NIFL Fellowship Project History
This fellowship helped inform the development of the Ready for Work! curriculum.

On the Screen: Bringing Women's Barriers to
Literacy,Learning and Employment to Light

1999-2000 National Institute For Literacy Fellowship Project

Through funding from a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) fellowship, Anson Green, a basic education practitioner in San Antonio, Texas, and Janet Isserlis, project director of Literacy Resources/RI in Providence, Rhode Island, facilitated seperate but interrelated projects focusing on a variety of barriers women in adult education and workforce preparedness programs face.

Janet's project created a resource that can assist literacy/adult education practitioners in recognizing the effects trauma and violence have on learning as well as its effects on independence and self-sufficiency for women. Anson's project developed a classroom resource for literacy and workforce development practitioners focused on a variety of barriers women face meeting their learning or self-sufficeny goals.

Anson's Project
Anson's project utilized a practitioner/learner focus group in San Antonio as well as nationwide network of fieldtesters to develop sourcebook themes and refine activities. The focus group met monthly to discuss the work and assist in the revision of materials from the La Cocina de Vida women's issue sourcebook, a project which Anson developed with learners in 1998/1999. Additionally, focus group participants reflected on newly identified barriers the group faced as they moved into new jobs or continued their education. These reflections were used to inform the expansion of La Cocina de Vida.  State and national conference presentations conducted by and Anson and focus group members helped us bring our emerging findings to a larger audience. Our work after this project.

Janet's Project
In Providence Janet worked with a group of adult ed practitioners (including a former ABE instructor now involved in children's services and an art therapist who recently added literacy to her work with patients) in order to explore their understandings of and abilities to address impacts of violence within their settings.

Using the awarness gleaned from their research Janet and Anson have produced seperate but interrelated sourcebooks that should increase the potential that literacy and workforce development personell will be better prepared to address the unique challenges faced by women in a variety of settings including adult education, workforce development, corrections and family violence prevention programs. Go to more information.