BLACKBOARD

ABE/ESOL Curricula on the Web

A good place to start is NIFL's Web site, LINCS. It features multimedia curricula developed by practitioners, special collections on major literacy topics, the latest literacy-related research and statistics, opportunities for communicating with colleagues directly and through on-line discussion groups, and the best peer-reviewed ABE and ESOL literacy sites in the United States and beyond. http://www.nifl. gov/lincs/ homepage.html. The Equipped for the Future (EFF) special collection is accessible via LINCS, or go directly to it: www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/eff/.

With LINCS as a starting point, you can also go, via regional LINCS, to individual state's Web sites, many of which have curricula available to download. Maine's ABE staff development center's Website has a report on their statewide curriculum development process, including a rubric on what constitutes quality curriculum. www.umaine.edu/call/profdev/curriculumdev.html

 

Articles on Curriculum Development Previously Published in Focus on Basics

Multicultural Education
Connecting Theory to Practice
Allison Cumming-McCann
(Volume 6, Issue B, February 2003)

YES! A Literacy Program's Antiracist Journey
Margery Freeman & Lou Johnson
(Volume 6, Issue B, February 2003)

Struggles: Writing as Healing
Leslie Ridgway & Dale Griffith
(Volume 5, Issue C, February 2002)

ESOL Teachers: Helpers in Health Care
Kate Singleton
(Volume 5, Issue C, February 2002)

Teaching ESOL Using Word Processing: A Communicative Approach
Steve Quann & Diana Satin
(Volume 4, Issue C, December 2000) 

Beginning Math for Beginning Readers
Linda Huntington
(Volume 4, Issue B, September 2000)

Developing Adults' Numerate Thinking
Mary Jane Schmitt
(Volume 4, Issue B, September 2000) 

Reversing Reading Failure in Young Adults 
Mary E. Curtis and Ann Marie Longo 
(Volume 1, Issue B, May 1997) 

Developing Materials and Curriculum 
Char Ullman and Aliza Becker 
(Volume 1, Issue D, December 1997) 

Additional Resources on ESOL and Curriculum by 
Heide Wrigley

Wrigley, H. (1993). "One size does not fit all: Educational perspectives and program practices in the U.S." TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 3, Autumn, 49-465.

Wrigley, H. (2004, in press). "We are the world: Serving language minority adults in family literacy programs." In Wasik, B.H. (ed.), Handbook on Family Literacy: Research and Services. Mawhaw, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Spruck, H. & Guth, G. (1992) Bringing Literacy to Life: Issues and Options in Adult ESL Literacy. San Mateo, CA: Aguirre International.