In this issue

Funding Sources

Dollar General Youth Literacy Grants

Dollar General Literacy Foundation Youth Literacy Grants provide funding to schools, public libraries, and nonprofit organizations to help students who are below grade level or experiencing difficulty reading.

Deadline: May 23, 2013

Florida Health Literacy Initiative

Grant proposals are now being accepted for the Florida Health Literacy Initiative. Through the generous support of Florida Blue, seventeen mini-grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded in May 2013.

Deadline: March 19, 2013

Darden Foundation

The mission of the Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation is to maintain a spirit of volunteerism and philanthropy as defining characteristics of Darden Restaurants. The Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation carries out this mission by focusing its philanthropic efforts on access to postsecondary education, preservation of natural resources, and good neighbor grants.

Deadline: April 1, 2013

BJ’s Charitable Foundation
BJ’s Charitable Foundation contributes the bulk of its funding to organizations that provide services to people in need. Support will be given to nonprofits that provide academic and vocational opportunities for the disadvantaged. These programs include the purchase of supplies for literacy skills, mentoring, tutoring, and career development.

Deadline: April 12, 2013

Literacy Resources

The Common Good Forecaster

The United Way and the American Human Development Project created this tool to forecast how things might change in your community if educational outcomes were better. You can view results by state or county. 

The Giving Partner

A free, online tool for building knowledge around community philanthropy in Southwest Florida. Nonprofits use the tool to share information that helps donors make informed decisions.

Opportunity Index

This interactive site provides a measure of opportunity at the community level.

GED Test Comparison

These charts look at general differences between the 2002 and the 2014 GED® tests. You'll also find some information about each subject area and scoring.

Career Advocate Course

Are your learners interested in a career pathways program? Train your tutors with our career advocate course! This self-paced course will prepare volunteers to assist and support students in the process of exploring their education and career options.

Steve Quann- Tech Tips

Steve Quann of Tech Tips for teachers put wrote a blog for FLC on using flash cards with PowerPoint and photos. This simple activity using “old technology” will foster a welcoming learning environment for your students. 

Upcoming Events

GED Training Workshop- Mathematical Reasoning

March- April  2013

The Florida Department of Education is hosting this one-day workshop on the Mathematical Reasoning section of the 2014 GED test at several locations around the state. For more information on the location nearest to you, view our calendar page.

Literacy Leadership Institute

Deadline: March 1, 2013

This free professional development opportunity designed for directors, program managers and board members of non-profit and library based adult and family literacy organizations will cover topics such as volunteer recruitment, fund development and career pathways.

Location: Your computer

What’s STRESS got to do with it?

2:00 pm- 3:00 pm

March 6, 2013

Think you’re the only one stressed out these days? Think again! Your adult students are probably experiencing just as much stress is their lives. This webinar will introduce adult basic education practitioners to the effects of chronic stress on their adult learners. It will also explore practical strategies teachers can integrate into their curriculum to help students address their stress for more effective learning.

Location: Your computer

Adult Learner Essay Book

Deadline: March 11, 2013

Students from throughout Florida are invited to submit original short stories, poems, or autobiographical narratives to be included in a published book that will debut at the 2013 Florida Literacy Conference.

Location: Your computer

Florida Literacy Award Nominations

Deadline: March 11, 2013

The Florida Literacy Coalition will recognize organizations and individuals for their commitment and dedication to increasing adult and family literacy in the state of Florida.  The awards will be presented at a special banquet held during the annual Florida Literacy Conference on May 9th in Captiva, FL.

Location: Your computer

TABE Test Administrator Certification

8:00 am- 4:00 pm

April 4, 2013

This TABE Administrator Training will be through Jane Silveria and Lisa Williams at the Florida Department of Education.

Location: 11380 NW 27th Ave, Miami FL 33167

Essays Wanted! 9th Annual Florida Adult Learner Essay Book

Students throughout Florida are invited to submit original short stories, poems, or autobiographical narratives to be included in a published book that will debut at the 2013 Florida Literacy Conference.

Teachers and tutors have found this publication to be an excellent way to promote writing and critical thinking skills, while getting their students excited about sharing their stories and becoming published authors.    Adult education and literacy organizations have used the book as a way to promote how their programs are making a difference where it counts. Each author who is included will be invited to the Florida Literacy Conference Annual Meeting and will also receive a complimentary hard copy of the book. Free copies of the book will also be made available to all participating adult education and literacy programs.

For more information, and to submit an essay, visit www.floridaliteracy.org/essaybookinfo.html

Extended Submission Deadline: March 11

This project is made possible through the generous support of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

Don't Miss the Florida Literacy Conference!

May 8-10, 2013

Captiva, FL

Join us at the South Seas Island Resort for the 29th Annual Florida Literacy Conference. Select from over 70 concurrent sessions in 14 tracks.

Don't miss early bird registration which ends March 8th! 

Keynotes

Nelson Lauver

Author, Host of the American Storyteller Radio Journal and former 

James Duffy

 

Retired President of the ABC Television Network and Leader of the 

Project Literacy US (PLUS) Campaign.

The Florida Literacy Awards Banquet will recognize outstanding individuals and organizations which have supported adult education and literacy. Submit your nomination today!

Keeping Seasonal Volunteers Connected with their Students While they are Away

Many volunteer based programs face the challenge of how to best serve students when seasonal tutors leave for months out of the year.  While this has been an age old problem for many organizations that rely heavily on retired volunteers, technology may now present some opportunities for students and tutors to continue their instruction from a distance. By informing your volunteers of how to use social media platforms and simple technologies, you can help snowbird tutors remain actively engaged with their students and your organization throughout the year.

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2013 Grant Opportunity- Florida Health Literacy Initiative

In your adult education classes, have you ever thought about combining health and literacy?  Now is your opportunity to do just that!  The Florida Blue Foundation is continuing their generous support of the Florida Health Literacy Initiative, and grant applications are now available.  This initiative provides mini-grants of up to $5,000 to local adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and family literacy programs.  The grants supply health education materials and resources designed to improve the health literacy of the adult learners and their families in a community-tailored manner. 

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Immigration Reform and English Language Requirements

The current political climate has presented the best opportunity in more than a decade to enact comprehensive immigration reform.  In his State of the Union Address, President Obama talked about reforming the immigration system and establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship for millions of immigrants residing in the U.S.  

Among the provisions in the immigration-reform proposal recently released by a bipartisan group of eight senators, including Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio, was a requirement that in order to get on a path to citizenship, undocumented immigrants would have to "learn English and civics."  This English language provision is one of the least controversial elements to the Senate group’s proposed framework and generally has broad support including from the Obama Administration.

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Does Your Organization Need Tutor Trainers? Don't Miss FLC's Train the Tutor Trainer Course!

This three session course, aligned with ProLiteracy’s national trainer certification standards, will focus on competencies needed to be a good tutor trainer, providing curriculum and resources to offer a tutor training workshop.

Course content will include:

1. Tutor training competencies
2. Tutor training content knowledge in both adult basic literacy and ESOL
3. Curriculum modules
4. Presentations by participants reviewed by instructor and peers
5. Discussion of ProLiteracy Trainer Certification system

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For Many Adult Learners, Life can be a Little Easier with the EITC and Free Tax Preparation Services

For many adult learners, tax refunds like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can help provide financial stability in their lives. For those who qualify, tax credits of up to $5,891 are available for tax year 2012.  The problem is that a large portion of tax payers don’t know about these types of tax benefits while filing their tax returns. In fact, 25% of eligible tax payers don’t claim the EITC and one can imagine that the percentage of adult learners who don’t claim this credit may be even larger. 

The EITC not only reduces the tax burden, but can actually provide a cash benefit for working people who earn low-to-moderate incomes of up to $51,000. Its aim is to help working class families gain some financial ground, and it’s done just that. According to Heart of Florida United Way, 6.3 million individuals were lifted out of poverty with the help of the EITC in 2011. It is credited with lifting more children out of poverty than any other federal program. If you qualified for the EITC last year but never claimed it, you can reclaim it retroactively this year for up to 3 years.

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Most Common Mistakes When Teaching Writing

by: Olive Burkard

What’s the difference between revising and editing a piece of writing?  Many people, including tutors and professionals, confuse the two.

Revising is the process of expanding and clarifying what is written and should be done before the piece is edited.  The writer may revise a piece several times.  The tutor uses questions to get the learner to do the work.  Strategies could include the following:

• Ask what the piece is about, who the audience is and how this should affect the audience.
• Have the learner read the piece to you and then discuss the content.  Ask if the topic is clear and can any details be added, changed or taken out to make the ideas clearer.
• Are the ideas put in a logical order?
• The tutor reads the piece aloud as the learner listens critically.  You might ask, “Does this say what you want it to say?” “What do you like best about it?”  “Can you do anything to improve it?”

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Community Based Organizations Hard at Work in Florida- FY 2012

We would like to congratulate Florida’s library, faith-based and non-profit literacy organizations!  With over 16,000  students served and over $8 million in donated services over the last year, you are truly making a big difference in the lives of adults and families throughout our state.  

Number of students provided instruction: 16,489

Number of tutors/teachers: 4,671

Number of other volunteers: 764

Volunteer hours contributed: 453,018

Value of volunteer hours: $8,453,315

Number of organizations responding: 44

This data was collected through surveys conducted by ProLiteracy and the Florida Literacy Coalition.

Finding Financial Aid for Adult Education Students

The rapidly changing workforce has increased the need for workers with post-secondary training. Family sustaining jobs for people with a high school diploma or GED are growing more difficult to find and all indications are that this trend will continue for years to come.  It is projected that between 2008 and 2018 new jobs in Florida requiring postsecondary education and training will grow by 679,000 positions.

Of course there are a wide range of post-secondary educational options ranging from pursuing an associate’s or bachelor’s degrees to shorter term certificate and industry credentialing programs.   Post-secondary schools can include a variety of institutions including career and technical schools, community and state colleges, and universities, all of which students can be eligible for federal or state financial aid. 

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FLC Welcomes Jessica Ward!

Jessica Ward has joined FLC as our new Education and Training Coordinator! Jessica received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Oregon State University. After graduating she was accepted into Teach for America, which placed her in Jacksonville, Florida to teach at a low-income school. While in Jacksonville, she taught middle school science for three years. She is currently pursuing her Master’s of Public Administration and a Nonprofit Management Certificate from the University of Central Florida. In her spare she enjoys cooking, reading, and being outdoors.