Jodi-- It is laudable, of course, that you are attempting to find this out. I am sure you will learn about some very progressive approaches to this thorny problem and be able to make some recommendations to others with evidence to show that things CAN be done differently. ?? 

I believe that just because people are volunteers does not mean that they should be permitted-- expected even- to be incompetent at what they are volunteering for at the expense of the learners who need the services so badly.?? Tutor attrition is just as bad as learner attrition in some areas. One way, as I suggested in my previous post, to address that issue is to help tutors be more competent so that they are really able to address their student's needs well.? Their success will be as important to their persistence as success is to learners' persistence.? I believe that was one of the findings in the NCSALL Persistence study, done with volunteer literacy programs. ? 

Robin ??  


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jodi Crandall <crandall at umbc.edu>
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 7:16 pm
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1915] Re: Requesting Resource Information









Robin,



I agree that we need to have higher entry requirements for adult ESOL teachers and tutors.? If I didn't, I wouldn't have undertake that huge project to try to find out what the states now require and what they are planning.? I would love to see tutors participating in a structured training program of sufficient duration to provide the foundation that you mention.? I just don't know how much we can expect when they are volunteers.




I would love to hear from various volunteer program administrators about the kinds of pre-service and in-service training they provide and what kind of incentives (if necessary) to get volunteers to participate.




Jodi



On Feb 7, 2008, at 7:22 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:



 Jodi-- Embedded training is pretty much what I do-- meet with tutor and student and try to help the tutor develop adjusted strategies and techniques for working with that learner and teach the teacher as we go along what works.? 
 
 ?What I am saying is that the foundations skills are so lacking that the "embedded training" is just like putting water color paint on a house in a rainy climate.?? I know places like Illinois have made some good efforts to create a more substantial training program for tutors and require that they complete an online portion and a face to face session or two before tutors can begin.? It is a start--but I have worked with one literacy provider organization that admitted in so many words that it was more important to keep the tutors happy than to serve the learners' real needs-- so that organization would not change its highly ineffective method of assigning tutors to students even while recognizing that learners' needs were not being met. ?  
 
 I am suggesting that perhaps this paradigm can be shifted--rather dramatically, that learners' needs MUST drive tutor training and assignments.?? What is so bad about setting things up so tutors must EARN the right to work with learners just as teachers must?? I know of at least one program in the West that does that.? Tutors must literally earn the qualification as a tutor through participation in a rigorous training program before they can have the privilege of working with a learner.? And they have tutors not only eager to start, but who are competent enough to love what they do and know they are being effective.?? Most training programs I am aware of last from about 6-18 hours and are a hodge-podge of information on adult learning, doing paperwork, culture information, ESL general principles (but few techniques), etc.? Even things like learning how to set concrete, achievable, real goals WITH the learner and then measure progress in  clear terms are elements that I have never seen in training. In working with some professional tutors from one of the large literacy organizations a few years ago, I was told that they were well trained in setting up a lesson plan, but had not the first word of training in how to measure whether the lesson was effective or not.?? 
 
 What you see when this happens and learning is vague is the blame-the-learner syndrome. EVERY ONE of the tutors here that I have worked with FIRST blamed the learner for not "getting" what was being offered, and then, later in the conversation, began to wonder if maybe they ( the tutor) could possible present the information differently or wonder if it was even the RIGHT information.?? One of these--and his supervisor-- characterized his learner as an almost total beginner in English and the tutor was doing ESOL 101.01--"Hi. My name is___.? What is YOUR name?"? .?? FIVE minutes with the learner told me that he was really an intermediate learner-- he had LOTS of not-so-comprehensible English and wanted to learn more vocabulary to be able to carry on a normal conversation.? The tutor, having nothing to compare it to, nor any rubric or anything for gauging it, judged the level to be zero.? 
 
 I agree that SOME tutors COULD learn on the ground, but unless they have more preparation for what they are going to do, it would take a tremendous amount of mentoring and monitoring, which no literacy program could manage, that I know of.? One of the tutors I have mentored here is a 25-yr. teaching veteran. She confessed that NOTHING in her experience as a teacher prepared her for the demands of tutoring a highly literate adult ESOL learner.? 
 
 Robin? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Jodi Crandall <crandall at umbc.edu>
 To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
 Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 2:59 pm
 Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1912] Re: Requesting Resource Information
 
 
 I think Robin has shared what are very important concerns. 


 
I also know how hard it is to expect volunteer tutors to? have substantial training in teaching ESL/ESOL.? I'd really like to know how various programs structure professional development for volunteers/tutors?? In a recent brief I? co-authored, with Genesis Ingersoll and Jacqueline Lopez at CAL,? "Adult ESL Teacher Credentialing and Certification" we tried to identify what the states are requiring in terms of initial hiring and professional development.? Because it was a "Brief," we could not go into much detail on various ways in which individual programs are training or what their initial hiring expectations are.? You can access the Brief at:
 
www.cal.org/caela
 


 
Be sure to click on the large table which provides information on each of the states and the District of Columbia.
 


 
Since we know that most adult ESL/ESOL practitioners gain much of their knowledge and skill on the job (see Marilyn Gillespie and Cristine Smith on this at NCSALL), we really need to figure out the best ways in which we can support tutors and help them to gain skills while they are tutoring.
 


 
Is there a way to "embed" training in the volunteers' tutoring experiences.? I'm thinking of something similar to ways in which ESL and work-related training is provided to workers on the job.? "Embedded training"? -- the same as ESL and skills instruction embedded in work -- is something that has great potential, I think.? Has anyone tried this?? How?
 


 
Jodi Crandall
 


 


 


 

 
 
On Feb 7, 2008, at 1:15 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:
 

 
 I hate to be a wet blanket here, but this just caught my eye.? Why don't you recommend that this person advertise at a local college for someone to tutor him.? He needs someone who will work with him on his assignments who is able to meet him at the level of English he already has.?? I say this having just worked with one on one with the FOURTH tutor from the local library Literacy Services assigned to an ESOL learner with fairly strong English skills.? I have also worked with numerous literacy service providers in several states and regularly provide PD sessions for literacy tutors in the state where I live. ? 
 
 These tutors mean so well but know so very little about working with ESOL learners that frankly, it is not a productive match.?? Since the tutors do not know ESOL issues well, they tend to grab at some generic book in hopes that will appease the learner-- when usually the learner has very specific needs and goals, as does this learner, which do not get met or addressed at all.?? 
 
 I am so disheartened by the gap between what ESOL learners need and what their literacy tutors are providing that I have decided to speak more frankly about it.? I have adjusted my sessions with tutors to help them start with the very basics: let's find out just what English your learner actually knows and then what he or she really came to you to learn.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robin Lovrien Schwarz 
 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Sandy  Phillips <SPhillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us>
 To: lbedford at rushmore.com; The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
 Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 10:37 am
 Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1910] Re: Requesting Resource Information
 
 
 
Laurie,
 
?
 
Have him call the Literacy Coordinator at the Stockton Public Library Peaches Ehrich at (209) 937-8261.? I am sure she can help him locate the help he needs.
 
?
 
 
Sandy Phillips 
 Literacy Coordinator 
 Volunteer Coordinator 
 (760) 435-5683 
 (760) 435-5681 FAX# 
 sphillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us 
 
 
 
 

 From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Laurie Bedford
 Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:38 AM
 To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
 Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1909] Requesting Resource Information
 
 
 

 
All,
 
I am an adjunct faculty member at an online unversity teaching graduate courses.?? I have a student who is struggling with his writing.?? He is an english languague learner and Spanish is his first language.?? He lives in Stockton, CA.?? Does anyone know of any resources in that area that he might draw upon?? Thanks.
 
Laurie
 

 
 Laurie Bedford, Ph.D. 
 Adjunct Faculty/Instructional Development Consultant
 lbedford at rushmore.com 
 605-720-7881 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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National Institute for Literacy
 
Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
 
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To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment
 

 
 
Email delivered to crandall at umbc.edu?
 

 
 
Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki?
 
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development
 

 
 
  
JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
 
Professor and Director
 
Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program
 
Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education
 
University of Maryland Baltimore County
 
1000 Hilltop Circle
 
Baltimore, MD 21250
 
tel:? 410-455-2313
 
fax: 410-455-8947
 
eml: crandall at umbc.edu
 


 


 
 
 
 
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----------------------------------------------------

National Institute for Literacy

Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov
 
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

Email delivered to robinschwarz1 at aol.com 

 

Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development



----------------------------------------------------

National Institute for Literacy

Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov




To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment




Email delivered to crandall at umbc.edu?




Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki?

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development
 



 
JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall

Professor and Director

Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program

Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education

University of Maryland Baltimore County

1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, MD 21250

tel:? 410-455-2313

fax: 410-455-8947

eml: crandall at umbc.edu







 


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----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov
 
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

Email delivered to robinschwarz1 at aol.com 
 
Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development



 


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