Literacy Links

Getting Started: (Advice for New Adult and Family Literacy Programs)

Click on Over. . .

The State of Literacy in America: Synthetic Estimates of Adult Literacy Proficiency at the Local, State and National Levels. On this site, you can access a database of literacy statistics searchable by state, county, or city, as well as an explanation of how the database was developed and what the various literacy levels mean. Unfortunately, as explained on the site,this data is not recent. It was derived from the 1992 State and National Adult Literacy Surveys, statistically combined with 1990 Census data. However, for the time being, this database is all we have to work with. The web address is http://www.nifl.gov/reders/reder.htm.

2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. There is another national adult literacy survey currently being conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, but no data has yet been analyzed to create a new database. Data should be released from the 2003 NAAL beginning in May 2005 in the form of several reports summarizing the results - a comprehensive report, popular report and a technical report. Check the NAAL website for the latest updates. The web address is http://nces.ed.gov/naal/.

U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts Page. You can access data from the 2000 Census on educational attainment (which is not the same as literacy level) by Texas county on the U.S. Census website's Quick Facts Page. The web address is http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html.

Civics Lessons Related to Iraq War. National LINCS' Civic Participation and Citizenship Collection, housed at the New England Literacy Resource Center, has added this page with links to numerous resources for teaching and learning about civics using content related to the Iraq War. The web address is http://www.nelrc.org/cpcc/iraq/index.htm.

English as a Second Language site by Rong-Chang Li. This English as a Second Language site is a starting point for ESL learners who want to learn English through the Web. Many people have created ESL learning materials for the Web. This site links you to those good and free ESL places. The variety of materials will allow you to choose something appropriate for yourself. Includes sections on Listening, Reading, Writing, Grammar, Lesson Plans, Business English, Pronunciation, Quizzes, Idioms, Games, Dictionaries, and an ESL Teachers' Corner. The web address is http://www.rong-chang.com/.

Job Interviews feature on "Thirteen EdOnline" site developed by WNET New York has lesson plans and activities to teach job interviewing skills. The web address is http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson11.html.

Newspapers in Education site helps teachers use newspapers as teaching tools. Site offers lesson plans and classroom activities by grade level. Weekly interactive geography questions based on major news events test map skills as well as current events knowledge. The web address is http://nieonline.com/.

Ten Fashion Blunders: What Not to Wear to the Interview - also in the Monster.com Career Center. The web address is http://interview.monster.com/articles/whattowear/.

Virtual Interview - Monster.com's Career Center has a famous virtual interview exercise. Practice a hiring interview using questions with multiple choice answers. The web address is http://interview.monster.com/.

Wayne Magnuson English Idioms, Sayings and Slang.
http://home.t-online.de/home/toni.goeller/idiom_wm/index.html.
Are your English language learners puzzled by expressions such as "quick on the draw", "don't make no nevermind", "make a mountain out of a molehill", or "still wet behind the ears?" They might enjoy surfing for definitions of these and hundreds of other expressions at Wayne Magnuson English Idioms, Sayings and Slang.  Site users can even contribute a saying or expression to the author.

Workplace Essential Skills video series developed by PBS Literacy Link has online lessons on finding a job as well as developing the basic literacy skills needed in the workplace. The web address is http://litlink.ket.org/begin_wes.aspl.