Special Topics Colleagues,

The announcement below might be of interest to some of you as John  
Strucker was a guest on the Special Topics list, and also as we may  
have a guest discussion on the NAAL sometime in the next few months.  
The webcast takes place this afternoon, EST.

David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion List Moderator
djrosen at comcast.net

---------------

Join the National Institute for Literacy for a LIVE webcast on:
Adults with Basic and Below Basic Literacy Levels: Findings from NAAL  
and
Implications for Practice.
Featuring Dr. Sheida White, Dr. John Strucker, & Brian Bosworth, and
moderated by Lori Aratani

WHEN: August 15, 2006
1:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. EST

The webcast can be viewed from your computer. We encourage you to  
register
in advance. To register for this webcast go to:
<http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=26758&s=1&k=EC4046F499FFDA3117E9FDB1758666EB>
For more information about this webcast, go to: <http://www.nifl.gov/>


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The National Institute for Literacy is hosting a live webcast on  
Tuesday,
August 15 at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the results of the National  
Assessement of
Adult Literacy (NAAL) 2003, specifically relating to Americans who  
tested in
the Below Basic and Basic literacy levels. The webcast will feature Dr.
Sheida White, of the National Center for Education Statistics, who  
served as
project officer for the NAAL, who will present the findings of the  
NAAL for
Below Basic and Basic levels. In addition, there will be a panel of
subject-matter experts who will discuss what implications the NAAL  
findings
for Below Basic and Basic adults will have on programs. The panelists
include John Strucker, of the National Center for Adult Literacy and
Learning, will discuss basic skills; and Brian Bosworth, of the  
consulting
firm FutureWorks, will discuss implications for workforce programs.

The live webcast will feature:

*	Dr. Sheida White directs the National Assessment of Adult Literacy
at the National Center for Education Statistics (or NCES). After  
working as
a full-time reading researcher for 6 years, she joined NCES in 1991.   
During
the first 8 years at NCES, she monitored the National Assessment of
Education Progress (NAEP).  Since 1999, she has been directing the NAAL
project. Her articles have appeared in journals such as Language in  
Society
and Reading Research Quarterly.
*	John Strucker, Ed.D., is a Lecturer in Education and Research
Associate at the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and
Literacy (NCSALL) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He  
teaches a
laboratory practicum course at Harvard, "Developing Reading in Adults  
and
Older Adolescents," and he has been the principal investigator on two
large-scale assessment projects, NCSALL's Adult Reading Components Study
(ARCS) and the joint NCSALL/ETS Level 1 Study.
*	Brian Bosworth is the founder and President of FutureWorks, a
private consulting and public policy research firm in Belmont,
Massachusetts, that builds regional institutions and strategies for  
economic
growth, workforce education, and civic improvement.

The webcast will be moderated by Lori Aratani, Education Staff Writer  
at the
Washington Post.


My Linh Nguyen
Associate Director of Communications
National Institute for Literacy
(202) 233-2041
fax (202) 233-2050
mnguyen at nifl.gov