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Austin Learning Academy (ALA)Location: Six sites at AISD elementary schools DescriptionIn 1995 the Austin Learning Academy formed, with a goal of developing healthy, capable communities in the areas of South and East Austin. At present, ALA has technology learning sites located in six public schools. ALA programs are based on building long-term relationships with the organizations and families that participate in ALA's broad range of learning activities. The organization's primary focus is the use of technology as a tool for personal and community development. They also offer parenting classes, early childhood development, GED, and ESL. In addition, ALA is dedicated to empowering the community by increasing civic participation. What makes this program distinctive in the group?ALA has a collaborative partnership with AISD and operates their programs in public schools. These locations complement ALA's strong focus on education, with a learning environment already established by the school environment. These locations are conducive to encouraging and promoting family interaction with children's education. ALA was founded by teachers who left the AISD system to create an environment that more holistically addressed educational needs in the community. ALA is also a co-developer of the Austin Access Model. Vision and Community OwnershipAustin Learning Academy was initially created as a community-based organization to build stronger families and neighborhoods. Their mission statement asserts that programs are designed to support communities that create opportunities that their citizens need in order to thrive in education, economic, social, and civic arenas. Ms. Toni Williams, Executive Director, invests her time in the organization and also in the community. She goes to church in the area, and she is a board member of a neighboring CTC. Plans to expand the organization's programs are based on responses from surveys administered by the organization. ALA uses participant surveys, which are administered twice a year, to proactively determine the needs, desires, and concerns of the community it serves. For example, a common survey response from participants is a desire to learn about the rights of immigrants as citizens, so ALA has provided a forum to discuss election and voting issues and where to find the information online. In addition, many participants have expressed the desire for more programs and in-house counseling services. ALA's survey approach is evidence of their encouragement of the community's feeling that ALA is "their" program. Because of these efforts and others, ALA provides participants with a comfortable learning environment. This approach is one of the keys to ALA's success in breaking down barriers to education. Many participants have difficulty interacting with traditional education settings due to cultural and/or language barriers. ALA has found that creating a comfortable learning environment where participants feel a sense of belonging and ownership increases participant desire to interact in program activities. Participant surveys revealed that 64% of participants talk with the teachers and staff about things other than class, 98% feel comfortable asking teachers questions about the computer and other issues, and 84% are comfortable asking other students for help on the computer. And of course, 100% report having fun doing their activities. Community members and participants are on the board of directors, have management positions in the organization, and have become staff members. In addition, participants at each site know each other and know most of the staff members by name. Participants tend to stay involved in ALA programs for long periods of time. The feeling of community ownership is strengthened by families of participants being involved in the organization. For instance, the organization has an annual festival where family members assist children with producing creative work and cultural content for the event such as poems and artwork. In 2002, the participants and their families, along with the staff, created a cookbook and presented meals from it at the event. Comprehensive ProgrammingWhile ALA's focus is on improving computer literacy and empowerment,
this center provides its other programming because it understands that
children and adults cannot learn unless their other needs are met. ALA
was started to create a learning environment, and other services are provided
with the explicit belief that assistance with other needs is an integral
part of that learning environment. ALA is a model program for comprehensive
programming, removing barriers to learning by providing families with
assistance in all areas of life. The center provides its clients with
a wide variety of programs and activities, such as parenting classes,
job training, GED and ESL classes, literacy classes, after-school activities,
family counseling and child development education, and cultural education
and celebrations. They also contract with a social worker to help direct
families to needed resources. ALA uses the feedback mechanisms discussed above to improve the relevance of programs and build on the diverse strengths as well as the needs within the community. One such program is FamilyCARE, which was designed to help low-income neighborhoods become more technically self-reliant and to increase the demand for and use of advance interactive technologies in those same neighborhoods. Another program is the College and Career Prep Program, a competitive program for students who want to improve their skills in technology, learning, and testing. Both of these programs, as well as the many others, move in the direction of including more community members and building competence. Learning OpportunitiesMost of ALA's activities involve technology, and the teaching methods are primarily project-based. Our staff surveys showed that 100% of the teachers talk to students about things other than class, and half are involved with the students outside of class. These teachers seek to engage with the participants, further involve them in the learning process, and increase the available learning opportunities. The more interaction, the more program activities become engaging and relevant to learners. For instance, ALA has a program that allows students to engage in Q&A with published authors online. One year the participants used content from those interactions in their arts and crafts presentations during the organization's annual literacy festival for participants, families, and community members. Many students expressed their satisfaction with the teachers and the learning environments provided. However, participant surveys revealed that participants desired more computer time, more opportunities to learn about specific technical topics (i.e. cookies, how to create a website, how to react to a "virus"), and classes divided by skill level so that all students could get extra time to explore at their own pace. This is evidence that ALA succeeds in getting participants interested in the Internet and using technology. Self-RelianceALA is one of the most self-reliant CTCs in Austin in terms of funding resources and staff expertise. The major funding sources of ALA are state, city and foundation grants. Although these sources are considered "soft money", subject to non-renewal, ALA has not closed its doors or downsized due to loss of a grant resource. ALA stays abreast of funding opportunities to reduce the risk of endangering program sustainability. Currently, they have nine funding sources, which include two substantial grants from TEA and AISD. Professional development for the teachers is offered to increase the learning opportunities for the staff and the participants. For instance, ALA conducts regular continuing education with Circle and TEA to keep staff current and to maintain teaching certifications. Such efforts enable the staff to learn new areas in which to teach - some teachers may desire to teach ESL who are currently teaching early childhood development, and vice versa. These professional development opportunities not only increase resources available to participants, but increase staff retention and develop resources within the organization so that less expertise must be "purchased" from outside sources. Ms. Williams expresses confidence that attrition does not affect the organization's ability to remain in existence. Rather, it's a built in measure that the organization plans for, and they support any staff member's choice for career advancement. For example, during one of our visits to Hackberry, Ms. Williams was asked to prepare a recommendation for a teacher who is applying to work for AISD. Both Ms. Williams and the teacher were laughing and joking, and the Ms. Williams wished her all the best in her endeavors and let the teacher know the door is always open to her. Preserving these relationships means an expanded set of networks for the organization. Social CapitalALA takes various steps to build both bridging and bonding forms of social capital. Programs that expand participant and community social networks include their annual technology and literacy arts festival, annual field trip to the Texas Book Festival, and participants presenting at professional and academic conferences such as the annual LBJ School of Public Affairs Barbara Jordan Forum. Participants learn skills at ALA, then return to volunteer at the organization. Half of the staff reported knowing a participant that also volunteered with the organization. In addition, data from the participant surveys revealed interesting occurrences regarding bonding social capital:
ALA's strongest development of bridging capital is in the partnerships they have established with other organizations. ALA converses and collaborates with more than twenty Austin CBOs.
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