The World at our Doorstep

The Onondaga Citizens League studied the issues of refugee resettlement in Central New York. The purposes of the study were to first develop a clearer picture and understanding of the refugee dynamic in Onondaga County -- the needs, the service continuum and the opportunities new refugee populations offe and then to recommend programming and policies to help it be a more welcoming community. The lessons learned crossed sectors from literacy to public safety, and offer information both in process and potential.The community has a long history of welcoming people from around the world and has seen an increase in New Americans in the last four to five years, as global unrest has grown. The higher numbers, coinciding as they did with an economic downturn that hurt all residents of the community, made the refugee presence more noticeable and for some, more problematic. Underlying the study was an unspoken question -- does Onondaga County have the resources and the willingness to welcome this population in a way that helps them without negatively affecting others with human service needs? The actions recommended might be targeted towards helping this new population, but were built on the premise that by helping them, Onondaga County (and other communities) help themselves

Building Capacity for ESL, Legal Services, and Citizenship

Provides a funders' guide to opportunities, strategies, and resources for promoting immigrants' civic integration by investing in a local infrastructure of services, including English instruction, legal services, and assistance with naturalization

Enhancing Literacy in First- and Second Language Learners with Behavioral and Learning Difficulties

This dissertation is concerned with the improvement of literacy skills in primary and secondary school students with learning and behavioral difficulties—with German as a first language on the one hand and German and English as second languages on the other—displayed in two parts. This focus has been set against the background of an increasing number of students who perform with less literacy proficiency in first and second languages (L1 and L2) and the growing heterogeneity of students who face learning and behavioral difficulties that pose major challenges for teachers. Two specially designed and combined interventions, peer-tutorial Reading Racetracks (RT) and storytelling, will be presented that are characterized by great effectiveness in literacy and good usability for heterogeneous groups of students. For both parts, these interventions were evaluated in various constellations regarding their effectiveness for literacy. Group and single-case designs were used for this purpose and conducted in elementary, secondary, and special schools. Although the participants in the studies are very heterogeneous and certainly need further research, the results of all eight studies indicate that both types of interventions, RT in L1, and storytelling in L2, are highly effective in terms of literacy and thus provide an opportunity for students to improve significantly and regain enjoyment in learning. At the same time, the findings provide guidance for teachers on how to successfully design and implement interventions for L1 and L2 students with learning and behavioral difficulties across a wide range of grade levels

Leave No Youth Behind: Opportunities for Congress to Reach Disconnected Youth

This report discusses six programs being considered by the 108th Congress for reauthorization, focusing on policies designed to assist disconnected and at-risk youth. The review seeks to identify how the programs do or do not consider at-risk or disconnected youth ad how such programs might be improved. After an introduction by Alan Houseman, six papers include: "The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and Disconnected Youth" (Cynthia G. Brown and Andy Hartman); "The Higher Education Act and Disconnected Youth" (Thomas R. Wolanin); "The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Disconnected Youth" (Cynthia G Brown and Jennifer Mezey); "The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and Disconnected Youth" (Bob Reeg); "The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program and Disconnected Youth" (Jodie Levin-Epstein); and "The Workforce Investment Act and Disconnected Youth" (Nisha Patel and Steve Savner)

Learner Persistence in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Programs

Persistence – or continued, intense study – is a common challenge for adults in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs because of various institutional, situational, and dispositional factors. The current state and federal funding standards for adult ESOL programs are driven by human capital theory, and therefore most funders require demonstrated employment outcomes for students. These top-down objectives do not always align with English learners’ own motivations and goals. ESOL organizations must consider the complexities of these interacting forces to develop effective persistence strategies for their constituents. This case study of an ESOL organization in central Massachusetts is based on information from an English learner focus group, an educator focus group, an anonymous survey, and a quantitative analysis of attendance data. Two major findings emerged from the data. First, English learners’ social context and educational experiences are inseparable, and a special focus must be given to the influence of family and life stage on a student’s educational path. Second, the conflicting priorities of funders, organizations, teachers, and English learners are evident in the classroom. At the organizational level, several changes to instructional strategies and allocation of resources have been recommended to promote learner persistence. Policymakers must reconsider the purposes and desired outcomes of adult ESOL programs when shaping funding standards

Effects of a Peer-Tutoring System Utilizing Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorders as Tutors and Students With Intellectual Disabilities as Tutees

High school students with intellectual disabilities often find appropriate ways and times to socialize with their peers. In self-contained settings, students are often limited to interacting with only those within the classroom. In addition, students with emotional behavioral disorders often have deficits in social domains and in self-esteem. Improving socializations of students with disabilities has always been a concern of both parents and teachers. Peer-mediated learning has been a proven effective way to instruct students with disabilities. Placing a student with an emotional behavioral disorder in the position of a peer tutor allows them to feel more secure in their own skills. A multiple baseline across subject design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-tutoring program in which students with emotional behavioral disorders tutored students with moderate intellectual disabilities with the aim of increasing social initiations in students with moderate intellectual disabilities

West Thames College: report from the Inspectorate (FEFC inspection report; 31/95 and 14/99)

Comprises two Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) inspection reports for the periods 1994-95 and 1998-99

Patterns of Participation in Classroom Learning

This study is concerned with the learning experiences and strategies of secondary Aboriginal girls from Elcho Island in the Northern Territory as they study in an urban school in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The girls were learning English as their second and third language. The study details how the ESL teacher/author tried to understand how to meet the needs of these girls who came with such different learning strategies and styles. The teacher/author's visit to their homeland in Elcho Island immediately helped her to understand how the grils' different social and learning experiences had influenced them, and how different their lives were at the new school. The account of observations and analysis of their patterns of participation in their new school give important insights into their learning styles