CLESE Bright Ideas EL-Civics for Senior Immigrants and Refugees

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Language, Literacy and Immigrant Integration in
the United States Heide Spruck Wrigley,
PhD LiteracyWork International Las Cruces, New
Mexico
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Literacywork Int
Literacywork International

• LWI is a small social policy firm, focused on
  education and training of low educated adults and
  youth
• Current projects
• Youth at Risk (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Workforce ESL and workplace literacy (several
  projects)
• NAAL Demographic profiles and language and
  literacy skills of low literate immigrants
• Professional development (ongoing PD Institutes)
• Training in integrating multi-media into teaching
  and learning
• MPI - National Policy Project

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http//www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/
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MPI Center for Immigrant Integration Policy

• Research Questions
• What are the language and literacy skills of
  foreign-born immigrants with a special focus on
  
• Low achieving youth
• Low educated adults
• Non-literate adults
• How long will it take them to reach proficiency
  (6 levels)?
• How much would it cost?
• Where would the money come from?
• Report What would a high quality system look
  like?

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The Big Picture The World is Moving
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Almost half of metro areas with 1 million plus
immigrants are in the US
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The Socio-political Context

• 5.8 million permanent legal residents who are LEP
• 6.4 million unauthorized immigrants who are LEP
• Immigration reform provides an opportunity for
  change
• Legalization (amnesty)
• Border control (the fence)
• Employer sanctions
• New emphasis on knowledge workers
• Fees ( 5000)
• New citizenship test (patriotic assimilation)

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Work numbers
Literacy and Work

• Immigrants are
• 12 of US Residents
• 15 of US workers
• 21 of low wage workers
• 45 of low skilled workers
• Almost 50 of immigrant workers are LEP (limited
  English proficient).

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The Need for Civic Integration

• Concerns about societal fragmentation and
  ethno-cultural divisions
• Concerns about an economic underclass (social
  substrata) of low skilled workers and their
  families.
• Concerns about youth-at-risk and
  intergenerational integration
• Need to bridge social and cultural distances
  between language groups and between English
  speakers and non-English speakers.

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The case for investment
The Case for Investment

• Humanitarian We are inviting immigrants to come
  to the US and now should help them thrive (no
  more sink or swim models)
• Human Capital Economic Greater earnings with
  higher levels of L2 proficiency greater taxes,
  fewer welfare greater global competitiveness
• Social Literacy services promote social cohesion
  and civic integration

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EL Civics

• Federally funded program, focused on
• Life skills and civic knowledge
• Preparation for citizenship test
• Dimensions of civics
• Cultural knowledge (holidays, key people)
• Knowledge of history and government
• But also focused on
• Community awareness
• Civic engagement
• Advocacy for self and others
• Leadership development

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Experiential Civics

• Scenarios and Case Studies (The company gets
  busted)
• Virtual Visits (Visiting and documenting places,
  posting information and pictures on the Web)
• Inquiry Maps (Explore topics of interest to
  students such as health, college, domestic
  violence)
• Community Mapping (Illustrating through maps
  places and things that matter to students)
• Brochures (Brochures designed by students for
  students and the community)

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CASE EXAMPLE CLESE BRIGHT IDEASJust-in-Time
Civics for Senior Immigrants and Refugees
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The Students

• Refugees often must cope with extreme losses and
  hard memories.
• Provide opportunities for students to talk about
  things that matter to them.

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http//www.clese.org
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Pre- and Post Assessment

• Can Do list
• Reading Demonstration
• Civic engagement scale
• Outcome Assessment
• BEST Test (pre-post)
• Competencies checklist

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www.literacywork.com/readingdemonstration
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www.clese.org
The Story
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The Story

• www.clese.org

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Instructional Goals

• Decrease social isolation.
• Increase civic awareness and build civic
  engagement.
• Develop communication skills in English.
• Foster the strategic competence needed to
  navigate systems.
• Link elderly immigrants and refugee communities
  with each other and with the wider community.

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The Farm Field Trip

• Create with real life context
• Start with things that matter food, vegetables,
  farms.
• Provide opportunities for genuine conversation.

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Compare Farm Prices and Supermarket Prices

• Connect classroom to community.
• Prepare, practice and review to maximize learning
  from field trips.

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Navigate Systems

• Provide hands-on learning experiences on how
  community institutions work.
• Encourage social interactions.
• Write the story

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Connect to Other Communities

• Speak in English with other immigrants.
• Share cultures and appreciate diversity.
• Be part of a community!

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Promising Practices

• Take advantage of multi-media
• Put technology in the hands of the learners
• Invite them to become creators of knowledge, not
  just users of literacy (video, brochures, PP)
• Connect learners to the outside world

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Storyboard How To Tortilla Making
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Alphabet Books for Adults
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• "No matter what our attempts to inform, it is our
  ability to inspire that will turn the tides."
• Holly Dilatush