[NLA] News (including a legislative update) from the National Institute for Literacy
Johnson, Alice
Alice.Johnson at ed.gov
Mon Oct 15 16:03:43 EDT 2001
The latest issue of e*literacy, the National Institute for Literacy's
electronic newsletter, is now available online at:
http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/eliteracy/01_10_01.html.
A text-only version of e*literacy is below.
Alice Johnson
Associate Director for State Policy
National Institute for Literacy
1775 I Street, NW, Suite 730
Washington, DC 20006
202-233-2034 (tel)
202-233-2050 (fax)
www.nifl.gov
*******************************************************************
Volume 1, Issue 2: October 15, 2001
CONTENTS
1. Interim Director Appointed at NIFL
2. Congress Proposes $55 Million Increase for Adult Literacy
3. ILN Launches National Literacy Campaign
4. LINCS Hits the Three Million Mark
5. Texas Launches Statewide Effort to Coordinate LD Activities
6. Legislative Update
7. Calendar
*******************************************************************
1. INTERIM DIRECTOR APPOINTED AT NIFL
Dr. Sandra Baxter has been named Interim Director of the National Institute
for Literacy (NIFL). Dr. Baxter manages The Partnership for Reading, a
collaborative effort by NIFL, the US Department of Education, and the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to make
evidence-based reading research available to everyone with an interest in
helping children and adults read well.
Prior to joining the Institute, Dr. Baxter was a Senior Evaluator at the
U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) where her work focused on federal
education programs. She earned a doctoral degree in administration,
planning, and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in
1995. She holds a Master of Education degree in guidance and counseling
from Loyola College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Howard
University.
The National Institute for Literacy was created by Congress in 1991 to
provide national leadership on literacy issues and to serve as a national
resource for adult education and literacy programs. An Interagency Group
composed of the Secretaries of Education, Labor, and Health and Human
Services and a Presidentially-appointed Advisory Board guide the Institute's
work. By law, the Advisory Board is required to make recommendations to the
Interagency Group regarding a new permanent director. The Interagency Group
will then appoint the new permanent director.
Dr. Baxter replaces Dr. Andrew Hartman, who left the Institute to join a
child and family advocacy organization in Colorado.
2. CONGRESS PROPOSES A $55 MILLION INCREASE FOR ADULT LITERACY
On October 11, the U.S. House of Representatives approved its Fiscal Year
(FY) 2002 funding levels for a variety of federal literacy programs. Under
the House proposal, Adult Education State Grants would receive $595 million
in FY '02, which is a $55 million increase over last year.
On the same day, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved its
version of the bill. Once the full Senate approves its bill, the House and
Senate will begin the process of negotiating a final funding level, which
will then be sent to the President for approval.
More information on these two issues can be found in the most recent NIFL
Policy Update at
http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/policy/updates/01-10-12.html.
3. ILN LAUNCHES NATIONAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN
The newly formed International Literacy Network (ILN), a consortium of 21
literacy organizations, recently launched a new literacy campaign to "Get
Ready For Life" to fight low literacy. The campaign, which is being
underwritten by Verizon Corporation, will target the public and
policymakers.
For more information, visit the ILN website at:
http://www.theiln.org/iln_pr.htm#public.
4. LINCS HITS THE THREE MILLION MARK
LINCS, the NIFL's online information and communication system, was accessed
over three million times during the month of August, for a total of 14
million hits this year. This is the most hits LINCS has ever received in a
one-month period. LINCS has recently been upgraded to provide practitioners
with more and better information, including current information about the
following: grants and funding opportunities; curriculum and materials; job
announcements; conferences and workshops; the latest literacy news from
major newspapers, research journals, and policy briefs; and much more.
The three most popular publications on LINCS in August were as follows:
Learning to Think, Learning to Learn: What the Science of Thinking and
Learning Has To Offer Adult Education Programs. This report by NIFL fellow
Jennifer Cromley reviews major topics on learning as applied to teaching GED
students -- including memory, critical thinking, motivation, and transfer of
learning from classes to real life. Each chapter includes a review of the
topic, implications for teachers, and lesson ideas.
Equipped for the Future Standards Guide. This publication describes the 16
standards that represent the core knowledge and skills adults need to
effectively carry out their roles as parents, citizens, and workers. It
provides examples of the ways welfare-to-work, ESL, and family literacy
programs have used EFF standards to guide teaching and learning.
The Professionalization of Adult Education: Can Certification of Adult
Educators Contribute to a More Professional Workforce? This report reviews
the current status of state implementation of teacher certification
requirements for adult education instructors and highlights the ways three
states have chosen to implement standards.
For more information, please go to LINCS (http://www.nifl.gov/lincs).
5. TEXAS LAUNCHES STATEWIDE EFFORT TO COORDINATE LD ACTIVITIES
Texas education, training, and social service providers have formed a
Bridges to Practice State Steering Committee to develop and implement a
statewide plan for serving adults with learning disabilities (LD). The
steering committee, which met for the first time in September, consists of
representatives from the Department of Social Services, the Texas Workforce
Commission, the Texas Education Association, state literacy organizations, a
local school district, a community college, and the U.S. Department of
Labor. The group is collaborating with NIFL, the Bridges to Practice
Training Corps, and the Texas Health and Human Service's Office of Civil
Rights to provide a seamless system of service for adults with learning
disabilities.
For more information on learning disabilities and literacy, visit:
http://slincs.coe.utk.edu/special_collections/learning_disabilities/whats_ne
w.html.
6. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
APPROPRIATIONS: To date, Congress has not finished any of the 13 annual
spending bills for FY '02, which began October 1. In late September,
Congress approved a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal agencies
functioning at current funding levels. That CR will expire on October 16, so
the House and Senate approved a second CR through October 23. Congress will
need to complete work on all 13 spending bills by then or approve a third
CR. Meanwhile, the
House approved its education spending bill, which includes a $55 million
increase for adult education state grants. The Senate Appropriations
Committee has approved it funding levels for federal education programs and
services, which will be considered by the entire Senate as early as next
week.
EDUCATION: The bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) is still being negotiated by the House and Senate conference
committee on education. The ESEA bill includes the President's Reading First
initiative (literacy development for children in grades K-3) and a few
proposals related to adult and family literacy programs. In late September,
the conference committee ratified several portions of the ESEA bill,
including Reading First, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Charter
Schools, and Magnet Schools.
More information on these two issues can be found in recent NIFL Policy
Updates at
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/policy/updates.html.
7. CALENDAR
Be sure to check out LINCS' calendar of upcoming events, including
conferences, seminars, and training sessions at:
http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/Calendar/calendar_world.cgi.
Information on events from now thru December 2002 are available.
October 2001 events include:
October 16
Closing the Gap: Computer Technology in Special Education and
Rehabilitation, Minneapolis, Minnesota
October 17
Literacy Volunteers of America, Albuquerque, New Mexico
American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, Baltimore, Maryland
October 18
SCALE's Read, Write, Act Conference, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Council for Learning Disabilities International Conference, Charlotte, North
Carolina
October 27
National Indian Education Association Annual Convention, Billings, Montana
October 28
National Dropout Prevention Network, Orlando, Florida
E*literacy is published monthly by the National Institute for Literacy. The
National Institute for Literacy is an independent federal organization that
provides national leadership on literacy issues and serves as a national
resource for adult education and literacy programs.
Editor: Alice Johnson (ajohnson at nifl.gov)
For more information, contact:
National Institute for Literacy
1775 I Street, NW
Suite 730
Washington, DC 20006-2417
202-233-2025
www.nifl.gov
This issue of e*literacy is available online at:
www.nifl.gov/nifl/eliteracy/01_10_01.html
Alice Johnson
Associate Director for State Policy
National Institute for Literacy
1775 I Street, NW, Suite 730
Washington, DC 20006
202-233-2034 (tel)
202-233-2050 (fax)
www.nifl.gov
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