Posted on behalf of Heide Wrigley

From: Wrigley, Heide
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 4:06 PM
To: 'specialtopics at nifl.gov'
Subject: Are our community collaborations thriving or in crisis?

Hi,Louise and all

I do think a community wellness model that integrates literacy and  
language proficiency (including bilingualism and biliteracy) makes  
sense. I just dug around in the various matrices once more and found  
a matrix that has rubrics for the relative strength of a community  
collaboration (again literacy is missing but could be added).

The absence of literacy may be another example of the difficulty of  
working across boundaries (community development folks and literacy  
folks should be easy partners but in most places they are not).

Here is an example, not of the matrix that looks at individuals on a  
continuum from in-crisis to thriving that I mentioned in the last  
post, but of the descriptors that are used to see if communities as a  
whole are strong.  Here are just two of the descriptors that look at  
Community Services and Support Systems (I left out indicators for  
safe, stable, and vulnerable but you get the idea). Other rubrics  
address indicators related to Public Policy and Equity.

I wonder if all of us who are part of community collaborations could  
place our partnership on a scale of this sort?

Heide Wrigley

		Community Development Matrix, Services and Support Systems

THRIVING

Community services of all kinds are both comprehensive and integrated  
into a
virtually seamless system. Collaboration and synergy are the norms.  
Social
services are based on a wellness model and are strongly consumer  
driven. A
strong community-wide set of strategic planning processes assures  
that public
and community services are responsive and will grow and develop in  
accord
with community needs. Community is committed to providing resources
sufficient to assure quality and comprehensiveness of and full access to
community, public, and educational services.
form of relationship among providers of services.

(also included are indicators for safe, stable, and vulnerable)

IN-CRISIS

Public and social services are nonresponsive to community needs. “Turf”
boundaries are very strong and planning is minimal or nonexistent. Even
emergency services are inadequate in comparison to the intensity of  
need.
Resources are barely adequate to maintain even the most minimal
configuration of community services. Most public and social services are
ineffective.

> #

>

>

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics- 

> bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Louise Wiener

> Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 2:59 PM

> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

> Subject: [SpecialTopics 418] Re: change in social indicators as a  

> measure ofcommunity literacy

>

>

>

> What a great idea this is!  Incorporating literacy into broader  

> community

>

> scales may really be critical to gaining broader understanding and  

> support.

>

>

>

> --

>

> Louise W. Wiener, Chairman of the Board

>

>     Learning and Leadership in Families

>

>     2701 12th Street NE

>

>     Washington, DC 20018

>

>

>

>     Mobile Phone: 301-213-6516

>

>     Office Phone: 202-243-7783

>

>     Website: www.LLFinc.org

>

>     Email: lwiener at LLFinc.org

>

>

>

>     United Way / CFC # 8981

>

> On 6/29/07 4:43 PM, "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com> wrote:

>

>

>

> > Hi, Jon and others - I think developing sustainability indicators  

> and

>

> > then measuring change along various dimensions is an excellent  

> idea. In

>

> > the evaluations for AmeriCorps, we looked at the contributions that

>

> > literacy providers made to the overall health of a community, since

>

> > literacy couldn't very well take credit for all positive changes  

> in a

>

> > community.

>

> >

>

> > In the last few years, we've been working with the California  

> Community

>

> > Development Matrix (developed in Minnesota originally, I  

> believe). This

>

> > matrix offers a scale continuum along which which community  

> members may

>

> > fall. The continuum ranges from "in crisis" to "thriving" with  

> various

>

> > points in between (vulnerable, stable). The matrix addresses various

>

> > dimensions (health, housing, employment)and contains a matrix with

>

> > descriptors for each level. While "education" is included,  

> literacy (or

>

> > English language proficiency is not).

>

> >

>

> > I think scales and rubrics of this sort can be adapted to include

>

> > literacy and English proficiency and your example of the social

>

> > indicators are a great example of how literacy can be made  

> visible as

>

> > one factor that contributes to community health

>

> >

>

> > Cheers

>

> >

>

> > Heide

>

> >

>

> > Heide Spruck Wrigley

>

> > New Mexico

>

> >

>

> > -----Original Message-----

>

> > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov

>

> > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Jon Engel

>

> > Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 11:20 AM

>

> > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

>

> > Subject: [SpecialTopics 414] Re: What would be required to measure

>

> > CommunityLiteracy Impact?

>

> >

>

> > Good Afternoon,

>

> >

>

> > Measuring literacy levels across communities is indeed difficult.  I

>

> > know of

>

> > no other resources other than thee census and NALS/NAAL.  However,

>

> > Austin

>

> > and Central Texas has a really great project that I wonder if other

>

> > communities might have.

>

> >

>

> > It is called the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project,  

> and it

>

> > releases a data report every other year.  The report has developed

>

> > "sustainability indicators" across several domains such as public

>

> > safety,

>

> > education and children, social equity, civic engagement, economy,

>

> > health,

>

> > environment, and land use and mobility.  The report utilizes hard  

> data

>

> > sources and a locally designed phone survey.

>

> >

>

> > The 2006 reported that 30% of the population reported that they felt

>

> > limited

>

> > "a great deal" by their lack of English proficiency in their day  

> to day

>

> > activities.  The report stated that the trend was "worsening" and  

> that

>

> > the

>

> > community needed to "take action".

>

> >

>

> > You should be able to see the report at www.centex-indicators.org

>

> >

>

> > Jon Engel

>

> >

>

> >

>

> > -----Original Message-----

>

> > From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov

>

> > [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]

>

> > On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis

>

> > Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:11 AM

>

> > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

>

> > Subject: [SpecialTopics 394] Re: What would be required to measure

>

> > Community

>

> > Literacy Impact?

>

> >

>

> > David and all,

>

> >

>

> > Interesting question.  Without rehashing the complex arguments and

>

> > elements

>

> > of the 'validity' of the NALS or NAAL, I'm wondering if folks  

> working

>

> > in,

>

> > say, health or community development/housing - have formal or  

> informal

>

> > measures of the literacy strengths of their constituents.

>

> >

>

> > In other words, does the fact that service providers/community  

> workers

>

> > might

>

> > proactively utilize plain language (because plain language, like

>

> > universal

>

> > design, is just good for everyone),  multiple languages (brochures,

>

> > posters,

>

> > etc) and otherwise might be thinking about literacy and  

> communication

>

> > issues

>

> > -- does all of this indicate a sense of communities' literacy  

> abilities

>

> > AND

>

> > a sense of the critical need to be mindful of literacy/communication

>

> > across

>

> > service provision areas?

>

> >

>

> > I realize this is not gold standard science, but I am curious to  

> see if

>

> > there has been any shift in communication by service providers.  As

>

> > well,

>

> > how does literacy happen all the time away from literacy provision?

>

> > (Think

>

> > New Literacy Studies - Hamilton, Barton; think  (Arlene) Hannah

>

> > Fingeret's

>

> > social networks, think community literacy itself.

>

> >

>

> > Community literacy maybe encompasses communities' strengths and

>

> > abilities so

>

> > that communities themselves have access, options, and (?) degrees of

>

> > power?

>

> >

>

> > This, of course, is difficult to measure.

>

> >

>

> > Janet Isserlis

>

> >

>

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

>

> >> Reply-To: <specialtopics at nifl.gov>

>

> >> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:48:23 -0400

>

> >> To: <specialtopics at nifl.gov>

>

> >> Subject: [SpecialTopics 393] What would be required to measure

>

> > Community

>

> >> Literacy Impact?

>

> >>

>

> >> Community Literacy Colleagues,

>

> >>

>

> >> Since we are looking at outcomes and impact of community literacy

>

> >> today, let's consider what a city would need to measure the  

> impact of

>

> >> a major citywide community literacy effort.  One important measure

>

> >> might be the literacy level of city residents.  At present, the  

> only

>

> >> ways I am aware of to measure that for adults are:

>

> >>

>

> >> 1) Census data,  and

>

> >> 2) The NALS or NAAL

>

> >>

>

> >> The census, however,  measures the years of school completed,  

> not the

>

> >> adult literacy level. The NALS, NAAL, and the next national

>

> >> assessment, each measure a scientific sample of adults, but so far

>

> >> this assessment has not been conducted in cities, only in a handful

>

> >> states, and it is costly -- several hundred thousand dollars, I

>

> >> believe.  Are there other adult literacy assessments that we should

>

> >> be aware of that measure a random sample residents -- not just  

> those

>

> >> enrolled in programs? Are there plans for a new -- or modified

>

> >> assessment -- a new urban NAAL, for example -- that could meet this

>

> >> need?

>

> >>

>

> >> David J. Rosen

>

> >> Special Topics Discussion Leader

>

> >> djrosen at comcast.net

>

> >>

>

> >>

>

> >> David J. Rosen

>

> >> djrosen at comcast.net

>

> >>

>

> >>

>

> >>

>

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

>

> >> National Institute for Literacy

>

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> >> Email delivered to janet_isserlis at brown.edu

>

> >

>

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> >

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