[Nesabes] Resources for Adult Educators Serving New Immigrants- Information provided by Lynn Selmser (COABE)

[Bower, Carol]

Resources for Adult Educators Serving New Immigrants
by Lynn Selmser, COABE Public Policy Analyst
	A recent article in the Washington Post, entitled, "Tending the
American Melting Pot: U.S. Promotes Assimilation Through Teaching of
Political Values and English," called my attention to resources on the
U. S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services website which may be of interest to
those of you who work with new immigrants and those seeking citizenship.
	According to the article, Immigrants are applying for
citizenship in
record levels.  Almost 1.4 million people applied in fiscal 2007, double
the
figure for the previous year.
The article focused on Alfonso Aguilar, chief of the U.S. Office of
Citizenship, who has spearheaded a new federal initiative to get
immigrants
to embrace English and American political values.
As adult educators, you are very much a part of the effort to assist new
immigrants to obtain the skills they need to pass citizenship tests and
succeed in their new home country.
Their website provides information and resources to new immigrants and
adult
educators alike.  I encourage you to visit the website at
<http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis>.
Once you access the website, look for the section Education and
Resources.
On the side is a list of resources.  Of key interest are two sites,
Resources for New Immigrants and Resources for Adult Educators.
Under the section on Resources for New Immigrants is a document
entitled,
"Welcome to the United States:  A Guide for New Immigrants."  This
document
includes general information on adult education and learning English, as
well as information on K-12 education and higher education.  This
section of
the website also provides links to the website of service providers such
as
ProLiteracy and America's Literacy Directory where individuals can
locate
literacy programs.
The section on Resources for Adult Educators includes a variety of
resources
to assist you in helping immigrants, including, U.S. Civics and
Citizenship
Online: Resource Center for Instructors.  This is a web-based
application
that provides teachers and volunteers a single source for locating
resources
to incorporate civics into ESL instruction and prepare adults for
naturalization.

	I encourage you to check out this website.  With a growing
number of
immigrants seeking assistance from adult educators, this website can be
a
valuable tool.