Community Literacy 1
From LiteracyTentWiki
From: djrosen@comcast.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 332] (Updated) Community Literacy Discussion Preparation: Background Reading, Guests, Questions
Date: June 22, 2007 5:16:46 PM EDT
Dear Special Topics Discussion Colleagues,
Our discussion on adult and family community literacy begins Monday, June 25th. We have several guests with a great deal of experience in this area and whose short biographies are below. I have also listed below many of the questions we will ask our guests. I have updated this announcement with additional questions that I have received in the last couple of days. Please add your own questions by sending a message to specialtopics@nifl.gov Additional questions, comments and discussion will be posted beginning on Monday, June 25th, and will continue to be posted through Friday, June 29th
Updated Background Reading
1. Presentations from the National Institute for Literacy Community Literacy Summit held in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2007 http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/community/communityliteracy.html
2. The Community Partnership for Adult Learning (C-PAL) Web site http://www.c-pal.net , specifically http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/index.html and http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/index.html. The C-PAL Toolbox contains a wide-range of resources that address community-based adult literacy and is available through the Home page, http://www.c-pal.net/index.html. The sections include: creating communities; curriculum and instruction (adult basic education/literacy, high school credential programs, English literacy, family literacy, youth in adult literacy, correctional education, and learning disabilities); professional development; workforce development; technology; program management (it covers topics such as funding and grant writing, program evaluation, recruitment and retention, volunteerism); and more resources. (It includes information on the general state of adult literacy and adult education.)
The Creating Communities Toolbox Section, http://www.cpal.net/build/communities/index.asp , features “how-to's,” research, journals, and Web sites that address how to build and sustain community partnerships. These resources are also organized by type of partner, e.g., businesses, community organizations, and government. C-PAL’s Building Effective Partnerships Self-Assessment Tool, available at http://www.c-pal.net/assessment/index.html , is an online tool designed to help community organizations evaluate their adult education partnerships. The indicators are drawn from the partnership research and the study of 12 communities. After completing the self-assessment, users receive a profile of their partnerships based upon their responses and are guided to resources that may be useful as they build new or strengthen existing partnerships.
3. Build Literacy Web Site Sponsored by the American Library Association and Verizon, the Web site “features information, materials, and resources about how libraries, local agencies, and corporate partners work together to build stronger community-based literacy partnerships and more literate communities.”
4. Literacy Powerline http://www.literacypowerline.com has planning information in the resources and Literacy FAQ sections that can be downloaded.
Biographies of Guests
Jeff Carter is the Executive Director of D.C. LEARNs, a coalition of over 70 mostly community-based organizations that provide literacy instruction to children, youth, and adults in Washington, D.C. D.C. LEARNs' mission is to lead coalition members in efforts designed to strengthen adult, family and children’s literacy services in the District and present a strong, unified voice on the importance of literacy as an investment in the community. Prior to his appointment to this position, Jeff was the Education Technology Director for the Literacy Division of World Education. Jeff is a member of the Board of Directors of Literacy USA and a member of the District of Columbia Mayor's Adult Literacy Council, which is charged with making adult literacy policy recommendations to the Mayor and City Council.
Kathy Chernus, Director of Adult Education and Literacy for MPR Associates, is the Project Director for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education’s Community Partnerships for Adult Learning (C-PAL) initiative. Since 2002, C-PAL has been exploring how community partnerships expand and improve education for adults and their families. C-PAL gathers and develops resources for adult educators who want to improve the quality of adult education through partnerships with other providers, employers, government agencies, nonprofits, and workforce development organizations. The C-PAL website, www.c-pal.net, is the primary avenue for sharing these resources. Kathy oversees the research, leads the development of the website, conducts site visits to promising partnerships, develops partnership profiles, disseminates the results, facilitates the work of technical and business advisory groups, and develops new tools and resources. In 2003, the C-PAL staff visited 12 communities around the country to learn how their partnerships have enabled them to better serve adult learners and their families. Profiles of these communities and mini-profiles of six others are available at: http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/index.html. Kathy is the co-author of Commitment Comes in All Shapes and Sizes, a report summarizing the findings from the study of these partnerships. The report is available at http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/index.html. Currently, C-PAL is developing an online guide for businesses interested in becoming more involved in adult education and workforce development.
Margaret Doughty is an international literacy consultant providing literacy coalition development services to cities, regions and states. She works with local government, foundations, business and community organizations to link stakeholder, neighborhoods and services together to increase literacy levels through coordinated service provision and community collaboration.
A native of the United Kingdom, Margaret has been involved in literacy in Africa, the Middle East and the United States, developing coalitions, support service learning organizations, facilitating regional literacy planning, advocating for system change and raising resources. She serves on the board of TAALC (the literacy coalition for Texas), Darla’s School for the Mentally Retarded, and Literacy Advance of Houston and works with national literacy organizations on community literacy issues, most recently presenting to the NIFL board on the need for tracking and accountability for community literacy initiatives to demonstrate both short and long term impact.
Carl Guerriere is the founding Executive Director of the Greater Hartford Literacy Council, a not-for-profit organization that serves as a regional broker and resource to coordinate and enhance literacy efforts in the 35-town Metro Hartford region. By providing information and a means for its more than 100 partner organizations to collaborate, the Literacy Council is a catalyst for action, raising the bar for literacy improvement in the region.
Before establishing the Literacy Council, Carl was program coordinator of Read to Succeed, a reading clinic for adults with reading disabilities. Carl also served as Reading Center Manager for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford, where he moved the program from one-on-one tutoring to small group instruction. Before returning to Hartford in 1995, Carl was Associate Director of the Center for Urban Education at DePaul University in Chicago. Carl has been a teacher and education administrator in New York City; Washington, DC; San Francisco; and Madrid, Spain.
Carl earned a dual Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from Columbia University, Teachers College, an English Teaching Degree from the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Madrid, Spain and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Darlene Kostrub serves as the Executive Director of the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition in Florida. She has been in this position since 1992 and has initiated programs involving adult, children and family literacy. She oversees a Literacy*AmeriCorps project that has fifteen members that tutor in 12 community agencies. She is also the director of the Region V Adult Literacy Center providing marketing and training for literacy in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. She is the Vice President for the Florida Literacy Coalition and the Vice Chair for the Florida Reach Out and Read Program. As a founding board member and past president of Literacy USA, she has been involved in bringing together literacy coalitions across the country to share best practices in community literacy. The Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition collaborates with over 130 community literacy organizations as well as business and the media.
Petrice Sams-Abiodun (A-bee-o-dun) is the Executive Director for the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy at Loyola University, where she has an opportunity to combine her research and social justice agendas to address the issue of adult literacy. In her role as the Director she is examining the broader issue of literacy as a vehicle for personal, economic and community empowerment. In an effort to link research with practice she works closely with the Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans and other community and faith-based organizations to eradicate low literacy. She is personally committed to using her experience and skills to develop a stronger New Orleans and to this end serves on numerous advisory boards and committees.
Dr. Sams-Abiodun is a former resident of New Orleans public housing and a graduate of New Orleans public schools. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tulane University in 2003. As a social demographer, her goal is to use research for the development and liberation of traditionally marginalized and oppressed people. Her research areas include urban poverty and family issues. Her present research focuses on the role and responsibilities of men as fathers, family and community members. She has been invited to numerous conferences to share her work and is presently working on a book that examines strengths as well as the plight of low income African American men. Her research contributes to a national agenda that is assisting in the rethinking of how we view male attachment in low income families, family structure and formation.
Questions we will Discuss
1. 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?
2. How are Community Literacy Coalitions Developed and Sustained?
• 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?
3. How can we measure community literacy outcomes and impact?
• How can we measure the health, outcomes and impact of community literacy?
• How do communities document the positive impact they’re having on adult education and family literacy, and workforce and economic development? What data do they collect and how do they use them to show their success?
• How do providers demonstrate to prospective or current business partners the return-on-investment businesses want to see as a result of their involvement in adult education?
• How can we measure the effect of community literacy on a community?
• What do we mean by accountability to learners and their communities and how can we build this accountability into community literacy work?
• Given the increasing pressure to demonstrate outcomes, how do we convince funders to support intermediary organizations that foster collaborations to address community literacy?
• What do we know about community literacy from research?
4. What is the relationship of community literacy to workforce literacy, workforce development, “healthy communities” initiatives and transition to higher education?
• What indicators, for example, have communities developed around literacy in thinking about a healthy (or “sustainable”) community? E.g. http://www.rprogress.org/cihb/index.shtml and http://www.communityindicators.net/indicatorefforts.html
5. What is the role of technology in community literacy?
6. How can literacy organizations work together to make literacy a top community priority?
7. What sort of training will best prepare community literacy coalitions to address community power dynamics, e.g. issues of racism, ethnocentrism?
David J. Rosen
djrosen@comcast.net
From: djrosen@comcast.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 333] Community Literacy Discussion Begins
Date: June 24, 2007 7:29:30 PM EDT
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@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@comcast.net
From: DoughtyHRC@aol.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 334] Re: Community Literacy Discussion Begins
Date: June 24, 2007 10:04:00 PM EDT
David - thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this discussion. In response to your question I describe community literacy in the following way in my coalition development work.
Community literacy is the practice of infusing literacy throughout neighborhoods in an effort to build healthy communities and strengthen families. It encourages dialogue around shared problem-solving that leads to initiatives to raise literacy levels. Community literacy unites communities to promote the vision of 100 percent literacy through 100 percent community engagement. It includes all family members and all community stakeholders in a collaborative effort to promote personal success, economic, educational and social justice.
I'm looking forward to reading other descriptions and learning from colleagues about their involvement with community literacy efforts.
Margaret
From: DSKostrub@aol.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 335] Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 10:23:18 AM EDT
David, thank you for initiating this discussion around a vital topic.
One of the key goals of community literacy is to help position literacy at the top of the community's agenda so that everyone will understand that one of the best ways to address crime, poverty, teen pregnancy and so many other social issues is through making literacy resources and programs available to all those with limited literacy and English skills.
Key community literacy stake holders include business, the media, literacy providers, local education institutions, government, chambers of commerce, faith-based organizations, civic clubs among others.
Darlene Kostrub
From: jcarter@dclearns.org
Subject: [SpecialTopics 336] Re: Community Literacy Discussion Begins
Date: June 25, 2007 11:05:59 AM EDT
Hello everyone,
Than you for inviting me to be part of this discussion. The District of Columbia is somewhat unique, as compared with the states, in that virtually all of our adult literacy services are provided by community-based nonprofit organizations.
I would define community literacy as literacy instruction that supports the development and growth of healthy communities.
I'll let others weigh in before I address the other questions...
Jeff
Jeff Carter
Executive Director
DC LEARNs
From: seacesl@yahoo.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 337] community literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 12:14:39 PM EDT
When considering community literacy and the goal of achieving "community literacy," we need to take into consideration the variety of definitions that cover the term "literacy," Basically, UNESCO and our own U.S. Congress defines a literate person as someone who has acquired enough functional literacy skills to perform adequately within his/her community. Functional literacy falls into three levels.
One-quarter of the population of the United States functionally tests at the lowest level of functional literacy; they often report that they do not possess the skills to perform such literacy functions as the ability to fully read and comprehend a newspaper article, fill out a tax form, or read a medical questionairre.
One-third of the population possesses the ability to perform the above functions and can compute simple mathematical questions: e.g., unit pricing, etc.
The final small percent of out population has achieved higher-level functions, such as the ability to write text about text, to read literature, scientific text, etc. These people have achieved critical literacy.
There is now a fourth kind of literacy, dynamic literacy, which assums the ability to incorporate text with other media -- computer usage, audio-visual information, etc.
We must determine at what level and which kind of literacy we are referring to when we speak of our "communities." For example, in the community where I work, I see signs in the stores such as "cigarett saled."
Certainly, the high the functional level of literacy achieved, the better.
We must also be more precise when defining "100 percent literacy" as a goal. Again, the community I work in will never achieve that; few communities will. We are now a multi-cultural, even multi-lingual nation, dealing not only with African-American dialect, but with many peoples who not only come from logographic and syllabographgic writing systems, but who may be illiterate in their native languages and dialects.
South-East Asia Center
5120 North Broadway Street
Chicago , IL 60640
Phone: 773-989-6927
Fax: 773-989-7755
E-mail: seacesl@yahoo.com
From: margeryfreeman@yahoo.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 337] Additional questions to consider
Date: June 22, 2007 11:16:51 AM EDT
Dear David and all,
I look forward to this exciting and timely discussion of community literacy. Additional questions that I'd like to see discussed: 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? What do we mean by accountability to learners and their communities and how can we build this accountability into comunity literacy work? what sort of training will best prepare community literacy coalitions to address community power dynamics, e.g. issues of racism, ethnocentrism? Thanks to all of you who are providing leadership for this conversation.
Margery Freeman
From: ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu
Subject: [SpecialTopics 338] Re: Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 3:51:54 PM EDT
Darlene,
I like how you stated "one of the key goals" and your list of stake holders. In your opinion, what are a few strategies to reach this important goal?
Daphne
From: carl.guerriere@po.state.ct.us
Subject: [SpecialTopics 339] Defining Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 2:34:09 PM EDT
Community Literacy is the level of literacy in the community. It includes the levels of both children and adults. It includes all the venues that provide some type of literacy service. The general public primarily thinks of the school system. The array of providers and the sites where instruction occurs is vast. In my community both the public and private sectors provide services. This includes schools, community based organizations, hospitals, health clinics, colleges, prisons, businesses, childcare centers, churches, synagogues, libraries, homes, among others. We are all stakeholders because current community literacy levels impact us all.
Carl Guerriere
Executive Director/Literacy Advocate
Greater Hartford Literacy Council
One Union Place
Hartford, Connecticut 06103
From: jcruz@literacysandiego.org
Subject: [SpecialTopics 340] Re: Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 1:42:42 PM EDT
The adult education and literacy community has been saying for years that its work is the key to healthy families, communities, and businesses. We have the data to show that this is true.
We have to appreciate that when we bring the literacy element to those who represent various aspects of our community, as Darlene said, “…business, the media, literacy providers, local education institutions, government, chambers of commerce, faith-based organizations, civic clubs among others,” we get a response and create an opportunity to have an impact on agencies, institutions, and those they serve. We put ourselves in a position to deal with community problems that are rooted in low self-esteem and low-level literacy skills…and that never seem to go away.
The opportunities to engage in genuine collaborations with the non-literacy community are numerous. We have to step out of the big literacy box and take what we do into the big community box…to generate real solutions to problems. We have to act in response to our belief that literacy is vital to a higher quality of functioning in our communities.
Jose
From: kchernus@mprinc.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 341] Re: Community Literacy Discussion Begins
Date: June 25, 2007 2:53:27 PM EDT
Hi everyone. David, thank you for convening this discussion and inviting me to participate.
In the Community Partnerships for Adult Learning (C-PAL) study of community partnerships that support adult education, we found that community literacy looks quite different from community to community (see http://www.c-pal.net/profiles/index.html). For example, there are a variety of types of organizations that partner and may include one or several providers; they may serve a specific population or anyone in the community with adult literacy or English language and literacy needs; some have formal agreements but others have no infrastructure. That said, they share a common commitment to adult learners in need of literacy services. Many recognize the connections between adult literacy, workforce development, and economic development. The purpose of these partnerships is to increase the availability and quality of adult education and other literacy services.
In the partnerships we studied, the partners who come together to support adult literacy include: adult education providers (local school systems, community colleges, libraries, community-based and faith-based organizations, public housing facilities, correctional facilities, etc.), businesses, state and local government, workforce development and social service agencies, public housing facilities, and other community organizations.
Hope this is helpful.
Kathy Chernus
From: seacesl@yahoo.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 342] Re: Additional questions to consider
Date: June 25, 2007 4:38:49 PM EDT
All of the countries that have been spectacularly successful at achieving 100 percent (or close) literacy are cou tries that are (or are have been until very recently) homogenous. They include Japan and Korea (which have writing systems created especially for their populations -- Hangul in Korea, and addendums to kanji in Japan, katagana and hirigana.) Eastern Europe was ruled in literacy by the Soviet Union, and the Russian language was mandated, replacing, for example, Arabic, in countries such as Uzebekistan. Western Europen nations remained homogenous unto themselves until the recent onslaught of Islamic immigrants. This has ripped apart the entire Western European educational sustem.
In the United States, we have struggled to bring speakers of African-American dialect to approach the Standard Common American English required by literacy. We now have to face the bicultural and bilingual and bilingual challange of hispanic immigrants, and the additional issues of other immigrants who come from logographic and syllabographic systems who may not be totally literate in their native language.
From: djrosen@comcast.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 342] Re: Defining Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 8:13:16 PM EDT
Carl, Jeff, Kathy, Margaret, and others
We are all familiar with adult literacy education at the individual (student) level, and many of us know it at the program (or school) level. We also know it at the state level, that is, we know the state as funder, standards setter and policy-maker, monitor and evaluator, and perhaps in some states as a leader in promoting literacy. But please say more about what adult and family literacy means at the community level. Is this just a collection of all the providers of literacy to children and adults? Does it require that these providers -- and other stake holders -- come together to assess, plan, collaborate in some way? Is this -- at least in some cases -- a "system" of adult and family literacy at the community level? Some people are wondering, for example, how community literacy might be different from family literacy.
David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
From: djrosen@comcast.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 343] Re: Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 11:32:52 PM EDT
Hello Darlene,
I wonder if you have some examples of how literacy coalitions are doing this -- positioning literacy at the top of the community's agenda.
Thanks,
David
David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
From: Janet_Isserlis@brown.edu
Subject: [SpecialTopics 344] clarification? Community Literacy
Date: June 25, 2007 9:27:24 PM EDT
Are we talking about what community literacy is, as viewed through a provider's lens, and/or are we exploring what it is that community literacy - however broadly it may be defined - does for people in communities?
It seems that the key - or a key - to the conversation has to do with access - to information, understandings of systems, decision making and power.
Janet Isserlis
From: yohogclc@earthlink.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 345] Partnerships in an era of competition
Date: June 25, 2007 8:21:44 PM EDT
Securing federal funds for literacy services is a competitive process, as is the private grant process. In light of this, what needs to happen in a community so that partnerships can flourish? Perhaps concentrate on developing projects that either don't cost money or that are funded by various sources pooled together?
Debbie Yoho
From: DoughtyHRC@aol.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 346] Re: Community Literacy
Date: June 26, 2007 12:04:02 AM EDT
Hi All - If we believe in educational equity the concept of 100 percent literacy is critical to our vision for the future. In many communities I hear benchmark discussion taking place leading incrementally toward a community wide vision. The idea of setting community benchmarks to increase literacy levels by 5% or 25% is very commendable but what happens to those who fall outside that target? When does literacy get raised to a top priority where the value of education is elevated throughout all neighborhoods because individuals and families have evidence that it does make a difference? Margery, I think this is where community power dynamics are so important. We can help raise literacy levels for those we can cream from the top, look as if we are doing a good job, but still not impact those who would most benefit.
This is where community literacy can make its mark. Community literacy cannot just be a collection of providers if it to make substantive change. It must be a ‘system’ as you suggest David. The cities that have developed community literacy plans have involved all sectors and stakeholders in the planning process, have included learners of all ages, and have embraced the concept of community wide literacy infusion. With a blueprint to guide progress there is also a framework to move away from reliance on vertical silos and collaborate horizontally across program types and funding streams. This includes all levels from block clubs to neighborhood centers, zip code projects to city halls and business board rooms. Where each stakeholder endorses and implements a part of the plan and funders align their giving to support specific goals in the plan ownership can begin to belong to the community at large. In the early 1990’s there were only a dozen or so literacy coalitions. There are currently over 75 that I know of and probably many more that are working to position literacy as a top community priority, some very successfully.
Margaret
From: djrosen@comcast.net
Subject: [SpecialTopics 347] Day Two: Developing and Sustaining Community Literacy Coalitions
Date: June 26, 2007 12:05:55 AM EDT
Community Literacy Discussion Colleagues,
Welcome to those who have joined the discussion after it began. The message below tells you where you can see the archived messages so you can quickly catch up.
Our question for Tuesday is: How are Community Literacy Coalitions Developed and Sustained?
This is a big question with a lot of parts:
• 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?
I invite our guests, and everyone with experience in community literacy, to respond to any of these parts. There may be lots of responses so we'll probably stay on this question at least through Wednesday. It's also fine to continue to discuss the definition question from Monday. As we will be discussing many things, however, please be careful that the Subject line of your posting reflects the actual content of your message.
Two other things:
1) Mac users, if you had trouble downloading or viewing the presentations from the National Institute for Literacy Community Literacy Summit, try using a browser other than Safari, for example Firefox or Internet Explorer. http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/community/communityliteracy.html
2) The Web Address for the Build Literacy Web site is: http://www.buildliteracy.org/
David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
djrosen@comcast.net
From: heide@literacywork.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 348] models of successful collaboration?
Date: June 25, 2007 8:20:53 PM EDT
Hi, Kathy! Nice to see you on-line.
Kathy is there a particular community that stands out in your study as having a particularly successful collaboration? I'm knee deep in issues around immigrant integration and I wonder what particular approaches create a win-win situation for all community partners.
I'm aware of partnerships that are in name only, as everyone gets together ostensibly to collaborate but then nothing much happens beyond talk. As a panelist at the Spokane conference on transitions mentioned (and I paraphrase)"agencies often want others to collaborate but are unwilling to give on turf issues. The message sent is - we'll be happy to use your money to do something special, but we need all of our monies to do what we are already doing. Partners need to realize that on some issues you come out ahead in a collaboration and in others you don't."
The question is of course for the entire list: What does it take to build successful partnerships around a common goal and what are examples of partnerships that work because there is significant "value added" through the collaboration that results in better opportunities for community members.
Cheers
Heide
Heide Spruck Wrigley
LiteracyWork International
Mesilla, New Mexico
From: DSKostrub@aol.com
Subject: [SpecialTopics 349] Sustaining Community Literacy Partnerships
Date: June 26, 2007 9:06:03 AM EDT
The Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition has been in existence since 1989. It credits its sustainability to several key components such as 150 literacy collaborative partnerships, a strong board, skilled staff and diverse funding. However, the top two ingredients for long-term success have been putting business partners in the leadership of the board and involving major media in every aspect of promoting the coalition's work. The very strong engagement of business and the media in all aspects of coalition work has helped to spread tremendous awareness of literacy need and literacy solutions.
Darlene Kostrub
From: andy_nash@worlded.org
Subject: [SpecialTopics 350] Re: clarification? Community Literacy
Date: June 26, 2007 9:11:27 AM EDT
I think I share this confusion. So far, it seems that we’re defining community literacy as partnerships that focus on building a shared priority of literacy development. Another way to view it is literacy in service to the community. Years ago, we experimented with partnerships between individual classes and community organizations doing work on issues of interest to the students. These included partner organizations working on housing discrimination and day labor issues. The classes developed their language and literacy skills as they learned about and worked on those issues (resulting in a bilingual video about housing discrimination and a community survey on labor issues – data used to supplement policy papers). Is there a connection between this approach and the kinds of community literacy you’re discussing?
Andy Nash
World Education
From: s.cuban@lancaster.ac.uk
Subject: [SpecialTopics 351] Re: Sustaining Community Literacy Partnerships
Date: June 26, 2007 9:35:54 AM EDT
hi all,
I've been following the last couple strands of the conversation, and thought I'd use this as an opportunity to tell you about my two new books on this topic. one is partners in literacy: schools and libraries building communities through technology (co-authored) http://www.amazon.com/Partners-Literacy-Sondra-Cuban/dp/0807747963. the other one is: libraries serving new immigrant communities http://www.amazon.co.uk/Serving-New-Immigrant-Communities-Library/dp/1591582970/ref=sr_1_3/203-6931350-3907950?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182864801&sr=1-3
Both deal with adult literacy, ESOL, technologies, sustaining community-based education and making literacy links across institutions.
Thanks and take care,
Sondra
From: kbyrnes@unitedway-cny.org
Subject: [SpecialTopics 352] Re: Sustaining Community Literacy Partnerships
Date: June 26, 2007 10:20:13 AM EDT
I am impressed Darlene with all that you are doing in Palm Beach.
Please discuss sustainability as it applies to your Coalition in terms of the diverse funding.
Are you the LEA (Lead Educational Agency) for all Literacy funding? Do you disburse literacy funds to partners? Are you the convener when there is a grant opportunity? If so, tell us how you built that trust level with other providers.
Do you provide the leadership for writing grants? Can you identify some of your primary funding streams. Thanks.
Kathy Byrnes
Katherine Byrnes
Coordinator
Family Literacy Alliance of Greater Syracuse FLAGS
United Way of Central New York
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