E*Literacy

Welcome to e*literacy, a monthly electronic newsletter with all the latest news from the National Institute for Literacy.

CONTENTS

Headlines:
• AOL-Time Warner Adds New "Literacy" Keyword
• Equipped for the Future (EFF) Tools Now Available in Spanish
• NIFL and Head Start Collaborate on Family Literacy
• NIFL Assists American Foundation for the Blind in National Training Program
• Coming Soon: Adult Assessment Web Site Nearing Completion
• Legislative Update: ESEA Negotiations Continue
• Literacy in the News: From the Irish Independent: Illiteracy Causing Health Problems
• Calendar: December Conferences and Events

LINCS and AOL-Time Warner staff have collaborated to add "literacy" as a keyword on the AOL website. The new keyword links to the NIFL website.

For more information go to AOL's Government Guide's Research & Education page.

The EFF Role Maps, Skills Wheel, and Standards have all been translated into Spanish and can be downloaded from the EFF website: (/lincs/collections/eff/eff_masters.html). Poster-size versions of the role maps and standards wheel are available from the EFF National Center. For more information, contact dawn.norris@umit.maine.edu.

NIFL has entered an interagency agreement with the Head Start Bureau to engage in joint activities to promote the delivery of high-quality family literacy services by Head Start and Early Head Start programs. NIFL has agreed to provide Partnership for Reading funding to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in order for HHS to create and disseminate professional development materials based on scientific research findings on how young children and adults develop the ability to read. The materials will also look at research implications for improving Head Start and Early Head Start programs that provide family literacy services. The materials will be used to train family literacy providers to improve reading instruction in the adult basic education components of family literacy programs and to help them deliver services that enable young children to develop the core skills they need to become good readers. HHS is funding the National Center for Family Literacy to develop materials and training models.

For more about NIFL's activities to support early literacy, go to the Partnership for Reading information page.

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has issued an invitation for adult educators and vocational rehabilitation counselors to participate in a national training program to address the literacy needs of adults with low vision in adult education classrooms. The NIFL is assisting through its learning disabilities program, using the Bridges to Practice model. The AFB is looking for adult literacy practitioners to train their peers in teaching adults with low vision. Requirements include experience in training, interest in improving teaching skills, and the ability to lead other teachers to change their classroom practice. The similarities in instructional accommodations and assistive technology for adults with low vision and adults with learning disabilities make them easy to adapt for the adult education classroom.

Training locations are as follows: Atlanta in January; San Antonio in February; San Francisco in April; and Boston in May. Trainers will receive a stipend. To request an application, contact Tina Tucker at AFB: ttucker@afb.net.

In conjunction with National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) and LINCS staff, NIFL's Partnership for Reading is developing an interactive Web site that allows teachers to enter reading scores (silent reading comprehension, word recognition, word meaning, spelling, and words per minutes reading speed) for their learners and receive matching profiles that offer characteristics of learners with comparable scores, as well as suggested interventions for teaching learners with those characteristics based on relevant research. The site, which is under construction, will be piloted this winter and available to the public in the spring.

APPROPRIATIONS: Just before the Thanksgiving break, Congress agreed to its fifth Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend federal government funding at FY 2001 levels through December 7. The appropriation bill that fund federal education programs, including adult and family literacy programs, is currently being negotiated by Senate and House members and should be finalize soon. To date, Congress has approved 8 of the 13 required appropriation bills; 6 of those approved by Congress have been signed into law by the President. Congressional leaders are already discussing the possibility of a sixth CR to run through mid-December, which will give Congress the time it needs to complete work on the remaining spending bills.

EDUCATION: The House and Senate conference committee on education are still negotiating the bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The conference committee members have made good progress on many sections of the bill, but appear to be having difficultly in reaching agreement on issues related to funding for students with disabilities. In addition to programs related to adult and family literacy, the ESEA bill includes the President's Reading First proposal, which aims to improve reading skills for children from preschool through third grade.

More information on these two issues can be found in recent NIFL Policy Updates at /lincs/collections/policy/updates.html.

From November 19, 2001 Irish Independent:

"Illiteracy causing health problems.
More than half a million adults cannot access healthcare services properly because of inadequate literacy skills, a shocking new study reveals."

To read this article and other literacy news from around the country and around the world, visit LINCS News Flashes

Be sure to check out LINCS' calendar of upcoming events, including conferences, seminars, and training sessions at: /cgi-bin/Calendar/calendar_world.cgi. Information is available on events taking place from now thru the end of 2002. December 2001 events include:

December 2

6th Annual Workplace Learning Conference
Chicago, Illinois

December 5

National Reading Conference 51st Annual Meeting
San Antonio, Texas

December 13

3rd Annual PEPNet (Promising and Effective Practices Network) Institute
Washington, DC

ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education) Annual Convention
New Orleans, Louisiana

Our apologies to those of you who received multiple copies of NIFL's latest Policy Update. We are in the process of combining several large databases, and a number of people were listed in multiple databases. The duplicate records had been tagged for deletion, but we mistakenly sent the Policy Update to all records, including those tagged for deletion. We have corrected our error and appreciate your patience as we complete this process.

E*literacy is published monthly by the National Institute for Literacy. The National Institute for Literacy is an independent federal organization leading the national effort toward a fully literate nation in the 21st century. The Institute's mission is to improve the national adult literacy system by building capacity and improving quality through strategic public-private partnerships at the state, regional, and national level.

Editor: Alice Johnson (ajohnson@nifl.gov)

For more information, contact:
National Institute for Literacy
1775 I Street, NW
Suite 730
Washington, DC 20006-2417
202-233-2025
http://www.nifl.gov

The National Institute for Literacy maintains this site according to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C 794d).
Documents offered on this site are available in alternate formats from the Institute upon request.