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Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

Camarena Library

✷ Meet Our Tutors: Mark Hurych

Adult Literacy on the Border: 7.27.2020

Mark Hurych on the Challenges of Tutoring - Camarena Memorial Library

Oh boy. OK, maybe it is a challenge to get me to shut up once I get rolling. I don't think tutoring or teaching is challenging. 

Let me explain. Raising a child to be kind and considerate, that's challenging, especially if you are trying to put food on the table and keep everybody healthy.

Dealing with a child with health issues in early life? (I've been there.) That qualifies as challenging.

I challenge myself when it comes to education. I've defined it as something completely different from schooling. Most of what typically goes on in K thru PhD is schooling, in my opinion. Getting schooled is common and it expresses the usual way of operating schools.

Taking, yes that's right I say "taking," an education is entirely different. When I ask myself a question and treat that question the same way you might treat "Where are my damn keys?" when you're on your way to work, when I ask myself a question in that way I begin to educate myself. No one can educate me. They can write a book, or write to me, they can send me a message, they can help me find my damn keys, sometimes, but the motivation to ask and answer is mine and mine alone.  READ MORE ➤➤

✷ Newsletters ◻ Blogs ◻ Stories

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 6

Reading Level: fairly easy to read.

Reader's Age: 10-11 yrs. olds

(Fifth and Sixth graders)

@FairmountNY_Lib

Fairmount LIbrary Shares New Job Search Tools

Eagle News: 8.25.2020 by Jason Gabak

The Fairmount Community Library recently announced a new online resource focusing on skill development, job search assistance and test prep.

This tool contains self-assessment and job search tools, resume assistance, and live interview prep and practice.

Free resources such as online tutoring for students, writing labs and an adult learning center, standardized test prep – ACT, SAT, GED, college placement exams and more are also available.

@OCPL_CNY

This resource was paid for by the Onondaga County Adult Literacy Grant.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

Syosset 

Leaders for Literacy 

Adult English-Speaking Development Sessions

Patch Syosset: 8.29.2020 by Simran Goel

Are you an adult who wants to enhance your English-speaking skills?

Hi! My name is Simran Goel, and I am a rising senior at Syosset High School. Earlier this year, I formed a club at the high school called “Leaders for Literacy." We are a group of high school students passionate about adult literacy. One of the long-term projects we have begun is a virtual conversation group, a space for adults with limited English-speaking abilities to enhance their skills.  READ MORE ➤➤

@LiteracyBuffalo

Shortening 2020 Census Will Shortchange Citizens

Buffalo News: 8.26.2020 by Tara Schafer

In early August, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would conclude data collection for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, a month sooner than the previous deadline set by the Census Bureau.

The new deadline makes it more likely that the approximately 30% of U.S. residents who have not yet responded to the census will ultimately not be counted. This adds another wrinkle to an increasingly complicated situation for the individuals and families that we work with at Literacy Buffalo Niagara.

With census numbers determining political representation and the distribution of federal funding for the next decade, our region cannot afford to be overlooked. But there is a very good chance that the data collected locally will be inaccurate.

Primarily, the people who have not yet responded to the census are members of hard-to-count populations that include rural residents, people with low income/no income, members of ethnic and racial minorities, people with limited proficiency in English, and people with low levels of educational attainment and low literacy skills.

We know all too well at Literacy Buffalo Niagara that individuals with low literacy skills have historically been overlooked by the census, so we kicked off 2020 with a census initiative. Our plans had been to weave it throughout all of our work so that we could engage our adult learners to “be counted.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

How Does The Census Affect Health Care For Adult Learners? via NCL

How Does The Census Affect Health Care For Adult Learners?

NCL: 4.03.2020 by Cynthia Macleay Campbell, Ed.D.

Why should adult learners complete the Census? Because their health may depend on it!

Pledge To Be Counted !

People who work with adult learners are all too aware of the health challenges that adult learners face. Typical examples include the need for

Health screenings and preventive care

Eyeglasses

Diabetes medication and education

Addiction treatment

Mental health care

Dental care

Help with quitting smoking or fighting obesity

These and other health challenges often affect adult learners’ ability to attend and persist in education programs – and research has shown that persistence for 100 hours or more is the key to achievement of educational and career goals such as high school completion and upskilling.

Adult learners are also among the people with the most difficulty in accessing health care and health information. They may encounter practitioners who are not sensitive to their culture or able to speak their language. In short, they are on the wrong side of the health disparities in the United States, where certain groups have worse health outcomes than others.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) funds multiple public health programs that bridge these disparities. They include

Grants to help people from minority groups and disadvantaged communities train to be health workers in their communities. This helps increase the numbers of practitioners who can relate to patients in culturally appropriate ways.

Medicaid and Medicare.

Block grants for Community Mental Health Services

Block Grants for the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse

Health Center Programs (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care)

Telehealth services, where people can call in for health information.

Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry

Development and Coordination of Rural Health Services

What does the Census have to do with these health equity and public health

efforts? The funding that comes to each local community to support them is determined by the Census count for that community. Without an accurate count, adult learners may have further struggles to obtain the health services and supports they need to flourish.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. Old

(college level entry)

Census 2020 via New England Literacy Resource

Classroom Resources

New England Literacy Resource

This page supplements the informational resources found on the Census home page. It provides teaching materials that have been created to help adults (or children) understand the importance of the Census, how to participate in it, and the questions it raises about data accuracy and security. NELRC is developing additional lessons and sharing census-focused texts from the “Stand Up and Be Counted” issue of The Change Agent.

◼ Census Basics: What, Why, and How

◼ The Change Agent Census Packet (PDF) of (mostly) student writings about the census, with accompanying teaching activities.

- The Change Agent instructional units

- Census Practice Forms

- Math Activities

- History of the Census

◼ ESOL Activities

ESOL lessons adapted from material developed by the Campbell Adult and Community Education program. Supplement any of these activities with practice filling out a sample paper census form.

Low beginner

High Beginner

Low Intermediate

High Intermediate

Multi-level

◼ Using Census Data

Census Home

State-Specific Information

Program Resources

Classroom Resources

READ MORE >>