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   Literacy Information and Resources

Massachusetts Adult Literacy Statistics and Programs

Massachusetts Department of Education/Adult and Community Learning Services

For more information about adult basic education, pre-GED, GED and ESOL resources and programs in Massachusetts

www.doe.mass.edu/acls

Massachusetts Adult Literacy Hotline

For listings of adult basic education, pre-GED, GED and ESOL programs

1-800-447-8844

Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education

For more information about adult basic education budget and policy issues, legislative alerts and professional development opportunities

www.mcae.net

Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC)

New Skills for a New Economy:  Adult Education’s Key Role in Sustaining Economic Growth and Expanding Opportunity (2000)

A report by MassINC, a non-partisan think tank, about the lack of basic skills among existing workers in Massachusetts, finding that more than 1/3 of the state’s 3.2 million workers (1.1 million) do not have the skills required by the state’s rapidly evolving economy.

www.massinc.org/publications/index.html

 

System for Adult Basic Education Support (SABES)

For information on professional development opportunities, instructional resources and publications

www.sabes.org

 

U.S. Adult Literacy Statistics

National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS)

These estimates from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) combine information from the NALS and the 1990 U.S. Census to estimate adult literacy proficiencies.
http://www.casas.org/lit/litcode/Search.cfm
Note: after selecting a state and an area type, click on the name of the state again on the next screen.
To see a brief description of the five NALS Literacy Levels click on http://www.casas.org/22R&D/NALS_level_desc.pdf

National Assessments of Adult Literacy (NAAL 2003)
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is conducting a nationally representative assessment of the English language literacy skills of American adults age 16 and older. The NAAL 2003 will provide the first assessment of the nation's progress in adult literacy since 1992. To learn about what is being measured, the main purpose, and how the data will be collected, go to http://nces.ed.gov/naal/ and download the three-page brochure.

 

International Adult Literacy Statistics

 

United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012
More than 861 million adults do not currently have access to literacy. The Literacy Decade will focus on the needs of adults with the goal that people everywhere should be able to use literacy to communicate within their own community, in the wider society, and beyond. To learn about adult and youth illiteracy rates by country and region, click on statistics on this page: http://www.unesco.org/education/litdecade

Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS)
The ALLS is a large-scale, comparative survey that goes beyond previous international studies. In addition to the literacy skills measured in the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), ALLS is designed to identify and measure a broader range of skills in the adult population (age 16-65) in each participating country.
http://www.ets.org/all/survey.html

International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)
The IALS was a 22-country initiative conducted between 1994 and 1998. In every country, nationally representative samples of adults aged 16-65 were interviewed and tested at home, using the same literacy test. The main purpose of the survey was to find out how well adults use information to function in society. Another aim was to investigate the factors that influence literacy proficiency and to compare these among countries.
http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/IALS.html

 

Links to other Adult Literacy and Education Organizations and Resources

Adult Literacy & Technology Network
http://www.altn.org

 

American Association for Adult and Continuing Education
http://www.aaace.org

 

American Council on Education & GED Testing Service
http://www.acenet.edu

 

American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/

 

Center for Applied Linguistics
http://www.cal.org

 

The Center for Literacy Studies. University of Tennessee
http://cls.coe.utk.edu

 

Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication
http://reading.indiana.edu/

 

Commission on Adult Basic Education, Inc. (COABE)
http://www.coabe.org/

 

Community Partnerships for Adult Learning (C-PAL)
http://www.c-pal.net/

 

Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy
http://www.caalusa.org

 

The Educator's Reference Desk
http://www.eduref.org/

 

Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy & Goodling Institute
http://www.ed.psu.edu/isal

 

International Reading Association
http://www.reading.org

 

NALS Synthetic Estimates of Adult Literacy
http://www.casas.org/lit/litcode/

 

National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions
http://www.naulc.org/

 

National Center for Family Literacy
http://famlit.org/

 

National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~ncsall/

 

National Center on Adult Literacy
http://ncal.literacy.upenn.edu/

 

National Council of State Directors of Adult Education
http://www.naepdc.org

 

National Institute for Literacy
http://novel.nifl.gov/

 

National Institute for Literacy's LINCS
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/search/search.html

 

Pfizer's Partnership for Clear Health Communication
http://www.askme3.org/

 

ProLiteracy America

www.proliteracy.org

 

SCALE Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education
http://www.readwriteact.org

 

TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
http://www.tesol.org

 

United Way of America
http://national.unitedway.org/

 

U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/

 

U.S. Office of Vocational and Adult Education
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/index.html

 

Verizon Literacy Campus
http://www.literacycampus.org/

 

World Education
http://www.worlded.org

 

ESOL Resources

www.Esl-lounge.com

Printable lesson materials for grammar, reading comprehension, worksheets, song lyrics, board games, pronunciations, flashcards, surveys and role plays for different levels of ESOL

 

www.alri.org

The Adult Literacy Resource Institute site has links to resources for both tutors and students.

 

www.eslcafe.com

One of the most comprehensive ESOL sites on the internet; includes an “idea cookbook” section, idioms, web links organized by category and a section for one-to-one teaching

 

www.eslflow.com

Lessons, activities and resources for elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate levels.

 

www.eslpartyland.com

Interactive quizzes for students, and lesson plans and downloadable materials for tutors

 

www.webguidesforteachers.com

Web links for ESOL are listed in the Subjects and Special Interests section

 

www.Bartleby.com

Books online, including reference books such as The Columbia Guide to Standard American English and The Elements of Style

 

www.Greeneclipessoftware.com/eclipsecrossword

Create your own crossword puzzle based on vocabulary that you and your student are working on

Adult Learner Organizations

Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education (VALUE)

A national organization forcurrent or former students in an adult basic education or English as a Second Language program
http://literacynet.org/value/

 

Massachusetts Alliance for Adult Literacy (MassAAL)

Affiliated with VALUE, the state organization for current or former students in an adult basic education or English as a Second language programs

www.alri.org/massaal

Nonprofit Management

Board Source (formerly The National Center for Nonprofit Boards)

Resources to build effective nonprofit boards
http://www.boardsource.org/

 

Independent Sector

A coalition of leading nonprofits, foundations and corporations, strengthening not-for-profit initiative, philanthropy and citizen action.

www.independentsector.org

 

Technical Development Corporation (TDC)

Nonprofit consulting and research group dedicated to providing the nonprofit sector with the business and management skills critical to operating effectively; consulting services, online resources and trainings; located in Boston

www.tdcorp.org

 

Alliance for Nonprofit Management

The professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to improving the management and governance capacity of nonprofits - to assist nonprofits in fulfilling their mission

www.allianceonline.org

 

Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits

To build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to achieve mission-driven results; although consultants primarily work with nonprofits in Minneapolis, the web site provides a wealth of online resources

www.mapfornonprofits.org

 

Charity Channel

As the “conference that never sleeps”, the world’s largest online community where nonprofit professionals can connect, learn from each other, share information and work together to advance the cause of philanthropy 

www.charitychannel.com