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Literacy Initiative

Literacy Initiative. Funders’ Network Meeting September 2, 2009. Purpose of the Meeting. Share the current situation with respect to literacy nationally and locally. Share the history of this local literacy initiative which is intended to address the situation locally.

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Literacy Initiative

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  1. Literacy Initiative Funders’ Network Meeting September 2, 2009

  2. Purpose of the Meeting • Share the current situation with respect to literacy nationally and locally. • Share the history of this local literacy initiative which is intended to address the situation locally. • Summarize the business plan and obtain your suggestions for improving it.

  3. History of Literacy Initiative • Phase I: Test Feasibility, Assess Current Situation, and Build Coalition: 2006-2008 • Phase II: Engage and Implement (move across the “tipping point”): 2009-2012 • Phase III: Nurture and Sustain the Culture of Literacy: 2013—

  4. History of Literacy Initiative Phase I • June 06: CFSA contracted with the UA College of Edu to create “State of Literacy Report” • Oct. 06: CFSA Board approved a five year - one million dollar literacy initiative • Nov. 06-Jan. 07: CFSA met with individual community leaders to “brainstorm” how best to address literacy issues

  5. History of Literacy Initiative Phase I • Feb. -May 07: CFSA approved a grant to support the Tucson Regional Town Hall and provided the literacy report as background material • July 07: CFSA, Chamber of Commerce & TREO initiated a community-wide literacy initiative • Sept. 07: CFSA & partners launched literacy leadership council

  6. History of Literacy Initiative Phase I • Nov. – Dec. 07: LLC conducted community forums, needs assessment, current services assessment and funding analysis • Aug. 08: The Tucson Area Literacy Coalition and Literacy Leadership Council merged to form the Literacy for Life Coalition • Nov. 08: CFSA hired LLC Executive Director

  7. History of Literacy Initiative Phase II • Jan. –Feb. 09: LLC ED met one on one with business and community leaders • Feb. -June 09: LLC (about 30 members) develop the business plan, select first priority projects and actions, and develop work-plans for each project

  8. History of Literacy Initiative Phase II • Feb. -March 09: A website and social media strategy was developed to support the Tucson Festival of Books marketing • March 09: Philanthropists provided support for the website and social marketing strategy • April 09: CFSA became a founding member of the National Literacy Funders Network

  9. History of Literacy Initiative Phase II • June 09: Tucson Festival of Books designated one third of its net proceeds to the Coalition • June 09: Four Coalition members attended the National Literacy Conference and participated in the development of the “United States Declaration for the Right to Literacy”

  10. Future of the Literacy Initiative Phase III: Nurture and Sustain the Culture of Literacy: 2013— Tucson Flourishes When we Lead in Literacy

  11. Literacy Trends - National • Employment and earnings: About half of all individuals who read at low levels are out of the labor force. • Welfare and poverty:The National Institute for Literacy estimates that 43 percent of adults with low literacy skills live in poverty. • Health: Nationally, additional health care expenditures due to low literacy skills are about $73 billion annually (2001$). • Crime: Nationally, nearly half of prison inmates do not have a high school diploma, and the average reading and math levels of an incarcerated adult is at or below the 5th to 8th grade level.

  12. Literacy Trends - National • Only 71% of American students earn a high school diploma, a figure that drops to 58% for Hispanic students and 55% for African Americans” About 20% of these are not prepared to succeed in college. • U.S. vs. Other Nations - percentages of high school diplomas (21st) and college degrees awarded (15th).

  13. Literacy Trends - National • One third of 4th graders do not meet reading standards • One third of 8th graders do not meet reading standards. • The median earning of American workers in 1978 (adjusted for inflation) was $37,004, in 2005 it was $37,447, a mere 1.2% increase.

  14. U.S. vs. Other Nations

  15. Literacy Trends - Arizona • Low literacy costs $3.5 billion each year in the state budget due to the extra costs of welfare, Medicaid, and crime. • 19% of our adult population lack a high school education. • 15% of adults lack basic prose literacy skills. Included in this number are those who could not be tested due to language barriers.

  16. Literacy Trends - Arizona • Arizona is 46th (out of 50 states) in grade 4 reading and 43rd in grade four math. • Only half of Arizona high school graduates are eligible for admission to college level work. For Hispanic high school graduates, the number is 35%.

  17. Literacy Trends – Arizona

  18. Literacy Trends - Local • About half of fourth graders do not read at an age appropriate level • One third of students who start high school drop out before finishing • 20% of adults have basic or below basic reading skills • Nineteen percent of Tucson’s population does not have a high school education

  19. Literacy Trends - Local • Not surprisingly, literacy rates by neighborhood, census tract, or zip codes are highly correlated with income levels. • Children of parents who have less than a high school education enter kindergarten inadequately prepared and frequently do not catch up. • Only ten percent of adults who want literacy services are being served currently in the Greater Tucson area. The greatest demand is for English as a second language.

  20. Literacy Zip Codes: Pima County

  21. LLC – Business Plan Vision Tucson Flourishes When we Lead in Literacy Mission The LLC creates a sustainable culture of Literacy in Greater Tucson Goal Produce 100% literacy through 100% community involvement

  22. From We have a problem Effort fragmented and inefficient Us-Them Stigma associated with low literacy Embarrassed Silent Resource shortage To We are producing outcomes Effort coordinated and efficient We Stigma associated with those who are not engaged Proud Celebrating Resource abundance The Culture Shift

  23. LLC – Business Strategy Three Stream of Action: Each Reinforcing the other Two

  24. Scope of Literacy • People often think of literacy solely in terms of reading and writing, but there are many aspects of literacy that are broader than just the basic skills. These include health literacy, workforce literacy, financial literacy, computer literacy, family literacy, and English for Speakers of Other Languages.

  25. Literacy Infusion • The infusion model will help coordinate and build ownership throughout communities. • Literacy is not the goal! It is a tool and does not belong in any one social issue area but in all.

  26. LLC- Projects Create Awareness • Make website the “go to” place for literacy • Partner: Tucson Festival of Books • Produce brochure and fact sheet

  27. LLC- Projects Advocate • Offer literacy programs in workplaces • Change policies, funding and legislation

  28. LLC- Projects Build Capacity of Provider Orgs. • Establish baseline values for measures • Enhance program operations for providers (in accordance with criteria) • Implement a pilot project in a set of neighborhoods to demonstrate measurable changes 4. Streamline volunteer recruitment, training and placement

  29. LLC- Measures of Results Short-term Outcomes • % children ready for kindergarten • % students K-12 performing at levels appropriate for the age (AIMS test categories) • high school drop out rate and graduation rate

  30. LLC- Measures of Results Short-term Outcomes • # adults receiving GED • # adults with education gains • # adults in college credit classes • # adults entering work training program • # adults who volunteer

  31. Coalition - Governance Executive Board Chair: Steve Alley Executive Committee Provider’s Network Chairs: Jim Lipson, Will Creamer, Debbie Tinajero Funders’ Network Chair: Tomas Leon Steering Committee Executive Director: Martha Gilliland Action Teams Advocacy Chairs: Regina Suitt, Mel Cohen Capacity Building Chairs: Patty Anders, Nancy Ledeboer, Paula Trubisky Awareness Chair: Dawn Gardner

  32. Funding Partners to Date • Stocker Foundation • Jonathan Rothshild • Paul Lindsey • Altrusa International • Genematas Foundation • Tucson Festival of Books • Pima County Public Library Foundation

  33. Formal Endorsements • Tucson Regional Economic Opportunity: Joe Snell • Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce: Jack Camper • So. Arizona Leadership Council: Ron Shoopman

  34. Questions, Discussion & Feedback

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