Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i2QHB2m18507; Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:11:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:11:02 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <407CC695@webmail.utk.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: jataylor <jataylor@utk.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1207] Re: [NIFL-4EFF:2718] Leaving NIFL- a message from Sondra Stein X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Infinite Mobile Delivery (Hydra) SMTP v3.62.01 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Status: O Content-Length: 7879 Lines: 179 Hello Sondra, David, All, Sondra, I wish you the best for a promising future, and I am sure many of us echo David's words of praise - I do. NIFL is indeed losing a great leader. Jackie Jackie Taylor List Moderator NIFL-AALPD >===== Original Message From nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov ===== >Dear Colleagues, > >Sondra Stein's role in conceiving and developing Equipped for the >Future (EFF) has been vitally important to the adult literacy education >field, and has been one of the major contributions of the National >Institute for Literacy. EFF and the Literacy Information and >Communications System (LINCS) are the two long-term initiatives for >which the National Institute for Literacy is best known, and which have >had the greatest national impact on moving our field forward towards >excellence in practice. > >I am glad to hear that Sondra will continue to work with EFF, and I >hope that other national organizations will have the vision to support >EFF's continued growth in staff development and assessment. The >investment which the NIFL has made in EFF has been sound. It has >brought EFF to the point where several states have formally adopted it, >and other states and programs also are using EFF. Several states are >using the standards to invest in creating the EFF work readiness >credential. Assessment instruments will be created which are aligned to >EFF standards. Although I am disappointed that the National Institute >for Literacy will let Sondra leave, and apparently is not interested in >continuing to support Equipped for the Future, I think the standards >are so important to the field, and have a sufficiently strong foothold >in the states, that Equipped For the Future can continue without the >support of the NIFL. > >I would like to thank Sondra for the extraordinary work she has done >for our field, first in Massachusetts, and over more than a decade, >nationally. > >David J. Rosen >djrosen@comcast.net > > >On Friday, March 26, 2004, at 10:55 AM, jaleh.behroozi@nifl.gov wrote: > >> >> Dear Friends and Colleagues: >> >> I am writing this letter to let you know that March 31st will be my >> last day at the National Institute for Literacy. >> >> It has been an extraordinary 12 years. I was a strong advocate for >> the creation of NIFL. When I was invited to join the staff early in >> 1992 as a special advisor to the first interim director, I felt >> greatly honored to have the opportunity to help shape the direction of >> an institution that represented so many hopes and dreams for the >> literacy field. During the startup period I worked closely with our >> first Presidentially-appointed Advisory Board (made up of national >> leaders from across the adult literacy field, including Sharon >> Darling, Benita Somerfield, Jinx Crouch, and Jon Deveaux), with a >> wonderful group of colleagues from labor, education, and health and >> human services representing our Interagency Management Group, and with >> my dear friend Susan Green, who joined the staff in early 1993. >> Together we shaped the institute's first initiatives: the center for >> learning disabilities, and two interagency initiatives, one focused on >> professional development, the other on accountability and continuous >> improvement. Soon Jaleh Behroozi joined the staff, to coordinate the >> design and development of what has become NIFL's LINCS system. >> >> We all took seriously the mandate from Congress to be an interagency >> institution, and to work closely with partners in and out of >> government to improve the quality and reach of adult and family >> literacy programs all across the country. This vision of the >> Institute.s mission was shared by Andy Hartman, our first Director, >> and the other new program staff who joined the Institute in 1994 -- >> Carolyn Staley and Alice Johnson. All of us worked to build an >> institution that could serve as a powerful voice for the literacy >> field, inspiring and leading a national effort to assure that adults >> in every part of the country had the opportunity to improve their >> literacy skills and thus enhance their lives. >> >> As part of our effort to strengthen the quality and accountability of >> the adult literacy system NIFL launched Equipped for the Future - a >> collaborative, standards-based system reform initiative. And - for me >> - the rest is history. Working on EFF these past 10 years has been an >> extraordinary gift and (as my family will tell you) a magnificent >> obsession. I have had the opportunity to work with a group of >> dedicated, reflective, and creative educators, researchers, and >> policymakers - a true community of learners, in whose company I have >> learned much and grown enormously as an educator and leader. >> >> Working together we have accomplished so much. We have developed a >> set of adult learning standards that define the full range of skills >> and knowledge that adults need to be successful in their roles as >> workers, citizens, parents and family members. We have developed and >> refined a standards-based approach to instruction and assessment that >> helps teachers focus more sharply on student goals and the skills and >> knowledge students need to achieve them. We have developed a training >> certification system that helps states integrate these new tools into >> their own professional development and program improvement systems. >> And we have created an assessment framework for the standards that >> promises to lead to a new generation of assessments that really help >> us measure what students know and can do. In December, we produced a >> work readiness profile that will be the basis for our new work >> readiness assessment tool. And just last month we hosted a meeting of >> EFF states and assessment publishers to encourage the development of >> assessments aligned with EFF standards. >> >> In 1996 when we began the standards development process we estimated >> that by 2004 the development work would be completed, and we would be >> ready to turn our attention to implementation of system reform. Thanks >> to the commitment and investment of time and resources of all our >> partners we have actually achieved that ambitious goal. We really do >> have a set of field-developed, standards-based tools that programs and >> states can use to improve the quality and results of our adult >> learning system. I am amazed and exhilarated at what we have >> accomplished together, and the ways in which these accomplishments >> have already helped us move forward. I can.t wait to see what's next! >> >> While I am leaving NIFL, I'm not quite ready to leave EFF. Next month >> the states that are partners with NIFL in the creation of an EFF Work >> Readiness Credential will take over management of the project from >> NIFL, and they have asked me to continue to work with them until the >> credential is completed in 2005. I also expect to stay involved in an >> advisory capacity with the EFF Center for Training and Technical >> Assistance, which now has a very strong independent base at the Center >> for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee. >> >> Most of all, I hope to have a little more time to tend to my garden >> and my husband, to travel for pleasure instead of work, and to take on >> new projects. >> >> I look forward to continuing to work with you. Starting April 1, 2004 >> you can reach me at my home email sondragay@aol.com >> <mailto:sondragay@aol.com> or at 202-271-7163. >> >> Sincerely, >> >> Sondra >> >> >> >> Sondra Stein, PhD. >> National Director, Equipped for the Future >> Senior Research Associate, >> National Institute for Literacy >> 1775 I St NW, Suite 730 >> Washington, DC 20006 >> Ph: 202-233-2041 >> Fax: 202-233-2050 >> www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/eff/eff.html >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>
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