August 2001 – August 2021
Literacyworks has been the go-to nonprofit for literacy and online curriculum development. In August, we'll celebrate our 20 year birthday. We have a long history with educational resource development and online delivery of multimedia literacy material, allowing access to resources for literacy programs in California and nationally. Below are some of our current and past projects. A complete list can be found at https://www.literacyworks.org/projects.
Our Science & Numeracy Special Collection included our interactive projects with National Science Foundation, Centers for Ocean Science Educational Excellence (COSEE) and NOAA on field expeditions with disciplinary thrusts, e.g., biology (zooplankton & bacteria), chemistry (trace metals), physics (ocean circulation) for K-12 schools. The site also provided links to Internet sites useful for teaching and learning about science and numeracy.
Literacyworks Professional Development provides professional development opportunities to ABE and ESL professionals. We improve adult education and literacy instruction through training, research, and best practices by establishing high-quality programs customized to state and local education standards.
Literacyworks California Health Literacy Initiative (CHLI) The goal of the Literacyworks California Health Literacy Initiative at literacyworks.org/healthliteracy (launched by Literacyworks and California Literacy in 2003) is to inform & partner with individuals and organizations to craft collective, lasting solutions which will positively impact the health and well-being of individuals with low-literacy skills, their families, & their communities. Literacyworks continues to expand the original goal of the Initiative by increasing collaborative partnerships & developing understandable health literacy material. In 202-21, we have supplied plain language COVID-19 information and resources to the community, including employment, financial assistance, food security, housing, medical health, domestic violence, and mental health.
Literacyworks' Parents as First Teachers: Engaging Families to Increase Children's Literacy goal is to improve the emergent literacy skills of low-literacy, low-income bilingual parents and children. The program does this through a combination of access to resources in the home and the community and training parents in the basic skills to encourage their children to become avid readers.
Literacyworks administered the US Department of Education's Regional Professional Development Center (Region 4) for the Literacy Information and Communication Network System (LINCS) for twenty-one years. Through LINCS, we connected, trained, and provided educational resources for literacy programs in local libraries, adult education programs, and other community and institutional settings throughout Alaska, Hawaii, the western United States, and the Pacific Islands.
And, of course, the Literacyworks Center assisting underserved, below-basic-skills adult students in solving the many educational, personal and logistical challenges they must face to stay in school and succeed in work. The Center provides advising, mentoring, and scholarship support (through the Adult Literacy Awards) that help break persistence barriers to school completion such as transportation, childcare, and tuition.
The Center is in its sixth year of operation, serving basic skills students attending Santa Rosa Junior College. In the first year, the Center supported 20 students, primarily individuals taking Early Childhood Development classes, which were required to maintain their jobs. In each of the following semesters, the number of students has continued to grow to a high of 110 individuals. Students have many diverse goals ranging from completing their high school equivalency, improving their English skills, completing the nursing program's prerequisites, and graduating and transferring to a four-year university. Students must be functioning at a pre-collegiate level to be admitted to the program. Still, financial and advising support is maintained until they achieve their educational goal. Students to date have developed trade skills in a variety of areas. They have received certificates in ESL, completed the GED, and 19 have completed the Associate's Degree.
As of the end of Spring semester 2021, 14 students have transferred to several universities; UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Sonoma State University are just a few.
The fundamental premise of the support the Center provides is that every individual deserves a chance to succeed. Knowing there is someone who believes in you and is concerned about your future makes a difference. That learning to trust and believe in yourself creates opportunities that were not previously foreseeable. The Center has been and will continue to be committed to changing lives.
