LakeCoNews: 11.10.2013 by C. Richard Smith
The Lake County Literacy Task Force
celebrated its third anniversary at the Lake County Office of Education this
past Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The task force has a vision that everyone in the county – young, adults and elders – not only be able to read, but desire to read.
The task force has a vision that everyone in the county – young, adults and elders – not only be able to read, but desire to read.
It supports four literacy programs in the county.
The Big Read, which took place in October, promotes adult literacy through focusing on an author and novel.
Lake County Reads is a program supported by service clubs that purchases books for elementary school libraries and has a service club member read the book at the school. READ MORE !
yourhoustonnews: 11.05.2013
At a recent private event for nearly 300 people at the Junior League of Houston, Literacy Advance of Houston’s Executive Director Melanie Fisk announced plans for the 50th anniversary year of the non-profit organization.
“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the tremendous achievements of our past as we continue to expand our stellar programs to meet Houston’s future literacy needs head-on,” said Fisk.
Founded in 1964, Literacy Advance has provided adults in Houston with basic literacy classes led by trained volunteer tutors for 50 years. In addition to basic literacy, Literacy Advance provides English as a Second Language (ESL), family literacy services, transition services to help students become economically self-sufficient, and workforce development classes to help prepare Houston’s workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.
“Through literacy, people can permanently change the trajectory of their lives. At Literacy Advance, we help parents talk with their child’s teacher. We help adults learn to read so they can get a GED or enroll in college. And we help workers learn new skills to increase their chances of career growth,” said Fisk.
Thousands upon thousands of adults have benefited over the last 50 years. Last year, more than 3,000 people were served through Literacy Advance’s programs. However, Houston’s literacy needs continue to grow at a pace that service providers cannot match. Today, 1-in-5 adults living in the greater Houston area are functionally illiterate. READ MORE !
BillMoyers.com: 11.06.2013 by Elaine Weiss
So much has been said about new “21st century” skills, standards and learning requirements, that they have become virtually synonymous with “college and career readiness” (a similarly poorly defined goal). The purportedly new demand for higher-level and different skills has further increased the pressure for more tests and higher stakes attached to them.
A new study showing explosive growth in student poverty suggests, though, that we have misidentified the problem. What if we have actually been teaching the right skills in US schools all along – math and reading, science and civics, along with creativity, perseverance and team-building? What if these were as important a hundred years ago for nurturing innovative farmers and developers of new automobiles as they are now for creating the next generation of tech innovators? What if these are the very characteristics of US schools that have made us such a strong public education nation, and the current shift toward a narrower agenda just dilutes that strength? What if, rather than raising standards, and testing students more, the biggest change we need to address is that of our student body?
The October 2013 Southern Education Foundation study indicates clearly that poverty, which has long been the biggest obstacle to educational achievement, is more important than ever. It is our true 21st century problem. Fifty years ago, we educated mostly working-class kids and up, and we did not expect those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder to graduate. Now we educate all students, including the very poorest and otherwise disadvantaged. And we expect them all to graduate. Compounding this shift, a large and growing proportion of US students students live in poverty and even concentrated poverty, have a disability, and/or are learning English as a second language. THAT is the paradigm shift, and we need a totally new set of policies to address that 21st century reality. READ MORE !
Kainai Public Library opened in February in Standoff, Alta.
CBC News: 11.04. 2013
Hundreds of people have picked up library cards in a southern Alberta community that is home to the first public library on a First Nation in the province.
There are hundreds of books lining the shelves at the Kainai Public Library in Standoff on the Blood Tribe’s reserve. Card holders have access to thousands more through the Chinook Arch Regional Library System.
"Literacy and poverty go hand in hand so as soon as you get a society — a community — that has high literacy levels, poverty goes down." READ MORE !
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