1. U.S.
Department
of
Education
Approved
Application
for
Federal
Education
Assistance
Southern
Westchester
Board
of
Cooperative
Educational
Services
Adult
&
Community
Services
English
Literacy
&
Civics
Education
in
New
York
CFDA#
84.191
ABSTRACT
This
application
is
submitted
on
behalf
of
a
Regional
Consortium
led
by
the
Center
for
Adult
and
Community
Services
at
the
Southern
Westchester
Board
of
Cooperative
Educational
Services
in
New
York.
The
Consortium
will
establish
Immigrant
Learning
Centers
in
White
Plains
and
New
Rochelle
Public
Libraries.
Each
Immigrant
Learning
Center
will
consist
of
a
classroom
with
an
adjoining
technology
lab
that
consists
of
five
computer
work
stations.
By
June
30,
2003,
the
Immigrant
Learning
Centers
will
admit
1,560
mostly
Hispanic
adult
enrollments
in
content-­‐based
learning
programs
for
English
as
a
Second
Language
(taught
at
four
different
proficiency
levels),
Civics,
Citizenship,
Life
Skills,
Job
Readiness,
and
Basic
Computer
Literacy.
Eighty
percent
of
participants
who
complete
a
20-­‐week
ESL
course
will
achieve
enough
literacy
to
be
eligible
for
the
next
(higher)
level
of
ESL
instruction,
as
determined
by
the
New
York
State
Placement
Test.
The
project’s
evaluation
report
will
also
indicate
the
number
of
participants
who
passed
the
citizenship
test,
and/or
obtained
a
GED.
In
addition
to
serving
the
mainstream
adult
immigrant
population,
this
project
will
demonstrate
effective
strategies
for
meeting
the
needs
of
out-­‐of-­‐school
immigrants
ages
16
to
21
years
of
age,
who
are
qualified
for
services
under
the
U.S.
Department
of
Education’s
definition
of
adult
students.
Literacy/civics
teachers
from
each
of
the
Consortium’s
member
agencies
will
participate
in
a
staff
development
network
facilitated
by
faculty
from
Mercy
College,
and
staff
from
the
Bilingual
ESL
Technical
Assistance
Center.
Staff
Development
activities
will
include
a
Summer
Institute
in
each
project
year,
along
with
monthly
group
meetings.
The
Consortium
will
document
and
disseminate
descriptions
of
the
program’s
service
model,
outreach
strategies,
delivery
methods,
agency
roles,
management
procedures,
programmatic
resources,
evaluation
designs,
and
intended
results,
so
that
the
project
can
be
replicated
in
other
settings.