Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j81JY1G00361; Thu, 1 Sep 2005 15:34:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 15:34:01 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000b01c5af2b$e7fd2a30$7c851141@olceb5ac65434b> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "OLC" <reader@wcoil.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3292] Re: International literacy day X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 5199 Lines: 93 Andres..thanks for doing all the work. I will change the figures and use the rest. Rose Marie Duffy, Literacy Council, Lima, Ohio ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andres Muro" <AndresM@epcc.edu> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 2:10 PM Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3291] International literacy day > Her is an article for international literacy day for El Paso. If anyone > wants to use some of the info in your community, do so. You may need to > change the data. > > Andres > > Article for International Literacy Day (September 8th) > > In El Paso, 133,000 adults (over 25) have not obtained a high > school diploma or GED, and 83,000 of these adults have less than 9th > grade. In addition, 200,000 adults report that they speak English less > than well (2,000 census). Limited education prevents adults from fully > participating in all aspects of family, education, vocation, and > community life. For example, adults may have difficulty helping their > children with homework, reading directions for taking medication, > filling out job applications, accessing and using health care services, > or preparing healthy meals. > El Paso gets approximately 2.5 million dollars annually, form > the state and federal government, to provide adult basic education > classes. These funds barely scratch the surface when it comes to > provide educational services for economically and academically > disadvantaged adults. Not only many adults have limited literacy skills, > but, they are also poor and lack resources to access needed services. > So, they, or someone in the family may be ill and they will not be able > to access a doctor. They may lack transportation. They may live in > precarious housing or may be homeless. They may not be able to afford > daycare. They may be victims of domestic trauma. They may not be able to > afford educational materials or pay for tests, and they may not have > adequate space to study. So, providing classes for economically and > academically disadvantaged adults does not suffice. They need support > services such as counseling, day care, health care and economic > assistance. > Some may argue that we should focus on children rather than > adults. However, the evidence shows that the best predictor of the > educational achievement of children is the educational achievement of > the parent, particularly the mother. So, if we consider that over one > hundred thousand adults have limited education, it is likely that their > children will not exceed their parents' accomplishment by much. > Reasons for these are obvious. Children benefit from parents that can > talk to teachers and understand them. They benefit from parents that can > help with homework. They benefit from parents that create a literacy > rich environment at home with books, newspapers and magazines and other > forms of print. They benefit from parents that have and use technology > at home. They benefit from parents that serve as role models. > Many of us live in homes with books and computers and have the > literacy skills to support our children, talk to their teachers, buy > supplies for them, create time and space for them to do homework at home > and encourage them to succeed in school. Still, many of our kids > struggle with school. From this, we may be able to understand the > struggles that economically and academically disadvantaged parents face, > when helping their children succeed academically. Therefore, in order to > prepare children for a better future we must invest in their parents > too. > In El Paso, there is great potential to brake the cycle of > poverty. Research shows that children of 1st generation immigrants have > a greater chance of succeeding in school provided that the parents can > support them and become economically independent. First generation > immigrants believe in the American dream of educational and economic > achievement and they came to this country by choice. They try to > transmit these beliefs to their children. If their children are not able > to overcome poverty they lose hope and will not transmit the same hope > to next generations. As poverty passes on to future generations it > becomes extremely difficult to eradicate so we must prevent it. In a > community with many first generation poor immigrants, there is > tremendous potential to change our economic trend. If we miss this > opportunity now, future generations will not accomplish our task > Unfortunately, the funds that our community gets for adult > education and support services from outside are minimal. Therefore, if > we want to prepare our children to succeed economically we must invest > in the education of their parents. There are entities in El Paso working > hard to provide adult education, including the school districts, the > Community College and others. However, they all need financial support > to improve and expand services. > If you have questions or want additional information about adult > education and literacy you may contact me at 831-4161. > > Andres Muro, Manager > Community Education Program/El Paso Community College > > > > >
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