Literacy: Spanning North America
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More refugees learning English skills
Literacy Volunteers teach folks to read, write for
50 years
Times Union: 11.14.2017 by Rick Karlin
They'll be celebrating their 50th anniversary in
2018 and while the clientele has evolved, the mission and guiding principles of
Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County
has remained the same: to teach people to read, write and converse in English.
The conversational aspect may have grown over time
as Literacy Volunteers are seeing more immigrants than in years past, however.
Historically, the group focused on native-born
Capital Region residents who had slipped through the cracks in the education
system and, despite earning a diploma or GED, had minimal reading or writing
skills.
They still get substantial numbers of such
students. But increased immigration, including an influx of refugees, means
they are seeing more and more learners for whom spoken English is a new
experience. These days, between 65 percent and 70 percent of those they help
are immigrants looking to learn English.
The group's calling card is an individualized form
of instruction.
"The main focus is the one-on-one, or small
group instruction," said Executive Director Judith Smith. READ MORE >>
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Literacy group celebrating 10-year milestone
Estevan Mercury: 11.15.2017
The Estevan Area
Literacy Group will use its upcoming annual general meeting
to celebrate a milestone.
The EALG will mark 10 years of helping the
community with its literacy needs during the meeting on Nov. 15.
In a submission to the Mercury, past board
chairperson Marilyn McCutcheon noted the first organizational meeting was held
on June 27, 2006, involving representatives from the Indigenous, business,
education and community service organizations, as well as library and literacy
entities.
“At this time, the committee identified gaps in
existing services and supports to a variety of groups,” McCutcheon wrote. “This
included ESL (English as a second language) training in schools, parental
training for early childhood education, providing sufficient tutors, an
advocacy and awareness campaign and improved collaboration between existing
agents.” READ MORE >>
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Bellingham-based nonprofit aims to bolster adult
literacy programs in Blaine
Northern Light: 11.15.2017 by Stefanie
Donahue
In Washington, nearly half a million people over
the age of 25 lack high school credentials and approximately 270,000 people, or
5 percent of the state’s population, are new to learning the English language,
according to a 2008 report from the Washington
State Institute for Public Policy.
Despite the number of adult literacy programs
throughout the state, recruiting learners can be a steep climb, especially in
small cities like Blaine. According to the institute’s report, 31 of the 39
counties in Washington have adult literacy programs. For the most part, the
programs are based in urban areas and are sponsored by community and technical
colleges, community groups, government agencies and other local entities.
“Low levels of literacy are associated with lower
levels of income and employment and higher levels of poverty,” the report
stated. “Characteristics over-represented in adults identified with lower
levels of literacy include lacking a high school diploma, being foreign born
and having multiple disabilities.”
The effort to bolster adult literacy programs in
Whatcom County has taken years and is led in part by Bellingham-based Whatcom Literacy Council (WLC). The
organization has served county residents for nearly 40 years with programs
aiming to advance basic literacy skills such as reading, writing and speaking
English, in order to boost employment opportunities, further education and
more. In 2016, the nonprofit connected 909 adult learners with 100 tutors for
private lessons and group classes. READ MORE >>
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