2006

• The Literacy Institute Hosts LESLLA, an International English Language Forum for Researchers and Policy Makers
• The Condition of Education

The Literacy Institute Hosts LESLLA, an International English Language Forum for Researchers and Policy Makers (11-1-06)

The Literacy Institute will host the international LESLLA 2006 forum for over 80 international, national, and statewide researchers, practitioners, and policy makers on November 2-3 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

LESLLA, which stands for Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition, is an international forum focusing on the development of second language skills by adult immigrants with little or no schooling prior to moving to the country of entry. "It's hard for individuals to learn to speak and read in English when they cannot read in their own language," says Nancy Faux, ESOL specialist at the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center and the conference's organizer.

Researchers from as far the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and East Timor, and from across our nation will study and discuss education policy development in countries where immigrants settle and most need educational support. The conference features more than twenty presentations and discussion groups, opening with an address on "A National Citizenship Implementation Plan" and including the U.S. premiere of the European Quality Label Prize-winning film, "Newcomers to Morocco," which documents what happens when Dutch literacy teachers become the students in an Arabic class in Morocco.

Toward the conference's conclusion, working groups of experts from The Center for Applies Linguistics; Brown University; University of Minnesota; American Institutes of Research; Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.; Literacy Work International; Newcastle University, UK; Tilburg University, NL; and Radboud University, NL; Virginia Commonwealth University; and the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, among many others, will develop research and action recommendations for international implementation.

The Literacy Institute is a partnership between the Virginia Literacy Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education and Center for Public Policy.

To find out more about the conference and participants, please visit the LESLLA website at www.leslla.org or see our Media Advisory at www.valrc.org. The conference, held on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, is open to registered participants only.

Contact: Hillary Major
Phone: 800-237-0178
Fax: 804-828-7539
Email: hmajor@vcu.edu

The Condition of Education (12-1-06)

A SNAPSHOT OF THE STATE OF U.S. EDUCATION

From Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast, December 1, 2006

Did you know that despite all the criticisms leveled from coast to coast about K-12 public schools, most parents report being very satisfied with their child's school? Did you know that distance education courses are offered at more than half the country's two- and four-year postsecondary institutions? These and other statistics are in the 2006 Condition of Education report published by the U.S. Department of Education, reports Valerie Strauss. Each year, the department collects reams of data and statistically paints a portrait of where U.S. education stands. Between 1972 and 2004, the percentage of racial or ethnic minority students enrolled in the nation's public schools increased from 22 to 43 percent, primarily because of growth in Hispanic enrollment. In 2004, Hispanic students made up 19 percent of public school enrollment, up from 6 percent in 1972. The distribution of minority students in public schools differed across regions of the country. For example, minority public school enrollment in 2004 exceeded white enrollment in the West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming), 57 percent to 43 percent. The number of children ages 5 to 17 who spoke a language other than English at home more than doubled between 1979 and 2004, from 3.8 million to 9.9 million. Total expenditures per student increased 23 percent in constant dollars, from $7,847 to $9,630 between the 1995-96 and 2002-03 school years. In 2002-03, total per-student expenditures were highest in low-poverty districts ($10,768), next highest in high-poverty districts ($10,191) and lowest in middle-poverty districts ($8,839). To read more of the article go to The Washington Post or click on the full report entitled The Condition of Education, 2000-2006 at The National Center for Educational Statistics.