Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning

FREE Things to Send For...

Collaboration for Program Development & Administration

Corporate/School Partnerships: Learner Centered or Business Centered? Brown, Bettina Lankard (1999). Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education. As business/industry partnerships with education become increasingly important, questions arise about the influence of business/industry agendas on vocational curriculum. This ERIC Myths & Realities publication looks at various types of partnership arrangements that business/industry and education have established and how well the needs of both learners and business are being addressed through these partnerships.

Creating Beneficial Institutional Collaborations. Kuo, Elaine W. (February 1999). Los Angeles, CA: ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges. The process of collaboration with external organizations can transform an institution. The term collaboration refers to the act of working with a limited group in a socially beneficial effort. This ERIC Digest examines the value of existing collaborative efforts with businesses, community organizations and other educational institutions, and explores how collaborative partnerships create new opportunities as well as challenges.

Head Start and Even Start: Greater Collaboration Needed on Measures of Adult Education and Literacy. Vanderlinde, Virginia, et al (March 2002). Washington, DC: United States General Accounting Office. If Head Start and Even Start are designed to achieve similar outcomes for similar populations (disadvantaged children and their families), but do not work together to achieve the needs of these targeted groups, then inefficiencies in administration and service delivery may result. The GAO was asked to determine: how similar the programs are in legal requirements, administration, purposes, goals, and performance indicators;how these programs differ operationally, particularly in terms of services they provide and who receives them; what is known about the relative effectiveness of the two programs; and the extent to which opportunities exist for the programs to work more effectively with one another to meet the needs of program participants.

Other Program Development Resources

ESOL Orientation. Odessa College Adult Education (2002). College Station, TX: Texas Center for Adult Literacy & Learning. Developed over a period of years, this is the 2001-2002 version of the student orientation procedure for adult ESOL students at Odessa College Adult Education. Designed to be completed as a stand-alone orientation and/or through classroom activities, a minimum of six hours is required for effective delivery. This resource includes the following sections: 1) Expectations, Responsibilities, Rights, Standards, and Policies; 2) Force Field Analysis; 3) Goal Setting; 4) Building Self-Efficacy; 5) What is an Attitude? and 6) Leaving the Program: What Should I Do? David Heath of Odessa College notes, "It requires a great deal of student reflection, buy in from staff, and classroom follow-up to be effective. The orientation must be delivered in the native language for all students below advanced. Consequently it may not be doable for many programs. However, I do believe it would provide a viable framework that could be modified to fit individual program needs." Handbook on 3.5" disk (Microsoft Word files). This document is on-line on this web site. ESOL Orientation.

New Beginnings: Creating and Establishing an Adult Literacy Program. Normand, Amy J., Executive Editor (June 2002). San Marcos, TX: Volunteers in Training for Adult Literacy.This compact guide book was created to assist literacy groups, school districts, community-based, and faith-based organizations in the process of beginning an adult literacy program in their community. It is designed for groups who have never experienced the process of starting a nonprofit organization and have little or no background knowledge of adult literacy, adult basic or secondary education, English as a Second Language, or GED Preparation. Chapters were written by Texas adult education practitioners and include: Program Planning; Fund Development; Volunteer Recruitment and Retention; Tutor Training; Student Recruitment, Orientation, and Retention; Literacy and Adult Basic Education; English as a Second Language; and Adult Secondary Education and GED. This can also be found on-line on this website. Go to New Beginnings

Workplace Readiness Guide. Crocker, Judith, Tibbetts, John, Sherman, Renee, and Dlott, Michael (May 2002). Washington, DC: PRO-NET 2000. Guide is to be used as a first step for local ABE programs considering a workplace education program. The guide evaluates program readiness in terms of instructor qualification and program management/administrative characteristics needed for program success. SCANS (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) Competencies and skills defined by the EFF (Equipped for the Future) standards are discussed as they apply to workplace education program development. Also available online in pdf format at http://www.pro-net2000.org/CM/showpublications.asp?subcat_id=9 as of 10/2004 - scroll down page to find title.

ESL Classroom Resources

The following three titles are the final products of the ESL Professional Development Center housed at the University of Texas -- San Antonio from 1991 through June 2002, funded by the Texas Education Agency Division of Adult and Community Education. Authors are Beth Crowther, Gloria Beachey, and Cheryl North, with assistance from Michael Campbell and Carmen Romo. All three titles are available free on CD-ROM, or may be checked out in hard copy as three individual books. This resource is on-line on this web site.

Things to Do in the ESL Classroom #1: Team Building and Warm-up Activities.

Things to Do in the ESL Classroom #2: The 3 R's.

Things to Do in the ESL Classroom #3: Games.

ERIC Resources from National Center
for ESL Literacy Education

Dialogue Journals: Interactive Writing to Develop Language and Literacy. Peyton, Joy Kreeft (December 2000 Revised). Adults learning English as a second language (ESL) bring to the classroom extensive life experience and proficiencies in different languages and cultures. At the same time, they may have limited literacy skills in their native language, have had little or no schooling in their country, and are adjusting to a new way of life at the same time that they are learning a new language and beginning to function in a new educational or work setting. Many teachers have found that dialogue journals, interactive writing with a teacher or other individual, open new channels of communication and provide natural contexts for language and literacy development by providing supportive, nonthreatening interaction with a proficient English speaker who has knowledge of life in the United States.

English That Works: Preparing Adult English Language Learners for Success in the Workforce and Community. Marshall, Brigitte (July 2002). This ERIC Q&A discusses efforts in adult ESL education to link language instruction to workforce and civic skills needed for successful participation in the community. It looks at the social forces that underlie these efforts and describes how adult ESL educators can integrate workforce and civic life skills into their curricula and convey these skills to their students through learner-centered instructional strategies and classroom management techniques.

ESL Instruction and Adults With Learning Disabilities. Schwarz, Robin and Terrill, Lynda (June 2000). This ERIC Digest reviews what is known about adult ESL learners and learning disabilities, suggests ways to identify and assess ESL adults who may have learning disabilities, and offers practical methods for both instruction and teacher training.

Evaluating Workplace ESL Instructional Programs. Burt, Miriam and Saccomano, Mark (September 1995). With an increase in workplace instructional programs, a need has arisen for procedures to evaluate program effectiveness. Evaluations of ESL workplace programs seek to determine if the attention given to improving basic skills and English language proficiency has made a change in the participant and in the workplace. Evaluations also identify practices associated with program effectiveness so that successes can be eplicated. This Digest examines evaluation measures and activities used in workplace programs, and discusses issues associated with the evaluation of workplace ESL programs.

New Reports

Documenting Outcomes for Learners and Their Communities: A Report on a NCSALL Action Research Project. Bingman, Mary Beth, Ebert, Olga, and Bell, Brenda (March 2002). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. Executive Summary states: "The action research described in this report focused on developing approaches that local programs can use to document the outcomes of student participation in adult basic education programs.... The team established a process that helped students identify the changes they hoped to make (i.e., their goals for education) and to document achievement of these goals and outcomes ... as part of their focus on the Equipped for the Future framework." FREE copies available IN TEXAS ONLY. Report can also be found online at:
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=29

State Correctional Education Programs: State Policy Update. Tolbert, Michelle (March 2002). Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy. Ensuring that prisoners are prepared to return to society is becoming an increasingly important issue for policymakers to address, considering the growing number of inmates expected to be released from prison in the coming years. This State Policy Update provides background on the criminal justice system, summarizes the funding sources, correctional philosophy, and laws affecting state correctional education programs, and describes the adult prison population today. In addition, the Update reviews the various components of correctional education, discusses the benefits of education to inmates, and highlights correctional education initiatives in three states-Maryland, Ohio, and Texas. FREE copies available IN TEXAS ONLY.

Resources from Jobs for the Future

How to Help Welfare Recipients and Other Low Wage Workers Secure -and Keep - Better Jobs. JFF (May 2002). This document makes recommendations for reauthorizing TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) legislation based on JFF's work with a wide range of employer organizations, employers, and providers of workforce development services for those with few skills and little work experience. One of the recommendations is that TANF reauthorization be designed to "encourage employers to provide valuable skill development opportunities to their entry-level and lower-skill employees."

Work-Related Learning Guide for Family Literacy and Adult Education Organizations. Jobs for the Future (August 1999). Incorporating work-related learning activities into family literacy and adult education programs will enable learners to broaden their learning experiences both in the classroom and at the worksite. This guide provides concrete assistance for family literacy and adult education organizations that are considering ways in which work and learning can be integrated in their educational programs. It is designed to help practitioners think through the options, models, and challenges involved in creating closer links between work and literacy programs, providing numerous real-life examples. FREE hard copies available IN TEXAS ONLY.