Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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Many of the
city’s biggest disparities may be linked to literacy
Madison
Commons: 2.11.2016 by Lisa Speckhard
Many of the disparities Madison
struggles with today are directly addressed by the work of the Literacy
Network.
The achievement gap, health
disparities, and differing rates of employment often are connected to issues of
low literacy in adult communities.
The last assessment of literacy in
Dane County, in 2003, estimated that one in seven adults in Dane County
struggled with low literacy.
The Literacy Network
is a local organization that provides classes and tutoring programs to improve
reading, writing and speaking skills. They break low literacy adults into two
categories: English language learners, who account for about two-thirds of low
literacy adults, and basic education learners. The organization also said there
are indications that the numbers are now worse than they were in 2003.
Low literacy translates to a
sixth-grade reading level or below, according to Jeff Burkhart, executive
director of the Literacy Network. It can make basic tasks like filling out a
job application or accurately reading a prescription label a struggle.
“Our education system has failed
them,” Burkhart said. “I have met many people who grew up and went to school
here who passed on, and who are reading at a second or third grade level. It’s
tragic.”
Students with undiagnosed learning
disabilities are often the victims of this system, Burkhart said. They may have
been embarrassed because of their low reading skills and then acted out as a
defense mechanism, which led teachers to believe the student had a behavioral
problem rather than a learning problem. READ
MORE @
Volunteers are heart of
Bartlesville Public Library literacy services
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: 2.14.2016
Karen Kerr-McGraw has been the
literacy coordinator for the Bartlesville Public Library Literacy
Service since 2008. Her background is in the behavioral-counseling field, and
she has worked with local families for 30 years and with literacy for more than
14 years, seven of them in the Bartlesville Public Schools. She has a strong
dedication to the total well-being of children and their families and knows
that education is a key for unlocking doors to a better future. Kerr-McGraw
also is a statewide trainer for the Foster and Adoptive Parents program.“
I was a foster mother for 11 years
and have helped many families in our community on the road to success. I have
presented the concept of team collaboration at national conferences and serve
on many community boards,” she said.
Who is eligible to attend a
literacy class? Is there a charge?
Bartlesville Public Library Literacy
Service is a community-based volunteer organization that provides a variety of
services to enable adults, ages 16-plus, to achieve personal goals through
literacy. We encourage learners to use the library as a resource for lifelong
learning. In addition, there are many others who need to learn English in order
to survive in our culture. BPLLS links adult learners with trained tutors. It
is free, confidential, convenient and personalized.
Are the classes one-on-one with
volunteers or a group situation?
BPLLS offers one-to-one, small
group and classroom instruction in reading, writing, math, comprehension,
English as a Second Language, citizenship, computer skills, health literacy,
Spanish and other needs that the adult learner might have. These classes cover
a wide range of skills depending upon the needs and goals of the learners. For
example, some learners want to read to their children and help them with schoolwork.
Others want to prepare for the written driver’s license exam or understand
printed forms. READ MORE @
How Community Centers Evolved to
Help Immigrants Adjust to Life in America
Public programs like Edible Alphabet
at the Free Library of Philadelphia use cooking classes to teach new skills and
celebrate heritage.
CityLab: 2.19.2016 by Eillie Anzilotti
Last February, twelve women
walked into the kitchen on the fourth floor of the central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. They
came from many countries; all were survivors of torture. That day, they were
attending a cooking class.
“I didn’t know what to
expect,” says Elizabeth Fitzgerald, administrator at the Free Library’s Culinary Literacy Center. She’d been
contacted by the Nationalities Service Center, a local
organization that helps recent immigrants and refugees settle in after arriving
in Philadelphia. The organization asked her to help organize a cooking class
for their women’s group.
“All I could think was, I
don’t know what their English language abilities are, and we’re going to be
talking about how to julienne vegetables,” Fitzgerald tells CityLab.
Her concerns were unfounded.
“By and large, they really knew their way around the kitchen,” she says. She
watched them perform cuts she couldn’t do; by the end of it, they were sharing
photos of their children and grandchildren.
READ MORE @
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| @WisLiteracy |
Literacy In Wisconsin
Wisconsin Life-Wisconsin Public Radio: 2.08.2016
WPR Series on Wisconsin Literacy
Renee Learned Computer Skills That
Landed Her A Job
Renee had fallen on hard times when
her longtime friend Rick stepped in to offer his support. Curiosity brought
them into the Literacy Network in
Madison.
Liberian Refugee Miss Elizabeth
Finds New Life In Milwaukee
Miss Elizabeth came to Milwaukee
from Liberia in 2007. She knew no English. She’d never really even gone to
school.
Ruth Is Improving Her Reading To
Earn A GED
Bonnie began volunteering as a
literacy tutor after seeing a notice in the newspaper. She was soon paired up
with Ruth, who is working toward her GED. The two have been working together
for nearly a year.
Welder And Artist Augie Learning To
Read Blueprints With Tutor
Augie has been a welder for forty years.
A problem at work exposed his reading disability and led him to seek help from
a tutor.
Maria Is Learning English For New
Life In U.S.
Maria Huerta came to Milwaukee from
Mexico with her husband. She knew no English but soon started classes at Journey
House in Milwaukee. READ MORE @
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Program combats low literacy rates
throughout Philadelphia
Decreased education funding has
impacted literacy in Philadelphia.
Temple News: 2.23.2016 by Julie Christie
Luis Colon spent his early
elementary years in special education classes—but by eighth grade, he was an
honor roll student.
That was where it ended. Colon
dropped out of school at the age of 13 when he ran away from home. It took him
more than 30 years to return to his education in 2008, when he got his high
school equivalency certificate after passing General Educational Development
classes.
Colon, 47, is now in his last
semester at Temple before he receives a master’s degree in social work.
Melvin Edwards never finished ninth
grade. When his mother and father fell sick at the same time, Edwards and his
older brother dropped out of school to begin work and support their family.
Edwards’ older brother later joined
the Navy, his younger sister finished high school and then attended college and
became a certified public accountant, but Edwards said he never returned to
school.
Although neither Colon nor Edwards
grew up in Philadelphia, where they now live, their stories are not a rarity.
More than half of the adults older than 25 in North Philadelphia have a high
school diploma or less, according to the American Community Survey.
Now at 45, Edwards is registered to
take the first two of four GED tests this coming weekend and the last two next
weekend.
“My children are 9 [years old]. … I
don’t want [them] growing up to be adults that don’t know that their dad at
least tried to show them how important education is,” Edwards said.
The Center for Social Policy and
Community Development at Temple participates in a larger program in
Philadelphia called myPLACE, which was set up by the Mayor’s
Commission on Literacy in 2014. The commission works with
more than 80 programs to provide adult literacy education. READ MORE @
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