Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id eASHpQ921764; Tue, 28 Nov 2000 12:51:36 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 12:51:36 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <2.2.32.20001128174520.00707ba8@mail.teleport.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Sylvan Rainwater <sylrain@teleport.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:3281] Re: getting started with family literacy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32) Status: O Content-Length: 3053 Lines: 59 At 12:41 PM 11/27/2000 -0500, Jane Meyer wrote: > > >Sylvan, One specific thing we did to build collaboration in our first year of >Even Start was to apply for a grant (ours was a special demonstration grant >from the state ABE office) to work on community collaboration. With the money >we set up several meetings and invited all the agencies in town. <SNIP> What a wonderful idea! Our Family Literacy Planning group met yesterday, and afterwards had a focus group as a part of a research project being done by Leslie Richards from Oregon State University. The focus group helped us look at the strengths and challenges of our collaborative meetings. What she's hoping to do, as I understand it, is to come up with a handbook with specific suggestions about how to build collaboration. One key thing that came from it, as I see it, was that the latest round of meetings (which began last May specifically to look at how to extend our program beyond its 8th year, but now is looking at more family literacy possibilities in the county) has had a trained, neutral facilitator, who has helped avoid turf wars and kept everything moving forward. So I would add that to your idea about getting initial collaboration going early. >There has to be a balance of vision and day to day operations in any program. >It is easy to get overwhelmed setting up and managing a family literacy >program. <SNIP> You are right, of course. I suspect my tendency is to get more involved in the day-to-day operation and logistical details. When I force myself to get out of that box and step back a bit, I find that valuable too. One other idea that came out of the focus group yesterday was to get together with other Even Start programs (hopefully more experienced). Have a panel presentation, or even a discussion for a morning, afternoon, or all day if possible, just to compare notes, get ideas about how other programs have seen/solved certain issues, etc. Collaboration may mean more than one thing. One thing that's beginning to emerge from our discussions of maybe setting up more family literacy programs (or at least developing pieces of it) in the county is that our expertise will be called upon by new groups. It begins to look as if our program will in fact continue using community resources (though that's not completely nailed down), and that new programs will be coming along in a couple of other areas of the county. We keep discovering more people and more agencies who are working in various aspects of family literacy. As we widen our vision to include schools, private organizations, and other agencies, we find more and more resources out there. How to weave them together and help each other in order to make us all stronger is the challenge we are facing now. But I'd say that that challenge feels better than where we were before, which more like panic, or at least acute anxiety about how to continue. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sylvan Rainwater . Portland, Oregon, USA . sylrain@teleport.com
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