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The tension between learning and earning

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"In a nation whose education system is among the most unequal in the industrialized world, where race and geography play an outsize role in determining one’s path to success, many Americans are being failed twice: first, by public schools that lack qualified teachers, resources for students with disabilities and adequate reading instruction; and next, by the backup system intended to catch those failed by the first."
ProPublica

In December 2022, ProPublica published an article about the ongoing literacy crisis in the United States. This blog post is one of a series of reflections on that article.

Folks with low literacy usually don’t need someone to point that out to them. They’re usually crucially aware of their lack of skills – and what that lack is stopping them from achieving.

But the devil’s always in the details. Someone might know they need to take a class – but how much will that class cost? How far away is it, and how much will they pay in gas or bus fares to get to and from the class?

Most crucially of all – how does a low-income person fit classes into their week?

ProPublica reporters heard time and again that in communities stricken with low literacy, programs had to close sites because not enough students had enrolled. Meanwhile, more than two dozen adults in these hot spots told us that a lack of transportation or child care or busy work schedules prohibited them from attending classes.
ProPublica

How would you manage that Catch-22? You can’t afford not to work – but all you can get is a minimum-wage position with an inflexible schedule. Maybe you need a second job in order to make rent. Maybe it’s an exhausting job where you’re on your feet all day. And family and home responsibilities like making sure kids do homework, caring for babies or elderly relatives, cooking, cleaning, and laundry don’t take a break.

How do we solve the tension between learning, and earning?

The article highlighted Skills for Life, a Detroit program that provides paid time to learn alongside a city job. It was the turning point for Steve Binion, whose story is outlined in the article. And once someone’s broken the dead-end link of low literacy and low pay, their prospects improve dramatically – along with those of their family and the community.

What can we learn – and emulate – from these programs that work?

This blog post is a reflection on the ProPublica article, “A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?” Find the previous installment here.

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When $9 is far from enough

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"In a nation whose education system is among the most unequal in the industrialized world, where race and geography play an outsize role in determining one’s path to success, many Americans are being failed twice: first, by public schools that lack qualified teachers, resources for students with disabilities and adequate reading instruction; and next, by the backup system intended to catch those failed by the first."
ProPublica

In December 2022, ProPublica published an article about the ongoing literacy crisis in the United States. This blog post is the first in a series of reflections on that article.

$9. That’s how much the state of Texas currently allocates for adult education, per eligible student.

What can you buy with $9 these days? That won’t even get you two dozen eggs in most grocery stores. What do we think it can realistically do for the almost 5 million Texas adults in need of literacy help?

Across the United States, only around 3% of the adults who need literacy help are getting it – a figure that holds true for Texas as well. And despite our best efforts across the literacy field – and the valiant intervention of nonprofits, libraries, and other programs to help fill the gap – that number hasn’t changed in any meaningful way in decades.

While we try to figure out what’s to be done, people, families, communities, counties, states, and the entire nation are all suffering. 

"In other wealthy countries, adults with limited education who were born into families with little history of schooling are twice as likely to surpass their parents’ literacy skills. Here, one’s destiny is uniquely entrenched... If there were local programs that could teach adults the reading skills they never got, those parents could help educate their kids and get better jobs... The entire county would benefit."
ProPublica

It’s a sobering picture.

Shouldn’t every person in America have the opportunity to learn to read?

This blog post is a reflection on the ProPublica article, “A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?” Look for more blog posts on this topic in coming weeks.

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The gift of simplicity

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“The point of communication is to be understood.”

That’s – well, it’s kinda obvious, right? What else would communication be about?!

And yet how often do we explicitly learn to craft our messages for better understanding – and even more crucially, to vary the format and even the content when necessary?

All of us appreciate not being confused. Knowing that, some of the first focused work on making communications clearer came from the legal and health fields. There’s now plainlanguage.gov, the Clear Communication Index from the CDC, and even a plain language contracts project right here in Texas. And we all appreciate their work, every time we have to read a medical or legal document or form and we actually know what it said when we get to the end.

But those of us who work in adult and family literacy know that’s not always enough.

What about when the audience is primarily people who don’t speak English as a native language? Or primarily people who find reading challenging? And what about when the audience is people who are in both groups at the same time?

One of the best gifts we can give the adult learners in our classes is the gift of simplicity. And plain language that’s adequate for native English speakers, and those who read fluently, won’t always cut it for people with greater barriers.

So how can you make plain language – even plainer? What resources are out there to help you be more conscious of both your spoken and written communication – and to truly consider adults with low literacy?

Thankfully, there are many more resources than there used to be.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) used to be one of the few places you could find ANY plain language material – and their resources are still very good! There’s also Communicate Health, including their wonderful plain language newsletter, We Heart Health Literacy.

And in recent years, the clear communication banner has been taken up by more and more literacy folks. Two of our favorites:

We also invite you to bookmark the page on Plain Language here on this website, and return to it as you have need.

But ultimately? The single best thing you can bring to your plain language journey – whether you’re just starting or you’ve been on this road for a while – is intentionality.

When we see our conscious use of plainer language as a way to break down barriers, to welcome newcomers, to put people at their ease, to make sure people have information that they need – then we’re already halfway there.

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An intriguing balance of abilities

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October is Dyslexia Awareness Month

Dyslexia is a learning difference, one that specifically affects language processing. 

Dyslexia is many things, and among them, it’s an intriguing balance of abilities.

“The advantage of dyslexia is that my brain puts information in my head in a different way.”
Whoopi Goldberg
Actor

Some basic facts about dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning difference that affects reading and spelling ability, along with literacy skills development. It’s a different way of dealing with language in the brain. The most common form of dyslexia interrupts a student’s ability to split words into their component sounds, which makes sounding out words and spelling extremely challenging.

People are born with dyslexia, and it runs in families. It’s estimated that between 15 and 20% of Americans have some form of dyslexia, but the majority of people who have it don’t know that they do.

There’s more to dyslexia than getting words mixed up or out of order – and some people with dyslexia never even display this symptom. Since dyslexia affects how the brain processes language, someone might:

  • Memorize words but be unable to sound them out
  • Substitute words in sentences for other words that make sense
  • Have difficulty with handwriting
  • Show confusion with directions (left and right, before and after, over and under – this is where the reversal of “b” and “d” might show up, a symptom of dyslexia many people know)
  • Find recall difficult, especially for names and words
“If anyone ever puts you down for having dyslexia, don’t believe them. Being dyslexic can actually be a big advantage, and it has certainly helped me.”
Richard Branson
CEO, Virgin

Some distinct advantages

While dyslexia – especially when undiagnosed – can definitely cause people a lot of frustration and problems, there are some distinct advantages to the condition. People with dyslexia often have:

  • Heightened levels of creativity
  • Higher levels of intelligence
  • Greater artistic and mechanical abilities
  • Outside-the-box thinking
  • Ability to see the big picture and connect ideas
“I didn’t succeed despite my dyslexia, but because of it. It wasn’t my deficit, but my advantage. Although there are neurological trade-offs that require that I work creatively [and] smarter in reading, writing and speaking, I would never wish to be any other way than my awesome self. I love being me, regardless of the early challenges I faced.”
Scott Sonnon
Professional Athlete

Preparing for success

Perhaps most importantly – dyslexia needs specific interventions. The earlier a person is diagnosed with dyslexia and given personal help, the better, but it’s never too late.

Effective instruction for people with dyslexia is:

  • Personal to their specific needs, including in pace
  • Delivered one-on-one or in very small groups
  • Repetitive, to allow lots of practice and error correction
  • Positive and encouraging 
“Dyslexia is not a pigeonhole to say you can’t do anything. It is an opportunity and a possibility to learn differently. You have magical brains, they just process differently. Don’t feel like you should be held back by it.”
Princess Beatrice
UK royal family

Sources and further reading

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Literacy TRANSFORMS

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So often – including right here on this website – we talk about adult and family literacy in terms of deficit.

“Adults without a high school diploma struggle to find employment.”

“The 43% of Americans who read at or below basic level are more likely to live in poverty.”

“Families where the caregivers are at or below the basic level of literacy are less likely to be able to help children with homework, and perpetuate the cycle of low literacy.”

Literacy Transforms Texas white text on yellow

“Low-literate adults are more likely to have health issues, less likely to eat nutritious food, and more likely to be incarcerated.”

All of the above are true, but none of this focuses on the possibilities. Just think of Texas – of America – of the world – if everyone was fully literate.

More people in high-paying jobs, with more money both for necessities and as disposable wealth to spend in their local communities.

Kids lifted out of poverty and families on their way to creating generational wealth and ongoing prosperity.

Higher self-esteem for millions of people, and shame around learning left behind.

Improved critical thinking and analytical skills, applied from everything to workplace problem-solving to science literacy to mortgage choices.

Expanded vocabulary and conversational skills.

Imagine living in a society where ALL your neighbors could flourish. It would be a society with less crime, greater health, more life satisfaction, more volunteerism. ALL of these things are linked to literacy and all of them are achievable.

Throughout September, we’re focusing on what’s possible when we prioritize literacy. Please join us! You can:

Further reading on this topic, and the sources of some of the info above:

Why We Should Invest in Getting More Kids to Read – And How to Do It

5 Reasons Reading is So Important for Student Success

The Importance of Adult Literacy

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The Case for Data

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Imagine finding the perfect house. You pull up to the curb and everything looks delightful – blooming azaleas in the front yard, leafy neighborhood, maybe a porch swing… After a walk-through with the realtor you’re more in love than ever. The house looks absolutely perfect. Right size kitchen, big bedrooms, a sunny living room – this is the one.

You talk to the realtor about making an offer and getting an inspection done. But –

 “Oh no, the owner won’t allow an inspection,” she says with a smile. “You can just take our word for it that everything’s fine. You trust us, right?”

Say what?! 

We wouldn’t make a major purchase without doing due diligence – ideally via an objective third party, an expert who can tell us exactly what we’re getting into. But across the US, non-profits do the equivalent every day – by making major programmatic decisions, and seeking funding and support, without presenting objective data and reliable program evaluation. A 2018 study found that a staggering 46% of nonprofit professionals said they do not consistently use data to make decisions.

If around half of us aren’t basing our decisions on data, how can we possibly tell our stories – of both success and challenges – in a reliable way? Do we want the public, prospective funders and other supporters just to “trust us” on the effectiveness of what we’re doing? Doesn’t trust have to be based on something solid?

Many nonprofits cite capacity as their reason for giving data and program evaluation a back seat. “We don’t have the time” or “We don’t have the staff.” Capacity is absolutely a challenge, and a real one. But can you afford to not spend the time on basic program evaluation? How many potential supporters are moving on to someone else because they couldn’t see the proof of your efficacy? How many decisions have you made based on what you thought you’d observed – but that might not be consistent or even correct at all? How much time do you end up wasting through lack of knowledge?

Similar reasons are often given for keeping evaluation in-house. In the adult literacy field, that shows up often in the form of testing – some community-based non-profits do measure student progress, but they use an in-house test to do it. Using our analogy from earlier – that’s like getting the home-owner to conduct their own inspection of the house they’re selling, and then giving you the results. Is it better than nothing? Sure. But wouldn’t an independent inspector’s take on the plumbing or the A/C make you feel more confident about the true state of things?

So – what should you do if you want to make 2022 the year you lift your data-gathering and program evaluation to new levels? There’s no time like the present – the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have information you can really use.

This article from Social Solutions argues pretty convincingly that the five core areas you should focus on are:

  1. Data that will lead to more funding.
  2. Data that will prove your impact.
  3. Data that will tell your community’s stories.
  4. Data that will help you understand your setbacks.
  5. Data that will allow you to see your organization end-to-end.

And this article from Keela encourages us to:

  1. Collect data strategically
  2. Store data in a database
  3. Keep data clean
  4. Tell a story
  5. Involve everyone

Still want to learn a little more before you dive in? Try these:

Registration now open for a Literacy Symposium unlike any other

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DFW Symposium - Poverty & Education

Guest blog post by Wes Young, MLS, Executive Director, Tarrant Literacy Coalition

The effects of the ongoing pandemic have brought many deficiencies into sharp focus.

The people who have been most severely affected by the pandemic tend to be those we work with in adult education classrooms across our community; lost jobs due to layoffs, decreased income, health scares and related concerns – all are new realities that our adult learners AND their families experience. 

On top of the daily responsibilities our learners face in everyday life, these new burdens strain capabilities and threaten personal growth through education.

Those who work with learners in any capacity do not always know the whole story or see the complete picture. We see a student drop out of class, and we think, “Well, there goes another one,” but the reality is that educators could do more to save that student with a little more understanding. 

The old-as-time expression ‘walk a mile in my shoes’ may seem like a cliché, but it is an essential part of reaching learners where they are; Tarrant Literacy Coalition is using this year’s DFW Literacy Symposium as a way into the lives of our learners.

Join us for the in-person 2021 DFW Literacy Symposium: Poverty and Education – a professional development experience unlike any you have ever participated in. 

The symposium will be held: 

Friday, October 8, 2021
7:00am to 5:00pm

Venue: George W. Hawkes Downtown Library and the Arlington City Council Chambers, two buildings on the same block. 

Registrant check-in will open at 6:30am in the Council Chambers building, with the day officially beginning at 7:00am. Our general session speaker will feature Dr. Horacio Sanchez, author and neuroscientist, presenting the session “Overcoming the Impact of Poverty on the Brain.”

Following the opening session, attendees will be split into two groups, and each will participate in the two remaining sessions for the day. One is a fabulous session presented by Theresa Sands of TCALL, “Beyond Poverty & Trauma with Adult Literacy.” The other session is a full-scale poverty simulation presented by ACH Child and Family Services. After lunch, the two groups will attend the session they did not participate in during the first half of the day. 

A simulation like this has not been offered to educators in DFW in many years, and it is something you DO NOT want to miss.

Registration for the event is now open. Read more about this one-of-a-kind event and register for the Symposium FOR FREE.

Film Director Richard Eyre once said, “Change begins with understanding, and understanding begins by identifying oneself with another person: in a word, empathy.” 

Tarrant Literacy Coalition and our sponsors hope that you will join us for an event sure to change your perspective and increase your empathy.

Professional Development credit (8.5 hours) is available.
Lunch will be provided.
Parking instructions can be found here.

Student Goals

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4 Things You Must Consider When Developing Adult Literacy Curriculum

No matter what age we’re working with, our students learn best when motivated. Whether internal or external, practical or aspirational, the stronger the “why”, the better they perform. As educators, we must never lose sight of this, even as we coordinate our students’ educational goals with various state and federal standards. 

As we set our instructional intentions, we need to keep (among many other things!) these four things in mind:

1) Blended Learning: Don’t just wheel in a television.

Of course, nowadays it’s more likely to be a projector or a Youtube link, but multimedia should no longer be thought of as a supplement. The pandemic provided an opportunity to explore technology as the foundation, as a flexible way to cater a lesson to each student’s needs, learning style, and living situation. The Online Learning Consortium defines blended/hybrid learning as “integrating online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner.” 

Technology isn’t a novelty anymore. Inside the classroom and out, it’s essential to understand and use it skillfully. 

2) Upskilling: Preparing for the test that matters. 

“Upskilling is the process of acquiring new and relevant competencies needed today and in the near future.” (Digitalhrtech.com) It’s an understatement to say that the world is evolving. People hoping to find meaningful employment need an increasingly diverse set of skills and experience to keep up with this change. Dallas is #3 in the nation for job creation in the tech industry. We need to be aware of these broader changes happening around us and consider how they will affect our student’s goals. That means not only knowing but keeping tabs on our student’s goals, and supporting their needs through how we curate our instruction.

Upskilling can include digital skills (social media, UX/UI), analytics skills (critical thinking, research), soft skills (creativity, persuasion, communication), and many other skills that we’d do well to integrate into our classrooms.

3) Family Literacy: Who’s teaching who?

Teaching an adult means teaching the citizen, the parent, the employee, the friend, and all the other roles that person has taken on in their life. Family literacy means recognizing and fostering the parent’s role as a primary teacher in their children’s lives. Read talk more about the ties of family to literacy in this article. 

4) Health Literacy: The gap between the textbook and real life. 

Specialized language can be difficult even in our mother tongue. One particular area where this is true is with medical jargon, pharmaceuticals, and simply navigating our health system. Simply being able to read complicated instructions doesn’t equal meaningful comprehension. Is there a way to meet your student’s goals, comply with state and federal standards, and address challenges like health literacy that students might not even be aware they must face? 

But how?

You see the importance of these considerations, but creating an effective instructional strategy can be daunting. Thankfully, the 2021 Literacy Texas Annual Conference offers solutions to this challenge. Join us August 2-4 as speaker Ann Beeson presents “Student Goals & Instructional Standards: Coordinating your Curriculum and Instruction for Success”. She offers the resources and strategies you’ll need to keep your student’s goals front and center while also staying on target to achieve external standards.
Visit https://www.literacytexas.org/calendar/2021-literacy-texas-annual-conference/ to register and learn about the other speakers and sessions offered at this extraordinary event.

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