>Youth in ABE. It's a constant topic of conversation. Now you can read

>about it, too, in the newest issue of "Focus on Basics," available

>on the NCSALL web site at http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu (Scroll down on

>the home page and click on the Newest FOB box)

>

>How do you serve youth well without sacrificing the quality of service

>to older students? Missouri literacy program director Janet Geary

>participated in a professional development program to learn an approach

>to educating youth called youth cultural competence. Janet writes

>candidly about the trials of implementation from her perspective as a

>program director. The changes her GED program made have resulted in

>increased retention and positive outcomes. Read about the professional

>development model and the theory behind Youth Cultural Competence as

>well.

>

>Young dropouts need to improve their basic skills because skills matter

>to their economic futures, writes NCSALL researcher John Tyler. He

>shares findings from his study that examined the impact of literacy

>skills on earnings.  Jennifer Roloff Welch and Kathrynn Di Tommaso

>examine how many youth are in the ABE system and why. It's a

>substantial number and may well grow over the next few years.

>

>Oregon's Virginia Tardaewether sees no reason to separate younger and

>older students. What better place to learn to live together, she

>suggests, than in the ABE classroom? Students of all ages mix

>successfully in a high school for beginning English for speakers of

>other languages in Fairfax, Virginia. Originally established for young

>immigrants, the program now enrolls students of all ages.

>

>In South Dakota, Lara Ann Frey and Yvonne Lerew found it necessary to

>create a special class for young immigrants who had age-specific

>psychosocial as well as language learning needs. Separating students by

>age works for a community college in New Mexico as well. Teachers

>Lilia-Rosa Salmon and Anastasia Cotton find that both the younger and

>older students now feel freer to address age-specific concerns within

>their classrooms and their academics have benefited as well.

>To read all of these stories and more, click on

>http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/fob/

>

>Barb Garner

>Editor, Focus on Basics

>

>Barbara Garner

>Senior Program Officer         email bgarner at worlded.org

>World Education                   phone (617) 482-9485

>44 Farnsworth Street             fax  (617) 482-0617

>Boston, MA  02210