone-based volunteers who are matched to Learner's real-time requests and connected via a toll-free telephone application that is closely integrated into LW. They can provide help with use of the LW software as well as with particular topics or steps in Learning Plans. Helpers have profiles within the LW that indicate the kinds of topics they have expertise/training to assist with - e.g., math, writing, etc. When Learners request help with a special topic, they can be are matched with Helpers having that expertise who are currently online. With the Learner's permission, the Helper can view their screen. The system connects the learner and helper in a way that hides the each other's phone number. One part of the screen capture demo you mentioned illustrates how this happens. Helper volunteers are recruited, trained and managed by programs, organizations or coalitions implementing the Learner Web. We have training materials available that can be used in training for helper volunteers. Helpers can work from any phone - whether at home, at work, in a homework hotline-like calling center, a community-based organization calling center, etc. Helpers log in via the phone system and declare their availability for a certain period of time. The way the LW maintains confidentiality of the phone numbers being used makes this very portable. I hope this answers some of the questions people may have about Helpers. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:28 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1077] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web Thanks, Steve, for this thorough introduction. Those who would like to see a screen capture video showing what the Learner Web looks like from a learner or from an administrator point of view, could go to http://learnerweb.org (Select "View Demonstration" to request a password to view the video.) One series of questions that I am sure many people have concerns telephone helpers. Who are they, what kinds of help do they provide, how are they recruited, how often do they do telephone helping, how do they differ from (face-to-face or online) tutors, and how is the privacy of the learner and the online helper protected? Now would be a good time for others to post their questions about the Learner Web, too. What would you like to know? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Reder To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:09 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. _____ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/aacd2ae6/attachment-0001.html From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 11:51:07 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:51:07 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions In-Reply-To: References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW - the external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos and manuals for training purposes. Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/7a6ec041/attachment-0001.html From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 11:53:36 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:53:36 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1092] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions In-Reply-To: <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> Message-ID: <007401c948d5$08797020$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Hi Belinda, One of our demonstration sites is Washington DC. If you contact me offline (reders at pdx.edu) I'll be glad to give you some specific contact information so you can get in touch with the coordinator of the local demonstration to pursue your question. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 3:55 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1079] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions Hi, I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. Thanks. Belinda Omenitsch _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: winmail.dat Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 32186 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/5f9834b3/attachment-0001.bin From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 11:58:00 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:58:00 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1093] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web In-Reply-To: <0F29A6ADD54029428A60D3E865123205034BE962@mail.Appalachiantech.edu> References: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> <0F29A6ADD54029428A60D3E865123205034BE962@mail.Appalachiantech.edu> Message-ID: <007d01c948d5$a6264690$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Thanks for your question, Diane. These resources are things like websites, print materials, local programs - a variety of online and offline learning resources. Learning Plans match Learners to relevant resources at each of their steps (based on information in this resource database). So in a Learning Plan directed towards the goal of passing the GED, different content resources (reading, math, science, ..) would be presented to Learners as they progress through different content areas and skill levels. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Diane Ingram Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 6:37 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1080] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web The website mentions "650 resources' currently in the LW database. What are some of these resources, and can you give a scenario of how they might be used? Thanks, Diane Diane Ingram Executive Director of Adult Education Appalachian Technical College 100 Campus Drive Jasper, GA 30143 706-253-4544 dingram at AppalachianTech.edu A Unit of the Technical College System of Georgia _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Reder Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:10 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/fc4938cf/attachment.html From margotwalsh at msn.com Mon Nov 17 11:56:13 2008 From: margotwalsh at msn.com (Margot Walsh) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:56:13 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1094] recession tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes I agree and am looking forward to signing up for the demo. This resource is especially useful during these times of economic and funding uncertainty. From: mlanen at ndecboston.orgTo: specialtopics at nifl.govDate: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:23:23 -0500Subject: [SpecialTopics 1087] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning The Learner Web is exciting with all its possibilities. It looks like a very valuable tool. This would be a great opportunity for independent learners with basic computer skills. Finding the learner?s needs from the student assessments and developing a learning plan with all the resources to help is a creative use of technology for education. From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. RosenSent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:37 AMTo: specialtopics at nifl.govSubject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA Learns which she can best address. I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our guests at any time this week. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com _________________________________________________________________ Get 30 Free Emoticons for your Windows Live Messenger http://www.livemessenger-emoticons.com/funfamily/en-ie/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/eb7ffc20/attachment.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Mon Nov 17 12:04:35 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:04:35 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1095] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions In-Reply-To: <007401c948d5$08797020$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: Steve and all If you can find this information, it would likely be of great interest to many ? as there are numerous understandings of intergenerational literacy, parent involvement and community literacy initiatives that may be informed by such activity/interaction. thanks Janet From: Steve Reder Reply-To: Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:53:36 -0500 To: Conversation: [SpecialTopics 1079] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions Subject: [SpecialTopics 1092] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions Hi Belinda, One of our demonstration sites is Washington DC. If you contact me offline (reders at pdx.edu) I?ll be glad to give you some specific contact information so you can get in touch with the coordinator of the local demonstration to pursue your question. -Steve From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 3:55 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1079] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions Hi, I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. Thanks. Belinda Omenitsch From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org ? What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? ? Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? ? If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner?s progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan?s Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/d2a76dc2/attachment-0001.html From macdonaldt at mac.com Mon Nov 17 15:34:27 2008 From: macdonaldt at mac.com (Tom Macdonald) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:34:27 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1096] LearnerWeb and digital literacy Message-ID: <6AA55859-8A6A-41ED-B143-04F693EE282A@mac.com> Hi Steve, I hope these questions are clear and on topic -- if not, maybe we'll have the chance to talk some other time... As near as I understand it, the Learner Web has two facets. First, it acts as a central repository for resources (online and otherwise) which have been identified by teachers as useful learning opportunities. What's important about this is the potential to collect and publish local resources such as teacher-made, online learning activities, or local physical resources which offer learning activities or opportunities. Second, it acts as a structure (or workspace) which scaffolds these resources by nesting them within a step-by-step, goal-oriented learning plan. Both physical and virtual resources provide the main content of the lesson plans in a Learning Plan. My questions have to do with digital literacy generally and navigation specifically. Will the LearnerWeb help learners develop basic computer skills such as mouse manipulation, keyboarding, printing, web browsing, etc., or are these prerequisite skills? Can it help learners develop a more informed sense of what the internet is and what information and communication possiblities there are? (...or is the development of this "informed sense" even necessary to use the LearnerWeb effectively)? The LearnerWeb as repository suggests a navigational structure of a simple directory of hyperlinks; the LearnerWeb as scaffold suggests a more complicated, pre-planned interplay of sites (the familiar LearnerWeb home from which the learner ventures out into the world of virtual or physical resources and to which the learner returns for further guidance). How important are the learner's navigational skills - not just cursor movement or double-clicking but having a sense of where in the virtual world they are and where they are going? From maureenh at azcallateen.k12.az.us Mon Nov 17 12:27:50 2008 From: maureenh at azcallateen.k12.az.us (maureen hoyt) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:27:50 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1097] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearnerWeb Message-ID: <77B24677B57F9646B244B93AE6B95C7901888B32@acat-exch.azcallateen.k12.az.us> I imagine you might have many learners from other countries. This might lead to other literacy programs globally soliciting volunteers--- Maureen Hoyt Basic Education Manager ACYR 602-252-6721ext 223 fax: 602-252-2952 www.azcallateen.k12.az.us www.az-aall.org Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Reder Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 9:44 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1090] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearnerWeb Good question, David. The Learner Web (LW) has a number of user roles. The most important, of course, is the Learner. There are also roles for a number of assistants - individuals who use the LW to interact with Learners in ways specified by particular learning plans. There are various types of assistants - Teachers, Tutors, Helpers, Counselors. Helpers are telephone-based volunteers who are matched to Learner's real-time requests and connected via a toll-free telephone application that is closely integrated into LW. They can provide help with use of the LW software as well as with particular topics or steps in Learning Plans. Helpers have profiles within the LW that indicate the kinds of topics they have expertise/training to assist with - e.g., math, writing, etc. When Learners request help with a special topic, they can be are matched with Helpers having that expertise who are currently online. With the Learner's permission, the Helper can view their screen. The system connects the learner and helper in a way that hides the each other's phone number. One part of the screen capture demo you mentioned illustrates how this happens. Helper volunteers are recruited, trained and managed by programs, organizations or coalitions implementing the Learner Web. We have training materials available that can be used in training for helper volunteers. Helpers can work from any phone - whether at home, at work, in a homework hotline-like calling center, a community-based organization calling center, etc. Helpers log in via the phone system and declare their availability for a certain period of time. The way the LW maintains confidentiality of the phone numbers being used makes this very portable. I hope this answers some of the questions people may have about Helpers. -Steve ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:28 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1077] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web Thanks, Steve, for this thorough introduction. Those who would like to see a screen capture video showing what the Learner Web looks like from a learner or from an administrator point of view, could go to http://learnerweb.org (Select "View Demonstration" to request a password to view the video.) One series of questions that I am sure many people have concerns telephone helpers. Who are they, what kinds of help do they provide, how are they recruited, how often do they do telephone helping, how do they differ from (face-to-face or online) tutors, and how is the privacy of the learner and the online helper protected? Now would be a good time for others to post their questions about the Learner Web, too. What would you like to know? David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Reder To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:09 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about Learner Web Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. The Learner Web is a learning support system intended to help adults reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments into Learning Plans. The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will teach users how to use the system. Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom interaction. Tutors - either online or face-to-face - have roles in LW and where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in Learning Plans. Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and automatically reported for NRS purposes. We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion this week. We're looking forward to it. ________________________________ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/46dcb760/attachment.html From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 14:33:35 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:33:35 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1098] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions In-Reply-To: <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D5021A@msebex1.msde.net> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <2433CF3169B9054193EB844AC38230CC06D5021A@msebex1.msde.net> Message-ID: <010601c948eb$62514ee0$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Thanks for your good questions, Karen. Learning Plans can de developed for a range of skill levels. As I mentioned in my first response, we won't know what the lower limit on skill levels will prove to be until we have gotten farther into our piloting process. There are roles for individuals to do intake/assessment within Learner Web, and fairly powerful and flexible ways to build assessment & intake processes into Learning Plans. Completion of particular Steps and Goals can be given proxy hour equivalents so that data reported out by the Learner Web about student progress through Learning Plans can include proxy hour equivalents. But these correspondences, of course, must be negotiated by programs in advance with their state directors in order to be used for NRS accountability reporting. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Karen Gianninoto Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 6:25 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1082] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions Good Morning, I would like to know how the tool can be used with low level ESL and ABE learners and is this tool better suited for instructors, or intake/assessment specialists? (This is the person who provides orientation, gives the assessments, refers students to other resources, and tracks learner progress. Is the tool feasible to use with large numbers of learners? (those programs over 1000.) In addition, I would like to know more about how state standards and local curriculum can be used/integrated with this program. Thanks, Karen Lisch Gianninoto Professional Development Specialist MSDE 200 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD 410-767-4150 410-479-4542 410-924-1529 _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: winmail.dat Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 33806 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/279bb1a8/attachment-0001.bin From reders at pdx.edu Mon Nov 17 14:38:04 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:38:04 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions In-Reply-To: <917DC64C48E557458148F7DFB880C8FE027BBED2@EXCHANGE.jeffco.schools> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <917DC64C48E557458148F7DFB880C8FE027BBED2@EXCHANGE.jeffco.schools> Message-ID: <010f01c948ec$02c27570$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a "learning support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online products. You can also find some information about that on the project website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your questions Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? Will you be covering life-skills based topics? Sherri _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: winmail.dat Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 32198 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/c0b8d600/attachment-0001.bin From DJRosen at theworld.com Mon Nov 17 18:17:47 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:17:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1100] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com><917DC64C48E557458148F7DFB880C8FE027BBED2@EXCHANGE.jeffco.schools> <010f01c948ec$02c27570$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: <3180806D6B54427182E9E93077995007@A1411> Steve, I wonder if you could briefly describe a couple of the LW Learning Plans, perhaps one being developed by a LW region or collaboration of regions, and another being developed by an individual or organization. I find this process of collaborative courriculum development at the regional and national level one of the LW's most interesting features. It is rare that adult education teacher/curriculum developers from different parts of the country have an opportunity to work together in this way. David David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Reder" To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions > Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a > "learning > support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online > products. You can also find some information about that on the project > website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a > variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various > life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to > encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already > happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for > example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other > areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). > > > > -Steve > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning > --your questions > > > > Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education > and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? > Will > you be covering life-skills based topics? > > > > Sherri > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions > for our guests: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in > my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns > will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. > We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if > you > like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, > available only for field testing in several selected regions around the > country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web > with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of > the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through > Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the > author > of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com From katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com Mon Nov 17 19:10:39 2008 From: katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com (Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:10:39 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1101] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions In-Reply-To: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: Yes, this does help, and you answered my second question in your introduction. You're good! : ) On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:51 AM, Steve Reder wrote: > Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through > Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users > but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the > project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions > in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national > rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed > training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW ? the > external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help > us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and > assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos > and manuals for training purposes. > > > > Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the > Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with > live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of > working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. > > > > Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. > > > > -Steve > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto: > specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] *On Behalf Of *Katherine Mercurio > Gotthardt > *Sent:* Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM > *To:* specialtopics at nifl.gov > *Subject:* [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning -- your questions > > > > Hi David-- > > 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ > from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a > program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, > culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. > Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated > contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of > tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any > feedback from subscription-only program providers? > > > > 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My > experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately > serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological > barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being > overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. > > Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to > ask questions early! > > On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, *New Designs in Online and Distance Learning,* and since so far I > have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions for our guests: > > > > *What questions would you like to ask our guests? * > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded *USA > Learns* will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion > begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at > it if you like. The *Learner Web* is a federally-funded demonstration > project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around > the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the *Learner Web*, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > ? What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* when we begin the discussion on > November 17th and 18th? > > ? Do you want to know how *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > ? If you are thinking about using either *USA Learns* or the *Learner Web > *with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? > What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions > do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what *you* want to get from > it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and > the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com > > > > > -- > Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt > www.LuxuriousChoices.net > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com > -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/9dd583a1/attachment-0001.html From JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org Mon Nov 17 19:55:46 2008 From: JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org (JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:55:46 -0600 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1102] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Message-ID: Steve As one of the Learner Web pilot sites, St. Paul has learned this about Learner Web -- it isn't Rosetta Stone or Lifetime Library or any other computer-assisted instruction. Rather, the learning plans are evolving structures that our agencies (libraries, community based organizations, school district, workforce centers, etc) will implement to support the adult learner as s/he moves around and through the systems of our community. It's what makes Learner Web difficult to describe but ultimately so powerful. Judy Mortrude ABE Supervisor Saint Paul Adult Learning To: cc: bcc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1100] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 11/17/2008 06:17 PM EST Please respond to specialtopics Steve, I wonder if you could briefly describe a couple of the LW Learning Plans, perhaps one being developed by a LW region or collaboration of regions, and another being developed by an individual or organization. I find this process of collaborative courriculum development at the regional and national level one of the LW's most interesting features. It is rare that adult education teacher/curriculum developers from different parts of the country have an opportunity to work together in this way. David David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Reder" To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions > Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a > "learning > support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online > products. You can also find some information about that on the project > website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a > variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various > life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to > encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already > happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for > example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other > areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). > > > > -Steve > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning > --your questions > > > > Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education > and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? > Will > you be covering life-skills based topics? > > > > Sherri > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions > for our guests: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in > my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns > will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. > We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if > you > like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, > available only for field testing in several selected regions around the > country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web > with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of > the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through > Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the > author > of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to judy.mortrude at spps.org From kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us Mon Nov 17 22:21:48 2008 From: kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us (Kathy Borgone) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:21:48 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1103] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans References: Message-ID: Judy As one of the pilot sites for the Learner Web, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. You said it was a "powerful" tool. That leads me to believe that you are very encouraged based on what you have seen thus far . I teach ABE and ESL and was wondering if you were equally pleased with the potential interaction students could have with the Learner Web? Thanks!! M. Kathy Borgone - Instructor New Brunswick Public Schools ADULT LEARNING CENTER 268 Baldwin St. 2nd Fl. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732)745-5300 xt. 4501 kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org Sent: Mon 11/17/2008 7:55 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1102] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Steve As one of the Learner Web pilot sites, St. Paul has learned this about Learner Web -- it isn't Rosetta Stone or Lifetime Library or any other computer-assisted instruction. Rather, the learning plans are evolving structures that our agencies (libraries, community based organizations, school district, workforce centers, etc) will implement to support the adult learner as s/he moves around and through the systems of our community. It's what makes Learner Web difficult to describe but ultimately so powerful. Judy Mortrude ABE Supervisor Saint Paul Adult Learning To: cc: bcc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1100] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 11/17/2008 06:17 PM EST Please respond to specialtopics Steve, I wonder if you could briefly describe a couple of the LW Learning Plans, perhaps one being developed by a LW region or collaboration of regions, and another being developed by an individual or organization. I find this process of collaborative courriculum development at the regional and national level one of the LW's most interesting features. It is rare that adult education teacher/curriculum developers from different parts of the country have an opportunity to work together in this way. David David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Reder" To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions > Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a > "learning > support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online > products. You can also find some information about that on the project > website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a > variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various > life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to > encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already > happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for > example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other > areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). > > > > -Steve > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning > --your questions > > > > Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education > and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? > Will > you be covering life-skills based topics? > > > > Sherri > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions > for our guests: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in > my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns > will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. > We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if > you > like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, > available only for field testing in several selected regions around the > country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web > with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of > the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through > Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the > author > of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to judy.mortrude at spps.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 21099 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/ca1e977e/attachment-0001.bin From reders at pdx.edu Tue Nov 18 02:14:43 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:14:43 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1104] Re: LearnerWeb and digital literacy In-Reply-To: <6AA55859-8A6A-41ED-B143-04F693EE282A@mac.com> References: <6AA55859-8A6A-41ED-B143-04F693EE282A@mac.com> Message-ID: <001601c9494d$5487b8a0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Tom - great questions. We will have multimedia materials (e.g., videos showing how to do things on LW) to help Learners with basic digital literacy and navigation skills for the LW. We also hope that various types of assistants (including telephone-based Helpers) can help adults get started using the LW. For example, an adult walks into a public library and the reference librarian notices that the adult has trouble reading some of the materials of interest. The librarian might sit down with the adult, make them a LW account on the spot, help them get started with an appropriate Learning Plan and show them how to get help when it's needed. All of these things may scaffold some adult with weak computer skills to get started. But how low a skill level can be effectively scaffolded in this way? We don't know yet but should have more information about this as our piloting process continues. Hope this helps a bit. -Steve -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Tom Macdonald Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 12:34 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1096] LearnerWeb and digital literacy Hi Steve, I hope these questions are clear and on topic -- if not, maybe we'll have the chance to talk some other time... As near as I understand it, the Learner Web has two facets. First, it acts as a central repository for resources (online and otherwise) which have been identified by teachers as useful learning opportunities. What's important about this is the potential to collect and publish local resources such as teacher-made, online learning activities, or local physical resources which offer learning activities or opportunities. Second, it acts as a structure (or workspace) which scaffolds these resources by nesting them within a step-by-step, goal-oriented learning plan. Both physical and virtual resources provide the main content of the lesson plans in a Learning Plan. My questions have to do with digital literacy generally and navigation specifically. Will the LearnerWeb help learners develop basic computer skills such as mouse manipulation, keyboarding, printing, web browsing, etc., or are these prerequisite skills? Can it help learners develop a more informed sense of what the internet is and what information and communication possiblities there are? (...or is the development of this "informed sense" even necessary to use the LearnerWeb effectively)? The LearnerWeb as repository suggests a navigational structure of a simple directory of hyperlinks; the LearnerWeb as scaffold suggests a more complicated, pre-planned interplay of sites (the familiar LearnerWeb home from which the learner ventures out into the world of virtual or physical resources and to which the learner returns for further guidance). How important are the learner's navigational skills - not just cursor movement or double-clicking but having a sense of where in the virtual world they are and where they are going? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to reders at pdx.edu From reders at pdx.edu Tue Nov 18 02:30:25 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:30:25 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1105] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans In-Reply-To: <3180806D6B54427182E9E93077995007@A1411> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com><917DC64C48E557458148F7DFB880C8FE027BBED2@EXCHANGE.jeffco.schools><010f01c948ec$02c27570$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> <3180806D6B54427182E9E93077995007@A1411> Message-ID: <001b01c9494f$85ec9c10$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> David - I'd be glad to mention a couple examples. The National College Transition Network (NCTN) is developing a Learning Plan to support the successful transition of adult education students into postsecondary institutions. An example of cross-site collaboration on a Learning Plan would be that between the St. Paul Literacy Consortium and Union County College in New Jersey, who are working together on Learning Plans for preparation for specific career tracks. In general, Learning Plan designers can set attributes on their plans so that they can be shared by other Regions implementing Learner Web. We hope this sharing of Learning Plans will encourage organizations and communities to develop still more Learning Plans. Our partners are engaged in an interesting discussion about how we will maintain content quality standards in our Learning Plans and their associated Resources. A number of alternative processes are being considered. -Steve -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:18 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1100] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Steve, I wonder if you could briefly describe a couple of the LW Learning Plans, perhaps one being developed by a LW region or collaboration of regions, and another being developed by an individual or organization. I find this process of collaborative courriculum development at the regional and national level one of the LW's most interesting features. It is rare that adult education teacher/curriculum developers from different parts of the country have an opportunity to work together in this way. David David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Reder" To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions > Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a > "learning > support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online > products. You can also find some information about that on the project > website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a > variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various > life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to > encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already > happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for > example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other > areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). > > > > -Steve > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning > --your questions > > > > Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education > and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? > Will > you be covering life-skills based topics? > > > > Sherri > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions > for our guests: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in > my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns > will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. > We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if > you > like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, > available only for field testing in several selected regions around the > country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web > with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of > the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through > Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the > author > of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to reders at pdx.edu From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 08:29:43 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:29:43 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1106] USA Learns Message-ID: <342B39F195D64260AD9A38E606FEE696@A1411> Colleagues, Thanks for all your interesting questions. Although you can continue to ask questions and comment on the Learner Web, I'd like to have John Fleischman present USA Learns now, and then I'll post more of your questions for John, Jere, Leslie and Sheryl, as well as for Steve and Clare. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/933669ed/attachment.html From Gary.Upham at maine.gov Tue Nov 18 07:06:49 2008 From: Gary.Upham at maine.gov (Upham, Gary) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:06:49 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1107] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DF88@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> Good morning. I am the principal at the Maine State Prison, where we have an active education department but little resources available. I also am President Elect of the Maine Adult Corrections association. Due to the nature of this program our access for inmates (which demographically would have about 25-50% of a population that could use this program), is not available through the web. How can we access and is it a possibility to create a special program for this population? My goal is that all facilities would have access to programs like this in a secure web environment. Thanks Gary Upham/MSP -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:58 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions (Steve Reder) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:51:07 -0800 From: "Steve Reder" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions To: Message-ID: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9 at PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW - the external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos and manuals for training purposes. Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/7a6ec04 1/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 ******************************************** From jfleischman at scoe.net Sun Nov 16 16:08:13 2008 From: jfleischman at scoe.net (John Fleischman) Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:08:13 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1108] U.S.A. Learns overview Message-ID: U.S.A Learns ? A New Web Resource to Help Immigrants Learn English On November 7, 2008, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), U.S. Department of Education announced the availability of U.S.A. Learns ? a new Web site to help immigrants learn English (www.usalearns.org). The site was developed by Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) in conjunction with the University of Michigan and Project IDEAL, as part of a larger project on technology innovations and distance learning for adult education (www.adultedonline.org). U.S.A. Learns is a free ESL instructional program developed primarily for immigrant adults with limited English language skills who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site offers practice activities in listening, reading, writing and speaking skills as well as life skills necessary for success at work and in the community. All instructional materials are online; there are no videos, workbooks, or other materials for printing. Learners can use U.S.A. Learns independently or under the auspices of a tutor or teacher. The potential learner might work from home, a public library, or a workplace setting. Three Courses of Study The U.S.A. Learns Web site consists of 3 distinct programs: - First English Course: 20 video-based, beginner-level units - Second English Course: 17 video-based, intermediate-level units - Practice English and Reading: 42 intermediate-level stories and activities The First English Course in intended for beginning-level learners functioning at NRS levels 2-3. These students are often considered Low Beginning to High Beginning ESL. The Second English Course is intended for learners functioning at NRS levels 4-5, generally considered Low Intermediate to High Intermediate ESL. Some aspects of this course may contain slightly lower and higher level material. Those familiar with English for All developed by SCOE will recognize the Second English Course as an upgrade and expansion of that popular online course. The activities in the Practice English and Reading section will be beneficial to ABE and GED students, as well as immigrants building their English skills. The stories in this section are designed to build vocabulary and comprehension skills. Computer Skills and Technical Requirements Learners do not need advanced computer skills to use U.S.A. Learns. Our usability testing to date indicates that learners with fairly limited computer skills and only moderate educational attainment in their native country can do well in the program. Basic computer skills needed to navigate the learning activities: - Mouse (click and scroll) - Keyboard (letters, punctuation, backspace, shift key, space bar) - Web browser (open a browser, navigate a basic Web site, click buttons and links) Hardware Requirements The U.S.A. Learns site is accessible from almost any computer with a fast Internet connection. U.S.A. Learns will not operate via a dial-up modem connection. Learners need a computer with: - A fast broadband Internet connection (384 Kbps or faster). - An up-to-date Web browser with the Flash plug-in. - A sound card. - Speakers or headphones.? A microphone connected to the computer is recommended for speaking practice, but use of the microphone is optional. School or Classroom Use The wide bandwidth requirements for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use by as few as three learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the learning experience frustrating. The Role of Teachers and Tutors with U.S.A. Learns U.S.A. Learns is designed primarily for individual distance learning outside of the traditional classroom. But a tutor or teacher can use the Web site's learning management system to create an online class and support one or more students in their studies. The learning management system enables educators to view students' work and provide feedback online. Teacher management features allow teachers to: - Create an online class. - Print an instruction document to help learners sign up for the online class. - Monitor a student's progress and scores. - Score and comment on writing assignments. - Post messages to the online class.? To access the management system, go to www.usalearns.org/teacher. Students who enroll in an online class with a teacher go to www.usalearns.org/class. One of the appeals of distance learning is the freedom it gives students to study at their own pace and at times and places convenient to their busy everyday schedules. However, it also removes the social support of a classroom teacher and fellow students who offer encouragement, feedback and motivation. Teachers and tutors of U.S.A. Learns will need to develop strategies to support and motivate students to stay focused on their learning needs and goals in the online learning environment. The official fact sheet on U.S.A. Learns can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/factsh/usa-learns-fs_0811.pdf -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081116/6e435943/attachment-0001.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Tue Nov 18 08:40:08 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:40:08 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1109] less unclear? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Colleagues - David has kindly pointed out that the question I'd posed yesterday about intergenerational learning was not altogether clear. Trying again: I was hoping, Steve, to ask you - and others involved - to speak to the notions of what happens when computer and schools spaces, normally made available to kids, become available to adults. An earlier message had contained a question about what /how the program in DC would communicate information about themselves to parents. While Steve offered contact information for that program, I was also hoping that he, and/or anyone working at that site, might say a bit more about what, if any, parent engagement/inclusion had developed. hope this helps thanks Janet From e.b.shupe at lycos.com Mon Nov 17 16:28:24 2008 From: e.b.shupe at lycos.com (e s) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:28:24 -0500 (EST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1110] [RE] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Message-ID: <20081117162824.HM.0000000000004Cg@e.b.shupe.bos-mail-wwl15.lycos.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/88e56a40/attachment.html From gbitterl at sdccd.edu Mon Nov 3 12:49:57 2008 From: gbitterl at sdccd.edu (Gretchen Bitterlin) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:49:57 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1111] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: I would like to know what NRS levels USA Learns was written for. I would also like to hear about the proposed online and distance learning models for using it. Thank you, Gretchen Bitterlin ESL Program Chair ESL Resource Office 4343 Ocean View Blvd. San Diego, CA 92113 619-388-4946 ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 8:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081103/8ccfb7fb/attachment-0001.html From gbundy at rmi.net Mon Nov 17 12:25:37 2008 From: gbundy at rmi.net (Gail B) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:25:37 -0500 (GMT-05:00) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1112] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web Message-ID: <25881950.1226942737720.JavaMail.root@elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/48071895/attachment.html From holly at dilatush.com Sun Nov 2 12:06:12 2008 From: holly at dilatush.com (Holly Dilatush) Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:06:12 -0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1113] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning -- your questions In-Reply-To: <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: Hello David, all, Bring on the guilt! I'm very intrigued by The Learner Web and USA Learns projects (especially USA Learns). I've just made time to read through FAQs and explore the Learner Web site. Concerns I have stem primarily from direct learner support (effectiveness/meaningful learning/encouragement) and funding. I am a hands-on learner, and feel I need to explore the site as a learner would before I can formulate more questions. Now, I'm a bit confused. As an online learner (I've completed many courses through many online mediums -- WebCT, D2L, Yahoo groups, Moodle, more -- and am presently completing a master's online). Through these experiences, and as a facilitator for online classes of my own planning, I know that some courses can feel like "going through the motions" (and satisfying required 'evidence' of participation in educational opportunities) and yet not really propel one to meaningful learning; others can be incredible life-changing experiences. Except for a few cases, it is also my belief that blended/hybrid models engage and promote retention, motivation, meaningful learning MUCH more than 'solo' pure online efforts. ? Do you want to know how *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? *Definitely, yes. I'm interested in knowing whether the developers' personal experience in online learning was tapped as models were explored* ** *Have all of the developers themselves been online learners -- synchronous, asynchronous, team/group projects or solo, self-paced or timelined, etc.?* > ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > *a comparison chart would be useful for reflection. But every online learning adventure I've been on has been different. There are SO many 'little things' that affect positive outcomes. * ** *I'm an advocate for Moodles, or other platforms that allow photos (or other avatars of choice) so that each communication with another person 'feels' more personal. Will either USA Learns or the Learner Web include a feature like this?* ** *Will social networking components be built into either USA Learns or Learner Web?* ** > ? If you are thinking about using either *USA Learns* or the *Learner Web > *with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? > What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions > do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > *I use WiZiQ (interactive whiteboards/web-based classrooms) and Moodles. In what ways will these programs offer the same options, in which ways more options, in which ways less? Presently, I'm facilitating private tutoring -- Basic Literacy, Pronunciation, Citizenship, Writing, Reading comprehension, Listening and Speaking, Idioms, "USA culture and history", using Drama in ESOL, GRE prep, TOEFL prep, business English -- a wide range! * ** *I'll be actively following this discussion. * *As always, thank YOU, David, for all your efforts and contributions,* *Holly* Holly (Dilatush) Charlottesville, VA USA ABA Virtual Learning Center holly at dilatush.com (434) 960.7177 cell phone (434) 295.9716 home phone [OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time] "Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and nurture in nature." (original by Holly) http://tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com http://abavirtual-learningcenter.org http://blogblossoms.edublogs.org *Twitter and Skype IDs = smilin7 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081102/3eeeb7a2/attachment.html From katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com Mon Nov 17 08:08:14 2008 From: katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com (Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:08:14 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1114] Re: initial response to questions about Learner Web In-Reply-To: References: <00d801c94859$8f587cc0$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: Whew! Yes, thank you for this start. I had other questions as well that I submitted, but David also stated some of my questions, especially those related to telephone help. I've not had tremendous success with this since first, many learners are not fluent enough to communicate their questions and second, they are shy about actually USING the language. Students in live classes are pretty much put on the spot and MUST speak English, but it's easy to avoid calling a stranger. I suspect this would add to retention problems. I'm also wondering if this program is a Federal program, the one President Bush suggested last year. On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 5:27 AM, David J. Rosen wrote: > Thanks, Steve, for this thorough introduction. Those who would like to > see a screen capture video showing what the Learner Web looks like from a > learner or from an administrator point of view, could go to > http://learnerweb.org (Select "View Demonstration" to request a password > to view the video.) > > One series of questions that I am sure many people have concerns telephone > helpers. Who are they, what kinds of help do they provide, how are they > recruited, how often do they do telephone helping, how do they differ from > (face-to-face or online) tutors, and how is the privacy of the learner and > the online helper protected? > > Now would be a good time for others to post their questions about the > Learner Web, too. What would you like to know? > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Steve Reder > *To:* specialtopics at nifl.gov > *Sent:* Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:09 PM > *Subject:* [SpecialTopics 1076] initial response to questions about > Learner Web > > Hello, everyone. We're delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the > Learner Web this week and to answer questions you have. And, indeed, you've > already posed some excellent questions. Before turning to specific > questions, however, let's briefly review what the Learner Web is, as it's > quite different in intent from other online or distance learning systems. > > > > The Learner Web is a *learning support system* intended to help adults > reach important learning goals they may have, such as obtaining a GED, > improving their English, transitioning to college, preparing for a > particular career, etc. A learner can access the system through the > Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates > support services from existing local education programs, community based > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a > Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is > organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps > structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is > to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, > identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and > knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and > community based resources and a workspace where Learners can take > assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The Learner creates a > personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest > inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the learning > plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > educational resources. The Learner's progress is saved and can be returned > to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their > workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web is being demonstrated in a number of sites across the > country over the next two years. We plan to use the experiences of the > local communities and organizations involved in the demonstration to help us > design a sustainable national rollout starting in the fall of 2010. It may > be possible for interested programs, organization or communities to join the > project and begin using the Learner Web before that time. At the moment, > there are Learner Web implementations is Portland OR, St. Paul MN, Boston > MA, Providence RI, Westchester NY, Union County NJ and Washington DC. > > > > Now for some of your questions. A couple people asked if LW could be used > by free-standing adult learners, that is, by adults who are not enrolled in > formal programs. The answer to that depends on the Region implementing it. > During our demonstration project, some of our Regions are limiting its use > initially during the piloting period to students in their classes. Other > regions are allowing learners to create their own accounts and use the > system independently. Once Learners have accounts, they log in to the > system, select their goals, and start working on related Learning Plans > (which provide assessments and appropriate placements into Learning Plans). > > > > Several questions asked about the reading, math, and computer skill levels > required to use the system. We will have good answers to those questions > after we complete the piloting period currently underway. For now, I would > say that we've seen adults with little previous education or native language > literacy struggle with the navigation within LW, while other adult students > find it relatively easy to use. The difficulty experienced depends not just > on the Learner Web software itself (which we frequently revise to make > friendlier to a broader range of adult learners) but on the content of the > Learning Plans and Resources developed for the system. Learning Plans can > be targeted to adults at different skill levels. It is straightforward to > incorporate multilingual and multimedia content, prompts and assessments > into Learning Plans. > > > > The LW design was based on research about adult learning that indicated > that adults with quite low levels of skill can and often do engage in > self-directed efforts to improve their basic skills. But this research did > not focus specifically on the self-directed use of online tools, so it is > important to wait for the experience of our pilot sites with a range of > learners before answering the question. We hope the integrated help systems > we have built into LW (including telephone based helpers) will scaffold its > use by low-skilled adults so that a broader skill range of adults may be > able to use the system than if they had to do it totally on their own. We > plan to use videos, podcasts and other multimedia to provide initial > orientation to users. A simple Learning Plan is being developed that will > teach users how to use the system. > > > > Several questions asked about specific features of the LW system and how > they relate to features of web-based classroom platforms such as Moodle, > WiZiQ, etc. Although there are some overlaps between LW and other such > systems, and indeed LW could be used as just a platform for an online > course, it is really designed for supporting a range of self-study and > blended learning models, working hand-in-hand with and coordinating > collaboration among community resources, programs and services to support > learners. LW can also be used to add functionality and enhance other online > products; for example, a Learning Plan could wrap around an online product > and add telephone-based volunteers who help learners working with the other > online product. Another example: using telephone-based volunteers as > conversation partners in an ESOL Learning Plan. We see the LW as enhancing > and supplementing rather than replacing live teachers and classroom > interaction. Tutors ? either online or face-to-face ? have roles in LW and > where available are easily integrated into Learning Plans. Relatively > little social networking functionality is built directly into LW but it is > straightforward to add social networking sites/software as Resources in > Learning Plans. > > > > Assessment of progress in LW is measured directly in terms of learners' > completion of key steps and goals within particular Learning Plans. > Learning Plans may be designed so that the completion of some steps is > determined by learners themselves, whereas other steps require a teacher or > tutor using the LW to determine whether the step is completed by looking at > an assessment or assignment submitted by the learner. Steps have workspace > items associated with them, which may be automatically scored tests or > assessments or assignments that must be graded by a teacher or other LW user > who views the learner's work. If programs negotiate proxy hour equivalents > with their states for completion of key steps or goals in a Learning Plan, > those equivalents can be directly entered into the Learning Plan design and > automatically reported for NRS purposes. > > > > We'll stop here. We weren't able to respond here to all of the questions > initially posed, but I'm sure they'll come up as we continue the discussion > this week. We're looking forward to it. > > > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com > -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/cd7da874/attachment-0001.html From mlanen at ndecboston.org Tue Nov 4 12:28:28 2008 From: mlanen at ndecboston.org (Margaret Lanen) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 12:28:28 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1115] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <3F1B3696F3EA4331BAE5D008327FFB1D@ndecb.local> Hello David, The discussion looks very interesting. Here are my questions for USA Learns: 1. We are currently offering an online class for intermediate level ESOL students using English for All. We understand that USA Learns uses similar content for its intermediate level course. Please describe the difference between the intermediate level course in USA Learns and English for All. 2. Can a student make a smooth transition from EFA to USA Learns or does the student need to complete EFA if he/she is enrolled in that class? I am waiting for my account to be created for Learner Web. (I hope I put in the correct region affiliation. (Boston) and referred by (David Rosen). I signed in several hours ago but have not received a reply. Thank you. Margaret Lanen From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081104/a460298d/attachment-0001.html From tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu Mon Nov 17 12:57:05 2008 From: tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu (Tammy M. Turner) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:57:05 -0500 (EST) Subject: [SpecialTopics 1116] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> How accessible is a program, like USA Learns, in prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities? ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:36:54 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] ?New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL.? They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. USA? Learns,?with core funding?from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, launched earlier this month ( http://usalearns.org ) and is a national?adult?ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now?at no cost?to adult learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute?of Museum and Library Services.?The Learner Web?is available now?only?for piloting, and only in certain regions of the country.? I am an advisor to USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor?for the Learner Web, so?I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. We will begin today?with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web.?Clare is?also on the Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a presentation?about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) County Office of Education.?John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie Petty, both from the University of MIchigan.??They will also be joined by Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA Learns which she can best address. I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments?for our guests at any time this week. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu -- Tammy M. Turner, MPH CHES Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention Coordinator Georgia Institute of Technology Stamps Health Services Department of Health Promotion 740 Ferst Drive NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0470 404-894-0473 Tammy.Turner at health.gatech.edu http://www.health.gatech.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/dec8c1ad/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 09:18:33 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:18:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1117] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans References: Message-ID: <0249B5E85DB041728B02E6046673212B@A1411> Posted for Judy Mortrude: ----- Original Message ----- From: JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:55 AM Subject: Re: [SpecialTopics 1103] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Kathy The learning plans we've launched thus far are primarily ESL -- we plan to have the work readiness ABE plans up in December. It's been really interesting to see ESL adults use LW. While many of these learners have used ESL software, all of these adults are new to online learning -- LW has been their first "invitation" to this type of instruction and they have been really compelled to dig into it. In this pilot stage, learners are using the LW under our observation -- in classes. In other words, these adults find LW through us. In my opinion, the real strength of LW will be when adults find us (educators, workforce development staff, libraries, community ed resources, etc) through the LW. Judy "Kathy Borgone" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 11/17/2008 10:21 PM EST Please respond to specialtopics To: cc: bcc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1103] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Judy As one of the pilot sites for the Learner Web, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. You said it was a "powerful" tool. That leads me to believe that you are very encouraged based on what you have seen thus far . I teach ABE and ESL and was wondering if you were equally pleased with the potential interaction students could have with the Learner Web? Thanks!! M. Kathy Borgone - Instructor New Brunswick Public Schools ADULT LEARNING CENTER 268 Baldwin St. 2nd Fl. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732)745-5300 xt. 4501 kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of JUDY.MORTRUDE at spps.org Sent: Mon 11/17/2008 7:55 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1102] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans Steve As one of the Learner Web pilot sites, St. Paul has learned this about Learner Web -- it isn't Rosetta Stone or Lifetime Library or any other computer-assisted instruction. Rather, the learning plans are evolving structures that our agencies (libraries, community based organizations, school district, workforce centers, etc) will implement to support the adult learner as s/he moves around and through the systems of our community. It's what makes Learner Web difficult to describe but ultimately so powerful. Judy Mortrude ABE Supervisor Saint Paul Adult Learning To: cc: bcc: Subject: [SpecialTopics 1100] Re: Learner Web's Learning Plans "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 11/17/2008 06:17 PM EST Please respond to specialtopics Steve, I wonder if you could briefly describe a couple of the LW Learning Plans, perhaps one being developed by a LW region or collaboration of regions, and another being developed by an individual or organization. I find this process of collaborative courriculum development at the regional and national level one of the LW's most interesting features. It is rare that adult education teacher/curriculum developers from different parts of the country have an opportunity to work together in this way. David David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Reder" To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 2:38 PM Subject: [SpecialTopics 1099] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning--your questions > Thanks, Sherri. I tried to describe in my initial response how a > "learning > support system" like the Learner Web differs from other types of online > products. You can also find some information about that on the project > website, www.learnerweb.org . We hope that a > variety of organizations will develop Learning Plans for various > life-skills. As developers of the Learner Web platform, we want to > encourage and support others to develop content for it. That is already > happening in the areas of family literacy and college transition, for > example. Anyone interested in possibly developing Learning Plans in other > areas should contact me (reders at pdx.edu). > > > > -Steve > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Durman Sherri L. > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:31 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1083] Re: New Designs in Online and > DistanceLearning > --your questions > > > > Yes, I want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education > and English language learning models? How does this work with adults? > Will > you be covering life-skills based topics? > > > > Sherri > > > > _____ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 9:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions > for our guests: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in > my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns > will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. > We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if > you > like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, > available only for field testing in several selected regions around the > country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web > with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of > the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through > Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the > author > of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to judy.mortrude at spps.org ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to kathy_borgone at nbps.k12.nj.us ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to judy.mortrude at spps.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/93fe15e7/attachment-0001.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 09:21:08 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:21:08 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1118] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning References: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> Message-ID: Posted for Steve Steurer ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Steurer To: Tammy M. Turner ; specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:09 AM Subject: RE: [SpecialTopics 1116] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning Internet is not allowed in prison and jail education classrooms so there is no accessibility. Some juvenile facilities may have limited access to the Internet, but generally incarcerated or detained youth do not have Internet. The issue with the prisons is security and cost and there is little interest among departments of corrections putting Internet into prisons. Steve Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road #202 Elkridge, MD 21044 Tel: 443-459-3080 x11 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org Email: ssteurer at ceanational.org "Transforming Lives" From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Tammy M. Turner Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 12:57 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1116] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning How accessible is a program, like USA Learns, in prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/d938f622/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 09:28:24 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:28:24 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1119] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> References: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811180628t2cdfd567u996117ca5a98e4a1@mail.gmail.com> Tammy,That would depend on the policies of those institutions. USAL is freely available on the Internet, so accessibility would be limited by the restrictions on Web use and access at the institution. There are no DVDs, CDs or print materials; everything is online. Leslie On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM, Tammy M. Turner < tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu> wrote: > How accessible is a program, like USA Learns, in prisons, jails, or > juvenile facilities? > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:36:54 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > > Special Topics Colleagues, > > Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models > specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. > They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they > differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. > USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult > Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a > national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult > learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a > three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of > Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for > piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to > USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, > so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. > > We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder > from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare > Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the > Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a > presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) > County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie > Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by > Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational > and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA > Learns which she can best address. > > I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this > discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our > guests at any time this week. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special > Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your > subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to > tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu > > -- > Tammy M. Turner, MPH CHES > Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention Coordinator > Georgia Institute of Technology > Stamps Health Services > Department of Health Promotion > 740 Ferst Drive NW > Atlanta, GA 30332-0470 > 404-894-0473 > Tammy.Turner at health.gatech.edu > http://www.health.gatech.edu > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to leslie.lpetty at gmail.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/a3a75f6d/attachment-0001.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 09:28:39 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:28:39 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1120] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811180628ydd642beu7374f39b3398b1f2@mail.gmail.com> Gretchen,The First English Course is intended for beginning-level learners functioning at NRS levels 2-3. These students are often considered Low Beginning to High Beginning ESL. The Second English Course is intended for learners functioning at NRS levels 4-5, generally considered Low Intermediate to High Intermediate ESL. The stories and activities in the Practice English and Reading section are designed to build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills and are geared primarily for Intermediate ESL students. At this time, we are not aware of specific online or distance learning models. The establishment of Proxy Contact Hours will be an important element in its use for distance learning (for agencies that want to include those students in the NRS). Because there is a unit mastery quiz for every unit in the First and Second English courses, a mastery model should fit. But a study needs to be done to establish the number of Proxy Contact Hours that should be earned for demonstrating mastery on the quizzes. The study will require assembling panels of teachers to establish norms for the hours associated with completing the work in a unit. It may be quite awhile before this work is completed. Leslie On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:49 PM, Gretchen Bitterlin wrote: > I would like to know what NRS levels USA Learns was written for. I would > also like to hear about the proposed online and distance learning models > for using it. > > Thank you, > > > > Gretchen Bitterlin > > ESL Program Chair > > ESL Resource Office > > 4343 Ocean View Blvd. > > San Diego, CA 92113 > > 619-388-4946 > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto: > specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] *On Behalf Of *David Rosen > *Sent:* Sunday, November 02, 2008 8:06 AM > *To:* specialtopics at nifl.gov > *Subject:* [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance > Learning --your questions > > > > Colleagues, > > > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion > here, *New Designs in Online and Distance Learning,* and since so far I > have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your > questions for our guests: > > > > *What questions would you like to ask our guests? * > > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded *USA > Learns* will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion > begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at > it if you like. The *Learner Web* is a federally-funded demonstration > project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around > the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the *Learner Web*, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > > > ? What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* when we begin the discussion on > November 17th and 18th? > > ? Do you want to know how *USA Learns* and the *Learner Web* became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > > ? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > > ? If you are thinking about using either *USA Learns* or the *Learner Web > *with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? > What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions > do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what *you* want to get from > it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and > the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the > discussion. > > > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. > > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! > > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, > > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > > discussion. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their > > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > > interested in subscribing! > > > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > > > Description of the models > > > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > > services from existing local education programs, community based > > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning > > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one > > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. > > > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- > > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > > or tutor via an online management system. > > > > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > > > John Fleischman > > > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > > currently responsible for information and educational technology > > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > > (www.otan.us) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology > > (www.adultedonline.org). John is the author of numerous publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national > > conferences. > > > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > > development (projectideal.org). > > > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles > > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > > development. The results of this research have led to the > > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > > publications about his research and its implications for adult > > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > > levels. > > > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > > participation, the intersection of learning and community > > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. > > > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > National Institute for Literacy > > Special Topics mailing list > > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/ea6efb0a/attachment-0001.html From SSteurer at ceanational.org Tue Nov 18 09:39:05 2008 From: SSteurer at ceanational.org (Steve Steurer) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:39:05 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1121] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: <66d7e2a90811180628t2cdfd567u996117ca5a98e4a1@mail.gmail.com> References: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> <66d7e2a90811180628t2cdfd567u996117ca5a98e4a1@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: The policies are ironclad nationwide. Prison systems do not allow Internet into the classrooms. There are a few extremely restricted experiments with highly secure sites. And I do mean a few. Steve Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. Correctional Education Association 8182 Lark Brown Road #202 Elkridge, MD 21044 Tel: 443-459-3080 x11 Fax: 443-459-3088 www.ceanational.org Email: ssteurer at ceanational.org "Transforming Lives" From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Leslie Petty Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:28 AM To: Tammy M. Turner; specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1119] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Tammy, That would depend on the policies of those institutions. USAL is freely available on the Internet, so accessibility would be limited by the restrictions on Web use and access at the institution. There are no DVDs, CDs or print materials; everything is online. Leslie On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM, Tammy M. Turner wrote: How accessible is a program, like USA Learns, in prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities? ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Rosen" To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:36:54 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Special Topics Colleagues, Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA Learns which she can best address. I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our guests at any time this week. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu -- Tammy M. Turner, MPH CHES Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention Coordinator Georgia Institute of Technology Stamps Health Services Department of Health Promotion 740 Ferst Drive NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0470 404-894-0473 Tammy.Turner at health.gatech.edu http://www.health.gatech.edu ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to leslie.lpetty at gmail.com -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/7b7eaf24/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 09:45:58 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:45:58 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1122] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: References: <848540057.3940201226944625711.JavaMail.root@mail3.gatech.edu> <66d7e2a90811180628t2cdfd567u996117ca5a98e4a1@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811180645w3264180u88590ebec79db39a@mail.gmail.com> Steve,Thanks for the clarification. Based on this information, there would not be any access to USAL in those settings, since everything is online. Leslie On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 9:39 AM, Steve Steurer wrote: > The policies are ironclad nationwide. Prison systems do not allow > Internet into the classrooms. There are a few extremely restricted > experiments with highly secure sites. And I do mean a few. > > > > *S*teve > > > > Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D. > > Correctional Education Association > > 8182 Lark Brown Road #202 > > Elkridge, MD 21044 > > Tel: 443-459-3080 x11 > > Fax: 443-459-3088 > > www.ceanational.org > > Email: ssteurer at ceanational.org > > "Transforming Lives" > > > > *From:* specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto: > specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] *On Behalf Of *Leslie Petty > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:28 AM > *To:* Tammy M. Turner; specialtopics at nifl.gov > *Subject:* [SpecialTopics 1119] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance > Learning > > > > Tammy, > > That would depend on the policies of those institutions. USAL is freely > available on the Internet, so accessibility would be limited by the > restrictions on Web use and access at the institution. There are no DVDs, > CDs or print materials; everything is online. > > > > Leslie > > On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM, Tammy M. Turner < > tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu> wrote: > > How accessible is a program, like USA Learns, in prisons, jails, or > juvenile facilities? > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David J. Rosen" > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:36:54 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1075] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > > Special Topics Colleagues, > > > > Today we begin a discussion of two new online and distance learning models > specifically designed for adult literacy education, including ESL/ESOL. > They are the Learner Web and USA Learns. Each has much to offer, but they > differ in their design, audiences, and also in their stage of development. > USA Learns, with core funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult > Education, launched earlier this month (http://usalearns.org) and is a > national adult ESL/ESOL portal. It is available now at no cost to adult > learners everywhere.The Learner Web is beginning its second year of a > three-year, federally-funded demonstration grant from the Institute of > Museum and Library Services. The Learner Web is available now only for > piloting, and only in certain regions of the country. I am an advisor to > USA Learns, and am a Regional Implementation Advisor for the Learner Web, > so I have had the privilege of watching both projects evolve. > > > > We will begin today with a presentation of the Learner Web by Stephen Reder > from Portland State University. He will be joined in the discussion by Clare > Strawn, a co-developer with Steve, of the Learner Web. Clare is also on the > Portland State University faculty. On Tuesday we will have a > presentation about USA Learns by John Fleischman, from the Sacramento (CA) > County Office of Education. John will be joined by Jere Johnston and Leslie > Petty, both from the University of MIchigan. They will also be joined by > Sheryl Adler, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational > and Adult Education as there may be questions about the development of USA > Learns which she can best address. > > > > I am delighted that our guests -- and you -- can join us for this > discussion. Please feel free to post your questions and comments for our > guests at any time this week. > > > > David J. Rosen > > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special > Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your > subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to > tammy.turner at health.gatech.edu > > -- > Tammy M. Turner, MPH CHES > Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention Coordinator > Georgia Institute of Technology > Stamps Health Services > Department of Health Promotion > 740 Ferst Drive NW > Atlanta, GA 30332-0470 > 404-894-0473 > Tammy.Turner at health.gatech.edu > http://www.health.gatech.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to leslie.lpetty at gmail.com > > > > > -- > Leslie Petty, Ed.D. > Associate Director > Project IDEAL Support Center > University of Michigan > 734-425-0748 > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/a04468fe/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 10:56:37 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:56:37 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> Belinda, U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a group of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and Internet access. You could certainly make it available to parents of the children at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were testing the usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great deal of interest among our testers in getting other family members to use the site. There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the learning experience frustrating. Leslie On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) < belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov> wrote: > Hi, > I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the > students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that > we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the > individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is > available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to > take the course during the school day at our school. > Thanks. > Belinda Omenitsch > > ________________________________ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning > --your questions > > > Colleagues, > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only > received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions > for our guests: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see > in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA > Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion > begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at > it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration > project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around > the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions > of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November > 17th and 18th? > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with > your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What > group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do > you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum > (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. > Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the > discussion. > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To > subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay > subscribed for the next discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion > below. > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest > topic! > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion > begins, > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the > discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new > adult education models: a national learning portal for English > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based > and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement > their > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be > interested in subscribing! > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > Description of the models > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support > services from existing local education programs, community based > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A > Learning > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills > one > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community > based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the > country. > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with > limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on > the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive > built- > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher > or tutor via an online management system. > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > John Fleischman > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is > currently responsible for information and educational technology > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > educational environments. His present area of focus is on building > Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network > (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs > Through Technology > (www.adultedonline.org ). John is > the author of numerous publications > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and > national > conferences. > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy > development (projectideal.org). > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the > roles > which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that > development. The results of this research have led to the > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > publications about his research and its implications for adult > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national > levels. > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > participation, the intersection of learning and community > development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration > project. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/16235b00/attachment-0001.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 11:23:23 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:23:23 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1124] List Netiquette Message-ID: <1C1A5A9E56D64CF8AEED23B2138FC2E7@A1411> Special Topics Colleagues, To avoid getting so many postings in a day some subscribers may choose to get postings in one daily digest. To learn how to do this, go to: http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/help/help_mailman.html#digest For everyone who posts a message, it would be kind to all readers, but especially to those who get messages in a daily digest format, if you would remove from your post the previously quoted messages (except for the particular message or segment of a message you are replying to).This would mean much less scrolling through irrelevant content for digest format readers. Thanks. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/17e9d0f4/attachment.html From cvctwin51 at aol.com Tue Nov 18 11:30:33 2008 From: cvctwin51 at aol.com (cvctwin51 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:33 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1125] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 In-Reply-To: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DF88@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> References: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DF88@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> Message-ID: <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98@WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> Teaching in the corrections environment is also very near and dear to me.? I have taught GED classes at Denver County Jail for over 5 years.? The nonprofit organization I work for does its best to provide resources, but at the moment the only resources we have are print materials. I see three benefits to creating a GED online for corrections.? One, students can work at their own pace. Hopefully, the program is learner-centered so they only have to work on the subjects they need.? Two, some of my students are not familiar with the computer, which is a handicap when it comes times to apply for a job.? Using a computer would give them practice in computer skills as well as GED.? Three, many of my students have marginal jobs (I am in the work release program now) and earning a GED enables them to get a "real" job and hopefully, stay out of trouble.? Working on a computer may provide more motivation to stay in class or attract students who want a faster paced lesson. If we had a national GED program in a secure web environment for corrections, many teachers could work online with the students.? All the "brainpower" for targeting their education would not have to be in the building.? Outside teachers who love adult learning and online education could be used to create lessons for the students.? And they could work with onsite personnel to reach even more inmates. Carolyn Carter The Learning Source -----Original Message----- From: Upham, Gary To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 5:06 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1107] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Good morning. I am the principal at the Maine State Prison, where we have an active education department but little resources available. I also am President Elect of the Maine Adult Corrections association. Due to the nature of this program our access for inmates (which demographically would have about 25-50% of a population that could use this program), is not available through the web. How can we access and is it a possibility to create a special program for this population? My goal is that all facilities would have access to programs like this in a secure web environment. Thanks Gary Upham/MSP -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:58 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions (Steve Reder) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:51:07 -0800 From: "Steve Reder" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions To: Message-ID: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9 at PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW - the external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos and manuals for training purposes. Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/7a6ec04 1/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 ******************************************** ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cvctwin51 at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/4b88ef14/attachment.html From reders at pdx.edu Tue Nov 18 11:43:18 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:43:18 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1126] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web In-Reply-To: <25881950.1226942737720.JavaMail.root@elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <25881950.1226942737720.JavaMail.root@elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <004c01c9499c$c2c92de0$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Thanks, Gail. The demonstration sites are just starting to pilot their activities. St. Paul will be the first to try the telephone based helpers. The idea is to use a volunteer program that's already operating not to create something entirely new. And you don't have to use that component if you don't have such a program or don't want to use it. Learner Web is not intended to be a simple plug-and-play online product, it's designed to help link and coordinate different programs and resources (like volunteers) in a community to support their learners. So it does require some staffing to implement and manage but hopefully it becomes well integrated into the local structure of adult ed. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 9:26 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1112] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web While the work and talent that has gone into developing the modules looks impressive -- Quite frankly the set up for the Learner Web sounds like an administrative headache -- especially the part about having tutors or helpers available online -- is there a pilot program that actually has this model set up -- what are the costs of managing the program? Thank you. Gail Bundy -----Original Message----- From: Steve Reder Sent: Nov 17, 2008 11:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1090] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/6a3c44df/attachment-0001.html From bob42886 at aol.com Tue Nov 18 15:45:22 2008 From: bob42886 at aol.com (bob42886 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:45:22 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1127] (no subject) Message-ID: <8CB17D5B5E46476-1298-66B@WEBMAIL-MC19.sysops.aol.com> This sounds like a great program being offered. Are there any volunteer opportunities in Atlanta,GA? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/d32a8b87/attachment.html From holly at dilatush.com Tue Nov 18 12:36:44 2008 From: holly at dilatush.com (Holly Dilatush) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:36:44 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1128] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 In-Reply-To: <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98@WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> References: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DF88@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98@WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: Yes, yes, yes, yes -- if both of these programs (LearnerWeb and USALearns) could somehow NOT be part of the perpetuating failure of digital divide syndrome, it would be an excellent modeling of hope and make headway through the "invisibility" barriers facing marginalized groups. holly On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:30 AM, wrote: > Teaching in the corrections environment is also very near and dear to me. > I have taught GED classes at Denver County Jail for over 5 years. The > nonprofit organization I work for does its best to provide resources, but at > the moment the only resources we have are print materials. > > I see three benefits to creating a GED online for corrections. One, > students can work at their own pace. Hopefully, the program is > learner-centered so they only have to work on the subjects they need. Two, > some of my students are not familiar with the computer, which is a handicap > when it comes times to apply for a job. Using a computer would give them > practice in computer skills as well as GED. Three, many of my students have > marginal jobs (I am in the work release program now) and earning a GED > enables them to get a "real" job and hopefully, stay out of trouble. > Working on a computer may provide more motivation to stay in class or > attract students who want a faster paced lesson. > > If we had a national GED program in a secure web environment for > corrections, many teachers could work online with the students. All the > "brainpower" for targeting their education would not have to be in the > building. Outside teachers who love adult learning and online education > could be used to create lessons for the students. And they could work with > onsite personnel to reach even more inmates. > > Carolyn Carter > The Learning Source > -- Holly (Dilatush) ESOL Coordinator/Facilitator/Instructor ABA Virtual Learning Center Charlottesville, VA USA holly at dilatush.com (434) 960.7177 cell phone (434) 295.9716 home phone [OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time] "Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and nurture in nature." (original by Holly) Plan to attend TESOL 2009! http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/convention2009/ My presentation: Exploring Intercultural Communication and Conflict Resolution Through Drama; Reflecting Online: 3/28/2009 at 12:30 PM in room 603 at the Colorado Convention Center. http://tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com http://abavirtual-learningcenter.org http://blogblossoms.edublogs.org *Twitter and Skype IDs = smilin7 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/503b75b7/attachment.html From jfleischman at scoe.net Tue Nov 18 17:46:12 2008 From: jfleischman at scoe.net (John Fleischman) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:46:12 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1129] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?New_Designs_in_Online_and_Distance_=09Learning?= =?iso-8859-1?q?__--_your?= In-Reply-To: References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> < > <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> Message-ID: Greetings, Holly. Let me see if I can answer some of your questions.... For those that I can't answer, I'm sure some of my colleagues will chime-in. You ask how personal experience in online learning was tapped as we explored models for online learning. Most of the development team have some experience in taking online courses and all have experience in developing online content. In my shop (Sacramento County Office of Education) we have used a variety of learning management systems including WebCT, Blackboard and Moodle. And most all of us are seasoned users of various other Internet-based synchronous and asynchronous technologies. All of these technologies were considered as we thought about the design for U.S.A. Learns. The development team felt that the most important criteria was keeping things simple for users... an intuitive interface, clear menu structures, flexibility with accessing course content, context-based help, and "clean" screen designs. We looked at dozens of the commercial and open source learning management systems but none had what we believed was the right look, feel, and set of tools. For these reasons we decided to develop our own customized system to deliver the content. You also asked about possible use of social networking, avatars, or simple content authoring. The larger vision for U.S.A. Learns is to develop a true adult education portal. Given the reality of time and financial constraints, we have developed a comprehensive ESL online curriculum that is coupled with a very simple management system. My vision of a larger system (a true portal) would include communication and collaboration tools, a variety of structured course content, a learning object repository, personalization and customization of content, teacher content authoring capabilities, etc. Please let me know if you'd me to elaborate on any of the above. John specialtopics at nifl.gov on Sunday, November 02, 2008 at 9:06 AM -0800 wrote: >Hello David, all, >Bring on the guilt! I'm very intrigued by The Learner Web and USA Learns >projects (especially USA Learns). I've just made time to read through >FAQs and explore the Learner Web site. > >Concerns I have stem primarily from direct learner support >(effectiveness/meaningful learning/encouragement) and funding. > >I am a hands-on learner, and feel I need to explore the site as a learner >would before I can formulate more questions. Now, I'm a bit confused. > >As an online learner (I've completed many courses through many online >mediums -- WebCT, D2L, Yahoo groups, Moodle, more -- and am presently >completing a master's online). Through these experiences, and as a >facilitator for online classes of my own planning, I know that some >courses can feel like "going through the motions" (and satisfying >required 'evidence' of participation in educational opportunities) and >yet not really propel one to meaningful learning; others can be >incredible life-changing experiences. Except for a few cases, it is also >my belief that blended/hybrid models engage and promote retention, >motivation, meaningful learning MUCH more than 'solo' pure online >efforts. > >? Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became >federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or >other things about their history and development? > >Definitely, yes. I'm interested in knowing whether the developers' >personal experience in online learning was tapped as models were explored > >Have all of the developers themselves been online learners -- >synchronous, asynchronous, team/group projects or solo, self-paced or >timelined, etc.? > > > > >? Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic >education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: >online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or >something else? > > >a comparison chart would be useful for reflection. But every online >learning adventure I've been on has been different. There are SO many >'little things' that affect positive outcomes. > >I'm an advocate for Moodles, or other platforms that allow photos (or >other avatars of choice) so that each communication with another person >'feels' more personal. Will either USA Learns or the Learner Web include >a feature like this? > >Will social networking components be built into either USA Learns or >Learner Web? > > > >? If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web >with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? >What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What >questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > >I use WiZiQ (interactive whiteboards/web-based classrooms) and Moodles. >In what ways will these programs offer the same options, in which ways >more options, in which ways less? Presently, I'm facilitating private >tutoring -- Basic Literacy, Pronunciation, Citizenship, Writing, Reading >comprehension, Listening and Speaking, Idioms, "USA culture and history", >using Drama in ESOL, GRE prep, TOEFL prep, business English -- a wide >range! > >I'll be actively following this discussion. >As always, thank YOU, David, for all your efforts and contributions, >Holly -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/eb66b333/attachment.html From jfleischman at scoe.net Tue Nov 18 18:09:08 2008 From: jfleischman at scoe.net (John Fleischman) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:09:08 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1130] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?New_Designs_in_Online_and_Distance_=09Learning?= =?iso-8859-1?q?__--your_q?= In-Reply-To: <3F1B3696F3EA4331BAE5D008327FFB1D@ndecb.local> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <, > <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <,> <3F1B3696F3EA4331BAE5D008327FFB1D@ndecb.local> Message-ID: Hello, Margaret. I'm pleased to hear that you're using English for All. That Web site was created here at Sacramento County Office of Education and will continue to be supported by OTAN (www.otan.us), a CA statewide leadership project. You're right, U.S.A. Learns (USAL) Second English Course is based on English for All (EFA). But you might think of USAL as EFA on steroids. Our creative team of content experts, led by Evelyn Fella, have made significant modifications, things that have been asked for since EFA was created more than 7 years ago. Some of the differences between the old (EFA) and the new (USAL Second English Course) include: - Vocabulary: words are presented individually with audio and definitions; learners match words with definitions - Spelling: learners listen to a word or phrase, spell it, then get immediate feedback - Listening: learners click a word or words they hear in a sentence; learners listen and read text; learners listen to characters in context and "click" on the person who said it. - Dictation: learners listen to a sentence then type what they hear and get feedback - Grammar: charts and tables are presented with comprehension checks Of particular note is the addition of listen and record (Say it!) exercises where learners can record and play back an oral exercise, comparing their pronunciation with that of a native English speaker. Another new feature is writing exercises. If the learner is studying the Second English Course while enrolled in a USAL "class," the teacher or tutor can review the writing and provide feedback right in the online record. Evelyn may want to add her two cents on the additional changes (improvements) that have been made. A student does not need to complete EFA before using USAL. USAL was designed with the idea that it would serve learners at a distance. As Leslie has pointed out, USAL was not designed for use in school or agency computer labs (at least not if you want to stay on good terms with your computer network manager). EFA includes a hybrid (CD-ROM) version which is more appropriate for use in labs. John specialtopics at nifl.gov on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 at 9:28 AM -0800 wrote: >The discussion looks very interesting. Here are my questions for USA >Learns: > >1. We are currently offering an online class for intermediate level ESOL >students using English for All. We understand that USA Learns uses >similar content for its intermediate level course. Please describe the >difference between the intermediate level course in USA Learns and >English for All. > >2. Can a student make a smooth transition from EFA to USA Learns or does >the student need to complete EFA if he/she is enrolled in that class? > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/a4d03982/attachment.html From KathyE at monte.k12.co.us Tue Nov 18 13:12:21 2008 From: KathyE at monte.k12.co.us (Ellithorpe, Kathy) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:12:21 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1131] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 23 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7A7D7C482D76B04E873747A9621D8F4603113FBD@post.monte.k12.co.us> I work at an on line/on site alternative school. We are state of the art in some ways and struggle as many of you do in other ways. We use Moodle as a way to track seat time . I have put my ESL/ELL classes there and am in the process of putting the GED component there. The Moodle site tracks seat time and in managed by the on line director. He registers students for the various classes. This program would work well in the prison setting as well as for on line and distance education. -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:53 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 23 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1124] List Netiquette (David J. Rosen) 2. [SpecialTopics 1125] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 (cvctwin51 at aol.com) 3. [SpecialTopics 1126] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web (Steve Reder) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:23:23 -0500 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1124] List Netiquette To: Message-ID: <1C1A5A9E56D64CF8AEED23B2138FC2E7 at A1411> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Special Topics Colleagues, To avoid getting so many postings in a day some subscribers may choose to get postings in one daily digest. To learn how to do this, go to: http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/help/help_mailman.html#digest For everyone who posts a message, it would be kind to all readers, but especially to those who get messages in a daily digest format, if you would remove from your post the previously quoted messages (except for the particular message or segment of a message you are replying to).This would mean much less scrolling through irrelevant content for digest format readers. Thanks. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/17e9d0f 4/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:33 -0500 From: cvctwin51 at aol.com Subject: [SpecialTopics 1125] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98 at WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Teaching in the corrections environment is also very near and dear to me.? I have taught GED classes at Denver County Jail for over 5 years.? The nonprofit organization I work for does its best to provide resources, but at the moment the only resources we have are print materials. I see three benefits to creating a GED online for corrections.? One, students can work at their own pace. Hopefully, the program is learner-centered so they only have to work on the subjects they need.? Two, some of my students are not familiar with the computer, which is a handicap when it comes times to apply for a job.? Using a computer would give them practice in computer skills as well as GED.? Three, many of my students have marginal jobs (I am in the work release program now) and earning a GED enables them to get a "real" job and hopefully, stay out of trouble.? Working on a computer may provide more motivation to stay in class or attract students who want a faster paced lesson. If we had a national GED program in a secure web environment for corrections, many teachers could work online with the students.? All the "brainpower" for targeting their education would not have to be in the building.? Outside teachers who love adult learning and online education could be used to create lessons for the students.? And they could work with onsite personnel to reach even more inmates. Carolyn Carter The Learning Source -----Original Message----- From: Upham, Gary To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 5:06 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1107] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Good morning. I am the principal at the Maine State Prison, where we have an active education department but little resources available. I also am President Elect of the Maine Adult Corrections association. Due to the nature of this program our access for inmates (which demographically would have about 25-50% of a population that could use this program), is not available through the web. How can we access and is it a possibility to create a special program for this population? My goal is that all facilities would have access to programs like this in a secure web environment. Thanks Gary Upham/MSP -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:58 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions (Steve Reder) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:51:07 -0800 From: "Steve Reder" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions To: Message-ID: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9 at PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW - the external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos and manuals for training purposes. Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/7a6ec04 1/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 ******************************************** ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cvctwin51 at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/4b88ef1 4/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:43:18 -0800 From: "Steve Reder" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1126] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web To: "'Gail B'" , Message-ID: <004c01c9499c$c2c92de0$0502fea9 at PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Thanks, Gail. The demonstration sites are just starting to pilot their activities. St. Paul will be the first to try the telephone based helpers. The idea is to use a volunteer program that's already operating not to create something entirely new. And you don't have to use that component if you don't have such a program or don't want to use it. Learner Web is not intended to be a simple plug-and-play online product, it's designed to help link and coordinate different programs and resources (like volunteers) in a community to support their learners. So it does require some staffing to implement and manage but hopefully it becomes well integrated into the local structure of adult ed. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Gail B Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 9:26 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1112] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web While the work and talent that has gone into developing the modules looks impressive -- Quite frankly the set up for the Learner Web sounds like an administrative headache -- especially the part about having tutors or helpers available online -- is there a pilot program that actually has this model set up -- what are the costs of managing the program? Thank you. Gail Bundy -----Original Message----- From: Steve Reder Sent: Nov 17, 2008 11:43 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1090] Re: initial response to questions aboutLearner Web -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/6a3c44d f/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 23 ********************************************* From mvaughn2 at student.gsu.edu Tue Nov 18 16:43:02 2008 From: mvaughn2 at student.gsu.edu (Melissa Vaughn) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:43:02 +0000 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1132] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us>, <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> Could this program be accessed from a public library computer? Melissa Speight Vaughn ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Leslie Petty [leslie.lpetty at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Belinda, U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a group of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and Internet access. You could certainly make it available to parents of the children at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were testing the usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great deal of interest among our testers in getting other family members to use the site. There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the learning experience frustrating. Leslie On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) > wrote: Hi, I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. Thanks. Belinda Omenitsch ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/38ce5eb7/attachment.html From belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov Tue Nov 18 19:06:01 2008 From: belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov (Omenitsch, Belinda (ES)) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:06:01 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1133] Re: New Designs in Online andDistance Learning --your questions References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com><6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com><6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us>, <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> Message-ID: <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098EB6@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> Thanks, Our parent room has a couple of computers so we can make sure that people go online one at a time. We are excited about it and trying to contact parents who might be interested. Even if they stay for a time after they drop the kids or come early to pick them up. In my current role as literacy professional developer I think that anything I can do to help parents improve their skills will benefit the students. Belinda ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Melissa Vaughn Sent: Tue 11/18/2008 4:43 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1132] Re: New Designs in Online andDistance Learning --your questions Could this program be accessed from a public library computer? Melissa Speight Vaughn ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Leslie Petty [leslie.lpetty at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:56 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Belinda, U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a group of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and Internet access. You could certainly make it available to parents of the children at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were testing the usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great deal of interest among our testers in getting other family members to use the site. There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the learning experience frustrating. Leslie On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) wrote: Hi, I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. Thanks. Belinda Omenitsch ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 18909 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/8487a7ef/attachment-0001.bin From jfleischman at scoe.net Tue Nov 18 18:28:26 2008 From: jfleischman at scoe.net (John Fleischman) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:28:26 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1134] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?New_Designs_in_Online_and_=09Distance=09=09Lea?= =?iso-8859-1?q?rning__--your_q?= In-Reply-To: <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> < > <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> < > <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> <, > <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> Message-ID: Absolutely! U.S.A. Learns is perfect for a public library setting. Most libraries have fast Internet connections and many have workstations equipped with headphones. John specialtopics at nifl.gov on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 1:43 PM -0800 wrote: >Could this program be accessed from a public library computer? >Melissa Speight Vaughn > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------From: >specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf >Of Leslie Petty [leslie.lpetty at gmail.com] >Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:56 AM >To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >Subject: [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance >Learning --your questions > > >Belinda, >U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, >but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a >group of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and >Internet access. You could certainly make it available to parents of >the children at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were >testing the usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great >deal of interest among our testers in getting other family members to use >the site. > >There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements >for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer >labs. Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, >simultaneous use by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl >and make the learning experience frustrating. > >Leslie > >On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) <[ >mailto:belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov ]belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov> wrote: > > >Hi, >I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of >the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure >that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up >for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? > If it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange >for parents to take the course during the school day at our school. >Thanks. >Belinda Omenitsch -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/da4e805a/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 19:12:48 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:12:48 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1135] Welcome to those who have recently joined the discussion Message-ID: <85BA4F9A598C42849BDF51F3BAA3A39B@A1411> Special Topics Colleagues, For those who have just joined us and want to catch up, and for others who may want to find a particular post, you will find an archive of this discussion (and all Special Topics discussions) at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html We welcome your questions and comments on both the Learner Web (LW) and USA Learns (USAL). A couple of people have asked how USA Learns and The Learner Web may be used to count NRS distance learning equivalents to class time. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this, perhaps Sheryl Adler from the U.S. Department of Education could explain the Department's policy on counting Distance Learning for NRS reporting. Then perhaps someone from USA Learns and someone from the Learner Web could describe how parts of each model's curriculum (or in the LW Model, "Learning Plan") might be awarded equivalent class time -- referring to policy at a national or at a state level. If this isn't clear yet in the model, what is the process you envision for getting NRS approval of distance learning equivalency? Several people are interested in how the Learner Web or USA Learns might be used, perhaps in a closed internal system, inside corrections facilities. If this were possible, it could be a terrific service for those incarcerated in corrections institutions or county jails. It would enable inmates to begin to use the model inside and, when released, to continue their learning on the outside. I imagine there might be a challenges in transfering the progress records from the closed inside to the open web-based versions, but perhaps with additional resources this problem could be solved, I wonder if funding from the recently passed Second Chance Act could support developing the inside versions and a transition interface to the open web-based version for released inmates. (See Special Topics Discussion on transitions from transitions to community, message 918, http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/000930.html for a description of the Second Chance Act.) Several people have commented on the Learner Web's ability to be regionally (locally) tailored and to include face-to-face as well as online learning resources. One person has observed that this sounded complicated, involving local effort and costs. I wonder if Steve or Clare, or those who are working in Leraner Web regional pilots, might like to comment on the opportunities and challenges of this _regional_ learning support model. Does anyone see ways in which the Learner Web and USA Learns might be used together, where they add value to each other? Perhaps our guests would also care to comment on that. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/42e6b900/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 21:05:23 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:05:23 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1136] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811181805t63c395e1uff5b8a7b3186361d@mail.gmail.com> Definitely. We even did some of our usability testing with users working on library computers. Of course, individual libraries may have different filtering programs, but I don't think that this would fall into the category of blocked sites. On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 4:43 PM, Melissa Vaughn wrote: > Could this program be accessed from a public library computer? > Melissa Speight Vaughn > ------------------------------ > *From:* specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Leslie Petty [leslie.lpetty at gmail.com] > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:56 AM > *To:* specialtopics at nifl.gov > *Subject:* [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance > Learning --your questions > > Belinda, > U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, > but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a group > of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and Internet > access. You could certainly make it available to parents of the children > at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were testing the > usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great deal of interest > among our testers in getting other family members to use the site. > > There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements > for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. > Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use > by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the > learning experience frustrating. > > Leslie > > On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) < > belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov> wrote: > >> Hi, >> I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents of the >> students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure that >> we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up for the >> individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If it is >> available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for parents to >> take the course during the school day at our school. >> Thanks. >> Belinda Omenitsch >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen >> Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM >> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning >> --your questions >> >> >> Colleagues, >> >> As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion >> here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have >> only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your >> questions for our guests: >> >> What questions would you like to ask our guests? >> >> Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see >> in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA >> Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion >> begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at >> it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration >> project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around >> the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New >> Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, >> including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be >> found at http://learnerweb.org >> >> * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions >> of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November >> 17th and 18th? >> * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became >> federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or >> other things about their history and development? >> * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic >> education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online >> courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something >> else? >> * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web >> with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? >> What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions >> do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? >> >> Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum >> (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. >> Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your >> interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this >> message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I >> will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and >> the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more >> questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the >> discussion. >> >> Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To >> subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics >> One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay >> subscribed for the next discussion. >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> DJRosen at theworld.com >> >> >> >> On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: >> >> >> Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, >> >> On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of >> the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion >> below. >> Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest >> topic! >> Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: >> >> What questions would you like to ask our guests? >> >> Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion >> begins, >> I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, >> questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the >> discussion. >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> djrosen at theworld.com >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute >> for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from >> November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new >> adult education models: a national learning portal for English >> language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based >> and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner >> Web, >> for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement >> their >> learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four >> distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, >> who >> will describe these two models and answer questions. >> >> For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome >> (Jere) >> Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and >> Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. >> >> Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be >> interested in subscribing! >> >> To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: >> >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics >> >> One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can >> stay subscribed for the next discussion. >> >> Description of the models >> >> The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure >> and >> resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning >> objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. >> In >> addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support >> services from existing local education programs, community based >> organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web >> consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented >> regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A >> Learning >> Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified >> goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might >> include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills >> one >> needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking >> practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community >> based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments >> or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a >> personal >> profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest >> inventory, >> chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning >> Plan >> independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is >> dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and >> educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be >> returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to >> share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. >> >> The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year >> demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the >> country. >> >> U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with >> limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on >> the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday >> survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it >> has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend >> traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with >> schedules, >> transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 >> hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio >> and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was >> created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive >> built- >> in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used >> independently, but it can also be used in association with a >> teacher >> or tutor via an online management system. >> >> >> Background on Discussion Guests >> >> John Fleischman >> >> With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a >> teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is >> currently responsible for information and educational technology >> operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John >> possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing >> instructional and informational media for use in a variety of >> educational environments. His present area of focus is on building >> Web-based solutions for education, including data management >> systems >> and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state >> and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology >> initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance >> Network >> (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs >> Through Technology >> (www.adultedonline.org ). John is >> the author of numerous publications >> and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and >> national >> conferences. >> >> Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of >> Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been >> studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent >> years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use >> technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support >> Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance >> learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical >> assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy >> development (projectideal.org). >> >> Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department >> of >> Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and >> teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of >> literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has >> served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects >> in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of >> Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the >> ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the >> roles >> which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that >> development. The results of this research have led to the >> development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning >> support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous >> publications about his research and its implications for adult >> education and adult literacy and language development. He has >> recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking >> Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal >> Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: >> Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. >> Reder >> actively works with networks of adult education researchers, >> practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national >> levels. >> >> Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, >> Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study >> of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program >> participation, the intersection of learning and community >> development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and >> technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the >> Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration >> project. >> >> >> David J. Rosen >> Special Topics Discussion Moderator >> DJRosen at theworld.com >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Special Topics mailing list >> SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >> Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com >> > > > > -- > Leslie Petty, Ed.D. > Associate Director > Project IDEAL Support Center > University of Michigan > 734-425-0748 > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/5a029141/attachment-0001.html From niki.davis at canterbury.ac.nz Tue Nov 18 20:33:26 2008 From: niki.davis at canterbury.ac.nz (Niki Davis) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:33:26 +1300 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1137] Re: Research into New Designs in ODL -- What are the critical success factors for e-learning & adult basic skills? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <55025CE0F3F0314AA67262F1ACD68DFDC71C54@ucexchange5.canterbury.ac.nz> I am impressed with the level of discussion and the developments underway and achieved to benefit adults with low levels of literacy and numeracy, so first of all thank you. My new question is on the research dimension and references to literature you know. I am currently leading a project for the New Zealand Ministry of Education asking: "What are the critical success factors in the use of e-learning (including learning blended into F2F) to improve the literacy and/or numeracy for adults who need to develop them, including ESOL and other diverse learners such as indigenous people?" (You may like to note that we have a Blog http://e-learninglln.blogspot.com/ with links to expert webinars on this topic.) Looking forward to hearing about research that informed your R&D and also about research on the current initiatives being discussed. Regards, Niki Niki Davis PhD Canterbury University Professor of e-Learning Visiting Professor, University of Oxford Internet Institute, UK College of Education University of Canterbury Te Whare Wananga O Waitaha Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 DDI: (64 3) 345 8246 Extn: 44246 208 Otakaro on Dovedale Campus Email: Niki.Davis at canterbury.ac.nz From wrmuth at vcu.edu Tue Nov 18 19:50:05 2008 From: wrmuth at vcu.edu (William R Muth/FS/VCU) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:50:05 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1138] Re: Welcome to those who have recently joined the discussion In-Reply-To: <85BA4F9A598C42849BDF51F3BAA3A39B@A1411> Message-ID: David, Excellent point about importing USA Learns and The Learner Web into closed systems such as prisons. There are numerous technical and political barriers, but none are insurmountable. The Federal Prison System (FPS) presently downloads its law library updates from an outside vender. Once a month, FPS downloads new case law, etc. and distributes the new inventory via an internal network, to all prisons in the system (even to lock down units like segregation and protective custody). Thus, at least in FPS, the infrastructure is there. Of course, student records could not be shared externally while the learner was incarcerated (for security reasons, not technical), but could be upon release. Transference of electronic records is a major ReEntry goal of FPS anyway. I no longer work for FPS, but would be happy to join up with others to approach the FPS folks about this very interesting idea. Thank you, David, for imagining this for us... Bill Muth "David J. Rosen" Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov 11/18/2008 07:22 PM Please respond to specialtopics at nifl.gov To cc Subject [SpecialTopics 1135] Welcome to those who have recently joined the discussion Special Topics Colleagues, For those who have just joined us and want to catch up, and for others who may want to find a particular post, you will find an archive of this discussion (and all Special Topics discussions) at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html We welcome your questions and comments on both the Learner Web (LW) and USA Learns (USAL). A couple of people have asked how USA Learns and The Learner Web may be used to count NRS distance learning equivalents to class time. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this, perhaps Sheryl Adler from the U.S. Department of Education could explain the Department's policy on counting Distance Learning for NRS reporting. Then perhaps someone from USA Learns and someone from the Learner Web could describe how parts of each model's curriculum (or in the LW Model, "Learning Plan") might be awarded equivalent class time -- referring to policy at a national or at a state level. If this isn't clear yet in the model, what is the process you envision for getting NRS approval of distance learning equivalency? Several people are interested in how the Learner Web or USA Learns might be used, perhaps in a closed internal system, inside corrections facilities. If this were possible, it could be a terrific service for those incarcerated in corrections institutions or county jails. It would enable inmates to begin to use the model inside and, when released, to continue their learning on the outside. I imagine there might be a challenges in transfering the progress records from the closed inside to the open web-based versions, but perhaps with additional resources this problem could be solved, I wonder if funding from the recently passed Second Chance Act could support developing the inside versions and a transition interface to the open web-based version for released inmates. (See Special Topics Discussion on transitions from transitions to community, message 918, http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/000930.html for a description of the Second Chance Act.) Several people have commented on the Learner Web's ability to be regionally (locally) tailored and to include face-to-face as well as online learning resources. One person has observed that this sounded complicated, involving local effort and costs. I wonder if Steve or Clare, or those who are working in Leraner Web regional pilots, might like to comment on the opportunities and challenges of this _regional_ learning support model. Does anyone see ways in which the Learner Web and USA Learns might be used together, where they add value to each other? Perhaps our guests would also care to comment on that. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to wrmuth at vcu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/8178fa0d/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 21:11:13 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:11:13 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1139] Re: Welcome to those who have recently joined the discussion In-Reply-To: <85BA4F9A598C42849BDF51F3BAA3A39B@A1411> References: <85BA4F9A598C42849BDF51F3BAA3A39B@A1411> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811181811n566a606bqfa2def6d550dbca2@mail.gmail.com> Hi, I'll respond to David's question about awarding equivalent class time - "Proxy contact hours" - for USAL. As of now, there are no proxy contact hours assigned to USAL. However, as there is a unit mastery quiz for every unit in the two courses, a mastery model should fit. But a study needs to be done to establish the number of Proxy Contact Hours that should be earned for demonstrating mastery on the quizzes. The study will require assembling panels of teachers to establish norms for the hours associated with completing the work in a unit. It may be quite awhile before this work is completed. The Second English Course is a re-work and expansion of English for All. Currently many states offer six hours credit for demonstrating mastery of each unit. This is probably a conservative number for the hours that would be awarded for mastery of Second English Course units, and might be used in the interim until the needed research is completed. The following resources provide more information about Proxy Contact Hours: NRS Distance Learning Policy Statement http://www.optimalsolutionsgroup.com/sdm2008/PDF/NRSGuidelinesforDistanceEducationfinal.pdf Distance Learning Policy Guidance (particularly starting on p. 11) http://projectideal.org/pdf/Print%20Resources/DistLearningPolicyGuidance.pdf I hope that helps. Leslie On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 7:12 PM, David J. Rosen wrote: > Special Topics Colleagues, > > > A couple of people have asked how USA Learns and The Learner Web may be > used to count NRS distance learning equivalents to class time. For the > benefit of those who are not familiar with this, perhaps Sheryl Adler from > the U.S. Department of Education could explain the Department's policy on > counting Distance Learning for NRS reporting. Then perhaps someone from USA > Learns and someone from the Learner Web could describe how parts of each > model's curriculum (or in the LW Model, "Learning Plan") might be awarded > equivalent class time -- referring to policy at a national or at a state > level. If this isn't clear yet in the model, what is the process you > envision for getting NRS approval of distance learning equivalency? > > > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/c011cb3b/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 21:16:11 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:16:11 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1140] Re: List Netiquette In-Reply-To: <1C1A5A9E56D64CF8AEED23B2138FC2E7@A1411> References: <1C1A5A9E56D64CF8AEED23B2138FC2E7@A1411> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811181816i65e4f12s9aae3b936ebac889@mail.gmail.com> Thanks for your questions and your interest in U.S.A. Learns. David had sent us a summary of the questions he received prior to the start of this discussion. I thought I'd try and answer several of them in a "batch" in an effort to reduce somewhat the volume of emails. Let me know if you'd like more information about any of these issues. Here goes.... *I am a retired ABE/ESL program manager. Occasionally individuals come into my life who need ABE/ESL training. Can USA Learns and the Learner Web be used to help them? How? * U.S.A. Learns can be a useful resource for students who need ESL instruction and who have access to a computer with Internet access (at home, in a public library, at a friend's home, work, school, etc.). You can suggest that they use the site for independent English language learning. Or, you might decide to create a class on USAL and have students enroll to work with you (or refer them to a teacher who has a class on the site). The site is currently focused on ESL, but the Practice English and Reading section contains activities that would also be beneficial to ABE students. The stories and activities in this section are designed to build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. *What types of orientation do these learning models provide for the learner? * USAL offers an on-line guided registration, including animated help features. Students can listen to the introductory instructions in either English or Spanish. There are animated help features built into the site to explain how to register, complete activities, etc. *What level of technology is needed for learners to use USA Learns and the Learner Web - including: Basic prerequisite computer skills:* ? Mouse (click and scroll) ? Keyboard (letters, punctuation, backspace, shift key, space bar) ? Web browser (open a browser, navigate a basic Web site, click buttons and links) ? *User's computer hardware/software skills *: ? User's computer requirements: memory, processing, internet connection, etc.) A fast broadband Internet connection (384 Kpbs or faster) ? An up-to-date Web browser with the Flash plug-in ? A sound card (Speakers or headphone are necessary; microphone is optional but very useful). * Do these models use tutors? If so, face-to-face? Online?* USAL can be used either by students working independently or by students working with a teacher/tutor. That interaction can be entirely online or can be an extension or supplement to FTF meetings or classes. > *Will many of the resources include audio files?* There is audio throughout USAL, in both the activities and the help features. *Do the models include life-skills based topics?* USAL provides contextualized instruction and emphasizes topics likely to be important to the immigrant population. Students have told us that they like the fact that they are learning English while also learning about life in the US and issues that they face in their daily lives. Let me know if you these answers raise more questions for you or if you just want to explore any of these topics further. Leslie -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/468dd135/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 21:25:07 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:25:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1141] Re: New Designs in Online andDistance Learning --your questions In-Reply-To: <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098EB6@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098E84@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> <66d7e2a90811180756y74a718dbl56b87ed6ecc6dc8d@mail.gmail.com> <545F95234CD17A4CACA1C7B0C34801783FDEA3246E@BL2PRD0101MB013.prod.exchangelabs.com> <6F05F6E90C3F59488414B4E8E64564CA098EB6@dcps-exch2k3-14.hq.dc_schools.k12.dc.us> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811181825v7f630816x49849cf2a216195c@mail.gmail.com> That sounds like a great way to use USAL. We conducted some of our usability testing with parents who had access to computers at their children's school and they were quite excited about being able to use the program. We also found that people who used the program really wanted their friends and family to use it as well (something we couldn't let them during the testing period), so if you can get a few parents interested, word of mouth may do the rest. I'd love to know how your efforts work. Leslie On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 7:06 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) < belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov> wrote: > Thanks, Our parent room has a couple of computers so we can make sure that > people go online one at a time. We are excited about it and trying to > contact parents who might be interested. Even if they stay for a time after > they drop the kids or come early to pick them up. In my current role as > literacy professional developer I think that anything I can do to help > parents improve their skills will benefit the students. > Belinda > > ________________________________ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Melissa Vaughn > Sent: Tue 11/18/2008 4:43 PM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1132] Re: New Designs in Online andDistance > Learning --your questions > > > Could this program be accessed from a public library computer? > Melissa Speight Vaughn > ________________________________ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On > Behalf Of Leslie Petty [leslie.lpetty at gmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:56 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1123] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance > Learning --your questions > > > Belinda, > U.S.A. Learns is primarily designed for individual, independent learners, > but it is also possible for teachers or tutors to use this as with a group > of students. It is available free to anyone with computer and Internet > access. You could certainly make it available to parents of the children > at your school to access whenever they wanted. As we were testing the > usability of the site with adult learners, we found a great deal of interest > among our testers in getting other family members to use the site. > > There is one important caveat, however. The wide bandwidth requirements > for U.S.A. Learns make it unsuitable for use in classrooms or computer labs. > Even with a fast Internet connection in the school or lab, simultaneous use > by just a few learners could slow the program to a crawl and make the > learning experience frustrating. > > Leslie > > > On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Omenitsch, Belinda (ES) < > belinda.omenitsch at dc.gov> wrote: > > > Hi, > I would like to know how I could get the information to the parents > of the students at school? I am at an elementary school in DC and I am sure > that we have parents who could benefit from this. Is this program set up > for the individual or is it based on a model to augment formal programs? If > it is available for the individual then I might be able to arrange for > parents to take the course during the school day at our school. > Thanks. > Belinda Omenitsch > > ________________________________ > > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David Rosen > Sent: Sun 11/2/2008 11:06 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1073] New Designs in Online and Distance > Learning --your questions > > > > Colleagues, > > As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming > discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so > far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request > for your questions for our guests: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > > Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you > will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded > USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion > begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at > it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration > project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around > the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New > Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, > including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be > found at http://learnerweb.org < > http://learnerweb.org/> > > > * What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their > descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion > on November 17th and 18th? > * Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became > federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or > other things about their history and development? > * Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic > education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online > courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something > else? > * If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner > Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will > address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What > questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? > > Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion > forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from > it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your > interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this > message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will > share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the > questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more > questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the > discussion. > > Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this > discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: > > > Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, > > On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and > of > the Learner Web. You will find the description for this > discussion below. > Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a > high-interest topic! > Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: > > What questions would you like to ask our guests? > > Although your questions will not be posted until the > discussion begins, > I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of > course, > questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome > during the > discussion. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National > Institute > for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from > November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on > two new > adult education models: a national learning portal for > English > language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a > web-based > and telephone-based learning support system, called the > Learner Web, > for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to > supplement their > learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We > have four > distinguished guests, researchers as well as product > developers, who > will describe these two models and answer questions. > > For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome > (Jere) > Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen > Reder and > Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them > below. > > Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may > be > interested in subscribing! > > To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: > > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics > > One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or > one can > stay subscribed for the next discussion. > > Description of the models > > The Learner Web is a learning support system providing > structure and > resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning > objectives. A learner can access the system through the > Internet. In > addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates > support > services from existing local education programs, community > based > organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web > consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented > regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A > Learning > Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an > identified > goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps > might > include finding out more about the tests, identifying what > skills one > needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, > taking > practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and > community > based resources and a workspace where learners can take > assessments > or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a > personal > profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest > inventory, > chooses a goal from the available list and follows the > Learning Plan > independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan > is > dynamically matched by the software to both the learner > profile and > educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and > can be > returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose > to > share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. > > The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year > demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across > the country. > > U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners > with > limited English language skills. Instructional content > focuses on > the language and literacy skills that adults need for > everyday > survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. > Learns, it > has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend > traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with > schedules, > transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more > than 400 > hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, > audio > and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout > was > created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and > extensive built- > in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used > independently, but it can also be used in association with a > teacher > or tutor via an online management system. > > > Background on Discussion Guests > > John Fleischman > > With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a > teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman > is > currently responsible for information and educational > technology > operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John > possesses an extensive background with creating and > implementing > instructional and informational media for use in a variety of > educational environments. His present area of focus is on > building > Web-based solutions for education, including data management > systems > and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the > state > and national level, he provides oversight for a range of > technology > initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance > Network > > (www.otan.us ) > and Strengthening Programs Through Technology > (www.adultedonline.org < > http://www.adultedonline.org/> ). John is the author of numerous > publications > > and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and > national > conferences. > > Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the > University of > Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has > been > studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In > recent > years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use > technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL > Support > Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build > distance > learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides > technical > assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and > policy > development (projectideal.org ). > > Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the > Department of > Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His > research and > teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes > of > literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder > has > served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major > projects > in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal > Study of > Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, > examine the > ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and > the roles > which adult education programs and policies play in > supporting that > development. The results of this research have led to the > development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult > learning > support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous > publications about his research and its implications for > adult > education and adult literacy and language development. He has > recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, > Tracking > Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from > Longitudinal > Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and > Moving On: > Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. > Dr. Reder > actively works with networks of adult education researchers, > practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and > national > levels. > > Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State > University, > Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal > Study > of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program > participation, the intersection of learning and community > development, social capital influences on learning > strategies, and > technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of > the > Learner Web and has been actively involved in the > demonstration project. > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please > go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > > > > > > -- > Leslie Petty, Ed.D. > Associate Director > Project IDEAL Support Center > University of Michigan > 734-425-0748 > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/f67efc23/attachment-0001.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Tue Nov 18 21:25:21 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:25:21 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1142] EFA compared with USA Learns - EFA users please weigh in Message-ID: Colleagues, I suspect there are some experienced users of English For All (EFA) listening in on this discussion. Perhaps some of you, by now, have had a chance to look at USA Learns. What do you think? Is USA Learns, as John put it, EFA on steroids? Do you like the changes you see? Do they address concerns you yourself might have raised about EFA? What changes are you looking forward to using with your adult English Language distance education learners? Do you think that USA Learns has significantly different low(er) level content than EFA? Do you agree that it makes sense to have everything on the USA Learns web site? Do you think something has been lost by not having print materials? What features, if any, do you think are innovative, that make especially good use of a web site as a medium for instruction? How do you address the concern that someone raised that learning English using distance learning might not provide enough opportunity to use and practice the language? John, Jere, and Leslie, please feel free to add to this list of questions for EFA users who might have by now spent some time looking at USAL. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Leader djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/94dfcf17/attachment.html From LaFerlazzo at aol.com Tue Nov 18 21:56:36 2008 From: LaFerlazzo at aol.com (LaFerlazzo at aol.com) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:56:36 EST Subject: [SpecialTopics 1143] Re: USA Learns. Message-ID: Hi, Everybody, My high school students have been using USA Learns a couple of times a week since it "opened for business" and have found it very engaging and useful (as have I!). Both they and I have particularly liked how easy it is for students to listen and then record (and subsequently listen) to their repeating words. In fact, when I tell students during the last fifteen minutes of class that they can log-off and go to any of the other 9,000 links on my website, well over half the class typically chooses to stay on USA Learns, which has been surprising to me since many of those other links are pretty engaging games. I have to say that I didn't realize until I saw the email here that it was possible to set-up virtual classrooms and for teachers to check student work. That will come in handy for our Family Literacy Project where we provide home computers and Internet access to immigrant families. Congratulations to everybody involved in its development! Larry Ferlazzo Luther Burbank High School _http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/_ (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/) Sacramento, CA **************Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news & more!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212774565x1200812037/aol?redir=htt p://toolbar.aol.com/moviefone/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000001) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/2da3443e/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Tue Nov 18 23:15:35 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:15:35 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1144] Re: USA Learns. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811182015h753de289gbeda2d9dc5525414@mail.gmail.com> Larry,Thanks for the feedback! This is the first I've heard of anyone using it with high school students so it's exciting to hear how they're reacting to it. Leslie On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 9:56 PM, wrote: > Hi, Everybody, > > My high school students have been using USA Learns a couple of times a week > since it "opened for business" and have found it very engaging and useful > (as have I!). Both they and I have particularly liked how easy it is for > students to listen and then record (and subsequently listen) to their > repeating words. > > In fact, when I tell students during the last fifteen minutes of class that > they can log-off and go to any of the other 9,000 links on my website, well > over half the class typically chooses to stay on USA Learns, which has been > surprising to me since many of those other links are pretty engaging games. > > I have to say that I didn't realize until I saw the email here that it was > possible to set-up virtual classrooms and for teachers to check student > work. That will come in handy for our Family Literacy Project where we > provide home computers and Internet access to immigrant families. > > Congratulations to everybody involved in its development! > > Larry Ferlazzo > Luther Burbank High School > http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ > Sacramento, CA > > > > ------------------------------ > Get the Moviefone Toolbar. > Showtimes, theaters, movie news & more! > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/e3916a0b/attachment.html From evfella at san.rr.com Wed Nov 19 00:17:32 2008 From: evfella at san.rr.com (Evelyn Fella) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:17:32 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1144] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning --your q In-Reply-To: References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <, > <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <, > <3F1B3696F3EA4331BAE5D008327FFB1D@ndecb.local> Message-ID: Hello Margaret and all EFA users, I love John's description of what we did to EFA as "efa on steroids." It sounds illegal, but empowering. I hope only the later is true. Let me add to what John has listed on the differences (and similarities) of EFA and Second Course in USAL. - All sections within each episode are the same, though we have renamed a couple. So, for example, Comprehension is now called Story Startup and Special Skills is called Making Choices. Your students could use EFA (and the CDs if they are using those) to watch the video segments, but get more practice with the activities on the USAL site. - Each Unit (aka episode in efa) offers 20 vocabulary words with definitions and a variety of activities as John mentioned: matching, spelling and, speaking (Say It) just on the word level. These words are taken from the script and they are used throughout in readings, comprehension questions, listening activities, and dictation so students can practice the words in context. Each unit has 20 new words. The videos do a fine job of recycling vocabulary so words that are learned in one unit are repeated in other stories and students get a review in other stories. In Study Tools (top right corner), students will find a glossary of all the words and definitions (and audio) presented in Second Course. (also in the other two courses) For current EFA users, the words are NOT the same as those in EFA, so material you may have created may not work with USAL vocabulary. A scope and sequence will be posted later and all words are listed in that document. - In order to build background knowledge to increase comprehension of the video segment, there is a short pre-reading, called Getting Ready. There is always a question at the end of the reading asking the student to listen for a specific piece of information in the video. The answer to that question is always contained in the first question following the video viewing. In some cases, the students are asked to predict what they think will happen in the video segment based on what they already know. -All video segments are followed by a variety of activities to encourage students to listen again and work with the language of the script. To keep learners motivated, the activities vary using audio, images, or video clips. -Dictation and writing that can be corrected -- In USAL students can get feedback on writing in dictation activities or activities that have only one correct answer. In order to use the "active" skill of writing, we used this kind of activity in some Grammar activities where students are asked to type the correct past tense form of a verb or to put words in the correct order of a sentence when this is the only grammatically correct order. -Writing -- There is at least one open-ended writing activity in each unit. The computer can not give feedback on these writing activities, but as John noted, teachers can see and comment on the writing if the student is enrolled in a class. Because the basic design for USAL was for an independent learner, we were concerned about learners who may not have a teacher, tutor or even a peer who would give feedback. We look forward to what research tells us about open-ended writing in this kind of program. -Grammar - the grammar points are the same as in EFA (the wizard introduces them) but activities are more numerous in USAL and we hope more directed to ESL students' problems. Grammar is presented in charts, but usually practiced in context. Sometimes students listen for the grammar in the context of the script; sometimes they repeat sentences or write sentences using the grammar point. -Life Skills activities have been revamped and they always appear in the Life Skills section. :). You may find the flyer or want ad is very similar to what existed in EFA, but the comprehension questions are different. -Activities using critical thinking skills. In USAL students are asked to draw conclusions, make connections, determine sequence. -Learning Log - This is a very simple form of self-assessment, asking students to check words and skills they have learned at the end of the unit. Let me know if you still have more questions. Evelyn Fella On Nov 18, 2008, at 3:09 PM, John Fleischman wrote: > Hello, Margaret. I'm pleased to hear that you're using English for > All. That Web site was created here at Sacramento County Office of > Education and will continue to be supported by OTAN (www.otan.us), > a CA statewide leadership project. > > You're right, U.S.A. Learns (USAL) Second English Course is based > on English for All (EFA). But you might think of USAL as EFA on > steroids. Our creative team of content experts, led by Evelyn > Fella, have made significant modifications, things that have been > asked for since EFA was created more than 7 years ago. Some of the > differences between the old (EFA) and the new (USAL Second English > Course) include: > > - Vocabulary: words are presented individually with audio and > definitions; learners match words with definitions > > - Spelling: learners listen to a word or phrase, spell it, then get > immediate feedback > > - Listening: learners click a word or words they hear in a > sentence; learners listen and read text; learners listen to > characters in context and "click" on the person who said it. > > - Dictation: learners listen to a sentence then type what they hear > and get feedback > > - Grammar: charts and tables are presented with comprehension checks > > Of particular note is the addition of listen and record (Say it!) > exercises where learners can record and play back an oral exercise, > comparing their pronunciation with that of a native English > speaker. Another new feature is writing exercises. If the learner > is studying the Second English Course while enrolled in a USAL > "class," the teacher or tutor can review the writing and provide > feedback right in the online record. > > Evelyn may want to add her two cents on the additional changes > (improvements) that have been made. > > A student does not need to complete EFA before using USAL. USAL > was designed with the idea that it would serve learners at a > distance. As Leslie has pointed out, USAL was not designed for use > in school or agency computer labs (at least not if you want to stay > on good terms with your computer network manager). EFA includes a > hybrid (CD-ROM) version which is more appropriate for use in labs. > > John > > specialtopics at nifl.gov on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 at 9:28 AM > -0800 wrote: > The discussion looks very interesting. Here are my questions for > USA Learns: > > 1. We are currently offering an online class for intermediate level > ESOL students using English for All. We understand that USA Learns > uses similar content for its intermediate level course. Please > describe the difference between the intermediate level course in > USA Learns and English for All. > > 2. Can a student make a smooth transition from EFA to USA Learns or > does the student need to complete EFA if he/she is enrolled in that > class? > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to evfella at san.rr.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081118/f743212e/attachment.html From reders at pdx.edu Wed Nov 19 01:44:12 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:44:12 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1145] Re: less unclear? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <009301c94a12$3bc45880$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Thanks for clarifying your questions, Janet. Piloting activities have just begun in DC, so I can't report in summary fashion about what has developed yet. I offered to provide the contact information offline to the person wanting to find out about how to make the use of the Learner Web available to parents in the DC area. I'm happy to do that person-to-person but probably shouldn't pout the contact details into this public space (without first checking). With respect to your question about what happens when school spaces become available to adults, we have a lot of experience teaching ESL to parents of elementary school kids in school spaces, and that's quite interesting, but those instructional activities typically have not involved the use of technology. Hope this helps a bit. -Steve -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:40 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1109] less unclear? Colleagues - David has kindly pointed out that the question I'd posed yesterday about intergenerational learning was not altogether clear. Trying again: I was hoping, Steve, to ask you - and others involved - to speak to the notions of what happens when computer and schools spaces, normally made available to kids, become available to adults. An earlier message had contained a question about what /how the program in DC would communicate information about themselves to parents. While Steve offered contact information for that program, I was also hoping that he, and/or anyone working at that site, might say a bit more about what, if any, parent engagement/inclusion had developed. hope this helps thanks Janet ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to reders at pdx.edu From manos at twcny.rr.com Wed Nov 19 05:26:30 2008 From: manos at twcny.rr.com (Theresa Pagano) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:26:30 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1146] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20081119102636.UTHU2107.hrndva-omta03.mail.rr.com@WSLCLaptop202> Buenos d?as a todos. This is my first time corresponding with all of you. I have just introduced USA Learns to the mid-intermediate ESOL adult learners at the West Side Learning Center. (past two weeks) We have established a specific time and day each week for a Learners? Circle. Interested ELL adults and a facilitator meet to discuss, share, and clarify any topics of choice from the learners? USA Learns experiences. We hope to evolve into a ?language partners? format (peer-to-peer) with language partners deciding on their face-to-face meeting time and place. A quarterly get-together of everyone participating is planned for Saturdays, including ?la familia?. We are introducing USA Learns to our local library branches for those learners without home-based technology. Observation: Those learners with higher formal education in their heritage language and experience with technology have become engaged in USA Learns very quickly. Others have become so motivated by the integration of language and technology learning that they arrive early and stay later than class times in order to use it. I enjoy the information shared through these Special Topics conversations. Hasta pronto, Theresa Pagano MANOS and West Side Learning Center Partners in Learning, Inc. & Syracuse City School District "A community connected by diverse cultural and language-learning experiences." (315) 435-4967 manos at twcny.rr.com _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:25 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1142] EFA compared with USA Learns - EFA usersplease weigh in Colleagues, I suspect there are some experienced users of English For All (EFA) listening in on this discussion. Perhaps some of you, by now, have had a chance to look at USA Learns. What do you think? Is USA Learns, as John put it, EFA on steroids? Do you like the changes you see? Do they address concerns you yourself might have raised about EFA? What changes are you looking forward to using with your adult English Language distance education learners? Do you think that USA Learns has significantly different low(er) level content than EFA? Do you agree that it makes sense to have everything on the USA Learns web site? Do you think something has been lost by not having print materials? What features, if any, do you think are innovative, that make especially good use of a web site as a medium for instruction? How do you address the concern that someone raised that learning English using distance learning might not provide enough opportunity to use and practice the language? John, Jere, and Leslie, please feel free to add to this list of questions for EFA users who might have by now spent some time looking at USAL. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Leader djrosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/6f754e4a/attachment-0001.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Wed Nov 19 07:28:58 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:28:58 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1147] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! In-Reply-To: <20081119102636.UTHU2107.hrndva-omta03.mail.rr.com@WSLCLaptop202> References: <20081119102636.UTHU2107.hrndva-omta03.mail.rr.com@WSLCLaptop202> Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811190428x8382f03u2d6614acece13067@mail.gmail.com> Theresa,What a wonderful model! You've found a way to combine the social element of language learning with the technology-based approach. I'd love to hear more from you as it progresses. Your observation that learners with high levels of education in their heritage language and computer skills picked up very quickly matches what we observed in the usability testing we did. But we also found that students with lower levels of education in their home countries (sixth grade or lower), at beginning ESL levels and with only modest computer skills were also able to effectively use the site. They used a straightforward approach and went through the activities sequentially (by clicking "take me to my next activity" when they signed-in to the site) but made steady progress. There were some technical demands that were challenging for them, but they didn't deter the students from using the site. These basic skills could certainly be developed in a traditional classroom program or in the FTF component of your approach. In fact, many of these students significantly exceeded the amount of time we asked them to spend in the site during the usability test. They were also very interested in having family members and friends use the site (another reason I find your model so exciting). Thanks for sharing your experience and insight. Leslie On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 5:26 AM, Theresa Pagano wrote: > Buenos d?as a todos. > > > > This is my first time corresponding with all of you. > > > > I have just introduced USA Learns to the mid-intermediate ESOL adult > learners at the West Side Learning Center. (past two weeks) > > We have established a specific time and day each week for a Learners' > Circle. Interested ELL adults and a facilitator meet to discuss, share, and > clarify any topics of choice from the learners' USA Learns experiences. We > hope to evolve into a 'language partners' format (peer-to-peer) with > language partners deciding on their face-to-face meeting time and place. A > quarterly get-together of everyone participating is planned for Saturdays, > including 'la familia'. > > > > We are introducing USA Learns to our local library branches for those > learners without home-based technology. > > > > Observation: Those learners with higher formal education in their heritage > language and experience with technology have become engaged in USA Learns > very quickly. Others have become so motivated by the integration of > language and technology learning that they arrive early and stay later than > class times in order to use it. > > > > I enjoy the information shared through these Special Topics conversations. > > > > Hasta pronto, > > > > *Theresa Pagano* > > *MANOS and West Side Learning Center* > > *Partners in Learning, Inc. & Syracuse City School District* > > *"A community connected by diverse cultural and language-learning > experiences."* > > *(315) 435-4967* > > *manos at twcny.rr.com* > > * * ** > > > ------------------------------ > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/0ad21935/attachment.html From DJRosen at theworld.com Wed Nov 19 08:07:18 2008 From: DJRosen at theworld.com (David J. Rosen) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:07:18 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1148] A Concern about Confidentiality and Security of Student Information Message-ID: Message forwarded for Betsy Rubin: -----Original Message----- From: Betsy Rubin - Literacy Works [mailto:literacyworks.betsyrubin at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:52 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: USA Learns Concern Hello, USA Learns looks like it could be a wonderful resource. However, I feel uneasy about some of the statements about how users' information could be used. I have a concern about the confidentiality and security of student information, particularly if users of the site don't carefully read the privacy policy. Can you please comment on the quote below from the USA Learns website? I have placed asterisks around the key parts of the quote. The USA Learns website's "About" page states: "Be aware that **any personal information you might disclose**, including performance records of Learners, in the process of using the Courses, Units, Lessons, and Activities provided on the Site **should be considered public information** even though some of this information is accessible only with proper sign-in identification. The Sacramento County Office of Education encourages you to be cautious about incorporating personal information in Lessons and Activities available on the Site. "Are there any **circumstances in which The Sacramento County Office of Education would disclose information to third parties**? Under normal circumstances, The Sacramento County Office of Education does not disclose information to third parties. **Exceptional circumstances could include**: Protecting the integrity and security of our Site Precautions against liability Protection of the safety, rights, or property of users or others **Response to requirements of the judicial process or, to the extent permitted by law, requests of law enforcement or public safety agencies**. Even in these circumstances, **we would release your account information only if we felt it was reasonably necessary**." Thanks very much for responding to this question. Betsy Rubin Chicago, IL -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/360b3c93/attachment.html From Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu Wed Nov 19 09:00:19 2008 From: Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu (Janet Isserlis) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:00:19 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1149] Re: less unclear? In-Reply-To: <009301c94a12$3bc45880$5074fc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Message-ID: Thanks, Steve, it does help. I was also thinking about a project in Vancouver that I'd been part of in the mid-90s, through a grant from Apple Canada. We were able to get a computer lab into a neighbourhood school that had been designated as needing particular assistance/support [ vis a vis issues of poverty]. Although this was in the just pre-and early internet day, (and we weren't online) we found that having the computers available to kids and situated in the same room as the adults ESL conversation classes enabled: - K-8 students to come in during the day with their teachers to learn to use the computers and to use the computers for various projects; - parents/adults to see kids using the technology and become interested (to varying degrees) in learning to use them themselves; - community people to come in after school hours to learn to use the computers and/or to use them for various purposes of their own. part of a larger movement towards making schools open, useful spaces. Appreciate that the DC site is new, but hope that in time we can learn more about their work. thanks Janet > From: Steve Reder > Reply-To: > Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:44:12 -0800 > To: > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1145] Re: less unclear? > > Thanks for clarifying your questions, Janet. Piloting activities have just > begun in DC, so I can't report in summary fashion about what has developed > yet. I offered to provide the contact information offline to the person > wanting to find out about how to make the use of the Learner Web available > to parents in the DC area. I'm happy to do that person-to-person but > probably shouldn't pout the contact details into this public space (without > first checking). > > With respect to your question about what happens when school spaces become > available to adults, we have a lot of experience teaching ESL to parents of > elementary school kids in school spaces, and that's quite interesting, but > those instructional activities typically have not involved the use of > technology. > > Hope this helps a bit. > -Steve > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:40 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1109] less unclear? > > Colleagues - David has kindly pointed out that the question I'd posed > yesterday about intergenerational learning was not altogether clear. > > Trying again: > > I was hoping, Steve, to ask you - and others involved - to speak to the > notions of what happens when computer and schools spaces, normally made > available to kids, become available to adults. > > An earlier message had contained a question about what /how the program in > DC would communicate information about themselves to parents. While Steve > offered contact information for that program, I was also hoping that he, > and/or anyone working at that site, might say a bit more about what, if any, > parent engagement/inclusion had developed. > > hope this helps > > thanks > > Janet > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to reders at pdx.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu From lori_savage at nbps.k12.nj.us Wed Nov 19 08:49:20 2008 From: lori_savage at nbps.k12.nj.us (Lori Savage) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:49:20 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1150] Re: List Netiquette References: <1C1A5A9E56D64CF8AEED23B2138FC2E7@A1411> <66d7e2a90811181816i65e4f12s9aae3b936ebac889@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: This "batch" format is extremely helpful. The volume of emails is a little overwhelming. What I have been able to read is very interesting and useful. I am particularly interested in USA Learns, and how it can be used as a resource for all levels of ESL instruction. Thanks, Lori Savage ESL/Civics Instructor New Brunswick Public Schools Adult Learning Center ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Leslie Petty Sent: Tue 11/18/2008 9:16 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1140] Re: List Netiquette Thanks for your questions and your interest in U.S.A. Learns. David had sent us a summary of the questions he received prior to the start of this discussion. I thought I'd try and answer several of them in a "batch" in an effort to reduce somewhat the volume of emails. Let me know if you'd like more information about any of these issues. Here goes.... I am a retired ABE/ESL program manager. Occasionally individuals come into my life who need ABE/ESL training. Can USA Learns and the Learner Web be used to help them? How? U.S.A. Learns can be a useful resource for students who need ESL instruction and who have access to a computer with Internet access (at home, in a public library, at a friend's home, work, school, etc.). You can suggest that they use the site for independent English language learning. Or, you might decide to create a class on USAL and have students enroll to work with you (or refer them to a teacher who has a class on the site). The site is currently focused on ESL, but the Practice English and Reading section contains activities that would also be beneficial to ABE students. The stories and activities in this section are designed to build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. What types of orientation do these learning models provide for the learner? USAL offers an on-line guided registration, including animated help features. Students can listen to the introductory instructions in either English or Spanish. There are animated help features built into the site to explain how to register, complete activities, etc. What level of technology is needed for learners to use USA Learns and the Learner Web - including: Basic prerequisite computer skills: * Mouse (click and scroll) * Keyboard (letters, punctuation, backspace, shift key, space bar) * Web browser (open a browser, navigate a basic Web site, click buttons and links) * User's computer hardware/software skills : * User's computer requirements: memory, processing, internet connection, etc.) A fast broadband Internet connection (384 Kpbs or faster) * An up-to-date Web browser with the Flash plug-in * A sound card (Speakers or headphone are necessary; microphone is optional but very useful). Do these models use tutors? If so, face-to-face? Online? USAL can be used either by students working independently or by students working with a teacher/tutor. That interaction can be entirely online or can be an extension or supplement to FTF meetings or classes. Will many of the resources include audio files? There is audio throughout USAL, in both the activities and the help features. Do the models include life-skills based topics? USAL provides contextualized instruction and emphasizes topics likely to be important to the immigrant population. Students have told us that they like the fact that they are learning English while also learning about life in the US and issues that they face in their daily lives. Let me know if you these answers raise more questions for you or if you just want to explore any of these topics further. Leslie -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 6821 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/1255e978/attachment.bin From KathyE at monte.k12.co.us Wed Nov 19 13:10:54 2008 From: KathyE at monte.k12.co.us (Ellithorpe, Kathy) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:10:54 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1151] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 29 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7A7D7C482D76B04E873747A9621D8F4603114240@post.monte.k12.co.us> I have been on the USA Learns site. I have linked it wiith my Moodle site for ESL. My learners just love it and so do I! There is ample information and opportunity for most levels of language learning here. It's a great way to get learners on the internet and used to technology that they will probably have to know at some point. Grat1 -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 10:00 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 29 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1147] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! (Leslie Petty) 2. [SpecialTopics 1148] A Concern about Confidentiality and Security of Student Information (David J. Rosen) 3. [SpecialTopics 1149] Re: less unclear? (Janet Isserlis) 4. [SpecialTopics 1150] Re: List Netiquette (Lori Savage) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:28:58 -0500 From: "Leslie Petty" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1147] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811190428x8382f03u2d6614acece13067 at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Theresa,What a wonderful model! You've found a way to combine the social element of language learning with the technology-based approach. I'd love to hear more from you as it progresses. Your observation that learners with high levels of education in their heritage language and computer skills picked up very quickly matches what we observed in the usability testing we did. But we also found that students with lower levels of education in their home countries (sixth grade or lower), at beginning ESL levels and with only modest computer skills were also able to effectively use the site. They used a straightforward approach and went through the activities sequentially (by clicking "take me to my next activity" when they signed-in to the site) but made steady progress. There were some technical demands that were challenging for them, but they didn't deter the students from using the site. These basic skills could certainly be developed in a traditional classroom program or in the FTF component of your approach. In fact, many of these students significantly exceeded the amount of time we asked them to spend in the site during the usability test. They were also very interested in having family members and friends use the site (another reason I find your model so exciting). Thanks for sharing your experience and insight. Leslie On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 5:26 AM, Theresa Pagano wrote: > Buenos d?as a todos. > > > > This is my first time corresponding with all of you. > > > > I have just introduced USA Learns to the mid-intermediate ESOL adult > learners at the West Side Learning Center. (past two weeks) > > We have established a specific time and day each week for a Learners' > Circle. Interested ELL adults and a facilitator meet to discuss, > share, and clarify any topics of choice from the learners' USA Learns > experiences. We hope to evolve into a 'language partners' format > (peer-to-peer) with language partners deciding on their face-to-face > meeting time and place. A quarterly get-together of everyone > participating is planned for Saturdays, including 'la familia'. > > > > We are introducing USA Learns to our local library branches for those > learners without home-based technology. > > > > Observation: Those learners with higher formal education in their > heritage language and experience with technology have become engaged > in USA Learns very quickly. Others have become so motivated by the > integration of language and technology learning that they arrive early > and stay later than class times in order to use it. > > > > I enjoy the information shared through these Special Topics conversations. > > > > Hasta pronto, > > > > *Theresa Pagano* > > *MANOS and West Side Learning Center* > > *Partners in Learning, Inc. & Syracuse City School District* > > *"A community connected by diverse cultural and language-learning > experiences."* > > *(315) 435-4967* > > *manos at twcny.rr.com* > > * * ** > > > ------------------------------ > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/0ad2193 5/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:07:18 -0500 From: "David J. Rosen" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1148] A Concern about Confidentiality and Security of Student Information To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Message forwarded for Betsy Rubin: -----Original Message----- From: Betsy Rubin - Literacy Works [mailto:literacyworks.betsyrubin at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:52 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: USA Learns Concern Hello, USA Learns looks like it could be a wonderful resource. However, I feel uneasy about some of the statements about how users' information could be used. I have a concern about the confidentiality and security of student information, particularly if users of the site don't carefully read the privacy policy. Can you please comment on the quote below from the USA Learns website? I have placed asterisks around the key parts of the quote. The USA Learns website's "About" page states: "Be aware that **any personal information you might disclose**, including performance records of Learners, in the process of using the Courses, Units, Lessons, and Activities provided on the Site **should be considered public information** even though some of this information is accessible only with proper sign-in identification. The Sacramento County Office of Education encourages you to be cautious about incorporating personal information in Lessons and Activities available on the Site. "Are there any **circumstances in which The Sacramento County Office of Education would disclose information to third parties**? Under normal circumstances, The Sacramento County Office of Education does not disclose information to third parties. **Exceptional circumstances could include**: Protecting the integrity and security of our Site Precautions against liability Protection of the safety, rights, or property of users or others **Response to requirements of the judicial process or, to the extent permitted by law, requests of law enforcement or public safety agencies**. Even in these circumstances, **we would release your account information only if we felt it was reasonably necessary**." Thanks very much for responding to this question. Betsy Rubin Chicago, IL -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/360b3c9 3/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:00:19 -0500 From: Janet Isserlis Subject: [SpecialTopics 1149] Re: less unclear? To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Thanks, Steve, it does help. I was also thinking about a project in Vancouver that I'd been part of in the mid-90s, through a grant from Apple Canada. We were able to get a computer lab into a neighbourhood school that had been designated as needing particular assistance/support [ vis a vis issues of poverty]. Although this was in the just pre-and early internet day, (and we weren't online) we found that having the computers available to kids and situated in the same room as the adults ESL conversation classes enabled: - K-8 students to come in during the day with their teachers to learn to use the computers and to use the computers for various projects; - parents/adults to see kids using the technology and become interested (to varying degrees) in learning to use them themselves; - community people to come in after school hours to learn to use the computers and/or to use them for various purposes of their own. part of a larger movement towards making schools open, useful spaces. Appreciate that the DC site is new, but hope that in time we can learn more about their work. thanks Janet > From: Steve Reder > Reply-To: > Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:44:12 -0800 > To: > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1145] Re: less unclear? > > Thanks for clarifying your questions, Janet. Piloting activities have > just begun in DC, so I can't report in summary fashion about what has > developed yet. I offered to provide the contact information offline > to the person wanting to find out about how to make the use of the > Learner Web available to parents in the DC area. I'm happy to do that > person-to-person but probably shouldn't pout the contact details into > this public space (without first checking). > > With respect to your question about what happens when school spaces > become available to adults, we have a lot of experience teaching ESL > to parents of elementary school kids in school spaces, and that's > quite interesting, but those instructional activities typically have > not involved the use of technology. > > Hope this helps a bit. > -Steve > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] > On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:40 AM > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1109] less unclear? > > Colleagues - David has kindly pointed out that the question I'd posed > yesterday about intergenerational learning was not altogether clear. > > Trying again: > > I was hoping, Steve, to ask you - and others involved - to speak to > the notions of what happens when computer and schools spaces, > normally made available to kids, become available to adults. > > An earlier message had contained a question about what /how the > program in DC would communicate information about themselves to > parents. While Steve offered contact information for that program, I > was also hoping that he, and/or anyone working at that site, might say > a bit more about what, if any, parent engagement/inclusion had developed. > > hope this helps > > thanks > > Janet > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to reders at pdx.edu > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:49:20 -0500 From: "Lori Savage" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1150] Re: List Netiquette To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" This "batch" format is extremely helpful. The volume of emails is a little overwhelming. What I have been able to read is very interesting and useful. I am particularly interested in USA Learns, and how it can be used as a resource for all levels of ESL instruction. Thanks, Lori Savage ESL/Civics Instructor New Brunswick Public Schools Adult Learning Center ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Leslie Petty Sent: Tue 11/18/2008 9:16 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1140] Re: List Netiquette Thanks for your questions and your interest in U.S.A. Learns. David had sent us a summary of the questions he received prior to the start of this discussion. I thought I'd try and answer several of them in a "batch" in an effort to reduce somewhat the volume of emails. Let me know if you'd like more information about any of these issues. Here goes.... I am a retired ABE/ESL program manager. Occasionally individuals come into my life who need ABE/ESL training. Can USA Learns and the Learner Web be used to help them? How? U.S.A. Learns can be a useful resource for students who need ESL instruction and who have access to a computer with Internet access (at home, in a public library, at a friend's home, work, school, etc.). You can suggest that they use the site for independent English language learning. Or, you might decide to create a class on USAL and have students enroll to work with you (or refer them to a teacher who has a class on the site). The site is currently focused on ESL, but the Practice English and Reading section contains activities that would also be beneficial to ABE students. The stories and activities in this section are designed to build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. What types of orientation do these learning models provide for the learner? USAL offers an on-line guided registration, including animated help features. Students can listen to the introductory instructions in either English or Spanish. There are animated help features built into the site to explain how to register, complete activities, etc. What level of technology is needed for learners to use USA Learns and the Learner Web - including: Basic prerequisite computer skills: * Mouse (click and scroll) * Keyboard (letters, punctuation, backspace, shift key, space bar) * Web browser (open a browser, navigate a basic Web site, click buttons and links) * User's computer hardware/software skills : * User's computer requirements: memory, processing, internet connection, etc.) A fast broadband Internet connection (384 Kpbs or faster) * An up-to-date Web browser with the Flash plug-in * A sound card (Speakers or headphone are necessary; microphone is optional but very useful). Do these models use tutors? If so, face-to-face? Online? USAL can be used either by students working independently or by students working with a teacher/tutor. That interaction can be entirely online or can be an extension or supplement to FTF meetings or classes. Will many of the resources include audio files? There is audio throughout USAL, in both the activities and the help features. Do the models include life-skills based topics? USAL provides contextualized instruction and emphasizes topics likely to be important to the immigrant population. Students have told us that they like the fact that they are learning English while also learning about life in the US and issues that they face in their daily lives. Let me know if you these answers raise more questions for you or if you just want to explore any of these topics further. Leslie -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 6821 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/1255e97 8/attachment-0001.bin ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 29 ********************************************* From mlanen at ndecboston.org Wed Nov 19 14:54:00 2008 From: mlanen at ndecboston.org (Margaret Lanen) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:54:00 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1151] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your q In-Reply-To: References: <62DE7D26-C202-4DC1-9EC7-A6B2D0BE549C@theworld.com> <, > <6A0E8C72-84D4-49E8-B590-55F38EDFEF4F@theworld.com> <, > <3F1B3696F3EA4331BAE5D008327FFB1D@ndecb.local> Message-ID: <700C5965CBAC41E087FFE6AC53B77C7F@ndecb.local> Thank you, John and Evelyn for describing the differences between USA Learns and English for All. USA Learns has many components that were lacking in English for All. We found the need to add listening, speaking and writing activities in Moodle for our students but USA Learns has incorporated these skills and many others. The content of the videos is helpful for immigrants to understand US culture and the vocabulary introduces the learners to unfamiliar terms. I look forward to using this program. Margaret _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Evelyn Fella Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:18 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1144] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning --your q Hello Margaret and all EFA users, I love John's description of what we did to EFA as "efa on steroids." It sounds illegal, but empowering. I hope only the later is true. Let me add to what John has listed on the differences (and similarities) of EFA and Second Course in USAL. - All sections within each episode are the same, though we have renamed a couple. So, for example, Comprehension is now called Story Startup and Special Skills is called Making Choices. Your students could use EFA (and the CDs if they are using those) to watch the video segments, but get more practice with the activities on the USAL site. - Each Unit (aka episode in efa) offers 20 vocabulary words with definitions and a variety of activities as John mentioned: matching, spelling and, speaking (Say It) just on the word level. These words are taken from the script and they are used throughout in readings, comprehension questions, listening activities, and dictation so students can practice the words in context. Each unit has 20 new words. The videos do a fine job of recycling vocabulary so words that are learned in one unit are repeated in other stories and students get a review in other stories. In Study Tools (top right corner), students will find a glossary of all the words and definitions (and audio) presented in Second Course. (also in the other two courses) For current EFA users, the words are NOT the same as those in EFA, so material you may have created may not work with USAL vocabulary. A scope and sequence will be posted later and all words are listed in that document. - In order to build background knowledge to increase comprehension of the video segment, there is a short pre-reading, called Getting Ready. There is always a question at the end of the reading asking the student to listen for a specific piece of information in the video. The answer to that question is always contained in the first question following the video viewing. In some cases, the students are asked to predict what they think will happen in the video segment based on what they already know. -All video segments are followed by a variety of activities to encourage students to listen again and work with the language of the script. To keep learners motivated, the activities vary using audio, images, or video clips. -Dictation and writing that can be corrected -- In USAL students can get feedback on writing in dictation activities or activities that have only one correct answer. In order to use the "active" skill of writing, we used this kind of activity in some Grammar activities where students are asked to type the correct past tense form of a verb or to put words in the correct order of a sentence when this is the only grammatically correct order. -Writing -- There is at least one open-ended writing activity in each unit. The computer can not give feedback on these writing activities, but as John noted, teachers can see and comment on the writing if the student is enrolled in a class. Because the basic design for USAL was for an independent learner, we were concerned about learners who may not have a teacher, tutor or even a peer who would give feedback. We look forward to what research tells us about open-ended writing in this kind of program. -Grammar - the grammar points are the same as in EFA (the wizard introduces them) but activities are more numerous in USAL and we hope more directed to ESL students' problems. Grammar is presented in charts, but usually practiced in context. Sometimes students listen for the grammar in the context of the script; sometimes they repeat sentences or write sentences using the grammar point. -Life Skills activities have been revamped and they always appear in the Life Skills section. :). You may find the flyer or want ad is very similar to what existed in EFA, but the comprehension questions are different. -Activities using critical thinking skills. In USAL students are asked to draw conclusions, make connections, determine sequence. -Learning Log - This is a very simple form of self-assessment, asking students to check words and skills they have learned at the end of the unit. Let me know if you still have more questions. Evelyn Fella On Nov 18, 2008, at 3:09 PM, John Fleischman wrote: Hello, Margaret. I'm pleased to hear that you're using English for All. That Web site was created here at Sacramento County Office of Education and will continue to be supported by OTAN (www.otan.us), a CA statewide leadership project. You're right, U.S.A. Learns (USAL) Second English Course is based on English for All (EFA). But you might think of USAL as EFA on steroids. Our creative team of content experts, led by Evelyn Fella, have made significant modifications, things that have been asked for since EFA was created more than 7 years ago. Some of the differences between the old (EFA) and the new (USAL Second English Course) include: - Vocabulary: words are presented individually with audio and definitions; learners match words with definitions - Spelling: learners listen to a word or phrase, spell it, then get immediate feedback - Listening: learners click a word or words they hear in a sentence; learners listen and read text; learners listen to characters in context and "click" on the person who said it. - Dictation: learners listen to a sentence then type what they hear and get feedback - Grammar: charts and tables are presented with comprehension checks Of particular note is the addition of listen and record (Say it!) exercises where learners can record and play back an oral exercise, comparing their pronunciation with that of a native English speaker. Another new feature is writing exercises. If the learner is studying the Second English Course while enrolled in a USAL "class," the teacher or tutor can review the writing and provide feedback right in the online record. Evelyn may want to add her two cents on the additional changes (improvements) that have been made. A student does not need to complete EFA before using USAL. USAL was designed with the idea that it would serve learners at a distance. As Leslie has pointed out, USAL was not designed for use in school or agency computer labs (at least not if you want to stay on good terms with your computer network manager). EFA includes a hybrid (CD-ROM) version which is more appropriate for use in labs. John specialtopics at nifl.gov on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 at 9:28 AM -0800 wrote: The discussion looks very interesting. Here are my questions for USA Learns: 1. We are currently offering an online class for intermediate level ESOL students using English for All. We understand that USA Learns uses similar content for its intermediate level course. Please describe the difference between the intermediate level course in USA Learns and English for All. 2. Can a student make a smooth transition from EFA to USA Learns or does the student need to complete EFA if he/she is enrolled in that class? ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to evfella at san.rr.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/5f12f629/attachment-0001.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Wed Nov 19 16:14:32 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:14:32 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1152] Second round of answers to the preliminary questions Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811191314p7d5ce17fjff2103b1cebb0cd2@mail.gmail.com> Thanks again for all of your questions about U.S.A. Learns. You're certainly keeping us busy and thinking at this end! Here's another "batch" of answers to a few more of the questions that you submitted to David before we started the discussion: *How is learner progress measured? * In USAL, this varies by activity type. For some activities (e.g, watching a video clip), students simply receive an indication that they completed the activity. For activities where students provide answers (e.g., activities with multiple choice responses), they receive a percentage indicating their correct responses. If scores fall below a certain level, students receive a message suggesting they might want to do the activity again. Still other activities (e.g., dictation, spelling) provide feedback that indicates where they have made errors and are given opportunities to correct themselves. Students can re-do any activity until they have mastered the content. Registered users of the site will see their progress charted on the lesson, activity and unit menus each time they come to the site. In addition, there are unit tests built into the first two courses. There is no feedback mechanism for writing activities, unless the student is working with a teacher or tutor. Students who are working with a teacher or tutor in USAL can receive feedback on their writing from their teacher tutor through the site's learning management system. *In adult education programs, an important emphasis is standardized assessment of learner skills in order to appropriately place students at the correct NRS instructional level. How does USA Learns handle assessment and placement? Does the on-line system conduct some sort of on-line assessment of skills that then directs the learner to on-line lessons at the appropriate level?* U.S.A. Learns does not include any online learner intake assessments at this time. Students either self-select into one of the courses in USAL or are directed to a particular course by their teacher or tutor. In our usability studies, students were assigned to courses by their teachers. A few indicated that they had tried the other courses, but quickly realized that the materials were not at their level, suggesting that students may be able to identify which course is the best place for them to start. We also found that students tended to go through the courses sequentially, rather than by selecting lessons either on specific skills (e.g., spelling, reading comprehension) or topic (e.g., employment). *As an online learner (I've completed many courses through many online mediums -- WebCT, D2L, Yahoo groups, Moodle, more -- and am presently completing a master's online) and as a facilitator for online classes of my own planning, I know that some courses can feel like "going through the motions" (and satisfying required 'evidence' of participation in educational opportunities) and yet not really propel one to meaningful learning; others can be incredible life-changing experiences. Except for a few cases, I believe that blended/hybrid models engage and promote retention, motivation, meaningful learning MUCH more than 'solo' pure online efforts. Could you comment on this? * At Project IDEAL, we have always encouraged the hybrid model for many of the same reasons you cite. The entire project staff was certainly cognizant of these concerns when we were planning the structure and activities in USAL and attempted to provide supports, tools and engaging content to help maximize student interest. It's important to keep in mind that U.S.A. Learns was developed of as proof-of-concept of the use of an online portal to serve adult learners. The feedback we received from learners in the development stages has been positive, but since it just launched a week ago, the effectiveness of the model has yet to be fully evaluated. Our limited work with students thus far suggests that the content and activities are sufficiently engaging to keep students working (at far greater levels than we had anticipated). For example, in one of our usability studies, students were required to spend at least two hours a week, for three weeks, working on the site. We had students spending two, three and in some cases four times that many hours (as documented by their log-ins, not self-reports). Also, it is possible for teachers or tutors to create classes on USAL, which would provide the hybrid approach for students who prefer that model of learning. *Are these models feasible to use with large numbers of learners? (those programs over 1000.* U.S.A. Learns has the capability to easily support that many independent learners, working from their homes or computers in various locations. However, because of its wide bandwidth requirements, it could not be used in lab settings because it slows significantly, making it a frustrating learning experience for students. -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/e2051e89/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Wed Nov 19 18:30:19 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:30:19 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1153] Questions about ESL instruction and USAL Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811191530o4ed94d17yc27baaedd4c24cd3@mail.gmail.com> Several of the preliminary questions asked about ESL instruction in online environments. We (John, Evelyn, Jere and I) hope that these answers both provide some clarification and also stimulate further discussion. Leslie *How do the models provide ESL/ESOL instruction in the four language skills: listening, speaking reading and writing? It seems like a non-facilitated on-line course could address the two receptive skills (listening, reading), but how does it address the two productive skills (speaking, writing)?* USAL provides lots of activities focused on listening and reading, the two receptive language skills. Focused listening activities are used throughout both First and Second Course. Each course also offers a wide-range of reading activities. Students will encounter realistic Life Skills reading tasks such as lists, flyers, schedules, and rental agreements as well as informational prose reading about life skill topics. USAL offers two types of writing activities. In the first, the writing task must have a single correct answer in order for the computer to give feedback. An example of this is traditional dictation where students listen to a prompt and are asked to write what they hear. Some activities pose a question and ask for a written answer. Others ask students to type a sentence using the words given on screen. Again, because there is only one correct answer, the program is able to show the student his errors and allow corrections. Not only are these types of writing activities very popular with students, they help students make the connections between language they hear and the written form. The grammar activities help students to write sentences using correct syntax and put into practice the presented grammar point. The second type of writing activity is a open-ended question for which the computer can give no feedback. If a student is studying USAL with a teacher or tutor, the teacher/tutor can provide feedback on writing activities and communicate with the student through the system. For the most part speaking activities in USAL allow the student to repeat what she/he hears, record his/her voice, listen to the playback and* *compare his/her pronunciation to that of a native speaker. In First Course, there are some "open ended" speaking activities in which students are asked a personal question such as "When is your birthday?*" *In these types of questions, the student can playback and self-assess his/her pronunciation, but can not compare it to a native speaker's. *An important principle of second language acquisition is negotiating meaning through interactivity. Classroom teachers accomplish this through pair and group work, through task-based learning, and project-based learning. How can a non-facilitated on-line learning system or model address this principle of language acquisition?* This is an excellent question, and one that we don't really have an answer to at this stage in the development of USAL. In doing our usability testing, we did notice that most of the students were very anxious to get other family members involved in studying USAL with them; perhaps students who are studying independently may develop their own opportunities in this regard. If students are registered in a class through USAL, it may be possible for a teacher/tutor to provide ways for students to write emails to each other (or just to the teacher/tutor) or for the tutor to contact the student via phone and talk about the unit. Another possibility might be the type of Learner's Circles that Theresa Pagano talked about earlier in this discussion. We'd love to hear your thoughts about this. *An important function of a "live" teacher in the classroom is to provide feedback to learners about their use of the language. Similarly, through pair and group work, adult learners are made aware of when their English language utterances are comprehensible to listeners and when there are communication breakdowns*. *How does a non-facilitated on-line learning system provide feedback to learners about the accuracy and success of their English utterances?* USAL (or anything we've seen online) cannot compete with a live teacher in this regard. The question refers specifically to the students "use of the language." As we see with Speaking and Writing, the two "productive" language skills, the computer cannot provide feedback on anything that is not pre-determined. USAL can provide this type of feedback to learners only in the most limited ways (e.g., allowing them to hear their speech played back and comparing it to a native speaker). We can only hope that with the abundance of listening activities students perform in the course of the program, their ability to self-assess the sounds of their own language might become more accurate. -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/304811a0/attachment.html From jfleischman at scoe.net Wed Nov 19 17:18:01 2008 From: jfleischman at scoe.net (John Fleischman) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:18:01 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1154] Re: =?iso-8859-1?q?A_Concern_about_Confidentiality_and_Security_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=09of__Student?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello, Betsy. I understand your concerns. Seeing all of the "legalese" can make anyone a bit wary. Early on in the development of USAL we were determined to make the site require a login for all users. Our rationale was simple: users that register and login have a much better experience... their scores are tracked and reported, when they return to the site they're dropped back in exactly where they left off, if they forget their password we can send 'em a reminder, plus we would have the potential of offering a great deal of customization if use patterns can be tracked. But our USAL Advisors warned us that many users would not use the site if we required a login. So we relented and decided to allow users to simply login as a visitor with no tracking and no footprints left behind. As you know, we also offer independent users the ability to login to the site so that they can have the obvious benefits. Of course, it is possible for a student to login as an individual user and use a total bogus email address and name. That way there would be no identify specific information being tracked. And even as a student enrolled as part of a class, it is possible to use a fake email address. The language used for the privacy policy is pretty standard stuff. We certainly never expect to be required to release student information, of any kind. And we go to extraordinary measures to protect data. We have a very sophisticated data center with multiple firewalls and other security measures. However, there is a VERY slim chance that we could get a court order of some type that MIGHT require us to release stored information. So, with that understanding, we felt that it would be prudent to include the "fine print." USAL was developed for OVAE by the Sacramento County Office of Education (a regional service agency) in partnership with the University of Michigan. We will never disclose, sell, or release any contact information or student data to any other entity except if mandated by the legal system. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. John specialtopics at nifl.gov on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 5:07 AM -0800 wrote: >Message forwarded for Betsy Rubin: > >-----Original Message----- >From: Betsy Rubin - Literacy Works >[mailto:literacyworks.betsyrubin at gmail.com] >Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:52 PM >To: specialtopics at nifl.gov >Subject: USA Learns Concern > > >Hello, > >USA Learns looks like it could be a wonderful resource. However, I feel >uneasy about some of the statements about how users' information could be >used. > >I have a concern about the confidentiality and security of student >information, particularly if users of the site don't carefully read the >privacy policy. > >Can you please comment on the quote below from the USA Learns website? I >have placed asterisks around the key parts of the quote. > >The USA Learns website's "About" page states: > >"Be aware that **any personal information you might disclose**, including >performance records of Learners, in the process of using the Courses, >Units, Lessons, and Activities provided on the Site **should be >considered public information** even though some of this information is >accessible only with proper sign-in identification. The Sacramento >County Office of Education encourages you to be cautious about >incorporating personal information in Lessons and Activities available on >the Site. > >"Are there any **circumstances in which The Sacramento County Office of >Education would disclose information to third parties**? > >Under normal circumstances, The Sacramento County Office of Education >does not disclose information to third parties. **Exceptional >circumstances could include**: > >Protecting the integrity and security of our Site > >Precautions against liability > >Protection of the safety, rights, or property of users or others > >**Response to requirements of the judicial process or, to the extent >permitted by law, requests of law enforcement or public safety agencies**. > >Even in these circumstances, **we would release your account information >only if we felt it was reasonably necessary**." > > >Thanks very much for responding to this question. > >Betsy Rubin >Chicago, IL > >------------------------------- >National Institute for Literacy >Special Topics mailing list >SpecialTopics at nifl.gov >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics >Email delivered to jfleischman at scoe.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/31c349b7/attachment.html From clare at pdx.edu Wed Nov 19 17:42:41 2008 From: clare at pdx.edu (Clare Strawn) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:42:41 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1155] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Message-ID: <000e01c94a98$21d4d310$96befc83@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Hi, I'm joining the discussion after presenting Learner Web at the National college Transition Network conference in Providence. So I want to put in my 2 cents worth on some of the previously posted topics. On the combined topics of reaching parents of school children and use at libraries: Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy is developing a Family Literacy learning plan that supports parents reading with young children. I believe this plan involves getting library books out of the library. I can imagine it being introduced to Even Start and Head Start parents and other types of programs hosted by schools and libraries. Many schools offer adult education programs after hours. I think it is a great idea to send information about these tools home to parents with school children. The Learner Web is funded by the Institute of Library and Museum Services and all of our pilot sites include a public or academic library. Most libraries have public access computer use with internet access through which patrons can access these tools. Here in Portland, OR., a library branch is piloting Learner Web in their lab with a volunteer assistant and dedicated hours. On the topic of "Resources" and "Regions" As Steve said, Resources are a variety of online and community-based, face-to-face resource to support learning. There are currently way more than 650 Resources because all of the partners are entering resources that are connected to their Regional implementation and to their specific Learning Plans. Some implementers are developing Curriculum content specifically for the Learner Web, some are modifying content they use in the classroom and some are drawing exclusively on content that is already available on line (USA Learns is a "Resource" in the Learner Web). I think the biggest challenge regarding content is that most of what is currently available is the equivalent of digital workbooks that do not engage all of the different learning styles and modalities that are possible. This is rapidly changing, however. The web content available now is much richer then what was available two years ago when we first started the Resource data base. Regional implementation is an important underlying concept of the Learner Web. As everyone knows, URL's frequently become out dated. Each Region can monitor the URLS being used through the Resource Administrator function. This de-centralizes the burden and makes it more sustainable. Regions add to the shared Resource data base and can choose to share each other's Resources. On the topic of research behind the Learner Web, I refer people to the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning www.lsal.pdx.edu . I recently posted a paper there discussing the relationship between literacy proficiency and technology use among adults who didn't finish high school, the findings of which support the development of the Learner Web concept. Clare Strawn Learner Web Portland State University 503-725-8720 clare at pdx.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081119/7b0abf07/attachment-0001.html From laferlazzo at aol.com Thu Nov 20 10:32:52 2008 From: laferlazzo at aol.com (laferlazzo at aol.com) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:32:52 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1156] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! In-Reply-To: <66d7e2a90811190428x8382f03u2d6614acece13067@mail.gmail.com> References: <20081119102636.UTHU2107.hrndva-omta03.mail.rr.com@WSLCLaptop202> <66d7e2a90811190428x8382f03u2d6614acece13067@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8CB193C63012CAA-820-567@WEBMAIL-MC07.sysops.aol.com> I just read in the Learning The Language blog (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2008/11/state_department_to_create_onl.html) about a new State Department plan to create an online EFL program for students outside of the United States. Is this going to be connected to USA Learns?? Does anybody know anything about this? Larry Ferlazzo Luther Burbank High School Sacramento, CA -----Original Message----- From: Leslie Petty To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 4:28 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1147] Re: We are enthused with USA Learns! Theresa, What a wonderful model! ?You've found a way to combine the social element of language learning with the technology-based approach. ?I'd love to hear more from you as it progresses.? Your observation that learners with high levels of education in their heritage language and computer skills picked up very quickly matches what we observed in the usability testing we did. ?But we also found that students with lower levels of education in their home countries (sixth grade or lower), at beginning ESL levels and with only modest computer skills were also able to effectively use the site. ?They used a straightforward approach and went through the activities sequentially (by clicking "take me to my next activity" when they signed-in to the site) but made steady progress. ?There were some technical demands that were challenging for them, but they didn't deter the students from using the site. ?These basic skills could certainly be developed in a traditional classroom program or in the FTF component of your approach. ?In fact, many of these students significantly exceeded the amount of time we asked them to spend in the site during the usability test. ?They were also very interested in having family members and friends use the site (another reason I find your model so exciting). ? Thanks for sharing your experience and insight. Leslie On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 5:26 AM, Theresa Pagano wrote: Buenos d?as a todos.? ? This is my first time corresponding with all of you. ? I have just introduced USA Learns to the mid-intermediate ESOL adult learners at the West Side Learning Center. ?(past two weeks) We have established a specific time and day each week for a Learners' Circle. ?Interested ELL adults and a facilitator meet to discuss, share, and clarify any topics of choice from the learners' USA Learns experiences. ?We hope to evolve into a 'language partners' format (peer-to-peer) with language partners deciding on their face-to-face meeting time and place.? A quarterly get-together of everyone participating is planned for Saturdays, including 'la familia'. ? We are introducing USA Learns to our local library branches for those learners without home-based technology. ? Observation:? Those learners with higher formal education in their heritage language and experience with technology have become engaged in USA Learns20very quickly. ?Others have become so motivated by the integration of language and technology learning that they arrive early and stay later than class times in order to use it. ? I enjoy the information shared through these Special Topics conversations. ? Hasta pronto, ? Theresa Pagano MANOS and West Side Learning Center Partners in Learning, Inc. & Syracuse City School District "A community connected by diverse cultural and language-learning experiences." (315) 435-4967 manos at twcny.rr.com ? ? ------------------------------- ational Institute for Literacy pecial Topics mailing list pecialTopics at nifl.gov o unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to ttp://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics mail delivered to laferlazzo at aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081120/b352fe06/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Thu Nov 20 19:15:29 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:15:29 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1157] Usability issues with U.S.A. Learns Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811201615x1a17bd4ds92e10f64b2d03912@mail.gmail.com> Hello, again. A few of the questions David received asked about use online tools by adults in the target audience for USAL. I hope the following responses will help to begin to answer some of those concerns. *About ten years ago, I conducted a thorough review of secondary literature on online learning specifically asking questions related to the use of online learning for the pre-GED adult learner. At that time the research seemed to indicate that online learning was most successful for people who were already successful readers and linear learners -- that the use of online learning courses added an additional burden to learners who were visual or kinesthetic or social learners -- and /or who had difficulty with reading. I wonder if the guests would speak directly to how their systems address those issues of learning modality -- and reading levels.* The USAL materials were developed in conjunction with a panel of ESL experts and field tested with students from a variety of educational and native language backgrounds. Audio and video play a key role in the activities throughout the site, so that learners are not relying exclusively on print. Visual learners are likely to find much that fits with their learning styles, but it may be more challenging for kinesthetic or social learners (unless the social learners enroll in a class with a teacher or tutor using USAL). However, the site does require that students have at least a basic reading level in English in order to be able to effectively navigate the site and understand the lessons/activities. In conducting our usability studies, we found that learners with low levels of education in their native countries (6th grade or lower), who were at the Beginning ESL levels, and had limited computer skills were not only able to navigate the site and complete the activities, but were so engaged that they spent significantly more time working than we had asked them to. In addition, they wanted to have their family members use the site. The only area where we noticed hesitation on their part was when it came to writing in English: many of the students either avoided writing activities or indicated that they were difficult for them. *What evidence and experience do the designers have about the use of online tools by people with very low literacy?* SCOE has extensive experience in developing online resources for adult learners. The site was designed for ease of use: It contains a collection of 15 activity templates that cover the most commonly used learning activities in online adult education. The templates all have a common look and feel and a minimal set of features to increase the likelihood that users will find the site easy to navigate. Directions, activities and feedback are minimalist in design, require little reading, and appear in the same place on every screen. An animated introductory help feature, with audio available in English and Spanish allows users to take an animated tour to learn how to use the site. Video and audio are used extensively throughout the activities, including opportunities for learners to record and playback their spoken English However, as we've noted before, we didn't know how well this approach would work with low-level learners and learners with minimal computer skills. Our usability testing has provided some insights into that, but clearly there's still a great deal to be learned. Some students had difficulty getting through the registration process (we have since simplified it) but once students got into the activities, they had only minor problems. One concern was how well students would be able to navigate through the site so they could progress through the activities. In the usability study, we found that almost all of the students progressed through the site in a sequential fashion, by clicking on the link to "take me to my next activity." They were able to continue studying and making progress, even if they didn't have a sophisticated schema about how the site was organized. Several students commented that the site was very easy to use and that it progressed in a step-by-step fashion. *How low do the models go?* We don't know this yet. At this point, we've seen students with a 6th grade or lower education in their native countries, limited English proficiency and modest (at best) computer skills successfully engage USAL, get to their next activity and complete lessons. Leslie -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081120/48d917bc/attachment.html From stacey.downey at dc.gov Thu Nov 20 09:32:07 2008 From: stacey.downey at dc.gov (Downey, Stacey (OSSE)) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:32:07 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1158] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 In-Reply-To: <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98@WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> References: <4CB17D33C0F89345847A40593C9EB8EBE5DF88@SOM-TEAQASMAIL2.som.w2k.state.me.us> <8CB17B21CE52A43-260-A98@WEBMAIL-MB16.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <9297128BF469784A9E4B428FB1D2ABEF466B19@emo-exch2k3-s33.dcgov.priv> At the Rutgers University, Center for Women and Work (CWW) Sloan Conference on E-Learning last December, there were excellent panels on: The Road to Work from Prison to Community: The Role of Computer-Based Learning Part One: Vision of Technology, Education, and the Prison Re-entry System The presenters talked about efforts in NJ to provide computer assisted learning opportunities (though in closed computer environments) for incarcerated men and women and then, interestingly, how they have can extend learning post-release with a program that places computers in the home. http://sloanelearning.wiki.zoho.com/900am-on-14-Dec.html http://sloanelearning.wiki.zoho.com/10am-on-14-Dec.html Perhaps someone from Rutgers University's CWW can speak more about their fine work in New Jersey. And please tell us if NJ has found a way for the assessment scores, computer based learning scores, modules completed, etc. that an individual completes in a closed computer system while incarcerated can be - with the re-entrant's permission -- uploaded to the web-based version of that same software to provide continuity of learning. Stacey Downey Stacey Downey Literacy Resource Center Coordinator Division of Education Excellence, Adult and Family Education Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Government of the District of Columbia 51 N Street NE, 7th Floor Washington, DC 20002 Direct: 202-741-5530 Fax: 202-741-0229 stacey.downey at dc.gov www.osse.dc.gov ________________________________ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of cvctwin51 at aol.com Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:31 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1125] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Teaching in the corrections environment is also very near and dear to me. I have taught GED classes at Denver County Jail for over 5 years. The nonprofit organization I work for does its best to provide resources, but at the moment the only resources we have are print materials. I see three benefits to creating a GED online for corrections. One, students can work at their own pace. Hopefully, the program is learner-centered so they only have to work on the subjects they need. Two, some of my students are not familiar with the computer, which is a handicap when it comes times to apply for a job. Using a computer would give them practice in computer skills as well as GED. Three, many of my students have marginal jobs (I am in the work release program now) and earning a GED enables them to get a "real" job and hopefully, stay out of trouble. Working on a computer may provide more motivation to stay in class or attract students who want a faster paced lesson. If we had a national GED program in a secure web environment for corrections, many teachers could work online with the students. All the "brainpower" for targeting their education would not have to be in the building. Outside teachers who love adult learning and online education could be used to create lessons for the students. And they could work with onsite personnel to reach even more inmates. Carolyn Carter The Learning Source -----Original Message----- From: Upham, Gary To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Sent: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 5:06 am Subject: [SpecialTopics 1107] Re: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Good morning. I am the principal at the Maine State Prison, where we have an active education department but little resources available. I also am President Elect of the Maine Adult Corrections association. Due to the nature of this program our access for inmates (which demographically would have about 25-50% of a population that could use this program), is not available through the web. How can we access and is it a possibility to create a special program for this population? My goal is that all facilities would have access to programs like this in a secure web environment. Thanks Gary Upham/MSP -----Original Message----- From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ] On Behalf Of specialtopics-request at nifl.gov Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:58 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 Send SpecialTopics mailing list submissions to specialtopics at nifl.gov To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to specialtopics-request at nifl.gov You can reach the person managing the list at specialtopics-owner at nifl.gov When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of SpecialTopics digest..." Today's Topics: 1. [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions (Steve Reder) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:51:07 -0800 From: "Steve Reder" Subject: [SpecialTopics 1091] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions To: Message-ID: <006701c948d4$b0317e30$0502fea9 at PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Good questions, Katherine. During our demonstration project (through Sept 2010), Portland State university is hosting Learner Web for all users but it will be freely distributed as open source towards the end of the project so that others can host it as they wish. The implementing regions in our demonstration project are starting to discuss a planned national rollout process. Big issues will be deciding how best to provide needed training and technical assistance to organizational users of the LW - the external evaluation being conducted on the demonstration project will help us identify some of the issues to consider in scaling up such training and assistance. We are developing a whole online library of multimedia videos and manuals for training purposes. Learning plans (remember, these are the structured units of content for the Learner Web platform) can be designed to blend the use of Learner Web with live courses in a rich variety of ways. We expect to have a number of working and evaluated models developed through our demonstration project. Hope this helps. Thanks for your questions. -Steve _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov ] On Behalf Of Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 2:27 PM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1078] Re: New Designs in Online and DistanceLearning -- your questions Hi David-- 1. It looks like these programs will be open source. How do they differ from other programs that are NOT open source? For example, I worked with a program called Project Connect which provided lessons in English language, culture and civics. Schools using the program must purchase a license. Hence, the program is run through the school where there are designated contacts who can also meet with students and provide a certain amount of tech support. Are these programs similar? If so, has there been any feedback from subscription-only program providers? 2. Are these programs meant to be used in tandem with live courses? My experience has been that pure distance education programs do not adequately serve this community for a variety of reasons, including technological barriers, students' inability to communicate problems, feelings of being overwhelmed or intimidated, etc. Thank you! I look forward to the discussion and appreciate the reminder to ask questions early! On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 11:06 AM, David Rosen wrote: Colleagues, As several people have recently signed up for the upcoming discussion here, New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, and since so far I have only received one question, I would like to repeat my request for your questions for our guests: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Please look at the brief descriptions of the two models that you will see in my previous email message, included below. The federally-funded USA Learns will have a national launch in a few days, before our discussion begins. We'll have an announcement here of the web site so you can look at it if you like. The Learner Web is a federally-funded demonstration project, available only for field testing in several selected regions around the country in Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. More information about the Learner Web, including two screen capture videos (if you register and log in), will be found at http://learnerweb.org . What would you like our guests to cover or explain in their descriptions of USA Learns and the Learner Web when we begin the discussion on November 17th and 18th? . Do you want to know how USA Learns and the Learner Web became federally-funded projects, what needs or research base they grew from, or other things about their history and development? . Do you want to know how they differ from other online adult basic education and English language learning models? If so, which kinds: online courses, online course management systems, wikis, portals, or something else? . If you are thinking about using either USA Learns or the Learner Web with your students, what is the situation you are hoping it will address? What group(s) of students, at what level(s) with what needs? What questions do you have about the model's usefulness for that situation? Think about why you have subscribed to the Special Topics discussion forum (or stayed subscribed) for this discussion, what you want to get from it. Frame a question or questions that will help our guests address your interest or need. You can send your questions by just replying to this message or by emailing them directly to me at djrosen at theworld.com. I will share the questions with our guests before the discussion begins, and the questions will be posted on or after November 17th. Of course more questions, observations, and dialogue will be welcome during the week of the discussion. Finally, it's not too late for your colleagues to join this discussion. To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:38 PM, David Rosen wrote: Special Topics Discussion Colleagues, On November 17th we will begin a discussion of USA Learns and of the Learner Web. You will find the description for this discussion below. Judging by the number of new subscribers, this is a high-interest topic! Now is the time to think about why you have subscribed: What questions would you like to ask our guests? Although your questions will not be posted until the discussion begins, I would like to share them with our guests in advance. Of course, questions, comments, and dialogue, will also be welcome during the discussion. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator djrosen at theworld.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---------------- New Designs in Online and Distance Learning is a National Institute for Literacy Special Topics discussion that will be held from November 17th through November 21st, 2008. It will focus on two new adult education models: a national learning portal for English language learning at a distance, called USA Learns, and a web-based and telephone-based learning support system, called the Learner Web, for ABE, ASE and ELL students enrolled in classes to supplement their learning, as well as for those who study on their own. We have four distinguished guests, researchers as well as product developers, who will describe these two models and answer questions. For USA Learns, our guests are John Fleischman and Dr. Jerome (Jere) Johnston. For the Learner Web our guests are Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn. You will find more information about them below. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in subscribing! To subscribe to the discussion, one can go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics One can unsubscribe later by going to the same web page or one can stay subscribed for the next discussion. Description of the models The Learner Web is a learning support system providing structure and resources for adults who want to accomplish specific learning objectives. A learner can access the system through the Internet. In addition to on-line resources, the Learner Web integrates support services from existing local education programs, community based organizations, tutors, and telephone helpers. The Learner Web consists of a Web-based software system that is implemented regionally. The System is organized around Learning Plans. A Learning Plan is a set of steps structured around achieving an identified goal. For example, if the goal is to get a GED, the steps might include finding out more about the tests, identifying what skills one needs to brush up on, learning new skills and knowledge, taking practice tests, etc. Each step is matched with online and community based resources and a workspace where learners can take assessments or save their work in an e-portfolio. The learner creates a personal profile, may take a short reading assessment and interest inventory, chooses a goal from the available list and follows the Learning Plan independently or with a tutor or a teacher. The Learning Plan is dynamically matched by the software to both the learner profile and educational resources. The learner's progress is saved and can be returned to at any time via the internet. Learners can choose to share their workspace with a tutor or teacher. The Learner Web has begun the second year of a three-year demonstration project in seven demonstration regions across the country. U.S.A. Learns is a free Web site designed for adult learners with limited English language skills. Instructional content focuses on the language and literacy skills that adults need for everyday survival. While a broad range of adults can use U.S.A. Learns, it has been developed primarily for immigrants who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. The site includes more than 400 hours of instruction and offers an extensive array of video, audio and richly illustrated graphics and images. The site layout was created with the inexperienced Web user in mind, and extensive built- in help features are available. U.S.A. Learns can be used independently, but it can also be used in association with a teacher or tutor via an online management system. Background on Discussion Guests John Fleischman With more than 25 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator and project director, John Fleischman is currently responsible for information and educational technology operations at the Sacramento County Office of Education. John possesses an extensive background with creating and implementing instructional and informational media for use in a variety of educational environments. His present area of focus is on building Web-based solutions for education, including data management systems and comprehensive online learning resources. Working at the state and national level, he provides oversight for a range of technology initiatives including the Outreach and Technology Assistance Network (www.otan.us ) and Strengthening Programs Through Technology (www.adultedonline.org ). John is the author of numerous publications and is frequently requested as a presenter at both state and national conferences. Jerome (Jere) Johnston is Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For 40 years he has been studying ways that technology shapes what people learn. In recent years Dr. Johnston has been exploring innovative ways to use technology in adult literacy. He directs the Project IDEAL Support Center, supporting 25 states in their efforts to build distance learning programs for adult learners. The Center provides technical assistance to states in the areas of training, research, and policy development (projectideal.org ). Stephen Reder is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on adult education and the processes of literacy and language development during adulthood. Dr. Reder has served as the Principal Investigator for a number of major projects in adult education. Two recent projects, the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning and the National Labsite for Adult ESOL, examine the ways adults acquire new literacy and language abilities and the roles which adult education programs and policies play in supporting that development. The results of this research have led to the development of the Learner Web, an innovative online adult learning support system. Professor Reder is the author of numerous publications about his research and its implications for adult education and adult literacy and language development. He has recently completed co-editing a volume with John Bynner, Tracking Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills: Findings from Longitudinal Research. A second book is in progress, Dropping Out and Moving On: Life, Literacy and Development among High School Dropouts. Dr. Reder actively works with networks of adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the state, regional and national levels. Clare Strawn is Assistant Professor at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and has been an analyst on the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning. She is interested in patterns of program participation, the intersection of learning and community development, social capital influences on learning strategies, and technology. She has been a co-developer, with Steve Reder of the Learner Web and has been actively involved in the demonstration project. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to djrosen1 at gmail.com ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to katherine.gotthardt at gmail.com -- Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt www.LuxuriousChoices.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081117/7a6ec04 1/attachment.html ------------------------------ ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics End of SpecialTopics Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8 ******************************************** ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to cvctwin51 at aol.com ________________________________ You Rock! One month of free movies delivered by mail from blockbuster.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081120/632b1962/attachment-0001.html From djrosen1 at gmail.com Fri Nov 21 12:45:20 2008 From: djrosen1 at gmail.com (djrosen1) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:45:20 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1159] Fwd: Learner Web - A Regional Partner Perspective References: <859978.44247.qm@web52701.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <582D49FF-76B1-4DBA-9A4B-D4089C1C7557@gmail.com> Forwarded for Karisa Tashjian Begin forwarded message: > From: karisa tashjian > Date: November 20, 2008 10:23:00 AM EST > Subject: Learner Web - A Regional Partner Perspective > > > As a regional partner, I'd like to emphasize a few points about the > Learner Web. First, this is an initiative that is fully > "grassroots". The idea comes from and continues to develop from > practitioners across the nation. Second, this approach does > present some challenges in terms of local fundraising and > coordination, however, I look at the Learner Web as something that > "if we build it, they will come". As it becomes more fully > developed, I am certain that support will continue to build. > Finally, I believe that the Learner Web will not only benefit > learners but also community organizations and teachers as well. As > Learning Plans are developed, teachers are working together and > connecting with community organizations. I can't imagine anything > better to help learners! > > Best regards, > Karisa Tashjian > Literacy Program Coordinator > The Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative (RIFLI) > (: 401.455.8185 > *: ktashjian at provlib.org > :: http://www.rifli.org > > > --- On Tue, 11/18/08, David J. Rosen wrote: > From: David J. Rosen > Subject: [SpecialTopics 1135] Welcome to those who have recently > joined the discussion > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov > Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 7:12 PM > > Special Topics Colleagues, > > For those who have just joined us and want to catch up, and for > others who may want to find a particular post, you will find an > archive of this discussion (and all Special Topics discussions) at > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html > > We welcome your questions and comments on both the Learner Web (LW) > and USA Learns (USAL). > > A couple of people have asked how USA Learns and The Learner Web > may be used to count NRS distance learning equivalents to class > time. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this, > perhaps Sheryl Adler from the U.S. Department of Education could > explain the Department's policy on counting Distance Learning for > NRS reporting. Then perhaps someone from USA Learns and someone > from the Learner Web could describe how parts of each model's > curriculum (or in the LW Model, "Learning Plan") might be awarded > equivalent class time -- referring to policy at a national or at a > state level. If this isn't clear yet in the model, what is the > process you envision for getting NRS approval of distance learning > equivalency? > > Several people are interested in how the Learner Web or USA Learns > might be used, perhaps in a closed internal system, inside > corrections facilities. If this were possible, it could be a > terrific service for those incarcerated in corrections institutions > or county jails. It would enable inmates to begin to use the model > inside and, when released, to continue their learning on the > outside. I imagine there might be a challenges in transfering the > progress records from the closed inside to the open web-based > versions, but perhaps with additional resources this problem could > be solved, I wonder if funding from the recently passed Second > Chance Act could support developing the inside versions and a > transition interface to the open web-based version for released > inmates. (See Special Topics Discussion on transitions from > transitions to community, message 918, > http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/000930.html > for a description of the Second Chance Act.) > > Several people have commented on the Learner Web's ability to be > regionally (locally) tailored and to include face-to-face as well > as online learning resources. One person has observed that this > sounded complicated, involving local effort and costs. I wonder if > Steve or Clare, or those who are working in Leraner Web regional > pilots, might like to comment on the opportunities and challenges > of this _regional_ learning support model. > > Does anyone see ways in which the Learner Web and USA Learns might > be used together, where they add value to each other? Perhaps our > guests would also care to comment on that. > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > djrosen at theworld.com > > > > ------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list SpecialTopics at nifl.gov To unsubscribe > or change your subscription settings, please go to http:// > www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics Email delivered to > ktashjian at yahoo.com > From maureenh at azcallateen.k12.az.us Fri Nov 21 13:47:54 2008 From: maureenh at azcallateen.k12.az.us (maureen hoyt) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:47:54 -0700 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1160] Re: Usability issues with U.S.A. Learns Message-ID: <77B24677B57F9646B244B93AE6B95C7901888B54@acat-exch.azcallateen.k12.az.us> I agree that USA learns is an excellent resource. I think previous studies used primarily text based on line programs that did not have audio. It will be interesting to see how basic skills readers will benefit from this program. Maureen Hoyt Basic Education Manager ACYR 602-252-6721ext 223 fax: 602-252-2952 www.azcallateen.k12.az.us www.az-aall.org Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/512b7191/attachment.html From stacey.downey at dc.gov Fri Nov 21 13:56:47 2008 From: stacey.downey at dc.gov (Downey, Stacey (OSSE)) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:56:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1161] Learner Web Active in DC Message-ID: <9297128BF469784A9E4B428FB1D2ABEF466B41@emo-exch2k3-s33.dcgov.priv> Thank you, Belinda and Janet, for your interest in the Learner Web activity in Washington, DC. The District of Columbia is one of the Learner Web demonstration regions. The DC partnership is made up of: * DC Public Library * Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Adult and Family Education * University of the District of Columbia, Workforce Development The DC design is to dramatically increase access points to the Learner Web and online learning opportunities. Adult education providers, library staff, Lifelong Learning Coaches, Lifelong Learning Centers, and workforce development centers would make sure that DC residents are aware of the Learner Web as an adult education/post-secondary transition option. Learner Web participants in the adult education strand will be assessed in adult education programs in the state assessment system which is CASAS. Interested candidates can get an introduction to the Learner Web at adult education centers, the library, Workforce Development Centers, or on board the Transformer , a mobile technology unit that is used for outreach and special events around the city. The University is working on learning plans to support individuals working toward certifications, preparing for the ACCUPLACER, and transitioning to college. The DC region has developed a learning plan called GED - Start Here. It details the parts of the GED and what is involved in preparing fore the exam. The plan links to local resources like the local GED Testing Center, the Read Out Loud hotline, and local program providers. DC has also contributed to the GED learning plans and is working on a learning plan on interpreting graphs and charts for the GED. We are absolutely interested in ways that the Learner Web can support parents. Supporting family literacy and family learning programs is stated in the Office of the State Superintendent's 5-year strategic plan that was released this fall. Stacey Downey Stacey Downey Literacy Resource Center Coordinator Division of Education Excellence, Adult and Family Education Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Government of the District of Columbia 51 N Street NE, 7th Floor Washington, DC 20002 Direct: 202-741-5530 Fax: 202-741-0229 stacey.downey at dc.gov www.osse.dc.gov -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/221ae3ea/attachment.html From djrosen at theworld.com Fri Nov 21 13:54:47 2008 From: djrosen at theworld.com (David Rosen) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:54:47 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1162] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Message-ID: Colleagues, Today is the last day of our discussion on New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, the Learner Web and USA Learns. Although you are welcome to send comments and questions throughout the day, and our guests may yet respond to them, I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all of our guests, and especially to Steve Reder, John Fleischman, and Leslie Petty who put in a great deal of time this week to answer your questions with care and thoroughness. I also want to thank all of the subscribers who have posted questions and comments. It was delightful to read comments from some of the Learner Web pilot regions and from those who have begun to use USA Learns. For those who may have signed up in the middle, the entire discussion is archived at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/ date.html Between this discussion and the next one (not yet scheduled) the Special Topics list will go silent. Thanks for joining us. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/10b0aa87/attachment.html From leslie.lpetty at gmail.com Fri Nov 21 15:20:36 2008 From: leslie.lpetty at gmail.com (Leslie Petty) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:20:36 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1163] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <66d7e2a90811211220m45536a27uae8ee399a90aded3@mail.gmail.com> David, Thank you for your skillful moderation (from across the world, no less!) and your efforts to make this happen. Leslie On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 1:54 PM, David Rosen wrote: > Colleagues, > Today is the last day of our discussion on New Designs in Online and > Distance Learning, the Learner Web and USA Learns. Although you are > welcome to send comments and questions throughout the day, and our guests > may yet respond to them, I want to take this opportunity to express my > appreciation to all of our guests, and especially to Steve Reder, John > Fleischman, and Leslie Petty who put in a great deal of time this week to > answer your questions with care and thoroughness. I also want to thank all > of the subscribers who have posted questions and comments. It was delightful > to read comments from some of the Learner Web pilot regions and from those > who have begun to use USA Learns. > > For those who may have signed up in the middle, the entire discussion is > archived at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html Between this discussion and the next one (not yet scheduled) the Special > Topics list will go silent. Thanks for joining us. > > > > David J. Rosen > Special Topics Discussion Moderator > DJRosen at theworld.com > > > > > > ------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Special Topics mailing list > SpecialTopics at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics > Email delivered to lpetty at twmi.rr.com > -- Leslie Petty, Ed.D. Associate Director Project IDEAL Support Center University of Michigan 734-425-0748 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/afaf7eb0/attachment.html From JURMO at ucc.edu Fri Nov 21 17:56:45 2008 From: JURMO at ucc.edu (JURMO at ucc.edu) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:56:45 -0500 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1164] Re: Learner Web Active in Union County, NJ References: <9297128BF469784A9E4B428FB1D2ABEF466B41@emo-exch2k3-s33.dcgov.priv> Message-ID: <355865D6A500D84D960A0083B5FFF71F0446E1E6@crexc02.campus.ucc.edu> Hi, Everyone, I just want to take a few units of cyberspace to tell those interested in Learner Web about what we are doing at Union County College in New Jersey. We are developing a Learner Web component which we call "Learner Web Career Pathways." It is organized around three major goals: 1. Develop a career plan. 2. Develop transferable work-readiness skills. 3. Understand career options in various industries. My UCC colleagues and I have put most of our effort so far into developing activities and on-line resources for Goal 1 ("Develop a career plan.") We are borrowing ideas from existing career awareness/curricula (especially the terrific "Getting There" curriculum developed 10 years ago by the people at the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee) and are creating a step-by-step series of activities which learners can use to identify career goals, explore their strengths and challenges, prepare resumes and job interviewing skills, understand training and education options that can help them move ahead with their careers, and otherwise create a career plan for themselves. We are field testing these activities with various populations of the learners in our adult basic education and workforce development programs, including ex-offenders, public assistance recipients, and English language learners. Our instructors are being very creative in using the Learner Web framework to help learners not only think through various aspects of a career plan but to get comfortable using the Internet as a tool for learning. For example, in one class, learners who wanted to explore options in various careers used O*NET to research the requirements and benefits of the jobs they were interested in, synthesized what they learned and presented a concise summary of that information in PowerPoint presentations. We are now also beginning to develop a learning plan (i.e., system of organizing activities related to a particular learning goal) for Goal 3 ("Understand career options in various industries"). Because we are already in various stages of developing career pathway programs for several industries, we are now assembling learning activities (with corresponding links to existing relevant web sites) which learners can use to understand career options in sales and customer service jobs, the transportation/logistics/distribution industry, "green collar" jobs, and healthcare (especially eldercare). We hope to also work with our Learner Web colleagues in St. Paul, Minnesota to develop a learning plan for Goal 2 ("Develop transferable work-readiness skills"). A learner could use these resources to prepare for entry in many different types of jobs as well as for use in the Work Readiness Credential exam. We see these LW learning plans as a way to organize the work-related learning activities we are in many cases already doing with our learners. LW is also proving to be a great way to help our learners feel comfortable using the Internet as a learning tool. We have begun training our instructors in the use of Learner Web and will be inviting them to help us field test and develop it further. There's plenty more work for us to do to develop our section of Learner Web. We look forward to moving ahead with this work and to sharing what we come up with when it's ready. (We hope that will be in early 2009, resources permitting.) All the best, Paul Jurmo, Ed.D. Dean, Economic Development and Continuing Education Union County College New Jersey Thank you, Belinda and Janet, for your interest in the Learner Web activity in Washington, DC. The District of Columbia is one of the Learner Web demonstration regions. The DC partnership is made up of: * DC Public Library * Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Adult and Family Education * University of the District of Columbia, Workforce Development The DC design is to dramatically increase access points to the Learner Web and online learning opportunities. Adult education providers, library staff, Lifelong Learning Coaches, Lifelong Learning Centers, and workforce development centers would make sure that DC residents are aware of the Learner Web as an adult education/post-secondary transition option. Learner Web participants in the adult education strand will be assessed in adult education programs in the state assessment system which is CASAS. Interested candidates can get an introduction to the Learner Web at adult education centers, the library, Workforce Development Centers, or on board the Transformer , a mobile technology unit that is used for outreach and special events around the city. The University is working on learning plans to support individuals working toward certifications, preparing for the ACCUPLACER, and transitioning to college. The DC region has developed a learning plan called GED - Start Here. It details the parts of the GED and what is involved in preparing fore the exam. The plan links to local resources like the local GED Testing Center, the Read Out Loud hotline, and local program providers. DC has also contributed to the GED learning plans and is working on a learning plan on interpreting graphs and charts for the GED. We are absolutely interested in ways that the Learner Web can support parents. Supporting family literacy and family learning programs is stated in the Office of the State Superintendent's 5-year strategic plan that was released this fall. Stacey Downey Stacey Downey Literacy Resource Center Coordinator Division of Education Excellence, Adult and Family Education Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Government of the District of Columbia 51 N Street NE, 7th Floor Washington, DC 20002 Direct: 202-741-5530 Fax: 202-741-0229 stacey.downey at dc.gov www.osse.dc.gov -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5757 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/2f2631b4/attachment-0001.bin From reders at pdx.edu Fri Nov 21 19:01:40 2008 From: reders at pdx.edu (Steve Reder) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:01:40 -0800 Subject: [SpecialTopics 1165] Re: New Designs in Online and Distance Learning In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000001c94c35$7f032520$0502fea9@PSU.DS.PDX.EDU> I'd like to add my thanks to David for his expert moderation and to everyone who participated in a very stimulating and thoughtful week of discussion. -Steve Reder _____ From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 10:55 AM To: specialtopics at nifl.gov Subject: [SpecialTopics 1162] New Designs in Online and Distance Learning Colleagues, Today is the last day of our discussion on New Designs in Online and Distance Learning, the Learner Web and USA Learns. Although you are welcome to send comments and questions throughout the day, and our guests may yet respond to them, I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all of our guests, and especially to Steve Reder, John Fleischman, and Leslie Petty who put in a great deal of time this week to answer your questions with care and thoroughness. I also want to thank all of the subscribers who have posted questions and comments. It was delightful to read comments from some of the Learner Web pilot regions and from those who have begun to use USA Learns. For those who may have signed up in the middle, the entire discussion is archived at http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html Between this discussion and the next one (not yet scheduled) the Special Topics list will go silent. Thanks for joining us. David J. Rosen Special Topics Discussion Moderator DJRosen at theworld.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20081121/8387cceb/attachment.html