<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16735" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>Susan, thank you for the quick
response. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>There are two things going here. The
first is this: put political pressure to bear on schools of education, to
assure that they develop teachers with knowledge consistent with latest
neuroscience findings. It would be appropriate for any such departments of
education - who might be reading this - to identify themselves and offer their
expertise to further the development of this idea. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>The International Dyslexia Association, a
source for information about resources and O-G education, may be the right place
to start. There may be a branch near to you. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>The deveopment of volunteer tutors may be
the second point. The basics of phonemic and phonological awareness, in a
21 hour course, was successfully accomplished thanks to the skills of an
experienced trainer/teacher. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>The success of Project Literacy/Outreach,
Inc. encourages me to believe that such basic training at the professional level
will make profound changes in education nationally. It takes will - and
maybe political pressure - to bring about the reality of this
concept. In an age when technology links us, is this too much to
expect?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390341019-18112008>Lucille </SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov
[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov]<B>On Behalf Of
</B>SALandrum@aol.com<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:43
AM<BR><B>To:</B> learningdisabilities@nifl.gov<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[LearningDisabilities 2567] Re: [SPAM?] Thinking about the
NIFL<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000>
<DIV>Ms. Cuttler: This sounds like a great model for other organizations
wanting to provide the same services in other parts of the country. Would you
be willing to share documentation so that other organizations would not have
to reinvent the wheel?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks!</DIV>
<DIV>Susan Landrum</DIV>
<DIV>VISTA volunteer</DIV>
<DIV>Central Georgia Technical College</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:salandrum@aol.com">salandrum@aol.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 11/18/2008 11:33:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
l.cuttler@comcast.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000>Thank you,
Christy, for asking probing questions that could form the basis of a
concerted nationwide strategy to fix this old problem. <BR><BR>The
basic premise: teachers leave schools of education unprepared to teach
20% of the population with dyslexia. <BR><BR> Even teachers with
credentials to teach special education classes do not receive
Orton-Gillingham based preparation. Any teachers desiring that
preparation must find it from the resources of the International Dyslexia
Association. <BR>Therefore, it is appropriate for schools of education
to give teachers all the tools they need - a thorough preparation in
phonemic awareness and phonological awareness. <BR><BR>Further, experience
as founder of a volunteer organization, Project Literacy/Outreach, Inc., we
created volunteer tutors in a 21 hour course to deliver O-G remediation to
an underserved population. This 501-C-3 nonprofit provided all serves
for free. It existed from 1986 until 2004, when I moved to San
Francisco from Glen Cove, NY. <BR><BR>That organization proved it is not
money, but a teaching method, that opens the door to literacy. <BR><BR>A
cost-effective training method would result in reducing special ed classroom
populations and save - not only anguish - but money. <BR><BR>Can we
consider a strategy to reduce illiteracy by providing all children with
well-prepared teachers, with tools to teach all of the children - not only
80% These teachers then would be totally prepared for the task
of teaching reading starting K-2. <BR><BR>Just imagine the
changes if school district by school district we effected this idea.
<BR><BR>Lucille Cuttler <BR><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From:
learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov<BR>[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov]On
Behalf Of Christy<BR>Breihan<BR>Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:11
AM<BR>To: learningdisabilities@nifl.gov<BR>Subject: [LearningDisabilities
2563] Re: [SPAM?] Thinking about the NIFL<BR><BR><BR>I agree with Lucille
that we need effective teacher training, but if it<BR>is being done
somewhere, then presumably it should be having some<BR>measurable effect on
the communities to which these well-trained<BR>teachers have been
assigned. So my question is, aside from the<BR>correspondents to this
site who claim success with their methods, are<BR>there "pockets of
progress" anywhere in this country where teacher<BR>training and
research-based methods are boosting the literacy levels of<BR>communities in
a measurable and sustainable way? Are there any teacher<BR>training or
research institutions that can be shown to be having a<BR>positive effect on
their communities? Do the numerous centers for<BR>special needs support,
often represented at conferences I attend, reach<BR>beyond their own
clientele to influence teachers at neighboring<BR>institutions? Are there
partnerships between universities and school<BR>districts or adult learning
programs that are devising a promising<BR>blueprint for others to emulate?
Or are we all on our own in a world<BR>where success is increasingly based
on connectedness?<BR>Christy Breihan<BR>ABE Instructor,
Milwaukee<BR><BR><BR>>>> <tsticht@znet.com> 11/17/08 5:35 PM
>>><BR>Colleagues:<BR><BR>In July 1991, the President of the United
States signed Public Law<BR>102-73<BR>which, among other things, established
the National Institute for<BR>Literacy<BR>(NIFL). The law called on the NIFL
to conduct basic and applied research<BR>and demonstrations. Though the
actual agenda for the NIFL was not<BR>specified, examples of questions to be
addressed were given. These<BR>included:<BR><BR>1. How do
adults learn to read and write and acquire other skills<BR>(listening,
speaking, reasoning, etc.)?<BR>2. How does the literacy level
of the parents affect the skills<BR>development<BR>and schooling of the
parent’s children?<BR>3. What are better ways to assess
literacy skills?<BR>4. How can better instructional programs be
developed?<BR>5. What are good methods for assisting adults and
families to<BR>acquire<BR>literacy skills, including the use of technology;
methods for adults<BR>with<BR>special learning needs (learning
disabilities), and limited English<BR>proficient (LEP) adults?<BR>6.
How can the most disadvantaged be effectively reached and
taught<BR>literacy<BR>skills?<BR>7. How can technology be used
to instruct and to increase the<BR>knowledge<BR>base?<BR>8. How
can research effort of others be built on?<BR>9. How can the
field attract, train and retrain professional
and<BR>volunteer<BR>teachers?<BR><BR>We are now nearing the end of 2008,
some 18 years after the NIFL was<BR>established, and I am wondering what
adult literacy professionals think<BR>of<BR>these questions: were they
appropriate for the work of the NIFL, if so,<BR>how<BR>well have they been
addressed, and if there were other questions that<BR>took<BR>priority and
were addressed by the NIFL, and how any one or all of these<BR>activities
have improved the field of adult literacy education up
to<BR>now.<BR><BR>Some adult literacy advocates have called for changing the
present<BR>NIFL’s<BR>focus on lifelong learning of literacy from birth
through adulthood, and<BR>returning it to its original focus on adult
literacy education. Is this<BR>a<BR>good idea?<BR><BR>What do you think the
NIFL should be doing to advance the field of adult<BR>literacy education
that it is not doing now?<BR><BR>Tom
Sticht<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------<BR>National
Institute for Literacy<BR>Learning Disabilities mailing
list<BR>LearningDisabilities@nifl.gov<BR>To unsubscribe or change your
subscription settings, please go
to<BR>http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities<BR>Email
delivered to
breihanc@matc.edu<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------<BR>National
Institute for Literacy<BR>Learning Disabilities mailing
list<BR>LearningDisabilities@nifl.gov<BR>To unsubscribe or change your
subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities<BR>Email delivered
to
l.cuttler@comcast.net<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------<BR>National
Institute for Literacy<BR>Learning Disabilities mailing
list<BR>LearningDisabilities@nifl.gov<BR>To unsubscribe or change your
subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities<BR>Email delivered
to salandrum@aol.com</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV class=aol_ad_footer id=dd2ff870a6e5ac5652601bf17947bed6><FONT
style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black">
<HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">
<A
href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212774565x1200812037/aol?redir=http://toolbar.aol.com/moviefone/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000001">Get
the Moviefone Toolbar</A>. Showtimes, theaters, movie news &
more!</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>