1
Volume 9, Issue 1
SPRING 2009
The Arkansas Adult
Learning Resource
Center provides equal
access to all programs
and activities.
The AACAE Executive Board has awarded the annual Commission on
Adult Basic Education (COABE) scholarship to Ms. Brenda Keisler of
Malvern, Arkansas. Ms. Keisler, who won the AACAE Outstanding
Teacher award in 2007, will receive reimbursement for up to $2000 for
travel, lodging, and conference registration at the 2009 COABE
Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. She will report on her COABE
participation at the 2009 AACAE conference in Springdale.
Ms. Keisler has worked as an adult
education instructor at the Ouachita
Technical College in Malvern for 24
years, following 8 years of teaching
in public schools. Although her
favorite subjects are “social studies,
math, and writing," she teaches
whatever is needed in the program,
including GED, ABE, and ESOL
classes.
One of Ms. Keisler’s past students,
Kyle O’Connor, received the 2008
Garland Hankins Award after completing the GED program in Malvern.
Mr. O’Connor needed his GED to enlist in the military; he has recently
returned from two tours of duty in Iraq with the 39
th
Infantry and is now in
the market for a job.
On behalf of adult education and literacy programs statewide, the AALRC
wishes to congratulate Ms. Keisler on her most recent and well-deserved
award!
Arkansas Adult Learning
Resource Center
3905 Cooperative Way,
Suite D
Little Rock, AR 72209
Phone: 800-832-6242
501-907-2490
FAX: 501-907-2492
http://www.aalrc.org
Arkansas Association of Continuing Adult Education (AACAE)
and Arkansas Literacy Councils (ALC)
2009 Annual Conference
Continued on page 8
AACAE Scholarship Awarded to Ms. Brenda Keisler
Make plans now to visit beautiful northwest Arkansas in one of the most
colorful seasons of the year! The AACAE Executive Board and members
of the Arkansas Literacy Council are excited to offer a change of venue
for this year’s fall conference. The 2009 AACAE & ALC Annual
Conference will be held October 22-23, 2009, at the Holiday Inn and
Convention Center in Springdale, Arkansas.
This year’s conference theme is Adult Education and Literacy: Opening
the Windows to Success. All we need to make this the best conference
ever is…..YOU!
What can you offer.
Brenda Keisler at the 2008
AACAE conference
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Adult Learning Network
Governor
Mike Beebe
State Board of
Workforce
Education
and Career
Opportunities
Director,
William L. “Bill"
Walker, Jr.
Division of
Rehabilitation
Services
Robert Trevino
Division of
Adult Education
Jim Smith
Division of Career
& Technical
Education
John Davidson
Communications
Reginald Jackson
Human Resources
& Development
Pam Harris
Finance
Charles Brown
Calendar
All events are at the AALRC unless otherwise noted.
Workshops:
April 7-8 – Literacy Strategies –Assessment - Day 3-4
April 9 – BEST Plus
April 22 – Leadership Academy – Crowne Plaza Little Rock
April 23-24 – Literacy Strategies – Instructional Strategies –
Day 1-2
April 28-29 – Literacy Task Analysis – Days 4-5
May 7-8 – Literacy Strategies – Instructional Strategies – Day 3-4
May 11– The Power of Mindsets: Nurturing Motivation and
Resilience in Adults with Learning Disabilities
Meetings/Events:
April 3 – WAGE
May 5-6 – Administrators’ Spring Meeting – Crowne Plaza
Little Rock
May 7 – Federal Surplus
May 15 – Arkansas Literacy Council Annual Meeting -
Crowne Plaza Little Rock
May 28-29 – Adult Education Advisory Council – Hope
Adult Education hosting
Local programs
funded with state or
federal adult
education funds
must adhere to
Arkansas
Department of
Finance and
Administration
guidelines when
requesting travel
reimbursement.
TRAVEL
Reimburse-
ment
pg_0003
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Adult Learning Network
Arkansas Literacy Councils 2009 Spring Regional Meetings
Arkansas Literacy Councils (ALC) Spring Regional Meetings were held during the week of March
2 through March 6, 2009 in Lake Village, Hot Springs, Forrest City, Mountain Home and Fort
Smith.
Marie Bruno, ALC Executive Director, presented new regulations
on the IRS 501(c)(3) and Form 990 along with the steps Literacy
Councils need to be doing in advance of the May 2010 deadline to
get up to date. Ms. Bruno also discussed FY 2010 GAC grant
applications and a legislative update on potentially increasing GAC
funding, as well as changes to the Nonprofit Corporation Act.
In addition, Ms. Bruno shared exciting information about a new
Health Literacy curriculum, which dovetails nicely with a new
Arkansas Department of Health partnership. The Health
Department has scheduled regional meetings in March and April
and invited literacy providers to attend. At the March meeting in Stuttgart, literacy providers were
introduced to their local Health Administrator and the Hometown Health representative in their
county. During this meeting, suggestions were made regarding how the agencies could partner to
better serve clients. Two suggestions agreed upon were (1) the provision of client referrals from
the local health units to literacy providers, and (2) having literacy providers review materials the
health department develops for clients.
All literacy providers have received information on the Health Literacy regional meetings being
held in March and April and are encouraged to attend. At each meeting, time is provided for
suggestions that will be both valuable and beneficial to everyone.
For further information, please contact ALC at
info@arkansasliteracy.org
or call 800.832.6242.
You may also visit their website at
http://www.arkansasliteracy.org/
.
National Coalition for Literacy Launches Online Advocacy Toolkit
WASHINGTON – The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) has launched its new online Advocacy
Clearinghouse and Toolkit (
www.ncladvocacy.org
). Developed with an aim to change the
conversation about adult education in the U.S., the Toolkit provides adult education and literacy
advocates with the tools and knowledge to raise awareness and speak for the needs of 30+ million
Americans with limited literacy and the 11+ million who cannot communicate in English.
Containing dozens of resources, facts, and reports provided by member organizations of the NCL,
the Advocacy Clearinghouse and Toolkit is a “one-stop shop" for all advocates interested in
improving adult education. This project has been generously supported by the Dollar General
Literacy Foundation, which invests millions of dollars each year in literacy programs that help
individuals reach their full potential.
The NCL is a national adult education leadership organization comprised of member organizations
and adult education professionals, committed to promoting adult education and literacy, family
literacy, and English language development in the US. For more information about the Toolkit,
contact Jennifer Maloney, NCL Director, at
jennifer.maloney@ncldc.net
or Jackie Taylor, website
developer at
jackie@jataylor.net
.
Hot Springs Regional Meeting 2009
pg_0004
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Adult Learning Network
News from the Disabilities Project Manager
Teaching and Testing Adults with Learning Disabilities – Recently Asked Questions
Working with adults who have learning disabilities (LD) is rewarding, but sometimes confusing.
Below are some of the most recent Q & A regarding these issues.
Q: If a student scores 12 or more on the Washington State 13-Question LD Screening, should we
refer the student for LD diagnosis.
A: Not if that tool is the only LD screening that has been done. LD screening should be a
process, not just the use of one tool. If, however, the student scores 12 or more on that
particular form, you should follow it up with additional questions and observation. You might
discuss what kinds of testing accommodations the student thinks would help them to better
demonstrate their knowledge, such as additional time, private room, breaks, audio version of
the test, or the use of a scribe or calculator. If any of their initial TABE scores are low (3.9
grade level or below), or if there are significant grade equivalency discrepancies among the
TABE subtests, you might want to re-administer the TABE with the accommodations you’ve
discussed with the student to see if the scores improve by three or more grade levels.
Q: What exactly does a “screening process" entail.
A: The screening process will be different depending on the individual student, but some of the
components may include the following: Interviews about past school experiences, learning
style inventories, observation of basic skills tasks, the 13-Question screening tool, the Payne-
Jordan Learning Inventory, TABE re-testing with applied accommodations, or the use of some
other LD screening inventory, e.g.
, Cooper Screening for Information Processing, PowerPath
to Adult Learning, Adult Learning Disability Screening by the University of Kansas, etc.
Q: If our program’s LD screening process indicates that the student may have a learning disability,
how long should we wait to refer the student for diagnosis.
A: You should refer the student as soon as you can for a couple of reasons. First, instructional
accommodations should match testing accommodations, so it’s important to know what
accommodations the student is approved for during the GED tests to ensure that those
accommodations are also applied during instruction. Also, since the diagnosis of learning
disabilities is determined by score discrepancies, it’s best to complete the diagnosis prior to
Q: If we re-test the student on the TABE with
accommodations, can we report that score on our
AERIS report.
A: Not unless the student was previously
documented with a disability. If the TABE re-test
is done as part of a screening process to
determine the need for a diagnostic referral, those
scores are only a part of the screening process
and should not be reported.
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Adult Learning Network
AALRC
Advisory
Committee
Dubs Byers,
Chair,
Pine Bluff
Emily Barrier,
Little Rock
Carrie Boden,
Little Rock
Janie Carter,
Crossett
Richard
Hampton,
Texarkana
Tara Harrison,
North Little
Rock
Becky Linsky,
Hot Springs
Billy Upson,
Texarkana
Nancy
Whitmire,
Vice-Chair,
Batesville
Ruth Ann
Williams,
Conway
basic skills remediation. For information about making a diagnostic
referral, go to
http://aalrc.org/resources/ld/referralProcess.aspx
Q: If a student has existing documentation of a disability when they first
enter the program, should we provide accommodations on the TABE
test during intake.
A: Yes. The accommodations should be determined during an interview
with the student about what accommodations they have received in the
past, and what they know does/does not work.
Q: Where can I get a copy of the GED Practice Test on tape.
A: According to our LD Policy Manual, every adult education program
should have a copy of the GED Practice Test on tape. The AALRC has
a copy that you can borrow, but sometimes there is a pretty long wait.
You can purchase the test for $86.00 at
http://steckvaughn.harcourtachieve.com/en-US/Products/
Product+Detail.htm.
CS_ProductID=000000000001230679&CS_Category=GED_PracticeTe
sts&CS_Catalog=HMH+Supplemental+Catalog
.
Q: In what situations might a student benefit from having a scribe as an
accommodation on the GED tests.
A: Typically, a student will request a scribe to accommodate either a
physical disability (severe arthritis, loss of limb, carpel tunnel syndrome,
cerebral palsy, etc.) or a learning disability, especially in the realm of an
expressive language disorder. Severe dyslexia can also impact fine
motor skills and make handwriting difficult to read.
Q: What accommodations are available for a person with emotional/mental
health disabilities.
A: Accommodations should always be based on the individual’s need, so
they will vary depending on the individual’s disability and areas of
strengths and weaknesses. There are suggested accommodations on
page 2 of the Request for Testing Accommodations for Emotional/
Mental Health form at
http://aalrc.org/resources/ld/ged_forms.aspx
. The
GED examiner will need a letter from the professional who diagnosed
the emotional/mental health disability that states the date of diagnosis,
how the disability affects learning, and suggested accommodations.
Documentation will be viewed as sufficiently current if it has been
completed within the last 6 months.
If you have other questions about teaching or testing adults with disabilities,
please contact Patti White at 800.569.3539 or
prwhite@madisoncounty.net
.
News from the Disabilities Project Manager
pg_0006
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Adult Learning Network
AALRC Staff
Director
Marsha Taylor
___________________
Administrative
Assistant
Wanda Johnson
Professional
Development
Coordinator
Nancy Loftis
Media
Coordinator
Klaus Neu
Secretary
Toccara Baker
Information
Technology
Specialist
Rob Pollan
Disabilities
Project
Manager
Patti White
News from the Disabilities Project Manager
Write Emails by Talking to Your Cell Phone –
It’s Free!
Technological innovations continue to make everyday tasks easier for
people with disabilities, and it’s easy to see how this one would be helpful
for adult students who have learning disabilities. At
http://www.dial2do.com/
, you can use your cell phone (or landline phone)
to write emails, text messages, Twitter messages, or leave yourself a
reminder note – all by using your voice, and all for free. The messages
you leave will be delivered in both text and audio, so the message receiver
may either read or listen to the message. This service is currently in the
process of Beta testing, but according to their website, “We've locked up
our accountants. All services are free during our Beta test. If we do ever
decide to charge for something, we'll give you plenty of notice and try to
keep the basic services free."
How does it work. When you dial the local number (provided when you
register online), you will be asked several questions such as “Do what."
and “To who." You say what you want and the service directs the
message where you want it to go.
For example, to send an email:
They say, "What would you like to do." You say, "Email."
They say, "Email Who." You say, "Dave."
They say, "Record your Email." You say, "Hello Dave, I'm trying
out this service called Dial2Do."
Hang up and they’ll send the email. Your friends will get an email to read
what you said, and also a link so they can hear the original audio.
You can also listen to your ten most recent emails and reply while listening.
You can post updates to your Twitter or Jaiku feed, say “weather" to listen
to the weather forecast in your location, or say “calendar" to listen to your
calendar and add appointments. If you say “translate," it will even translate
what you say into another language and send it back to you as a text
message.
Adults with or without disabilities can benefit from this service, but for your
students who have reading and/or writing disabilities, imagine the time they
can save by recording an email instead of writing one, or listening to email
instead of reading. Both the calendar and reminder services can be used
to help with organization and time management difficulties – both valuable
skills in reaching educational goals. Many students already have cell
phones, so please share this information with them to see if they want to
take advantage of this amazing free service. To register, go to
http://www.dial2do.com/register
. For more information, visit
http://www.dial2do.com/faq
.
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Adult Learning Network
Tech
Talk
Note: To link to any web address (URL) in this newsletter, go the AALRC's home page at
http://aalrc.org
, look up this newsletter, and then just click on the appropriate link.
Slow computers are one of the top complaints I hear
from people. Sometimes the computers are a decade
old and there isn’t much hope that they will ever run
faster. But what about that computer that was so fast
just 3 years ago, why is it so slow now. There can be
any number of problems that cause your computer to be
slow, but here is a quick list of the most common ones:
1. Too many programs running at startup. Look in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen
next to the clock, how many icons do you see. Take a moment to hover over each one to
see a short description. Do you really need all those programs starting up every time you
boot up your computer, using up memory and causing crashes. Most likely not. Go to
START – RUN – type msconfig in the dialog box – press OK – STARTUP tab. Disable
almost everything you see here (it won’t delete the program) except your anti-virus, printer
support, mouse pad (laptops).
If you need help (by remote control) or want more specific documentation, contact Rob
Pollan (
rob@aalrc.org
).
2. Spyware – the best program I’ve seen lately to combat spyware is Malwarebytes (available
at www.download.com ). Install, update, run the Quick Scan. Two other programs that can
help clean out your computer are Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy
(www.download.com). Watch out for Spybot S&D, don’t install the Tea Timer, or disable it
by using MSCONFIG (see step 1 above). It’s also a good idea to set Ad-aware to manual
in SERVICES (for help on this, contact Rob Pollan (
rob@aalrc.org
)). All programs
mentioned above are free.
3. Memory – If you don’t have enough memory, Windows will use your hard drive as a memory
source. This is much slower, and causes your computer to move at a snail’s pace when
opening programs or running multiple programs at once.
To check for the amount of memory in your computer in Windows XP, click START, right-
click your MY COMPUTER icon (Vista users right-click your COMPUTER icon) and select
PROPERTIES. You will see the amount of RAM installed. Windows XP should have at
least 512 MB, and Vista should have 2 GB. Memory is cheap these days, you could
upgrade an XP computer from 256 MB to 512 or more for around $40. It should make a
huge difference. If you have a lab that needs a memory upgrade, contact Rob Pollan for
assistance (
rob@aalrc.org
).
Bitdefender 2009 – If you are using an older version of Bitdefender, you might want to consider
upgrading to Bitdefender 2009. I’ve found that this program runs well and seems to have fewer
problems than some of the older versions. Contact Rob Pollan (
rob@aalrc.org
) for more
information.
Slow Computers
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Adult Learning Network
This item is available at the
AALRC library.
Continued from page 1
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL),
introduces Standards for ESL/EFL Teachers of Adults. This new
volume offers performance indicators, vignettes, and evaluation
tools for instructors. These clearly organized components will help
instructors identify the qualities and practices to pursue in their
teaching.
The standards in this book address planning, instructing, and
assessing as the basis for effective teaching. These three core
standards lead to five additional standards that focus on both the
instructor and the instruction: identity and context, language
proficiency, learning, content, and commitment and professionalism
Collectively, these eight standards represent the foundation of what
professional teachers of ESL and EFL to adult learners should know
and be able to do.
The eight standards are organized in a useful and concrete format. Each is introduced with a brief
description followed by theoretical justification, numbered performance indicators, vignettes of
real-life settings using the performance indicators, and a forum for further thought and discussion.
The standards can be applied to most settings with adult English as a Second Language or
foreign language learners and can benefit educators and administrators in teacher-training
programs, in educational programs, and in achieving professional development both personally
and institution-wide.
AALRC Library Item Review by TESOL, Inc.
We need presenters, so polish up those ideas and
strategies. We need speakers, so be prepared to
inform, entertain, motivate. We need attendees, so
get ready to ask questions, provide workable tried
and true solutions, and offer suggestions. Whatever
you offer, come prepared to participate.
The Holiday Inn in Springdale is holding a block of rooms - our block is
reserved under AAC. Reservations will be available for booking with the
following link:
http://www.ihg.com/h/d/HI/1/en/rates/SPDAR.
groupBookingCode=AAC&_IATAno=99801505
We hope to see you there to catch up on all the news since last fall, to plan
strategies for the future, and to connect and interact with friends and
colleagues.
See you in Springdale in October!
AACAE and ALC 2009 Annual Conference
AACAE President
Sandra Miller