“Follow Up to the National Community Literacy Summit”

“Follow Up to the National Community Literacy Summit” May 19, 2007 Tanya Shuy tshuy@nifl.gov

Amy Arebreton Public Private Venture Jay Connor The Collaboratory for Community Support Douglas Marriott Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles John Mitterholzer The Cleveland Foundation Katherine Pavey Discovery Alliance Douglas Perkins Vanderbilt University Steering Committee

Summit Focus • Literacy Instruction • Performance Measurement

Literacy Instruction • The Essential Components of Literacy For Programs Dr. Timothy Shanahan • Literacy Instruction Across the Lifespan Dr. Barbara Foorman Dr. Daphne Greenberg

Amount of teaching Content of teaching Quality of teaching Student Motivation Alignment and Support 5 Keys to Literacy Success Across the Lifespan

Community Literacy Programs for Children • A program is only as good as its implementation • Ongoing assessment for student progress • Intensity of tutoring matters • Helpful to have a knowledgeable reading expert to coordinate & supervise

Community Literacy Programs for Adults • Assessment needed for strengths & weaknesses • Need to take into account learners’ goals • Learning takes time • Learners tend to attend, stop, & then come back or go to a different location • Direct, explicit instruction is needed • Sequential instruction

Literacy & Mentoring • Susan Taylor with Essence Magazine and Essence Cares Initiative • Inspire a national mentoring movement • Recruited national partners and is working with them to introduce literacy skill building into mentoring

Helene Kramer Good Schools For All, Buffalo Reads Carl Guerriere Greater Hartford Literacy Council Broadening the Role of Literacy in Communities: Experiences from the Field

Buffalo Reads • Developed collaborative model • Feasibility Study (different outcome measures) • Goals for age appropriate literacy, adult literacy, & providers • Literacy infused everywhere

Greater Hartford Literacy Council • Strategic partners • Assets & Needs Assessment • Develop quality standards for literacy services • Baseline report – “Status of Literacy in Greater Hartford” with recommendations for action

Measuring Effectiveness • Patrick Gaston with Verizon Foundation • Need to state what the learner “learned” in terms of literacy advancement/achievement • Verizon Lifespan Literacy Matrix

Outcome sequence chart Service quality characteristics Categories of data sources Data collection procedures Performance Measurement in Community LiteracyHarry Hatry

Challenges in Measuring and Collecting Data for Evaluation • Petrice Sams-Abiodun, Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy • Douglas Marriott, Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles

When the Community is the Unit of Analysis • Diversity of providers • Range of assessments & instructional methods • Reporting requirements vary • Literacy Alliance Evaluation – strength of partnerships & collaboration plus integration of best practices

Literacy @ Work • Data measurement with training • Public/private partnership of organizations • Challenges – skills assessment, performance measurement, data management

Next Steps for the Institute • Special 2008 Issue of Community Literacy Journal • Special Topics Discussion List – Topic - Community Literacy coming soon

Sources for further information • National Institute for Literacy Community Literacy Summit page http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/community/communityliteracy.html • Special Topics Discussion List http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/dicsussions • Community Literacy Journal http://www.communityliteracy.org/ • Outcome Indicators http://www.urban.org/center/cnp/projects/outcomeindicators.cfm

“Follow Up to the National Community Literacy Summit”