Friday FYI

A West Contra Costa Unified School District e-update for staff

October 18, 2002 * PLEASE POST * No. 0203-5

The Literacy Corner

Adolescent literacy is a national issue

Two years ago three federal agencies-the National Institute For Literacy (NIFL), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the U.S. Department of Education-created a collaborative called the Partnership for Reading. Its purpose is to bring the findings of evidence-based reading research to the educational community, families, and others interested in helping all people learn to read well.

The Partnership recently created a series of workshops on adolescent literacy. At one of these workshops, Dr. Carol D'Amico, assistant secretary of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, described adolescent literacy as an urgent national challenge. She noted that illiteracy not only carries a personal burden for individuals; it also threatens national economic security. Dr. D'Amico shared the following national statistics:

• In middle and high schools, the levels of achievement, especially for reading and math, decline between grades 4 to 8 and grades 8 to 12.

• Many high school graduates enter college unprepared in reading and math. In community colleges, 40 to 60 percent of freshmen need remedial courses.
• Data from international comparisons of 16- to 18-year-olds show that even the top 10 percent in the United States cannot compete with the top 10 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds in other industrial countries.
• 25 percent leave school without a diploma. Many drop out because they cannot read well enough to do the course work. About 56 percent of Hispanics, African Americans, and students with disabilities do not finish with a diploma four years after they start. They see it as impossible to catch up, so they give up and drop out.
• The average 8th grader who is nonwhite or who is from a low-income family reads at three to four grade levels lower than whites and the more advantaged.

Though 65 percent of high school graduates nationally actually make it into college, about a third do not finish the first year. Many of these young adults spend the next 10 years floundering from job to job. They may start to get serious around age 28 or 29, and some try to go back to an adult or a secondary education program because it is indeed a ticket to a good job. The problem is that there will be more jobs than workers in the coming years when the baby boomers exit the labor market. This has implications for the nation's standard of living and economic security.

The workshop was jointly sponsored by government and private sector organizations, including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the International Reading Association, the National Education Association, the National Institute for Literacy, and the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, see <www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/adolescent>.

WORD WALL

. universal

. access

. pre-teach

In the Learning Village

. Why wait for the Olympics to come to San Francisco? The annual Madera Olympics take place on Friday, October 18th, 2002 from 3 to 5 p.m. Madera Elementary students from kindergarten through fifth grade will challenge the conventional wisdom that American kids today are fat and unfit by jumping, running, shooting baskets and doing sit-ups, in a spirited school event that raises money for Madera enrichment programs. Parents and friends pledge donations to student "Olympians" in this fundraiser sponsored by the Madera PTA.

. Jonathoan Kozol to speak at UC Berkeley: The UC Berkeley Center for Peace and Well-Being is sponsoring a lecture by author and educator Jonathan Kozol. Admission is free, but reservations via email or phone are required due to limited seating. For reservations call (510) 642-4836 or email lshiota@socrates.berkeley.edu or erinah@socrates.berkeley.edu.

The event takes place on November 1 at 3 p.m. at the International House, UC Berkeley campus. While teaching in a poor, black section of Boston, Kozol was fired for reading a Langston Hughes poem to his fourth grade students. His works include "Death at an Early Age," for which he received the 1968 National Book Award in Science, Philosophy and Religion, "Amazing Grace," "Savage Inequalities," and "Ordinary Resurrections." In 1980, the Cleveland Public Library asked him to design a literacy plan for the nation's large cities. That plan became the model for a major effort sparked by the State Library of California. The book that followed, "Illiterate America," was the center of a campaign to spur state, federal and private action on adult literacy.

Kozol's talk will draw from his most recent book, "Ordinary Resurrections, " in which the reader sees life through the eyes of children-not, as Kozol puts it, "from the perspective of a grown-up man with a Harvard education."

. First-ever Craft Fair at Ellerhorst: The Ellerhorst PTA announces its first Craft Fair on Saturday, November 9, and seeks individuals who are interested in buying space at the Fair to sell crafts, products, services, etc. In addition to vendor booths, the Fair will also feature such fun activities as a Haunted House, games, music, a bake sale, and a raffle. The Craft Fair will be open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Ellerhorst Elementary School is located at 3501 Pinole Valley Road in Pinole. For more information, please contact Christine at 799-0262 or Lisbeth at 223-3672. Support your local school!

. The next School Board Candidates' Forums will take place this Saturday, October 19 at John F. Kennedy High School from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and on Wednesday, October 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the El Cerrito High School cafeteria. All forums are sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Richmond Area, the Bayside Council PTA, and the American Association of University Women.

Upcoming school board regular meetings

• November 6, 2002: Regular School Board meeting, 7:00 p.m. at Pinole Valley High School.
• November 20, 2002: Regular School Board meeting, 7:00 p.m. at Pinole Valley High School.

Do you have an item for our next Friday FYI that's related to one of our strategic priorities? E-mail it to: pehara@ wccusd.k12.ca.us. Of course, if you're on the district's GroupWise network, you can just send it to us that way.

Our strategic priorities are: 1) Student Achievement (attendance), 2) Safety (behavior), 3) Personnel Training and Professional Development, 4) Facilities, 5) Family and Community Partnerships, 6) Equity, and 7) Communication.