What We Do

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USCAL: Midwest Regional

Registration is now open for the United States Conference on Adult LiteracyTM (USCAL) Midwest Regional, taking place February 24–25 at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee Hotel in Milwaukee, WI. The conference, sponsored by ProLiteracy through generous support from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, will examine adult literacy and the challenge of the new economy through workshops, presentations, special sessions, and networking opportunities. Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services is a conference host partner.

Specific topics to be discussed at the USCAL Midwest Regional include:

• Specific Training for Program Managers: Adult education and literacy play a vital role in workforce development. In this session, program managers will learn how to link their organizations and programs to this work through delving into employer engagement and sector strategies and building capacity.
• Health Literacy: In a session developed by Wisconsin Literacy, participants will learn how to incorporate health literacy into existing tutor training programs, how to develop curriculum and materials to meet the needs of adult learners, how to build a coalition to achieve health literacy goals, and how to partner with health care organizations to improve the health literacy environment at the point of care.
• Adult Learner Leadership: Adult learners have much to offer their literacy programs, their workplaces, and their communities. This session will help adult learners identify leadership opportunities in each of these environments and consider the skills needed to take advantage of them. Participants will have an opportunity to practice communication, self-advocacy, and problem-solving skills as well as to participate in a focus group where they can share their opinions and insights.
• Strategic Messaging: Developed through the national Dollar General/ProLiteracy Performance Accountability (DGPA) Initiative, this session will help participants build relationships with stakeholders, develop community partnerships, identify innovative ways to tell program success stories, coordinate teams to work on communication and marketing, diversify funding sources, develop concise and measurable funding proposals, and prepare and use reports to demonstrate achievements.
• Student Retention: This workshop will explore numerous factors that affect adult student persistence, including self-efficacy, and will provide research-based strategies to monitor students' progress toward meeting goals.

Register online or download the form and fax it to (315) 422-6369. A limited number of scholarships are available for adult learners and both paid/volunteer practitioners. Scholarship applications are due January 14, 2011.

For more information, visit the conference webpage or contact Ally Mead Williams, event and conference coordinator, at (315) 422-9121 ext. 245 or at ameadwilliams@proliteracy.org.