December 18th is International Migrants Day (IMD), declared so by the UN in 2000 when it adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Wow, I have never heard of this day or its purpose. But, my post is not about the (lack of) influence and relevancy of the UN, rather, it is about our US migrants, our newest citizens--legal or otherwise-- and how we adult educators integrate civics instruction in adult ESOL programs. I include a link to an opinion article, written by Andy Nash in 2010, that came to my inbox with information about IMD.
Andy discusses how ESOL programs do a good job of educating migrants to be responsible citizens, to pay taxes and find employment. Programs do a good job of preparing migrants to be participatory citizens, to obtain citizenship, vote, participate in their children's school activities, and the like. Programs fall short when it comes to preparing migrants to be action-oriented citizens. An action-oriented citizen seeks to change the status quo, find justice, and analyze and criticize government. Andy goes on to say how we need to report on measure of success that reflect civic engagement. She provides a model for civics instruction that her organization has used successfully in MA.
One of Andy's points on how to motivate migrants to become action-oriented citizens is to use a current event. She cited the example of 9/11 as an event that started dialogue and action. It is a sad reality that we often need a horrific event to rekindle an action-orientation in ourselves. In the wake of last week's tragedy in CT, perhaps another dialogue can begin. Civics instruction needs to be raw, and it needs to be honest. I feel we could all use some civics instruction right now. In closing, I appreciate the information on IMD, and the reminder from Andy that our newest citizens are here to help change the status quo.
http://www.nelrc.org/publications/pdf/Civics%20and%20Adult%20ESOL.pdf
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
I'm passing along a link to a TESOL International brief on the topic. Nothing new. I love how USCIS requires undocumented young people to provide documentation about their birth, arrival in the U.S, schooling, even a gov issued ID, to be processed for deferment. This is not a path to citizenship, just a 2 year holding pattern, work permit, possible driver's license. And oh yeah, it's $465. Then the person is in our gov "system." They must renew after 2 years. Then what? It's a tactic to post pone a decision on citizenship. I'm sorry to rant, but it was just to get votes, too.
We had a lot of stressed out ESOL students worried about getting into GED classes so they could apply for DACA and avoid deportment / perhaps find a path to residency. Most of these folks had literacy levels that were too low even for ABE classes. We issue letters of enrollment for ABE/GED and ESOL , as it seems PWCS AE should qualify as a state/fed funded literacy program for the purposes of this action. That is an issue for USCIS to determine, anyway.
Has anyone else had experience with DACA? Forgive my rantings. This is one of my hot buttons.
http://www.tesol.org/docs/advocacy/tesol_policy-brief_august-2012_8-15_final-final.pdf?sfvrsn=2
We had a lot of stressed out ESOL students worried about getting into GED classes so they could apply for DACA and avoid deportment / perhaps find a path to residency. Most of these folks had literacy levels that were too low even for ABE classes. We issue letters of enrollment for ABE/GED and ESOL , as it seems PWCS AE should qualify as a state/fed funded literacy program for the purposes of this action. That is an issue for USCIS to determine, anyway.
Has anyone else had experience with DACA? Forgive my rantings. This is one of my hot buttons.
http://www.tesol.org/docs/advocacy/tesol_policy-brief_august-2012_8-15_final-final.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Opportunity Index
opportunity index
If you have a few minutes, you might want to check out this link or read more about it in the recent OVAE newsletter. The Opportunity Index provides a composite score for each county in the U.S.-- "a measure of opportunity at the community level." Reduced to numbers, Virginia is ahead of the national average. Sources are Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau, produced by Opportunity Nation & Social Science Research Council. One of the factors in scoring opportunity is education. Here's what SSRC says about education:
Access to knowledge is a critical determinant of long-term well-being and is essential to individual freedom, self-determination, and self-sufficiency. Education is critical to people’s real freedom to decide what to do and who to be. Education builds confidence, confers status and dignity, and broadens the horizons of the possible—as well as allowing for the acquisition of skills and credentials. Globalization and technological change have made it extraordinarily difficult for poorly educated Americans to achieve the economic self-sufficiency, peace of mind, and self-respect enabled by a secure livelihood.
Access to knowledge is measured using two indicators: school enrollment for the population age 3 and older, and educational degree attainment for the population 25 years and older. A one-third weight is applied to the enrollment indicator and a two-thirds weight is applied to the degree attainment indicator. Both indicators are from the American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.
It was not clear to me whether the GED credential is considered degree attainment, or if enrollment in ABE programs is considered "enrolled" in this methodology. While I agree 100% that knowledge is the key to long-term success, I question whether we should judge knowledge by degree attainment only.
If you have a few minutes, you might want to check out this link or read more about it in the recent OVAE newsletter. The Opportunity Index provides a composite score for each county in the U.S.-- "a measure of opportunity at the community level." Reduced to numbers, Virginia is ahead of the national average. Sources are Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau, produced by Opportunity Nation & Social Science Research Council. One of the factors in scoring opportunity is education. Here's what SSRC says about education:
Access to knowledge is a critical determinant of long-term well-being and is essential to individual freedom, self-determination, and self-sufficiency. Education is critical to people’s real freedom to decide what to do and who to be. Education builds confidence, confers status and dignity, and broadens the horizons of the possible—as well as allowing for the acquisition of skills and credentials. Globalization and technological change have made it extraordinarily difficult for poorly educated Americans to achieve the economic self-sufficiency, peace of mind, and self-respect enabled by a secure livelihood.
Access to knowledge is measured using two indicators: school enrollment for the population age 3 and older, and educational degree attainment for the population 25 years and older. A one-third weight is applied to the enrollment indicator and a two-thirds weight is applied to the degree attainment indicator. Both indicators are from the American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.
It was not clear to me whether the GED credential is considered degree attainment, or if enrollment in ABE programs is considered "enrolled" in this methodology. While I agree 100% that knowledge is the key to long-term success, I question whether we should judge knowledge by degree attainment only.
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