'The Best Ever'
by Karen Mundie, Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council, PAACE President

2001: A PAACE Odyssey has now joined its predecessors as a complex of pleasant memories, new skills ready to put to use, and some information that is still percolating for future use. With over 800 adult educators attending 100 sessions, PAACE Midwinter continues to be one of the largest and best-organized state association conferences. This year many participants told us that the conference was the best one ever, or at least "in years," especially in the depth and range of information presented.

Of course, we hear this every year. The conference is simply good enough every year to leave people thinking that "this" was the best one. This kind of quality is a tribute both to PAACE leadership over many years and to the generosity of PAACE members.

The PAACE Board would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to our PAACE Odyssey. This includes those who personally answered the Call for Presenters, those who kept their ears to the ground and made wonderful suggestions for presenters and topics, and, of course, those who volunteered long hours before and during the conference to ensure that the mechanics of the conference were smooth enough to be nearly invisible.

A special thanks to the program division leaders and to the ABLE Bureau who worked very hard to see that this conference had not just a little something for everyone, but a lot of useful, timely, and specific information for practitioners in family literary, adult basic and secondary education, English as a second language, workforce development, and adult literacy.

Continuing higher education practitioners offered a number of quality presentations that drew educators from all of the divisions. However, the conference did not offer enough professional development opportunities for our members in this division. This is mostly a result of the structural constraints of continuing higher education: teachers and administrators in this division need a much longer lead time than we have traditionally offered, both for answering a Call for Presenters and for registering for the conference. PAACE will learn to work more effectively with our members in this division. Next year the members of the CHE division will declare PAACE 2002 the best conference ever.

Conference Highlights -- Go to Page 2

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by Susan Finn Miller, Lancaster-Lebanon I.U. 13, Division Co-director

Division Leadership

Division members should have recently received a letter from me "via snail mail" regarding the development of an election process for our division. If you didn't receive it for some reason, you can download the PDFs listed below. As a reminder, you have until April 30th to submit your nominations for division co-directors. The deadlines are as follows:

• Nominations deadline: April 30, 2001
• Ballots mailed out: June 30, 2001
• Election deadline: July 31, 2001
• Term of Office: September 1, 2001 - August 31, 2003

Download letter
Download nomination form

Family Literacy Quilt

Planning has begun on our statewide Family Literacy Quilt that we hope to present to Governor and Mrs. Ridge for their support of family literacy in Pennsylvania. Thanks to Blanche Lozar (Penn State Beaver County Even Start) and Kelli Miller (Tri-County OIC Even Start) for volunteering to take the lead in making this happen. You should hear more from them in the near future on the details.

Legislative Advocacy

Not too late to contact your state representatives to ask them to support the proposed increases in family literacy. Read more about this in the Legislative Update department and check out "Tips on How to Advocate Effectively" on PAACE Site.

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by Linda Herr, Lycoming County Library System, PAACE First Vice-President

Now that the Strategic Decision Plan has been finalized, where do we go from there? Do we as PAACE members actually do anything with the goals and objectives in the Plan? Like a member of any organization, the more one contributes to the organization, the more benefit one derives from that organization. So how can you get involved?

There were some notable changes from the previous plan, which provides opportunity for PAACE members to participate in activities that support adult basic and continuing education in Pennsylvania. One highlight in this current plan is the opportunity to participate in a coordinated professional development opportunity through collaborative planning among Divisions; for example, conducting activities around research, legislative issues, transitioning learners from one level to another, etc.)

Other avenues for membership involvement featured in the new Plan include communicating to the adult education community and others the goals of the organization and the importance of lifelong learning. For members who want to increase their involvement level, PAACE will establish up to four mentoring relationships to support leadership skills within the organization for potential board members, committee members, or area representatives. Perhaps the most visible way to become involved is to become visible and proactive in legislative and policy activities at the local, state, and federal levels. To assist in practitioner/administrator involvement, the Legislative Committee will provide advocacy information and hold trainings for each Division so that members can more effectively advocate at the local level.

For more information on how to become involved in PAACE, talk to your Area Representative, Board Member or Officer. Feel free to e-mail JoAnn Weinberger (JAWCFL@aol.com) Legislative Committee chair, if you would like to become more involved in advocacy activities.

COABE 2001 National Conference: Meet Me in Memphis
by Carol Shefrin, TIU Adult Education & Job Training Center, Region II COABE Representative

The Commission on Adult Basic Education held their national conference 3/31-4/4/01 in Memphis. PA was well represented both as attendees and presenters! Cheryl Keenan, Dehra Shafer, Priscilla Carman, Mary Mingle, KayLynn Hamilton, Richard Cooper, Don Bender, and Barb Van Horn delivered successful PA presentations. Our topics showcased PA’s continued position as leader in the field. Our presentations included:

• Online Learning
• Teaching Writing
• If They Learn Differently, Shouldn’t They Study Differently?
• Online Learning for the Workplace: Workplace Essential Skills
• Learning Differences in the Workplace
• Correction Ed: The PA Approach
• PA’s Family Literacy Evaluation
• Framework of Foundation Skills

What a great showing! All of us felt proud to be a part of such fine work. It’s always gratifying to realize how highly regarded PA is nationally in our innovative work under Cheryl Keenan’s leadership.

It was also exciting to hear more of the national perspective in sessions on national issues and trends. We heard from Jim Bowling, Ohio State Director; Israel Mendoza, Washington State Director; and Peter Waite, Executive Director of Laubach Literacy Action. All in all it was an excellent conference on all levels. Quality was high in the concurrent and plenary sessions and there were many networking opportunities.
And Memphis was a great setting and experience for us all! The conference was in the famous Peabody Hotel where ducks have paraded through the lobby twice each day since the 1930s. Several of us got to cruise down the Mississippi. And some got to visit Graceland. The famous home of the blues, Beale Street, was right near the hotel too.

COABE is adult basic education's national professional organization and a great resource for us. Anyone who can plan ahead to attend a COABE Conference will not be disappointed. Upcoming conferences are:
Charleston, South Carolina 2002
Portland, Oregon 2003
Columbus, Ohio 2004

My term as COABE regional representative on the Board of Directors concludes in June. I’ve appreciated the opportunity to be involved at the national level and to serve PA in this way.

Photo: Carol Shefrin, Laurie Cybulski and Judy Martier from Pittsburgh SPOC, Leanne Stasuilatis from AdvancE, and Barb Van Horn from Penn State's Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy

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The Fifth Pennsylvania Adult and Continuing Education Research Conference held on Saturday, March 17, 2001, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was a great success! Despite the rainy weather and competing St. Paddy Day events in both Indiana and Pittsburgh, well over 90 people attended the one-day conference that was held in Stouffer Hall.

In addition to opening remarks by Gary Dean and Trenton Ferro, Dr. John Butzow, Dean of the College of Education, and Dr. James Petersen, Dean of The Graduate School and Research, presented opening remarks before the introduction of the keynote speakers.

Among the highlights of the PA-ACERC conference was the keynote address presented by Larry Parks Daloz and Sharon Daloz Parks. Both are adult educators and authors who serve as Acting Director and Associate Director, respectively, of the Whidbey Institute, an adult education and retreat center located on an island in Puget Sound. The focus of the keynote address was on a recently completed qualitative research project which asked the question of what are the factors that contribute to an individual’s commitment to mentoring and other forms of volunteer service. Their remarks addressed the much needed perspective that research in adult education should address the important issues in life, not narrow or insignificant issues that do not have much impact on the lives of people.

In addition to the keynote address, there were 15 concurrent sessions and five poster sessions at the conference. The concurrent and poster sessions addressed topics in areas of adult education, including distance education, religious education, adult students in higher education, Latinos in higher education, faculty development in higher education, assessment in family literacy, computer-mediated instruction, education in prisons, patient education for cancer patients, HIV/AIDS, pre-employment training programs, and internships for adult learners.

Presenters came from all over Pennsylvania and other states. Presenters were from Widener University, Fordham University, Buffalo State College, Eastern College, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and the University of Pittsburgh,

The conference would not have been a success without the dedication and hard work of Heather Owens and Carole Thompson, two students currently enrolled in IUP’s Adult and Community Education program in Monroeville, who worked on the conference planning as their internship project. In addition, there was plenty of help from many of the current and former IUP students who volunteered their time on the day of the conference.

Previous Pennsylvania research conferences have been held at Penn State in Monroeville, IUP, Widener University in Chester, PA, and Temple University in Harrisburg. The next conference is scheduled for March, 2003, at Temple University, Harrisburg. We hope that you will join us then for another stimulating conference!

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by Mary Mingle, Eastern LINCS/ABLE Net

"LINCS: Your Online Research Assistant" was the topic of the Eastern LINCS presentation delivered to researchers and practitioners at the fifth annual PA-ACERC Adult and Continuing Education Research Conference on March 17, 2001.

The Literacy Information aNd Communication System is a project of the National Institute for Literacy and provides access to free, Web-based research and instructional materials from across the United States. Eastern LINCS, one of five regional technology centers in the nation, provides technology support, training and Web-publishing and cataloguing services to adult education and literacy practitioners in 14 states and U.S. territories, including Pennsylvania.

Angelic Parrett and Stefanie Williams of Eastern LINCS demonstrated the features of the LINCS system, including services which allow practitioners and researchers to perform keyword searches on literacy-related Web sites. Users may also search an online database of Web-based resource citations catalogued by trained LINCS librarians. LINCS also sponsors expertly moderated discussion groups that allow adult education professionals to exchange ideas, research and resources. Special Collections are gateways to peer-reviewed Web-based materials on particular topics of concern to adult education practitioners and researchers.

Eastern LINCS seeks out professional adult literacy organizations to form mutually beneficial affiliations that support the development of organizational Web sites; the Web publication of organizational resources and materials; and training in the use of LINCS services. To learn more about the LINCS system, visit the Eastern LINCS Web site at www.easternlincs.org.

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Computers in Adult Literacy Conference

The 13th Annual Computers in Adult Literacy Conference is set for Thursday, May 10, 2001 at Temple University’s new state-of-the-art Tuttleman Learning Center, located at 13th Street and Montgomery Avenue in Philadelphia. The Mayor’s Commission on Literacy presents this conference each year both to showcase some of the innovative practices that area educators have developed and to help advance the technology skills of literacy practitioners in Philadelphia. For more information and registration form, visit www.philaliteracy.org/conference.html.

Pennsylvania's Tutors of Literacy in the Commonwealth is sponsoring the Northeast Adult Literacy Conference, with support from the Bureau of Adult Literacy and the Donley Foundation. Dates are June 14-16, with pre-conference June 13, at York College of Pennsylvania. Download full conference information, directions, and registration form at:
http://users.penn.com/~literacy/images/northeast_conference2001.pdf

Information is available at the ICOTS-6 IPC Web site at http://www.beeri.org.il/icots6.

An amazingly comprehensive list of conferences and events related to adult education, technology, and affiliated topics is available on the Eastern LINCS site: http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/Calendar/calendar_world.cgi.

Have an idea for a theme for our 2002 Midwinter Conference? E-mail Linda Herr at lherr@jvbrown.edu.

If you're not on the PAACE e-mail list and you have an e-mail address, you can easily subscribe by going to our home page at www.paacesite.org and click on the sign-up spot.

President: Karen Mundie (Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council)

First Vice-President: Linda Herr (Lycoming County Library System)

Second Vice-President: Debra Burrows (West Branch Technology Center, Central IU 10)

Secretary: David Manzo (Luzerne County Community College)

Treasurer: Mary Hohensee (Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon)

Immediate Past President: Jeffrey C. Woodyard (Tri-County OIC)

Remote Past President: Barbara Van Horn (Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at Penn State)

Western Regional Representative: Tom Wocjicki (Somerset Co. Career & Technology Center)

Central Regional Representative: Cathy Forsythe (Mifflin Co. Library Literacy Program)

Eastern Regional Representative: Rose Brandt (Mayor's Commission on Literacy)

Program Division Director/Adult Basic & Secondary Education: Mary Kay Peterson (La Communidad Hispana; Southeast Professional Development Center)

Program Division Director/Continuing Higher Education: Mary Ann Varacalli (Delaware County Community College)

Program Division Co-Director/ESL: Susan Finn-Miller (Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13) and Carol Klauss (Volunteer English Program in Chester County)

Program Division/Family Literacy: Mike Sobkowski (PDE Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education)

Program Division/Tutors of Literacy in the Commonwealth: Debbie Thompson (Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council)

Program Division/Workplace Education: Ella Morin (PDE Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education)

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Since January 2001