TEXAS Adult & Family Literacy QUARTERLY

Professional Wisdom for Adult and Family Literacy

Welcome to our Library...

"When I need state or federal information on adult education issues, the first place I turn to is TCALL. TCALL is my central clearinghouse for adult education research, commercial materials evaluation and insight into current trends that have critical implications on what and how I prepare adults for an uncertain future. I am a fervent TCALL supporter and appreciate the vital services it provides to all adult education professionals. TCALL is a treasure to Texas adult education! "

Bob Quillin, Director
Angelina College Adult Education

Books and other resources described in the Library section may be requested for a 30-day loan. We will mail each borrower up to five loan items at a time (just two for first-time borrowers), and even include a postage-paid return address sticker for mailing them back to us! Borrowers must be affiliated with a non-profit program providing adult or family literacy services. Annotated bibliographies of our entire library of resources are available in hard copy by request, or can be viewed on our website. Call 800-441-7323 or e-mail tcall@tamu.edu to check out materials described here or to request hard copy listings of even more resources.

Evidence-Based Adult Literacy
and English as a Second Language Education

10 Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies, Second Edition. Tileston, Donna Walker (2005). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
In this book, the author offers a practical guide to inspiring, motivating, and therefore educating even the most unenthusiastic students. Tileston details the fundamentals of differentiated teaching strategies, teaching for long-term memory, collaborative learning, higher-order thinking skills, technology integration, evaluating learning through authentic assessments, and making the connection from prior learning and experiences to new learning. Examples illustrate how each teaching practice can be employed.

99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with The SIOP Model. Vogt, Mary Ellen and Echevarria, Jana (2008). Boston, MA: Pearson.
The SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model is a research-based approach to sheltered instruction that has proven effective in addressing the academic needs of English language learners. The model consists of eight components: lesson preparation; building background; comprehensible input; strategies; interaction; practice/application; lesson delivery; and review/assessment. The 99 ideas and activities in this book include a few familiar techniques, as well as many new ideas for SIOP teachers. All promote student-to-student and teacher-to-student interaction and involvement proven to be so necessary for English language acquisition and content development.

Adult Education in America: A First Look at Results from the Adult Education Program and Learner Surveys. Tamassia, Claudia and Lennon, Marylou and Yamamoto, Kentaro and Kirsch, Irwin (2007). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Sponsored by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, this report describes a study that included a Program Survey covering the program year from July 2001 through June 2002, and a Learner Survey done from March through June of 2003. The Program Survey described adult education programs governed by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Programs are describe in terms of their characteristics (size, number of sites, number of participants, budget, institutional characteristics); types of learners and support systems offered; staff characteristics and qualifications; types of assessments employed and their use; and extent and purposes of technology usage. The Learner Survey was designed to profile a nationally representative sample of adult learners enrolled in adult education programs. Information was gathered on language background; educational background and experiences; labor force participation and other activities; and general demographic information. Chapter 4 compares literacy skills of English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic adult learners.

Adult Learners in Higher Education: Barriers to Success and Strategies to Improve Results Bosworth, Brian, et al (March 2007). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
This report synthesizes the research literature on the challenges facing adult learners in higher education today and on emerging strategies for increasing the number of adults over 24 who earn college credentials and degrees. A key finding is that traditional higher education programs and policies--created in an era when the 18- to 22-year-old, dependent, full-time student coming right out of high school was seen as the core market for higher education—are not well-designed for the needs of adult learners, most of whom are “employees who study” rather than “students who work.” The report identifies the primary obstacles that adult learners face in trying to earn credentials with labor market value. It reviews the research on innovative practices that address the particular constraints facing adult learners. And it recommends changes in institutional and governmental policies that might help more adults enroll in, persist in, and complete higher education credential programs.

English Learners: Reaching the Highest Level of English Literacy. Gilbert G. Garcia (2003). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Teacher educators and school administrators will find this new volume to be a valuable resource for meeting the complex literacy needs of the burgeoning English language learner (ELL) population. The collection examines three important ELL issues: English reading instruction in an immersion setting, English language development, and cultural issues as they pertain to English learners in and out of the classroom. You’ll discover new ways of looking at practice in the context of current English literacy instruction for English learners, suggestions for why we need to examine our current practice, and recommendations for what we can do to change it. Most important, English Learners emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage and celebrates the variety of voices that our English learners represent.

Take on the Challenge: A Source Book from the Women, Violence, and Adult Education Project. Morrish, Elizabeth and Horsman, Jenny and Hofer, Judy (2002). Boston, MA: World Education.
This resource for educators and activists interested in anti-violence work, provides an analysis of the effects of violence and a practical collection of ideas and activities, with examples from teachers working in GED, native language literacy, ABE, ESOL, welfare-to-work, corrections, and shelter settings. Educators successfully changed their curriculum and learning environment to address impacts of violence on learning. Based on the foundation of Jenny Horsman’s research, practitioners focused on well-being and incorporated counseling and creative arts into the classroom. Each chapter includes a general introduction, tools for programs, and teachers writing about the changes they made.

Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. Allen, Janet (2004). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Reading and writing across content areas is emphasized in this compact tabbed flipchart book designed as a ready reference for content reading and writing instruction. Each of thirty-three instructional strategies includes: a brief description and purpose for each strategy; a research base that documents the origin and effectiveness of the strategy; graphic organizers to support the lesson; and classroom vignettes from different grade levels and content areas to illustrate the strategy in use. The definitions, descriptions, and research sources also provide a quick reference when implementing state and national standards, designing assessments, writing grants, or evaluating resources for literacy instruction.

Using Research and Reason in Education: How Teachers Can Use Scientifically-Based Research to Make Curricular and Instructional Decisions. Stanovich, Paula J. and Stanovich, Keith E. (May 2003). Washington, DC: The Partnership for Reading.
In the recent move toward standards-based reform in public education, many educational reform efforts require schools to demonstrate that they are achieving educational outcomes with students performing at a required level of achievement. Standards-based reform has many curricular and instructional prerequisites. The curriculum must represent the most important knowledge, skills, and attributes that schools want their students to acquire because these learning outcomes will serve as the basis of assessment instruments. Likewise, instructional methods should be appropriate for the designed curriculum. Teaching methods should lead to students learning the outcomes that are the focus of the assessment standards. As professionals, teachers can become more effective and powerful by developing the skills to recognize scientifically based practice and, when the evidence is not available, use some basic research concepts to draw conclusions on their own. This paper offers a primer for those skills that will allow teachers to become independent evaluators of educational research.

What Successful Mentors Do: 81 Research-Based Strategies for New Teacher Induction, Training, and Support. Hicks, Cathy D. and Glasgow, Neal A. and McNary, Sarah J. (2005). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
New teachers encounter many “firsts” -- such as first-day jitters, the first performance review, and establishing relationships with new colleagues. The authors offer strategies to help mentors enable new teachers to put those “firsts” in perspective. Strategies are suggested in 10 essential areas of teaching, from using assessment tools to developing a personal teaching style -- all with the goal of increasing retention of new teachers.

Evidence-Based Family Literacy Education

Building the Reading Brain, PreK-3. Wolfe, Patricia and Nevills, Pamela (2004). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Research indicates that a student’s future academic success can be predicted by his or her reading level at the end of third grade. Wolfe and Nevills bring insight and assistance to preschool educators, parents and care providers, kindergarten and primary grade teachers for this essential process. They explain the development of the young brain, the acquisition of language as preparation for reading, and the nurturing and instruction process from birth to age eight. This guide demonstrates how the brain of a child masters the reading process of decoding print and reading with fluency and comprehension and addresses related literacy skills of writing and spelling, and offers brain-friendly strategies that lay the groundwork for reading success including: activities to support phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency; applications of games, music, play, and instruction; and intervention suggestions for children who are challenged or discouraged early readers.

Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing, and Responding Effectively Kaiser, Barbara and Rasminsky, Judy Sklar (2003). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Based on a NAEYC booklet, this book investigates challenging behaviors in-depth and with reference to related research. Chapter topics include: what is challenging behavior; risk factors; protective factors; the brain and behavior; understanding culture; physical space; program; social context; guidance and punishment; strategies; functional assessment; families and outside help; and bullying. This resource could be used in professional development discussions.

Children’s Literacy Development: Making It Happen through School, Family, and Community Involvement. Patricia A. Edwards (2004). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Patricia Edwards has carefully selected skills, strategies, and examples of family involvement that will empower educators to successfully implement family involvement initiatives. A timely publication on today’s political climate with federal monies going into family literacy, Edwards has chosen research-based, school-tested ideas as the focus of this book.

Everyday Goodbyes Starting School and Early Care: A Guide to the Separation Process. Balaban, Nancy (2006). Amsterdam Ave, NY: Teachers College Press.
In Everyday Goodbyes (her follow-up to Starting School: From Separation to Independence), Nancy Balaban once again addresses this critical aspect of child development. Emphasizing the need for parents and teachers to work together in phasing children into a child care, preschool, or kindergarten program, she offers many sensitive, practical suggestions to ease the separation process for all involved. This book helps teachers and parents to understand why children take time to adjust, uses photographs and real-life anecdotes of children, teachers, and parents to illustrate all aspects of the adjustment process, includes activities for the classroom that support children’s movement toward independence and self-confidence, includes children with special needs, those who come from special circumstances, as well as the range of cultural differences, and provides sample “phase-in” schedules for planning the first days of a program, a sample letter of introduction that can be sent to parents, and a list of books for children and adults.

Ladders to Literacy: A Preschool Activity Book, Second Edition. Notari-Syverson, Angela and O’Connor, Rollanda E. and Vadasy, Patricia F. (2007). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
This field-tested, activity-based program gives preschool teachers more than 60 culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate student activities organized into three sections: print/book awareness, metalinguistic awareness skills, and oral language skills. Features include field-tested games, crafts, role plays, and other activities to improve children’s basic preliteracy skills. New features in this edition include: well-defined links between the activities and Head Start Recommended Outcomes; a scope-and-sequence chart; 11 new activities; dozens of activities to strengthen the home-school link, including photocopiable handouts to give parents for home activities; and modifications for children with disabilities.

Learning About Print in Preschool: Working With Letters, Words, and Beginning Links With Phonemic Awareness. Strickland, Dorothy S. and Schickendanz, Judith A. (2004). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
From the International Reading Association’s Preschool Literacy Collection, this book looks at the research-based key predictors of literacy success and outlines a curriculum and program to achieve a good early literacy foundation. Chapters include the following: what do young children need to know about print, connecting child development and print, a print-rich environment, skills and strategies, phonemic awareness, and alphabet knowledge. The book has charts, checklists, and illustrations.

Literacy and Young Children: Research-Based Practices. Barone, Diane M. and Morrow, Lesley Mandel, Editors (2003). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Sections include: “Foundations for Early Literacy Learning and Instruction”; “Home Literacy Experiences of Children”; “Phonemic Awareness, Code Learning, and Book Acting”; and “Recent Trends in Literacy Research: Technology, Fluency, and Information Text”. Topics discussed range from English language learners, preschool strategies, learning to read, to reading for learning. Barone concludes the book with a cautionary tale of not throwing out practices that work, and suggestions on how to implement new ideas.

Many Pathways to Literacy: Young Children Learning with Siblings, Grandparents, Peers and Communities. Gregory, Eve and Long, Susi and Volk, Dinah, Editors (2004). New York, NY: Routledge Falmer.
This book is a compilation of studies conducted in a variety of cross-cultural contexts where children learn language and literacy with siblings, grandparents, peers and community members. Focusing on the knowledge and skills of children often invisible to educators, the studies highlight how children skillfully draw from their varied cultural and linguistic worlds to make sense of new experiences. Through studies grounded in home, school, community school, nursery and church settings, the studies show how children create for themselves radical forms of teaching and learning in ways that are not typically recognized, understood or valued in schools.

Nurturing the Nurturers: The Importance of Sound Relationships in Early Childhood Intervention. Benard, Bonnie and Quiett, Douglas (2003). San Francisco, CA: West Ed.
Report describes the Marin City Families First early intervention model. The model illustrates the difficulties for the home visitor and the issues working a low-income family facing high stress situations. Challenges include financial uncertainty, abuse, inadequate education, and an atmosphere of depression and hopelessness. Report discusses the support from the program needed to be an effective home visitor and the collaborative work needed to move a family forward. Report could be used for discussion and reflection in professional development.

Scaffolding with Storybooks: A Guide for Enhancing Young Children’s Language and Literacy Achievement. Justice, Laura M. and Pence, Khara L. and Beckman, Angela R. and Skibbe, Lori E. and Wiggins, Allice K. (2005). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Storybook reading can be used to build the early literacy competencies that preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade students need to become successful readers and learners. This research-based guide provides strategies and sample interactions that will help to strengthen children’s knowledge of written language, vocabulary, phonology, the alphabet, narrative discourse, and the world around them.

The Social World of Children Learning to Talk. Hart, Betty and Risley, Todd R. (2002). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
This is the second book based on the longitudinal research of the authors, Hart and Risley. (The first book “Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children”) This book further explores the implications of the research, with chapters including: the social dance of American family life; a social world; developmental change; staying and playing; the range among well-functioning families; meaningful differences; and talking as a social dance. From the preface: “Children get better at what they practice, and having more language tools, more nuances, more fluency, more steps in the social dances of life is likely to contribute at least as much to your children’s future success as their heredity and their choice of friends.”

The Temperament Perspective: Working with Children’s Behavioral Styles. Kristal, Jan (2005). New York, NY: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.
This book adds the author’s own research and clinical work to present practical guidance for working with children and their parents. What is temperament, how does it affect children’s behavior at different ages, how can teachers and caregivers adapt the learning environment to help children, and meeting the challenges of difficult behavior are among the topics discussed. Chapters include “Goodness of Fit,” “The Temperament Profile,” “Infants: Unique from the Beginning,” “Toddlers and Preschoolers,” and “School-Age Children.” The appendix has resource listings for more information about temperament. The book is a resource for all areas and components of family literacy programs.

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Lareau, Annette (2003). Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
How does social class affect children’s lives? This book describes the author’s ethnographic study of two approaches to childrearing: “concerted cultivation” and the “accomplishment of natural growth.” Chapters include “social structure and daily life,” “the hectic pace of concerted cultivation,” “children’s play is for children,” “language as a conduit for social life,” “concerted cultivation in organizational spheres,” and “the power and limits of social class.”