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Volume 9, Issue 2

SUMMER 2009

The Arkansas Adult

Learning Resource

Center provides equal

access to all programs

and activities.

The Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) selected Martha

Cortes of Rogers as the Adult Learner of the Year for 2009. The award is

given annually to a student who has overcome difficult circumstances to

pursue adult learning, who has supported other adult learners, and who

has managed significant adult responsibilities such as those related to

family, community, and employment. Martha was nominated for the

award by Ben Aldama, Dean of Adult Education at NorthWest Arkansas

Community College (NWACC), and received the award at the COABE

convention in Louisville, Kentucky in April 2009.

Cortes is a wife, a mother to three

children, a community volunteer, a

student and a full-time administra-

tive assistant at the NWACC Adult

Education Center. She is a person

of ambition and inspiration. In addi-

tion to obtaining her GED diploma

at the adult education center, she

also took and passed her U.S. Citi-

zenship test in 2007, five months

after she applied. She said citizen-

ship “means a lot to me." Education

has fueled her inspiration.

“Education really changes things,

the way we think about each other,

ourselves, and our country," she said. “It has helped me to become a

better student, employee, and person. After working here (at the Adult

Education Center), I’m better able to focus more on what I want to do,

which is to teach."

Cortes is married and has two daughters and one son. She spoke no

English and had no friends when she first arrived in Rogers. She came

to Arkansas from Durango, Mexico following her husband. When they

married in Mexico he already had a job in Rogers.

Cortes enrolled in the NWACC Adult Education ESL classes when she

arrived in Rogers. She started evening classes at the beginning level.

Her first job was with the Rogers School District. “I worked there three

years, but working as a janitor just encouraged me to keep working on

my English skills". Today she speaks fluent English.

When she had the chance to work part-time at the Adult Education Cen-

ter, she jumped at it. The new job increased her work skills and her self-

esteem. She soon became a full-time employee. In October 2006 she

was named the Outstanding Paraprofessional at the Arkansas Associa-

tion for Continuing and Adult Education

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

Continued on page 8

Adult Learner of the Year 2009

Award Winner Martha Cortes (middle)

surrounded by her family and Danny

Sheffield, ESL instructor (right)

2

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.

Below are the Summer Professional Development offerings for 2009. The

workshop ID numbers are as follows:

103079 – Google Docs – Tuesday, July 14

103080 – Google Docs – Wednesday, July 15

103084 – Office 2007 – Thursday, July 16

103089 – Transition Math – Tuesday, July 14

103090 – Transition Math – Wednesday, July 15

103091 – Transition Math – Thursday, July 16

103096 – Life is Good! – Tuesday, July 14

103097 – Life is Good! – Wednesday, July 15

103098 – Life is Good! – Thursday, July 16

ESL Institute – July 20-22 – participants chosen through selection process

AERIS Workshops

July 27-28 – Mid-South Community College

July 30-31 – Fayetteville

August 3-4 – Monticello UAM

August 6-7 – Arkadelphia

103219 –

New GED Examiners’ Workshop – Wednesday, July 29

South Arkansas Summer Institute

August 11-12 – University of Arkansas – Monticello

September 15 – Payne Reunion

September 17-18 – Administrators’ Fall Meeting

Scheduled Meetings:

July 14 – Technology Committee – Crowne Plaza,

Little Rock

July 14 – Legislative Committee – Crowne Plaza,

Little Rock

September 24-25 – Advisory Council - Stuttgart

All registration will be online. Registration has begun.

Please register at

https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/

All workshops and meetings are at the AALRC unless

otherwise indicated. Workshops without registration ID

numbers will be updated on our website soon.

http://aalrc.org/

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

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Adult Learning Network

The Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center is pleased to announce that 12 adult educators

have recently completed an intensive two-year training program and are now Certified Managers

in Program Improvement (CMPI). This national certification is the first of its kind in the adult edu-

cation and literacy field and signifies the participants as a member of an elite group of professional

managers.

Strong, professional leadership is critical to program improvement and high quality adult education

and literacy services. That is why the National Adult Education Professional Development Consor-

tium (NAEPDC) and ProLiteracy joined forces to develop the Leadership Excellence Academies

(LEA) training and certification initiative. The Academies are built upon a foundation of research,

theory, professional wisdom, and best practices. Training occurs over time and with opportunities

for application through a series of interim activities and learning projects. Training is facilitated by

national adult education leaders who provide participants with practical strategies and models for

transferring research into continuous improvement processes and structures.

Arkansas’ certified managers completed an intensive 187 hours of workshops, online courses,

webcasts, interim activities, and learning projects during the Leadership Excellence Academies to

earn this prestigious distinction. Arkansas is one of only ten states that have adult educators who

have achieved this certification status. We applaud our new CMPI’s commitment to continuous

improvement and high quality educational services for adult learners. We are fortunate to have

such a high-quality professional staff working in our state.

Arkansas’ Certified Managers in Program Improvement include:

Marketing in Adult Education

The Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center is excited to announce that we, in coordination

with the Department of Workforce Education Adult Education Division, have retained the services

of Advantage Communications, Inc., a Little Rock-based advertising, marketing, and public

relations agency, to promote the services and resources of Arkansas Adult Education.

“We are so very pleased to be engaged with the AALRC, and to offer our unique services in order

to promote Arkansas Adult Education," said Michael Steele, President and CEO of Advantage

Communications, Inc. “We are confident that the program that we launch in conjunction with the

AALRC will engage Arkansans around the issue of Adult Education, and we look forward to much

success."

Certified Managers in Program Improvement

Patricia Bates

Sherry Brown

Janie Carter

Yvonne Dougherty

Debbie Faubus

Becky Linsky

Darla Melton

Carolyn Moody

Gail Shrum

Kathy Spigarelli

Elizabeth Thompson

Peggy Weir

For more information on the Leadership

Excellence Academies, you can visit the

website at

http://leadershipliteracy.net/

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Adult Learning Network

News from the Disabilities Project Manager

Software for Teaching Reading Skills to Adults

There was recently a post on the NIFL LD listserv about a soft-

ware program available online for teaching adults to read. The

AALRC gets a lot of requests for this kind of software, so

maybe this information will be useful. Since we know that there

isn’t any kind of available one-size-fits-all program for teaching

adults with dyslexia, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas to

add to my list of things that might work for any given individual,

and this looks like it has potential.

The program was created by Jim Williams, and is called “We All

Can Read," available at

www.weallcanread.com

. The first 28

lessons are free. There are a total of 644 lessons, so begin-

ning with Lesson 29, you have to subscribe to a site license

(one computer, unlimited users), but it’s pricey at $1,440/year.

Still, it’s worth checking out, at least for the free part. The concepts are based on Orton-

Gillingham instruction, a well-researched, multisensory instructional approach for teaching reading

to people with dyslexia. There’s audio and visual components, and lots of practice with nonsense

words. And hey, even if you don’t buy the site license, it might help to watch some of the online

lessons and at least get an idea of the overall instructional approach.

They’ve also got a print edition, which comes with VHS and audio tapes. There’s a free download

of sample pages from their “Third Grade Through Adult" edition at

http://weallcanread.com/pdf%

20files/Sample%20Pages%205th%20Ed..pdf

if you want to see the complete table of contents

and lesson plans.

But if you go to the website (

www.weallcanread.com

) then click on “Online Instruction," you can

watch the first online lesson. There’s a page with pictures on the right side of the screen, which

you can enlarge by clicking on the little box at the top right-hand corner of the picture page. It will

say “Toggle Full Screen," and you can either keep toggling it back and forth during the lesson, or

make it big and print the page so you always have it in front of you, which is what I did. Then you

watch the videos included on that page. Jim Williams himself will teach you the sounds of the

letters, and he’s very good about being very precise with how he’s teaching those sounds. Each

video is about 3 or 4 minutes long, and there are 5 videos for Lesson 1.

Here’s one problem I thought of right away, though. He goes a little fast, I think. I mean, the first

video covers the sounds of the letters “b," “c," “d," “f," and “g," and the video is only 3+ minutes

long. I think I would want to stop after he introduces each sound – if I were working with a student

– and have the student make those sounds, too. I would probably also want to have some

manipulatives out, like some letter tiles or something, and have the student find the letter and

write the letter and make the sound again. Then I would probably want the student to find

everything they could in the classroom that starts with that letter, which means I would probably

turn that 3-minute video into a 30-minute lesson.

And here’s the problem with that: Teachers very often ask me for something that will teach their

students while they’re working with someone else, and I just can’t make that work. Students can

drill and practice on their own, but I still maintain that the student who’s working at this level needs

5

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

direct, explicit, one-on-one teaching with a real, live teacher. That said, this

kind of software program still has a lot of potential value for me. I could use

it as a teaching support, so it’s me AND Jim teaching at the same time. Or

I could use it for review for what I’d already covered with the student. Or

the student could use it for practice and repetition of skills we’d covered in

a lesson. So I still think it could be a really good addition to my instruction.

If anybody tries this with one or more students, I’d love to hear from you

about the results. You can email me at

prwhite@madisoncounty.net

, or

call me at 800.569.3539.

Toys with Lead Made in the U.S..

Is it just me, or did we all make the assumption that toys made in the U.S.

would by now surely be lead-free. Decades ago, when the media pounded

us with those horrifying pictures of babies eating leaded paint off the wall or

their crib, and the public

outcry was deafening,

and everyone rallied and

they came up with

unleaded gas and all that

stuff…you mean to tell

me they left it in toys.

I just read an article in

the Learning Disabilities

Association (LDA) news-

letter called, “New Con-

sumer Product Safety

Improvement Act Bans

Lead, Phthalates from

Children’s Products."

Apparently, on August 14, 2008, President Bush signed the Consumer

Product Safety Improvement Act into law. This law bans lead from chil-

dren’s toys, along with six types of phthalates (chemicals used to make

plastics softer and more flexible). I’ll just assume – since I’m so good at

assuming – that everyone else is already aware of this and I’m the only one

who is amazed. But on the off-chance that someone else out there hasn’t

yet heard about it, I thought I’d pass the word around. I did hear the stories

about the Thomas the Train toys from China, so I’m not totally out of the toy

scene just because my kids are grown, but those were toys made in China.

Call me naive, but I really thought we had higher production standards.

So what does this have to do with our adult students who have disabilities.

Well, many of these lead-exposed kids grow into adults who have learning

problems, and then some will enroll in our programs. And the scope of the

problem is pretty big.

News from the Disabilities Project Manager

6

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

12 million or 17% of all U.S. children less than 18 years of age have one or

more developmental disabilities (Boyle et al, Pediatrics 93(3) 399-410,

1994). 12% of all school children receive special education services in

1996 - up from 8% in 1977 (U.S. Department of Education), costing $36

billion each year, and the prevalence of ADHD has increased from 3% to 6

-12% of school-aged children (Brown et al, Pediatrics 2001 Mar;107

(3):E43).

But it’s not just toys we should worry about. More than 80% of American

homes built before 1978, or roughly 64 million, contain lead paint, accord-

ing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And it's not only

chipping and peeling paint you have to watch out for. Lead paint dust from

walls, windowsills, woodwork, and other surfaces can be inhaled or

ingested after coming into contact with your hands, placing exuberant little

explorers (and chewers, especially) at risk.

Regarding lead exposure, high-dose exposure to lead may result in

encephalopathy, seizures, or even death. Low-dose, chronic exposure to

lead does not have any acute symptoms, but there are both short- and

long-term intellectual and behavioral im-

pairments that result. Antisocial and other

problem behaviors are seen in lead-

exposed children as young as 2-5 years of

age. One National Health and Nutrition Ex-

amination Survey (NHANES) study com-

pared lead exposure to reading scores. The

bottom line was that as blood levels of lead

increased, reading scores dropped. At

higher levels of exposure, IQ levels also

drop: about a 9-pt. drop in IQ with the first

exposure. Most importantly, there is NO

threshold found below which there are no

adverse effects.

It’s important for your students with learning disabilities to understand that

their problems with learning are not their fault. Exposure to toxins is one of

many possible causes of learning disabilities. The more we know about

the possible causes, the more we can help our students understand the

roots of their difficulties with learning so they can move forward with a bet-

ter understanding of how they learn best…without dwelling on unnecessary

feelings of guilt. My brother Rick recently told me that he never would talk

about his learning problems, “…even with Mom, because, you know, I

thought it was my fault". (Rick is a victim of brain damage, not lead, but

the feelings of guilt from a lack of understanding are the same no matter

how you ended up with a learning disability.) If your students are inter-

ested in the information about lead, see what all they can learn with an

internet search for “phthalates," the other toxin in the Consumer Product

Safety Improvement Act.

7

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.

Windows 7

Windows 7 – The newest desktop operating system from Microsoft is set to be released on Octo-

ber 22, 2009. It has been out in a free beta release that can be downloaded and the free version

will last until June 2010. This method of allowing anyone to test the operating system and give

feedback is having positive results on the usability of the OS. If you skipped getting Windows

Vista because of all the bad press, you should be pleased with the newest version of Windows,

Windows 7.

32-bit vs. 64-bit – A choice that is unfamiliar with many will be whether to get the 32-bit or the 64-

bit version of Windows 7. Technically speaking, 32-bit systems can use only around 4 gigabytes

of ram and 64-bit systems can use 16 exabytes (that’s not a typo, that is 16.8 million terabytes of

ram) so the 64-bit systems aren’t going to max out on ram anytime soon. Translated into non-

geek-speak, that means that your computer can have 6, 12, or even 16 gigs of ram and actually

be able to use it. This means that you will be able to use more programs at once and memory in-

tensive programs won’t slow down your system.

Will my 32-bit programs run on a 64-bit machine. Yes. Your older programs should run

just fine, they just won’t be able to use all the available memory.

Will my 16-bit programs run on a 64-bit machine. No. The 16-bit programs from back in

the Windows 3.1 days (back before Windows 95) won’t run on a 64-bit system, but that

should not affect many people.

Virus Alert

There have been some really nasty computer viruses going around

lately. The Reader_s.exe virus is a particularly nasty one that has

caused many people to resort to reformatting their computer and

reinstalling Windows. The virus attaches itself to .exe files and in

many cases corrupts the files to a point where they no longer work;

this causes your computer to completely malfunction.

What to do.

Make sure that your computer is updated. Go to

www.microsoft.com

and then go to Microsoft Update. Download

and install all “High Priority Updates".

Make sure that you have up-to-date antivirus protection. Many

people don’t realize that when their antivirus subscription ex-

pires, they don’t get updates and therefore are not protected

from the latest viruses. Contact Rob Pollan at

rob@aalrc.org

for

free copies of Bitdefender Internet Security 2009 for your centers. Or go to

www.download.com

and download AVG Free or Avast Free Antivirus for the home.

8

Adult Learning Network

Continued from page 1

Building on the Power of Learners

by Cynthia Peters, editor of The Change Agent

Conference. The award further fueled her ambition. She frequently speaks publicly on behalf of

the college and the benefits of learning English. Martha will graduate from NWACC with an Asso-

ciate of Arts this year. She plans to continue her education at the University of Arkansas, majoring

in Education. “Martha’s changed over the years," Danny Sheffield, ESL Instructor, said. “Her views

have expanded. The accolades coming to her that she accepts in a very positive way influences

others to know that they also can succeed much as she has. Martha’s success influences every-

one, particularly those in the Latino community."

AETN’s Adult Education Web Site Resources For Adult Learners

In the Health issue of The Change Agent (March 2009), a student writes

about how scared she was to sign up for classes at an adult education

program. But she felt much better when she noticed that the staff “treated

me as if I had something to offer." In some ways, that is exactly what The

Change Agent tries to do as well. As a resource for ABE and ESOL learn-

ers, we present materials that help bring out the students’ own thinking.

While providing lessons that teach reading, writing, and math, we also

investigate issues that are relevant to students’ lives and that draw off of

their own rich and valuable experiences. Our articles and lessons

onstantly return to the idea that we are all agents of change in our own

lives and in the lives of our communities. This is a powerful antidote to the

helplessness that learners sometimes feel about achieving goals and

having an effect on the institutions that govern their lives. One student

wrote in the September 2007 issue about how learning to advocate for more funding for adult

education affected her personally. “The political work taught me that change takes time," she

wrote. “It’s taught me never to give up." When articles and lessons treat adult learners like the

resourceful and powerful people that they truly are, learners respond by building on that resource-

fulness and power, which in turn helps them be stronger in pursuit of their own goals and as

members of the community.

Access many issue “extras" at

www.nelrc.org/changeagent

. Invite your students to write for

us! Check the website for our next “Call for Articles" (which will be available in September) and

keep an eye out for our forthcoming issue on the roots and consequences of the current economic

crisis. Your bulk subscription (generously purchased by the Dept. of Workforce Education) will be

arriving in mid-September 2009.

The Web site

http://ideas.aetn.org/adeducation

links adult learners to resources that enhance their

educational opportunities and options. The mission of PBS LiteracyLink is to provide quality adult

basic education that is exciting, relevant, accessible and flexible by providing several different

services to meet different needs.

GED Connection covers the content and format of the GED exam. Workplace Essential Skills

teaches skills and attitudes necessary to succeed at work. Learners see how to prepare resumes

and applications and how to prepare themselves for interviews and work. Emmy Award-winning

TV411 focuses on parenting, money matters and health. English For All is a free Web-based

multimedia system for adults learning English as a second language. For more information, visit

http://ideas.aetn.org/adeducation

.

Adult Learner of the Year 2009