Post on 14-Dec-2015
Community Literacy Summit
March 19, 2007Daphne Greenberg, PhDGeorgia State University
Palomar Hotel, Washington, DC
Literacy
“An individual’s 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, to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.”
The National Literacy Act of 1991
WHO ARE ADULT LITERACY STUDENTS?
We belong to all races, religions, ethnicities, genders, and live in all neighborhoods.
Some of us may be: employed recent high school dropouts non-English speakers prison inmates parents high school graduates people with special learning needs senior citizens
DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUCTION
ESL Basic Skills Functional Skills Pre-GED GED Developmental/Remedial
DIFFERENT APPROACHES
Family Literacy Workplace Literacy Community-Oriented Literacy 1:1 Tutoring Small Group Instruction
LOCATIONS OF PROGRAMS
Community Colleges Community Based Organizations Work Sites Libraries Prisons Religious Institutions Housing Projects Homeless Shelters
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GOALS OF ADULT LITERACY STUDENTS?
Functional (balancing a checking account; reading bus schedules)
Spiritual (reading the Bible) Pleasure (reading the newspaper;
playing word games) Family (reading to children; helping
with homework) Job/economic advancement (GED;
completing job applications)
Adult Education Target Population
More than 51 million adults, or approximately 23 percent of the adult population of the United States have not completed a high school diploma or equivalent (2000 Census).
women and men are equally distributed (about 50 percent each).
16-24: 29% 25-44: 26% >60: 29%
Findings from the Adult Education Program and Learner
Surveys
Federally funded programs 2.7 million adult learners are
served. On average, learners participate
under 100 hours over the course of a year.
Of those learners, about a third gained one or more educational levels during the year.
Are there significant improvements-pre to post?
Test N Pre MeanPost Mean sig.
Effect Size
BNT 179 30.40 34.46 *** 0.47
WJ Reading Fluency 179 35.20 40.86 *** 0.44
WJ Letter ID 178 50.02 52.39 *** 0.19
WJ Passage Comp. 179 23.51 24.97 *** 0.15
GORT Rate 177 24.32 26.11 *** 0.15
TOWRE Sight Word 178 61.59 64.25 *** 0.15
Blending 164 5.93 7.02 *** 0.12
Elision 163 6.36 7.36 *** 0.11
Are there significant improvements-pre to post?
Test NPre
MeanPost Mean sig.
Effect Size
GORT Comp. 176 15.34 21.09 *** 0.11
GORT Fluency 177 40.86 44.60 *** 0.10
PPVT 165 121.30 126.95 *** 0.09
Sight Word 164 25.57 27.17 *** 0.08
WJ Word Attack 179 14.23 15.52 ** 0.06
TOLD 164 7.96 8.80 ** 0.05
GORT Accuracy 177 16.54 18.49 ** 0.05
TOWRE Phonemic 177 21.81 22.99 * 0.03
Findings from the Adult Education Program and Learner Surveys About 75% of adults who attend adult
literacy programs are unable to meet “a minimum standard for success in today’s labor markets” (Sum, Kirsch, & Taggart, 2002, pg. 11). Therefore, more at risk for: lower paying jobs
and less likely to be offered: promotions
and job training opportunities
Strengths and Weaknesses Deficiency noted in phonological based
tasks Performance on oral language skills
more similar to children’s reading ages, than to adult ages
Poor integration of componential skills Difficulties in world knowledge and
reasoning tasks Relative strengths in sight word tasks
Assessment If our learners are interested, we need
to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
We need to share these results with learners in language they can understand.
We need to work with learners to create a plan that takes into account their test results, AND their goals
All of the above is CONTINUOUS!
Good assessment: Takes into account learners’ goals
- if don’t address them, learners will leave!
Tests various skills- readers with similar scores on a silent reading comprehension test still vary greatly in fluency, decoding, and vocabulary.
Examples of Possible Clusters
Clu
ste
r #
WJ P
assag
e C
om
p.
GO
RT C
om
p
WJ W
ord
Atta
ck
TO
WR
E S
igh
t Word
TO
WR
E P
hon
em
ic
Sig
ht W
ord
R
ead
ing
WJ F
luen
cy
TO
LD
1
2
3
4
Adult Learners Learning takes TIME!!!!!
- We need to be realistic about goals Many learners attend, stop, and then
come back, or go to a different location
- Therefore, we need to develop strategies that they can use to continue work on their own as self-study while away
Program Related Issues
Very few full time staff. - Mainly part-time and volunteer.- Very few that are trained.
Many classes involve mixed skill levels.- Problematic for teachers and
learners.
What does the field need? Well trained teachers Ongoing classroom observations and feedback
provided to the teachers Ongoing assessment that takes into account
learner goals and various skills Direct, explicit instruction AS NEEDED in areas
such as word-reading, spelling, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary
Sequential instruction so that one skill builds upon the other.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Finally…
Denton, Vaughn, & Fletcher, (2003) write that there is a need for “the provision of clear documentation of practices that are research-based and opportunities for teachers to access this information” (p. 203).
Finally…
Instruction should be based on “the integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical evidence” (Whitehurst, 2002)