Literacy ▬ Spanning the US :: Lee MA :: Cocoa FL :: Philadelphia PA

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

@litnetsb

Four LitNet Learners Are Recipients Of Diane Laurin Memorial Fund
Berkshire Edge: 4.28.2021 by Amanda Giracca

The Literacy Network of South Berkshire (LitNet) recently announced that Guadalupe Miranda, Claudia Villamil, Viviana Moreno, and Carolina Escobar are the recipients of the Diane Laurin Memorial Fund Scholarship, a grant for LitNet learners established to honor the memory of LitNet Board member and colleague Diane Laurin, who passed away suddenly in 2009. LitNet’s volunteer tutors were asked to nominate learners who fit the scholarship descriptor: learners who demonstrate commitment to their learning goals, to improving their financial stability, and to gaining independence, and who will use the fund to further their educational and civic goals. The $150 award is to be used as the recipient sees fit.

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“It was such a pleasure to read the nomination letters from tutors and to then hear the sense of gratitude and inspiration from the learner recipients upon receiving these unexpected funds,” said LitNet Executive Director Leigh Doherty. “My guess is Diane Laurin herself would feel very proud to be able to acknowledge such committed people who are on the road to transforming their lives.”

Diane Laurin was the publisher of Laurin Publishing in Pittsfield and throughout her life was involved with several area nonprofits, educational programs, and cultural venues, and was serving on the board of LitNet at the time of her death.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 17

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

 

Literacy for Adults 
in Brevard

Volunteer Programs Helps Adults With Literacy
Hometown News: 4.29 2021 by Josh Whitener

The adult illiteracy rate in the United States is 21% according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Literacy for Adults in Brevard (LAB) is a local nonprofit staffed by volunteers from around the county who work with adult residents on literacy composition. LAB started in 1971 and the organization will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in October.

“It actually got started in Titusville by a group of Methodist women who wanted to help the migrants,” said Vicky Dunn, volunteer and vice-president of LAB.

For the past five decades the organization has helped residents qualify for jobs, work towards citizenship requirements and improve the quality of their reading and writing skills.

“We’ve been up and down and all around with how many volunteers we’ve had and of course COVID has had an impact on us,” she said. “We were pretty quiet during 2020. We couldn’t meet in the libraries which is our primary space to see our students, but we’re coming back to life now. A lot of our volunteers have already had their vaccine and we’re reaching out to our students that we’ve had to see if they are ready to start up again.”  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. olds

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

 

Beyond Literacy

Beyond Literacy: Combining Nearly 90 Years Of History Into One Org
Generocity: 4.29.2021 by Grace Shallow

Access to a college education changed Enrico Crispo’s life about 25 years ago.

“I went to a public high school in a blue-collar town in North Jersey, and I was lucky to get an athletic scholarship to go to a good college and get a good education,” Crispo said. “For me, education opened a lot more doors.”

Crispo now serves as the board president of Beyond Literacy, the product of a merger between two long-standing Philadelphia organizations—the Community Learning Center and the Center for Literacy. He credits the The Nonprofit Repositioning Fund and William Penn Foundation for providing critical support and funding to aid the merger and its strategic planning activities.

Beyond Literacy (BeLit) will focus on expanding opportunities for adults through education and workforce readiness.

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Education gaps are a prevalent issue in Philadelphia. According to an interactive mapping tool by the National Center for Education Statistics, 32 percent of Philadelphians lack basic literacy and 49 percent lack basic math skills. These numbers have serious implications; a report by the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board linked low levels of literacy with poverty, poor health and the likelihood of incarceration. The same report noted adult education as a powerful driver of the local economy.  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)

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Tyler TX :: Lakeland FL :: New Bedford MA

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

@lcotyler

Literacy Council of Tyler Continues Mission To Improve Adult Literacy Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Tyler Paper: 3.31.2021 by Raquel Torres

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of life, including education and literacy.

@LiteracyTexas

Literacy Texas and Baylor University Diana R. Garland School of Social Work released survey results last week that identified barriers — lack of technology and education — created by COVID-19 impacting Texas nonprofit adult literacy providers and students.

Leaders of the Literacy Council of Tyler participated in the survey. Though researchers determined that lack of access to technology is a major hurdle in literacy training, they identified a passionate and resilient community of professionals and volunteers committed to Texas’ adult literacy achievement.

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“Because of all the changes in the workforce, people are either out of work for the first time in a long time, or they might be underemployed, or something has changed within their job and they realize they need their GED, or they need to go a totally different direction,” Patterson said.

This is where she says the low-literacy adults would come to the surface, because they may have been in the same job for so long and perhaps literacy wasn’t crucial to their job.

“Sometimes they just go under the radar and nobody really knows that they struggle so much with reading and writing,” Patterson said.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

Read Lakeland

Read Lakeland Looks To Improve Adult Literacy In The Community
Tampa FP: 3.31.2021 by Conner Johnston

Currently, it is estimated that 24% of adults living in Lakeland are functioning at the lowest level of literacy. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, this 3% higher than the national average of 21% in the U.S. Read Lakeland, a local non-profit organization that started in 1995, is working to combat illiteracy in Lakeland amidst COVID-19.

Read Lakeland was originally planning their 25-year anniversary along with their annual “Kiss the Pig” fundraiser in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic forced the country to shut down. A year later, the organization is focusing on the future and how they will continue to help the community.

“A group of school teachers realized there was a need and that adults, not just children needed help,” said Beth Hesseltine, the Executive Director of Read Lakeland. “Getting a tutor for children is not a hard task but for someone over the age of 18 it can be hard to find someone who teaches an adult.”  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

 

Discovery Language 
Academy

New Bedford's Discovery Language Academy To Offer Free Adult English Language Program

Herald News: 4.01.2021 by Lurdes C. da Silva

The Discovery Language Academy will be offering a free Adult English Language Program (AELP) with Family Support for local immigrants to learn English thanks to a $6,000 grant received from the Polaroid Fund of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.

“The major goals of this program are to recruit 25 new AELP participants and provide nine months of intensive classroom instruction which is rigorous but enjoyable,” said Dr. Leslie Vicente, executive director of the Discovery Language Academy.

“By participating in immersive English class work, adult learners improve their language confidence and are better able to self-advocate and participate in the workplace, engage in civic events such as elections and contribute to and strengthen the fabric of the Southcoast,” added Dr. Vicente.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 17

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Elkhart IN :: Greenfield MA :: Santa Barbara CA :: Florence SC

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

Project Scope

Nonprofit Opens Doors To Men Seeking Help Following Incarceration
ABC 57: 3.15.2021 by Mary Caltrider

“Elkhart Indiana incarcerates a lot of men and women per capita probably a lot more than other cities, and there is a lot of jobs here, so upon release a lot of men do not have the structure or encouragement or support to be successful,” says Derrick Mathews, Director of Project Scope. 

Project Scope was established in 1996 as an after-school mentorship program for kids. Now, the Elkhart nonprofit is taking on a new mission. The organization, opening up a transitional house for men. The home, just one of two, transitional houses available in Elkhart county. Residents are welcomed to stay in the house for 9 to 18 months where they are welcomed to shelter, food and security.

The organization also offering them personal finance courses, social skills, and adult literacy to provide the foundation for men to transition back into the community.

“These are your neighbors, these are the same individuals who have done their time, have paid their debt to society, and they are returning back to society and they are going to be big impacts ya know these are the brothers, uncles, fathers who are coming back to the community that can share their story of their success in their lives to be able to help out the next generation and generations to come,” says Matthews.  WATCH  02:28

 

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)

 

The Literacy Project

State Education Department Recognizes The Literacy Project’s Programs As ‘Exemplary’
Recorder: 3.15.2021 by Anita Fritz

Many aspects of The Literacy Project’s adult education programs received an “exemplary” rating in a recent quality review conducted by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

The Literacy Project, which is based out of 15 Bank Row in Greenfield but also has classrooms in Orange, Amherst, Northampton and Ware, serves adult students who need a second chance to earn their high school equivalency diploma. All classes are free and open to the public.

Executive Director Judith Roberts said the program quality review was conducted by DESE’s Adult Community Learning Services, the division that funds adult basic education programs across the state. She said the review is done every five years, and it is “crucial” to funding.

“We are delighted that DESE recognized the dedication to teaching and learning that everyone at The Literacy Project shares,” Roberts said. “The success of our students is at the center of everything we do.”  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

 

@SBPLSystem

The Challenges — and Successes — of Learning English Remotely
SB Independent: 3.16.2021 by Leslie Dinaberg

Admiring Adult Literacy Programs at the Santa Barbara Public Library

Pivoting, but still paving the way to knowledge, despite budget cuts and so many services shut down during the pandemic, the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Adult Education Programs have found creative ways to provide service during the past year. I recently joined the City Library Advisory Board and was impressed with all of the free programs they still offer, despite their physical doors being closed to the public.

Headed by Devon Cahill, an adult education librarian and former volunteer tutor, the Adult Literacy Program trains volunteers to work one-to-one with learners to help them achieve language literacy and other adult education goals. Prior to the pandemic, the tutor-learner pairs would meet up at the library to work on their language skills together. Since last spring, they’ve switched to 100 percent remote and have about 50 tutor-learner pairs working together.

Though it’s challenging, Cahill said that pandemic learning has been a success. Grants provided funding for Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots for those that needed them. “Our success rate normally is over 90 percent with learners reaching the literacy goals that they have set,” he said. “During the pandemic, we’re working with fewer learners and tutors, but our success rate has gone almost up to 100 percent —it was at 98 percent last quarter.”  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

 

Florence Area Literacy

Adult Literacy Center Still Combating Illiteracy During COVID
Everyday Life News: 2021

The county has about 138,000 residents, but 33% of the adults in the county are functionally illiterate and do not read above a 5th grade level.

Florence Area Literacy Council combats that by providing one-on-one tutoring to the adults in the county, but COVID is not making it easy.

Executive Director of the Florence Area Literacy, Christina Lawson, said when students come to FALC, they are working towards taking the GED test.

“Our average student probably reads on a third or fourth grade level,” she said.

Lawson said reading levels vary. She said typically a student cannot pass the GED test if they are reading at a fifth grade level, but for the test they need to read at least on a 10th grade level.

While reading levels may vary, in order to pass the GED test, students have to study English/Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.

Lawson explained students come to FALC for other reasons as well.

“We have students who come to us who already have a high school diploma, but are working towards getting a new job,” she said. “A lot of jobs require testing before you are interviewed or hired.”  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 9

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 13-15 yrs. old

(Eighth and Ninth graders)

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Edison NJ :: Quincy MA :: Bradenton FL

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

Literacy NJ

* Dreams for a Peaceful Future
Literacy NJ: Jan 2021

Dreams for a Peaceful Future: Literacy NJ Student Writing

In January 2021, Literacy NJ hosted a series of virtual events to celebrate our students and our volunteer tutors in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In preparation, our tutors taught lessons on Dr. King. Our students wrote these pieces in response, exploring themes including Dr. King’s legacy, life during the pandemic, and their own dreams for the future. Thank you to all the students who contributed. These stories help anchor us, in this tumultuous year, to our history and to our shared hope for a more peaceful and just future.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

 

@ThomasCranePL

Quincy Literacy Program Shows That Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way
Boston Globe: 3.03.2021 by Julia Hong Globe

On Wednesdays, Wesline Désir, 46, of Brockton, attends English literacy tutoring from the small screen of her cellphone.

Désir, who works as a home health aide in assisted living, emigrated from Haiti nearly 28 years ago. For over four years, she has been a student of the Literacy Program at Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy. The library’s literacy department, funded by the city of Quincy and the Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts, offers free reading and writing lessons to local adult residents with below sixth-grade levels.

Literacy Volunteers
of Massachusetts

These one-on-one lessons became virtual with the COVID-19 pandemic — a challenge, considering that some tutors and many adult students were inexperienced in technology.

On the other line, Désir’s tutor, Lisa Hemphill, 62, of Hingham meets with her by video chat. Sometimes, poor sound quality or a choppy connection can disrupt their lessons, especially when they are practicing letter or word pronunciations.

“I don’t have a whiteboard like I do in the tutoring room, so it just seems like everything takes maybe 20 or 30 percent longer,” said Hemphill, who tutors three students for an hour to 90 minutes each week. “Trying to judge how much they are really getting it — that’s harder to do.”

To compensate for the physical distance, Hemphill has been mailing out worksheets for students to complete and text photos of the pages for feedback. During lessons, she might hold her phone up to her laptop screen for Désir to follow along with online readings — a complicated but necessary setup, considering that Désir does not know how to use a laptop yet.

Despite these technology hurdles, Désir is determined to obtain a GED someday.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

 

@Manatee_Reads

With 68 People On The Waiting List, The Manatee Literacy Council Is Searching For Volunteers
Your Observer: 3.03.2021 by Liz Ramos

Lakewood Ranch’s Maria Alvarez knew that in order to get a job, she would need to become more proficient in English.

Although she was a psychologist in her home country of Venezuela, Alvarez said she wouldn’t be able to get a job in the same field in the U.S. because of the language barrier.

Since she moved to Lakewood Ranch in September 2020, Alvarez has been working as a nanny and delivery driver. She’s thinking about pursuing a career in massage therapy.

Alvarez started researching classes to help her learn how to speak and read in English and discovered the Manatee Literacy Council, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the level of functional literacy in adults in Manatee County.

The Manatee Literacy Council has volunteers who work with learners one on one or in a group to develop their skills in speaking and reading in English, prepare learners for the U.S. citizenship test and more.

The nonprofit also offers conservation and workplace literacy classes. The council is developing programs for digital and financial literacy with the hopes of starting them in the summer and fall.

Michelle Desveaux McLean, the executive director of the Manatee Literacy Council, said the nonprofit is always in need of more tutors, especially since the pandemic began and several tutors decided to stop volunteering because they didn’t feel comfortable tutoring online.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

* Newsletters ◻ Blogs ◻ Stories

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Kaua‘i HI :: Victoria TX :: Wilmington DE :: Lee MA

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

@HawaiiLiteracy

Hawaii Literacy Offers Free Education Program
The Garden Island: 1.19.2021 by Stephanie Shinno

Hawai‘i Literacy, a grant-funded nonprofit organization, is back on Kaua‘i with its free, adult-tutoring program that also helps adults get their GED (General Education Development) degree, driver’s license, learn about college, help with getting a new job and learning new computer skills while their keiki get tutored, too.

According to Hawai‘i Literacy, one in six adults in Hawai‘i struggle with literacy. Many adults in Hawai‘i were forced to drop out of school when they were younger to help their families work in their farms back in the plantation days, and today there are more single parents who had to drop out of school to take care of their ‘ohana who are in need of help with going back to college.

Adults can get tutored while their children get tutored too. However, adults don’t need to have keiki in order to use their tutoring services.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

Victoria Adult 
Literacy Council

Victoria Adult Literacy Council Provided Much Needed Service
Advocate: 1.20.2021 by Editorial Board

A pastor who couldn’t read the Bible would memorize his sermons from an audiotape. A doctor from overseas who couldn’t read English would clean motel rooms in Victoria. A single father who was laid off from an oil field job couldn’t find employment.

The stories are heart wrenching.

What do all of these people have in common?

They all sought and received free help from the Victoria Adult Literacy Council.

Unfortunately, the council, a nonprofit organization that has been in the Crossroads since the early 1980s, has shut down. It began dissolving in August because of difficulty in raising the necessary funding for operations.

“We are still in the transfer phase,” said Stacey Milberger, executive director of the council for 21 years. “As a nonprofit, we have an obligation to distribute our possessions to other nonprofits. We can’t sell them. By the end of January, the literacy council should be totally dissolved.”

Crossroads Business and 
Education Connection

The council has helped about 500 people each year through basic literacy, GED, English as a second language and family literacy programs. About 80 volunteers, including the board of directors, hands-on teachers and those who helped with fundraising events, have aided the council each year.

The good news is that Kathy Hunt, the executive director of the Crossroads Business and Education Connection, formerly the Victoria Business and Education Coalition, has agreed to step in and help out.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

 

@litdelaware

Pandemic Brings Home Interconnectedness Of Reading, Digital Literacy
Delaware State News: 1.21.2021 by Cynthia E. Shermeyer, Ex Dir  Literacy Delaware

If the COVID-19 pandemic has proven anything, it’s that we can’t adequately combat the literacy crisis in America without addressing digital literacy.

Literacy is defined by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as “the ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.” UNESCO takes it further by positing that “literacy is now understood as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world.”

When Delaware schools had to hastily shift to online learning, educational inequities were exposed that could not be ignored. Research demonstrated that online learning caused students of color, English-language learners and special-needs students to fall between the cracks disproportionately and even further behind in our schools. Many of these students had limited access to technology. Many parents of these students did not possess adequate digital literacy skills themselves, let alone basic literacy skills needed to help their struggling children.

As Literacy Delaware also pivoted to remote instruction for our adult learners last spring, we encountered similar disparities in access to technology. One in 5 homes throughout our state does not have internet access at home. Many of our learners and tutors faced challenges to continuing instruction. As one of our adult learners told his tutor, “I finally have a tutor, but now I have to stop (instruction) because I don’t have or know how to use a computer or smartphone.”

It’s not just a lack of access to technology. Research by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC) found that 16% of adults (32 million) in the U.S. are not digitally literate, meaning they do not have the competence or comfort using a computer to seek important information, find a recipe or make an online purchase, nor to assist their children with online learning.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

@TheREADCenter

Five Questions With: Karen La Forge, Executive Director, The READ Center
Philva: 1.21.2021 by Casey Prentice

“Without literacy, there is no equity,” reads t-shirts and sweatshirts that help raise funds for The READ Center, a community-based organization helping adults improve their lives through literacy.

Founded almost four decades ago, the nonprofit READ Center provides classroom instruction, individual tutoring and community programming in an effort to help improve reading, writing, math and digital skills to adults in our community.

We caught up with Karen La Forge, executive director of The READ Center, to learn more about the organization, its mission and how it serves the community.

What’s The READ Center’s core mission?

The READ Center changes lives by helping adults improve their reading, writing, basic math and digital skills so they can fulfill their goals as workers, family members and citizens. Everyone needs and deserves a literate life.

The READ Center was founded in 1982 as the Literacy Council of Metropolitan Richmond by Altrusa International Richmond, Inc., a professional businesswomen’s service club. Altrusans recognized the impact of low adult literacy in their community and felt compelled to offer solutions. READ became a 501(c)(3) organization in 1984.

For more than 37 years, READ has trained and provided resources to volunteer tutors who work on a weekly basis with adult students experiencing literacy issues. Small classroom instruction was added to provide more focused study for beginning readers. Research shows both instruction methods are effective for adult learners.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)