Literacy - Spanning the U.S: Tucson AZ, Milford CT, Elgin, IL, Cleveland OH

Literacy:  Spanning the U.S.

Libraries' English classes pay off for both students, tutors

Arizona Daily Star: 3.03.2014 by Gabriela Diaz

Enriqueta Gonzalez has a new air of confidence.

Six months ago, she started taking free English classes offered at the Woods Memorial Branch Library. Gonzalez can now understand and speak better English, which has allowed her to engage with more people with confidence and security and consider finding a better job.

The English classes have continued to see an increase in demand and positive response from the community.

Last year, classes offered at the 10 library branches served 1,140 students from more than 45 countries, said Jennifer Stanowski, program director for Literacy Connects. About 70 percent of those students come from Spanish-speaking countries.

The classes are a partnership between Pima County Public Library and Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, one of five programs of Literacy Connects. The literacy group, which operates the English Language Acquisition for Adults, is a non-profit organization that recruits and trains English-language tutors.

“The library is very appreciative of this partnership,” said Ingrid Trebisky, assistant manager at the Woods Memorial Library. “These classes have been great for the library as well as the community.  READ MORE !

Literacy Center marks anniversary with new programs

CT Bulletin: 3.12.2014 – Submitted Article

The Literacy Center of Milford has good cause to celebrate. This year, the community-minded Center marks its 20-year anniversary of enriching the lives of thousands of Milford-area residents from other countries who have passed through its welcoming doors in quest of basic literacy skills since its founding in 1994.

Adding to the celebratory spirit of this anniversary year, the Center also adopts a new logo designed to reflect the organization’s evolution and growth. It also plans a yearlong rollout of dynamic new educational programs and activities (which started in December), as well as a full-scale marketing effort to reflect its new direction.

“We have a legacy to be proud of and countless accomplishments to celebrate,” said center President Martin O’Neill, who was installed in January and who has served on the non-profit organization’s Board of Directors for five years. “Our anniversary year is an excellent time to reflect, and to thank everyone — the organization’s hard-working staff, board of directors, and volunteer tutors; corporations and local businesses, agencies and foundations, and individual contributors — for helping us grow into the organization that we are today.”  READ MORE !

Elgin not-for-profit teaches local adults the ABCs of success

Courier News: 3.07.2014 by Melanie Kalmar

Simple tasks, like filling out a job application, helping their children with homework, or deciphering food labels, are difficult for adults who cannot read.

Studies by ProLiteracy, a global not-for-profit organization that teaches adults basic reading and writing skills, reveal that 30 million American grownups cannot read above a fifth grade level. Only a mere 3 million of those people will receive the help they need to master this fundamental skill.

For adults with low literacy who live in the northwest suburbs, help is nearby.

Located at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 North Grove Ave., The Literacy Connection, a local affiliate of ProLiteracy, recruits volunteers to teach basic literacy skills to adults who are native English speakers, as well as those who speak English as a second language.

Last year, The Literacy Connection’s 150 tutors served 284 learners, free of charge.  READ MORE !

Adult illiteracy is a scourge that Northeast Ohio must banish: editorial

Cleveland.com: 3.06.2014 by Editorial Board

Surprisingly few people raised any alarms when an international test of adult literacy, math and problem-solving skills showed the United States near the back of the pack.

At least that's how Robert Paponetti, executive director of The Literacy Cooperative, a nonprofit  in Cleveland, sees it.

So the adult literacy conference  the literacy cooperative sponsored last week at Third Federal Bank was a clanging cymbal banishing the silence surrounding adult illiteracy in the United States and Northeast Ohio.

The Programmes for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC)  test measures literacy and other basic skills of 16- to 65-year-olds in 24 developed nations. The latest PIAAC, released in October, found that many adults in the United States lack strong basic skills, unlike their counterparts in Japan and Finland, which scored at the top. For instance, the United States ranked 21st in math and 16th in literacy, according to the PIAAC. READ MORE !