"Adult Floridians are literate and have the knowledge and skills needed to compete in a global economy and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship."
The assumptions made regarding Goal 7 have been summarized and divided into 3 categories outlined below.
Adult literacy training is an essential part of the education system.
Schools and districts are accountable for achieving adult literacy in Florida.
There is a correlation between education level of parents and academic success of their children; therefore, to improve the education level of future generations, we must educate parents.
Lifelong learning and job retraining are necessary components of creating and maintaining a capable and versatile workforce.
The education system must be flexible enough to serve citizens whose goals may change; it must keep opportunities available for entry and reentry into the system as the needs of the citizens demand it.
Interagency and intraagency cooperation strengthen the capacity of providing sufficient quality education programs to adults.
"Adult Floridians have mastered the student performance standards and outcomes identified in Goal 3."
The outcomes for Standard 1 have been summarized below.
Schools and community agencies will collaborate and cooperate to identify and refer adults in need of literacy training.
Schools will provide access to literacy education for adults in order to ensure success of their children in school.
All adult Floridians will meet or be striving to meet literacy standards.
Community and Adult Education practitioners will find 10 strategies for helping schools and advisory councils accomplish Goal 7 in the section below. Each strategy is followed by suggested steps for implementing the strategy.
Promote literacy awareness and training that is available in the school and the community.
Create a fact sheet that profiles the successes of the literacy program; disseminate using both internal and external marketing strategies.
Develop a directory of literacy programs and services.
Work with the public library to host a literacy fair, conduct a library card drive, or organize a paperback book swap.
Visit after-school day care centers to distribute information on literacy classes for parents. Ask for permission to conduct an activity with the children, for example, to design invitations to parents to visit the Adult Education program or to teach children how to take messages and deliver them.
Plan an "open house" for parents of day care students to show what programs and services are available. Distribute coupons worth one "free" visit to any Adult or Community Education class.
Create a bulletin board that announces educational opportunities available through other agencies and organizations.
Organize collaborative efforts among Literacy Volunteers of America, Adult Education and other literacy related organizations.
Recruit literacy volunteers.
Work with school principal to identify teachers who might be interested in becoming involved with literacy training, either as part-time teachers or as tutors.
Work with managers and small business owners to invite working adults to become tutors. Using corporate/business support, design a reward system for employees who become involved.
Work with guidance staff to gain an understanding of the average level of education of parents in neighborhood schools. Depending on the situation, participate in PTO and other school meetings to recruit students and/or literacy volunteers.
Encourage GED graduates to return to classes to provide encouragement to enrolled students and to volunteer time in class.
Invite local community college students enrolled in Introduction to Education classes to become volunteers.
Invite members of local service organizations to become volunteers.
Establish a referral service for adults who need literacy training and for agencies that offer literacy training.
Create a directory of local literacy programs; share the directory with teachers and school administrators. Stay abreast of all collaborative efforts.
Ask for administrative approval to send information home with school children. Create an inquiry sheet that students can take to parents, providing and opportunity for them to ask for more information about local Adult Education programs. Ask for name, address, telephone number, and best time to call with the requested information. Follow up on all inquiries received. If existing Community and Adult Education programs cannot accommodate the request, try to put the person in touch with another agency or service that can help.
Set up a literacy class where parents can bring children and read to them during class time.
Organize a one-stop resource center for adults in need of literacy training and other services in your community.
Form a coalition/consortium to facilitate access to grant money related to literacy training.
Contact local businesses and offer to conduct a literacy audit.
With help from the management, identify the skills needed and problems encountered in filling open positions with the company. This can be done by analyzing each job separately or analyzing categories of jobs. Determine if skills training is needed to improve the efficiency of the business.
Using internal marketing strategies, build both union and management support for the concept of skills training programs in workplace basics.
Present a strategy and action plan to the management for approval. Include a proposal for teaching such basic work skills as positive work attitude, team cooperation, learning to adapt to change, problem solving, and fundamental reading and math. Determine if an English as a second language training is a basic need.
Introduce your faculty member to management prior to starting classes; be sure the faculty member is well-oriented to the needs and expectations of the employer.
Maintain contact with the management to be sure that they are satisfied with what is happening in the classes. This is especially important if classes are scheduled during working hours.
Ask for an evaluation by students, management, and faculty when the training is over.
Create information articles and other materials about Community and Adult Education for publication.
Write information pieces on students and parents who work together in school. Submit to district school board and other strategic points for publication.
Invite editors of local newspapers to visit your office and/or exemplary Community and Adult Education classes.
Invite radio personalities to visit your office and exemplary Community and Adult Education classes-particularly during special events.
When using the media for advertising or promoting your programs and activities, invite a business to be present to offer a prize or certificate to a contest winner or student whose name has been drawn.
Submit your articles to local papers and school newspapers. When an article is published, make copies and distribute to all faculty and associated agency personnel.
Highlight businesses that support your efforts when writing your articles. They will enjoy the publicity and possibly be motivated to offer greater support in the future.
Organize collaborative skills inservice training for K-12 administrators.
Contact school staff training office to discuss your ideas and to determine if sufficient need and interest exists. Some examples of what might be explained in such training are:
a. The difference between collaboration and cooperation.
b. How to initiate a collaborative effort, set up a steering committee, create opportunities for discussion, and secure commitments.
c. How to maintain relationships in order to build a ready support system that can be mobilized quickly.
d. How to assess the status and effectiveness of a collaborative effort.
If interest/need exists, design a proposal to deliver the training as requested by the Staff Training Office.
Deliver what you promise. Better still, deliver more than you promise.
Be sure to conclude the activity with an evaluation. Summarize the results and report them to the staff training office.
Find out the strengths and weaknesses of your existing programs.
Conduct an exit survey of GED graduates. Find out how to improve, how to recruit, what was good, and what will make the program better for future students.
Conduct a survey of Community and Adult Education faculty. Ask for input regarding existing policies and expectations, as well as recommendations for improving the programs.
Design an evaluation instrument for use in Community and Adult Education classes. Ask teachers for input in the creation and use of this instrument.
Set specific goals for your office at the beginning of each school year. Examples might be to conduct needs assessments, to develop a pool of qualified faculty for current classes and programs, to establish at least two new linkages with agencies in the community, or to survey students who leave a class prior to completion.
Share results of surveys and needs assessments with collaborating agencies and ask for input regarding how to improve services for students.
Create and coordinate support groups to assist students in literacy classes.
Survey Adult Education students and teachers, and parents of school aged children about their needs and interests. Use incentives to encourage participation (at the teacher, student, and parent level).
Using information gathered from students, teachers, and parents, determine the existing roadblocks to success and/or participation in literacy classes. Examples might include such problems as transportation, child care, etc.
Work with other community agencies to address and solve these problems.
Create neighborhood support groups in housing projects (similar to Sheriff's Neighborhood Watch Groups) to share tasks such as transportation, child care, parent-teacher communication, homework hotlines, etc.
Organize fund raising activities through civic groups, churches and businesses to fund items or projects identified by students and teachers as barriers to success in literacy classes.
Encourage staff involvement in professional organizations and activities related to Community and Adult Education.
Disseminate information about ACE of Florida, FACE and other organizations that offer inservice education programs.
Host at least one professional development activity for your staff and staff of cooperating agencies each year. Offer a tour of your facility and invite others to share information about their programs and activities.
Set up a mechanism for collecting creative ideas that solve problems.
Allow and encourage staff to participate in local, state, and national conferences or workshops.
Develop a professional library for use by staff.
Coordinate at least one project each year that involves partnership efforts with community service organizations, the community school, and/or the local literacy effort.
Identify a planning team consisting of a representative of each agency to be involved.
Identify the purpose of the event and the target audience.
Determine a theme for the event. This theme may be in conjunction with an already planned "bigger" event, or it may be the creation of this planning team.
Get each team member involved by assigning responsibilities. For example, one member may solicit corporate sponsorships involving awards or prize; another may arrange for food/refreshments to be donated; another may secure the space and/or the donation of facilities.
Market internally and externally.
Have an alternate plan, if weather could affect the success.
Be able to assess the success of your event based on preset goals and expectations. This will help you determine if you want to carry out the project again.