Literacy Zones Summit

The first annual Literacy Zones Summit for Literacy Zone staffs and community partners will be held on October 28-29, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside, 120 East Main Street, Rochester, New York 14604.

Summit Info

The Purposes of the Literacy Zones Summit are to:

1. Provide a holistic view and springboard for building 10 capacities over the next two years   
2. Showcase best practice
3. Build awareness with other states and foundations
4. Create a learning community
5. Evaluate and improve for the next Literacy Zones Summit.

Registration Info

The last day for all invited participants to register for the Literacy Zones Summit is October 21, 2009.

To register, click here

Participants are responsible for arranging their overnight accommodations:

The Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside is FULL on Tuesday night, October 27.
A limited number of rooms is available for Wednesday night, October 28. Other hotels and their contact information is listed below.

Ask for the block of rooms assigned to the Literacy Zones Summit. Room rate for this summit is $99.00 per night. Reservations should be made no later than October 5, 2009.

Reservations: 1-800-395-7046 US/Canada Toll-free
Telephone: (585) 546-6400 Fax: (585) 546-3908
Email:  http://www.radisson.com/rochesterny_riverside

When paying with a Purchase Order, the hotel’s accounting office needs to receive a copy of the Purchase Order with the following information included 48 hours prior to check in:

• The billing address for the invoice
• Items to be paid for (“room and tax only”, or “all charges”)
• The names of the individuals that the guest rooms will be reserved under.
• The total amount that will be covered (if “room and tax only”)

Overnight Guests will have complimentary parking while daily attendees will have a special parking rate in the hotel garage of $4.00 per day.

Country Inns & Suites Rochester, NY
www.countryinns.com
797 East Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14623
(585) 427-0131

Radisson Rochester Airport
www.radisson.com
175 Jefferson Road, Rochester
 (585) 475-1910

Rochester Plaza Hotel and Conference Center- www.rochesterplaza.com
70 State Street
Rochester, NY 14614
(585) 546-3450

Agenda

October 28, 2009

9:30                  Registration and Gallery Walk Highlighting 18 Literacy Zones

10:30               Welcome and Overview of the Summit

• Wade Norwood, NYS Board of Regents
• Jean-Claude Brizard, Superintendent, Rochester City Schools
•  Robert Purga, NYSED

11:00            Measuring impact panel: Proposed literacy zone metrics using NYSED’s web-based student accountability system (ASISTS); structured family interviews to capture in-depth impact. 

• Robert Purga, NYSED
• Rosemary Matt, NYSED NRS Liaison
• Venu Thelakkat, NYC LAC
• Elyse Barbell, NYSED RAEN for NYC

12:00               Working Lunch:  Networking Across Literacy Zones

12:45               Welcome: Mayor Robert Duffy, City of Rochester

1:00                 Serving individuals with disabilities panel:  Independent Living
                        Centers and NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council RFP; role of independent living centers; connections to NYSDOL disability navigators; disability literacy training; NIFL curricula for literacy students with learning disabilities; Project SEARCH

• Robert Purga, NYSED
• Robert Gumson, NYSED, Director of Independent Living Centers
• Burt Danovitz, Utica Independent Living Center
• Elaine Kost, NYS Department of Labor
• Margi Trapani, NYC Independent Living Center
• Janice Cuddahee, Literacy New York
• Jean Howard, Mayor’s Office-City of Rochester
• Susan Hetherington, Director of Project SEARCH and Co-Director of the Institute for Innovative Transition, University of Rochester Medical Center

2:00           Financial literacy and asset building panel:  RAEN training on financial literacy for every literacy zone, Money Smart and the Alliance for Economic Inclusion, and new addition coming soon to Career Zone/JobZone

• Marisa Boomhower, NYSED
• Ann Marie Pryzbyl, NYSED RAEN for West
• Valerie Williams, Community Affairs Officer, FDIC New York Regional Office
• Vicki Gray, NYSDOL

3:00                 Break

Workshop Carousel

3:15                 Benefits counseling and case management:  Cornell University
national benefits certification; OTDA portal mybenefits.ny.gov and DOH health insurance campaign

• Martin Murphy, NYSED RAEN for Long Island
• Tom Golden, Cornell University
• Frances Shannon-Akstull,  NYS OTDA

Postsecondary transition models:  Postsecondary transition will be a prime focus of 2010 Literacy Zone summit leading up to NYSED’s State-wide postsecondary transition summit in November, 2010

• Robert Purga, NYSED
• Justin Kiernan, Erie Community College
• Carla DeShaw, Dean of Community and Continuing Education, Cayuga Community College
• James Matt, NYSED RAEN for Central/Southern Tier
• Leslee Oppenheim, CUNY Office of Academic Affairs

Service learning:  VISTA/Americorps capacity building at each literacy zones, promising practices, and NYSED support for service learning

• Marisa Boomhower, NYSED
• Kevin Smith, Literacy New York
• Lisa Lee, Literacy West
• Fran Hollon, NYSED

Parent connections and family literacy:  NYS Parenting Education network; PBS and library resources for families; Even Start connections. 

• Tanya Lipinski, NYSED RAEN for Capital/North
• Liz Hood, NYSED, Director, Office of Educational Television & Public Broadcasting
• Marion French, WXXI Public Broadcasting Council
• Joe Campbell, FEH BOCES 

4:15                 Workshops repeat and end at 5:30

7:30 to 8:30                 Net-working opportunities:

• Elyse Barbell and structured family interviews
• Health literacy:  Robert Purga and Roberta Rifkin
• Maxine McCormick and ITTS license logistics
• Leslee Oppenheim and a new way of learning English on TV, including financial literacy, parent involvement in the elementary school, and staying in school (drop-out prevention)

October 29, 2009

7:30                 Breakfast

8:30             Health literacy panel:  Demonstration of health literacy software; swine flu curricula for adult education students, and next steps
                   

• Robert Purga, NYSED
• Roberta Rifkin, Buffalo Independent Healthcare
• Leah Arnold, Buffalo City Schools Adult Education
• Elyse Barbell, NYSED RAEN for NYC

9:00            Technology for collaboration and learning:  IBM software and services to power Literacy zone collaboration, including Lotus Live, Reading Companion and Spanish translation software; IBM strategic planning support; Piloting the Instruction Targeted to TABE Success (ITTS) online learning system and E-literacy New York in Literacy Zones.

• Carol Gaelens, NYSED RAEN for Finger Lakes
• Pamela Haas, Manager, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, IBM
• Elyse Barbell, NYSED RAEN for NYC
• Maxine McCormick, McGraw-Hill/Contemporary
• Robert Purga, NYSED

10:00               Break

10:20               Workforce development, work readiness, and career planning
panel:  one-stop connections; DOL Job Zone and Career Zone in each literacy zone; the national work readiness credential; training in work readiness curricula

• Robert Purga, NYSED
• Doug Reamer, NYSDOL, Chief, Bureau of Workforce Innovation
• Vicki Gray, NYSDOL, Project Director, Youth Network Office
• Cathy Snow, Michele Armani, CV Tech BOCES

11:20            Foundation connections-- New York State and nationally: Building foundation connections will be a prime focus of the 2010 Literacy Zone summit in Syracuse

• Kim Scott, Literacy Powerline, moderator
• Ed Doherty, Vice President for Community Programs, Rochester Area Community Foundation
• John Eberle, Vice President of Grants and Community Initiatives, Central New York Community Foundation
• Corinne Ribble, Director of Philanthropy, The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties
• Tom Kelly, Associate Director for Evaluation, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Robert Purga, NYSED        
  

12:15            Working Lunch: Leaders of the Mayor’s Rochester Education And Literacy (REAL) Commission

• Jean Howard, Rochester Mayor’s Office
• Dan Burns, President M &T Bank and REAL Commission Chair
• Dr. Daryl Dickson, REAL Commission director and leader of the Rochester literacy movement
• Joe Klein, Chairman, Klein Steel Service, Inc.

                        Evaluation and Next Steps—Marisa Boomhower and Robert Purga

1:30              Conference Adjourns for Tour of Rochester Literacy Zone Welcome Center from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Hold the date:  The next annual literacy zone summit will be held in Syracuse on September 28 and 29, 2010. 

Key capacities will include:

1. Postsecondary transition for youth and adults, including national and NYS models
2. Parent and family support, including connections to Even Start, NCLB Parent Action Centers, VESID’s Early Childhood Direction Centers and VESID’s special education parent centers
3. Foundation connections
4. Veterans’ transition
5. Health literacy
6. Funding 360 degree perspective:  WIA reauthorization, service learning, President’s Community College initiative, Promise Neighborhoods, federal incentive grant funding
7. Benchmarking other national place-based efforts.

Literacy Zones

Literacy Zones is a reform initiative developed by the New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department. Its mission is to close the achievement gap in urban and rural communities of concentrated poverty and high concentrations of families and individuals with limited literacy or English language proficiency.  Literacy Zones are intended to provide a systemic focus on meeting the literacy needs of communities, from birth through adult.