Hi David and everyone, I’ve inserted my comments below some of the questions you posed.  Out-of-town so apologize for the delay in responding.  Kathy

• How do providers approach potential partners (other providers, businesses, social services, local government)?

One of the biggest challenges of the providers we worked with is not knowing how to approach businesses.  Most of the providers in the partnerships we studied wanted guidance on how to approach businesses.  We’re in the process of developing a guide for businesses that may have an interest in becoming involved in community-based literacy with help from a group of businesses that have a history of supporting adult and family literacy. The group confirmed that adult education programs don’t know how to approach them.  Here are some of the benefits they’ve experienced from partnering with adult and family literacy partners that could be used to approach prospective employer-partners: 

Š Employers can see an increased employee retention rate, as well as other positive effects on the bottom line, as a result of on-site training and education. In addition, educated employees provide fewer problems for managers (I’ll check with Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System to see if we have permission to share their data with the listserv. I understand that CVS has data as well).
Š Partnerships with adult education providers help businesses get a better understanding of the types of skills enhancement their workers need. In the past, they had difficulty articulating or addressing the discrete skills required for employees to do their jobs successfully. Through partnering, they can tailor adult education services for workforce. 
Š The National Association of Manufacturer’s Improving Workplace Opportunities for Limited English Speaking Workers report found that the entire company benefits from ELL instruction, not just the employees who receive training. The report is available at http://www.nam.org/s_nam/sec.asp?CID=201493&DID=229873
Š Many companies find that partnering is good for sales and marketing, in terms of enhancing the customer base and getting the company’s name out in the community. 
Š Partnering can also improve a company’s perception in the community by associating the company’s name with a positive cause. 
Š Partnerships with larger programs or businesses can strengthen small and emerging adult education programs.

Another related issue is the importance of selecting the right partners (happy to share what we learned at a later time, if anyone’s interested).

• How do local partnerships generate the financial support they need to meet the literacy needs of their communities?

They pool their funds, apply jointly for grants, and collaborate on fund-raising events. They take advantage of their links to different funding sources and leverage these to obtain other dollars.  The types of funds leveraged include: Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) Title II (the Adult Education and Family Litearcy Act);  WIA Titles I, III, and IV; TANF funds; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB); the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Neighborhood Networks” program; and other federal funding through the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services; state funds; local public funds; private foundation grants; business support; and charitable contributions.  Partners may continue to seek grants individually but they try not to compete with one another.  Partnerships can obtain funds unavailable to them as individual organizations. 

An example of a community-based literacy program that pools their funds is the Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative in Minneapolis.  It combines funds from the state (client contact hours), local funders, and private foundation grants into a fund for adult education services for an East African refugee neighbhorhood. 

Sharing a fiscal agent is another way that some community partnerships leverage funds. 

• How do providers sustain partnerships over the long haul?
Providers are able to sustain partnerships by keeping their focus clearly on community needs, adapting to changing workforce demands, and shifting funding sources as necessary. An example is Project ACHIEVE, a partnership between Jefferson County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education and the Metro Louisville Community Action Partnership (CAP) in Louisville, KY that has been serving adults on public assistance since 1989. 

• How do community-based literacy efforts survive transitions in leadership?
The leadership of the community partnerships we studied usually consisted of a visionary, dynamic leader and in some cases an advisory board.  One of the questions we asked during our site visits was what would happen to the work of the partnership if the leader(s) left the position.  One advisory board felt that the community would sustain the partnership, regardless of the leader, that any of the advisory member could assume the leadership role because it is a shared effort, everyone is equally responsible. Further, they said the strong coordination among the partners is what makes it a sustainable effort.  However, not all partnerships agreed; surviving the transition of a strong leader is one of the big challenges partnerships face. 

• How do community literacy coalitions or partnerships assure the quality of instruction? Is this an issue?  If so, what are some ways quality gets addressed?

They develop curriculum jointly and share professional development based on the needs of the community they serve. Providers are able to expand the formal and informal professional development opportunities available to their staff by sharing expertise and instructional materials. 

For example, Nine Star Enterprises, a private, nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive adult education services partners with Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), a nonprofit arm of one of the thirteen Native Alaskan Corporations that serve Native Alaskans and Pacific Islander communities throughout the state. CITC provides a range of services, including adult education, work-readiness training, and social services. Nine Star and CITC began a partnership to help clients take greater advantage of these services. Nine Star and CITC also share professional development. CITC staff help train Nine Star instructors on cultural issues, and CITC staff can attend any of Nine Star’s professional development programs. 

•  What steps can we take to ensure that adult learners and other residents in the learners' communities are providing leadership to community literacy initiatives?

Some of the community-based literacy efforts we studied included current and past adult learners on program and partnership advisory groups.  They also involve them in community instructional activities.  In Holyoke, MA, the Juntos partnership hosts an annual Learner-Teacher Day to bring learners, instructors, and administrators from all six partners together with community representatives, such as the mayor and superintendent of schools, to discuss community issues. Adult learners along with their instructors are involved in planning and carrying out all the activities during the event.


• What are some good examples of community literacy coalitions?
The twelve partnerships the C-PAL project studied, plus six we didn’t have funding to study as comprehensively are good examples.  I’ve cut and pasted brief descriptions of each of the twelve plus their links, in case anyone would like to learn more about them. 

Nine Star Enterprises, Anchorage, Alaska. Nine Star is a private, nonprofit corporation that provides comprehensive adult education services over a vast geographic area in collaboration with a variety of partners. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/alaska.html

The Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE), El Dorado (Union County), Arkansas. WAGE provides employment-related education to adult learners and upgrades the skills of incumbent workers through partnerships with business and many community agencies and organizations. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/arkansas.html

READ/San Diego, San Diego, California. READ is a library-based volunteer program that provides literacy services, primarily through tutoring, across San Diego city and county in collaboration with a host of community partners. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/california.html

The Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition, Palm Beach County, Florida. The Coalition promotes literacy services, coordinates activities, and operates a literacy hotline with the help of many partners across the county. Darlene has provided additional information on the Coalition in her postings. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/florida.html

The Houston County Certified Literate Community Program (CLCP), Houston County, Georgia. The CLCP coordinates, promotes, and advocates for adult literacy services in this rural county by working with partners from nearly every sector of the community. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/georgia.html

The North Idaho College Adult Education Center, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The Center is responsible for adult education services for five rural counties and forms the hub of wide-ranging partnerships supporting adult education, workforce development, and family literacy programs. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/idaho.html

Jefferson County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education (JCPSAE), Louisville, Kentucky. JCPSAE is at the heart of a many-layered partnership with business, higher education, and other community organizations and agencies in Jefferson County. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/kentucky.html

Juntos, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Juntos is a six-member partnership that provides adult basic education, adult secondary education, English literacy instruction, college transition, computer and family literacy, and vocational training and job search services to local adults. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/massachusetts.html

Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative_Partnership, Minneapolis, Minnesota. This partnership provides English language instruction, family literacy services, and other support services to a community of East African (mainly Somali) immigrants in a public housing facility. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/minnesota.html

The Decker Family Development Center, Barberton, Ohio.  Decker was a three-way partnership among a hospital, a university, and a public school system providing comprehensive literacy and support services to a high-poverty community. The Decker Center closed its doors in 2004 after a valiant effort to secure sufficient funding. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/ohio.html

The Donald H. Londer Center for Learning, Portland, Oregon. The Londer Center, part of the Department of Community Justice (DCJ), provides literacy and other services to prepare ex-inmates for successful reintegration into their communities by working with other DCJ programs and community agencies and organizations. Carole Scholl provided an update on Londer in her posting. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/oregon.html

The Midlands Literacy Initiative (MLI ) (now the Education, Jobs & Life Skills Community Council of the United Way of the Midlands), Richland, Fairfield, Lexington, and Newberry Counties, South Carolina. The MLI is a coalition that works closely with business to design and provide workforce literacy programs and with other partners to provide literacy services to adults and families in this four-county area. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/southcarolina.html

The six partnerships described in mini-profiles include:

Tucson, Arizona 
Pima College Adult Education and its partners serve more than 7,000 adult learners yearly, providing comprehensive adult and family literacy services in a variety of sites across Pima County. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/pima.html

Indianapolis, Indiana
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana and its partners provide comprehensive education and job training services to adult learners and youth across central Indiana. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/goodwill.html

Greensboro, North Carolina
The Greensboro Public Library and its partners formed Community of Readers, a literacy coalition, to provide literacy services, career counseling, and computer instruction to adult learners and to raise community awareness of literacy issues and needs. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/greensboro.html

Durham, North Carolina
The Literacy Center is a community-based volunteer organization that provides literacy services to adults, families, and children in partnership with other community organizations and in a variety of sites across the city. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/durham.html

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council provides literacy services to adults and families by working with a broad cross-section of community partners. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/gplc.html

Austin, Texas
The Skillpoint Alliance is a non-profit organization uniting industry, education, and the community to provide education, workplace literacy and preparation, computer instruction, and customized industry-based training to the emerging, transitional, and incumbent workforce in central Texas. http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/mini/skillpoint.html









On Wednesday, June 27, 2007 8:02 AM, David J. Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net> wrote:

>

>

>Community Literacy Discussion Colleagues,

>

>

>Welcome to those who have joined the discussion in progress.

>The message below (in blue) tells you where you can see the

>archived messages so you can quickly catch up.

>

>

>Our continued question for Wednesday is:  How are Community

>Literacy Coalitions Developed and Sustained?

>

>

>This is a big question with a lot of parts. I would like our

>guests -- and others with experience -- to continue to address

>as many of these specific questions today as possible. Many

>subscribers who posted these questions are eager for concrete

>help in addressing them.

>

>

>• How do providers approach potential partners (other

>providers, businesses, social services, local government)?

>

>

>• How do local partnerships generate the financial support they

>need to meet the literacy needs of their communities?

>

>

>• What resources are needed for effective community literacy

>collaboration?

>

>

>• How do providers sustain partnerships over the long haul?

>

>

>• How do community-based literacy efforts survive transitions

>in leadership?

>

>

>• What are some good examples of community literacy coalitions?

>

>

>• What are some incentives and strategies for strengthening

>community literacy?

>

>

>• How do community literacy coalitions or partnerships assure

>the quality of instruction? Is this an issue?  If so, what are

>some ways quality gets addressed?

>

>

>• Are there performance measures for community literacy? If so

>what are they?

>

>

>•  How can we learn from the experiences of other countries,

>particularly those that have built successful literacy

>movements?

>

>

>•  What steps can we take to ensure that adult learners

>and other residents in the learners' communities are providing

>leadership to community literacy initiatives?

>

>

> As we will be discussing many things, please be careful that

>the Subject line of your posting reflects the actual content of

>your message. Please include your name (and other information

>if you wish) at the end of your posting.  Send your posts to

>specialtopics at nifl.gov

>

>

> David J. Rosen

>Special Topics Discussion Moderator

>djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

>

>-----

>From: "David J. Rosen" <djrosen at comcast.net>

>Date: June 24, 2007 7:29:30 PM EDT

>To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

>Subject: Community Literacy Discussion Begins

>

>

>Dear Community Literacy Discussion Colleague,

>

>

>On Monday we begin a discussion of adult and family community

>literacy. First I would like to thank our guests: Margaret

>Doughty, Carl Guerriere, Petrice Sams- Abiodun, Darlene

>Kostrub, Jeff Carter, and Kathy Chernus. You can learn more

>about them by going to http://tinyurl.com/23nvye )

>

>

>Here's how the National Institute for Literacy Special Topics

>discussion list works:

>

>

>• A discussion opens and a few days later it closes.  Between

>discussions there are usually no messages posted until the next

>discussion is ready to begin.

>

>

>• A discussion is carried on by e-mail. As a subscriber all of

>the messages will be sent to your e-mail.  These might include

>information, questions, replies to questions, comments and

>expansions, further explanations, requests for more detail,

>comments on other perspectives, and more. Sometimes a

>discussion with guests consists of just questions to the guests

>and their answers, but I will try to encourage real discussion,

>especially since we have other experts in community literacy

>among our participants.  

>

>

>• You will probably get a lot of e-mail from the Special Topics

>discussion list each day for the next five days!  You might

>decide to skim the messages, read through the ones that

>especially interest you, and save the rest to read later. Every message is also archived at 

>http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2007/date.html  

>

>

>• You can get all the day's postings in one message each day,

>in "digest format".  To find out how you can set your subscription to do that, go to

>http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/help/help_mailman.html#digest

>

>

>• When you want to send a message, email it to

>specialtopics at nifl.gov and it will go out to everyone who has

>subscribed. Please check before you send it that the Subject

>line of the message is correct for your message, that is, if

>your message is a continuation of a discussion strand, leave it

>as is; however, if you are introducing a new topic or strand,

>then give it a Subject title that concisely and accurately

>reflects the new content area of your message.

>

>

>We have several hundred people who are subscribed for this

>discussion, so we won't do introductions of participants. The

>bios at http://tinyurl.com/23nvye are your introductions to our

>guests.  We have a lot of questions to discuss this week -- and

>you may want to post more questions -- so we'll get started now

>with the questions below to our quests.

>

>

>We'll begin by discussing what Community Literacy is.  There

>will be many variations on the definition, of course, and 

>definitions in this discussion will focus on adult and family

>community literacy, not just schools reaching out to engage

>parents in the literacy of their children.

>

>

>I would like to ask our guests to address the following

>question from their experience, from research,  and/or from

>their professional wisdom:

>

>

>What is Community Literacy?

> 

>• What does community adult and family literacy mean?

> 

>• What are the purposes and goals of community literacy?

> 

>• Why is community literacy important?

> 

>• Typically, who are the key community literacy stake holders?

>

>

>On Tuesday we will go on to this question:  How are Community

>Literacy Coalitions Developed and Sustained?

>I will also post subscribers' messages from Monday with their

>thoughts about what community literacy is. 

>

>

>David J. Rosen

>Special Topics Discussion Moderator

>djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>-------------------------------

>National Institute for Literacy

>Special Topics mailing list

>SpecialTopics at nifl.gov

>To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go

>to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics

>Email delivered to kchernus at mprinc.com

>