Literacy Links

Personnel Issues

Click on Over. . .

Statewide Initiatives
As featured in article on Teacher Retention

Adult Education Credential Project
The Texas Adult Education Credential raises the bar of professionalism for adult educators. To serve the needs of future adult students, adult education practitioners require and deserve systematic, standardized and meaningful professional development. The Texas project is one of the most innovative adult education professional development projects underway anywhere in the nation. Funding for the Texas Adult Education Credential Project is provided by the Texas Education Agency via Texas LEARNS. The project is operated by The Education Institute, College of Education, Texas State University - San Marcos, a member of the Texas State University System.
http://cie.ci.txstate.edu/credential/default.html

Project GREAT
The Project GREAT Adult Education and Family Literacy Regional Centers of Excellence are Texas LEARNS’ answer to the professional development needs of adult education and family literacy practitioners in Texas. Eight (8) Project GREAT Centers are funded as federal State Leadership activities by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and Texas LEARNS, one in each of eight service regions in the state. The centers are managed by the grantees in collaboration with the state office of Adult Education (Texas LEARNS), TEA, and the region’s adult education directors.
http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/texasLearns/tLGreat.htm

Mentoring New Teachers

Creating a Teacher Mentoring Program
Published by the National Education Association’s Foundation for the Improvement of Education, this paper is a result of a mentoring symposium sponsored by NFIE and the United Teachers of Los Angeles. It touches on the usefulness of mentoring, how to create the structure needed for an effective mentoring program, and how to measure the effectiveness of a mentoring program.
http://www.nfie.org/publications/mentoring.htm

Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Lessons from the Experience in Texas
This report from SEDL (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory) describes a study that examined the effect of mentoring programs on the induction and retention of new teachers.
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/pol23.html

Survival Guide for New Teachers
This online book on the U.S. Department of Education Website is for those new to the teaching. The book includes the reflections of award-winning first-year teachers who talk candidly about their successes and setbacks, with a particular emphasis on the relationships they formed with their colleagues, university professors, and their students’ parents. It also offers suggestions about how new teachers can foster supportive professional relationships and what they stand to gain from them.
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/become/about/survivalguide/resources.html

Online Resources for Recent Immigrants
From U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services

The Office of Citizenship has recently published in both print and online formats, three new resources for recent immigrants. USCIS provided TCALL with a limited supply of the print resources, which have been disseminated to English Literacy Civics programs om the state. Hard copies are still available for purchase from USCIS, but the resources are also published online.

Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants
This publication for new permanent residents contains practical information to help immigrants settle into everyday life in the United States, as well as basic civics information that introduces new immigrants to the U.S. system of government. It also gives new immigrants tips on how to get involved in their new communities, and how to meet their responsibilities and exercise their rights as permanent residents. In addition to English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, and Tagalog, Welcome to the United States will also be available online in Portuguese, French, and Haitian Creole. These additional language versions of the publication will be posted as they become available.
http://uscis.gov/graphics/citizenship/welcomeguide/index.htm

Civics Flash Cards
The web-based version of these colorfully illustrated flash cards is intended to help new immigrants increase their knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government. Immigrants applying for naturalization can use the 96 questions and answers on these flash cards as a study tool to prepare for the naturalization exam.
http://uscis.gov/graphics/citizenship/flashcards/index.htm