Use of AlphaSmart 3000 improved literacy among Vista Adult School ESL students who participated in a project facilitated by California Adult Education's Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN). The project was conducted to enhance student instruction by integrating technology into the classroom programs. Each week for seven weeks, the four classes of adult ESL students used the portable AlphaSmart devices, which have a full-size keyboard and a screen, to edit their own biographical essay. The students' skills were tested at the beginning of the project as well as at the end, and their levels of skill improvements were compared to ESL students not using the AlphaSmart devices. Based on tests using the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), the students using the AlphaSmart devices as writing tools showed an average gain in reading and listening of 7.12 while the other students showed an average gain of 4.43.

The project also surveyed the students' perceptions of the role of the

AlphaSmart technology in their curriculum. 84% felt that the AlphaSmart

3000 devices helped facilitate their learning. 92% of the students evaluated the AlphaSmart as making it more fun and interesting to write.

The press release can be viewed at: this link.

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - Some job changers may have received an unexpected check in the mail. This is not a good thing -- it could be a sign that your employer just liquidated your retirement account.

Unless you take action within a few weeks, you could lose up to half of that money in taxes and penalties.

This is a new problem that particularly affects employees with less than $5,000 in their 401(k) plans, according to a report by the 401(k) Help Center, an online information service (http://www.401khelpcenter.com), and Pax World Funds, a mutual fund firm known for its social investment philosophy.

Employers are permitted to liquidate those accounts, and this year they're rushing to do so to beat out forthcoming rules that will require them to manage that money, said the two groups, who termed the new plans ``homeless 401(k)s.''

Here's the dense, but necessary, background: If you leave less than $5,000 in a 401(k) account when you leave a job, you have the option of rolling that money over directly into an Individual Retirement Account or simply cashing out. If you cash out, you'll have to pay income tax on the total amount and a 10 percent penalty unless you're over age 59-1/2. (There are some other hardship exceptions, too.) And you lose the benefit of keeping that money invested for retirement.

When you cash out, your employer is required to withhold 20 percent of your balance against those taxes and penalties. You still have the option of rolling over yourself, as long as you do it within 60 days, but you have to find enough money on your own to make up that 20 percent withheld amount until you can get it back when you file your taxes next year.

Heretofore, employers have had the right to cash out any workers with less than $5,000 in their accounts, as long as they notified them. But new rules will soon go into effect requiring employers to automatically roll over any accounts worth more than $1,000. To save themselves the hassle and expense of that, some employers are simply cashing out these workers as quickly as they can. As long as they include a notice with the check, they've met their legal obligation.

There are no statistics to show how widespread a problem this is, though the two groups suggested it could affect thousands of employees and ``eclipse Enron.''

That's doubtful, in terms of the drama of any individual case, but here's another way of looking at it: If you liquidate a $5,000 retirement plan, you could be left with $2,750 after federal and state taxes and penalties, even if you're just in the moderate 27 percent tax bracket. More significantly, that $5,000 would be worth $180,000 if it were left to compound for 40 years at 9 percent. That's not that crazy if you are in your 20s or 30s and don't intend to cash out your whole account on the day you retire.

``People with these homeless 401(k)s who find themselves with a check have to resist the temptation to simply cash and spend it,'' Rick Meigs, president of the 401k Help Center, said. ``These workers have already lost 20 percent to tax withholding and face additional tax and penalties. The smartest thing for them to do is open an IRA and deposit the money to avoid the tax bite, and ensure these funds grow and compound on a tax deferred basis.''

There's a fact sheet posted at his site that tells employees what to do if they receive one of these checks in the mail, or any other correspondence from their former employer about their retirement plan.

To roll over this money, simply contact any mutual fund company, bank or brokerage firm, and they will be happy to walk you through the steps.

If you have a new job that offers a 401(k) plan, you can probably deposit the money into that plan. If you have not received the check yet, you can ask your former employer to handle the rollover directly.

If you've received the check, realize that the clock is ticking. You have 60 days to get it deposited into a new IRA account. And you will have to make up that extra 20 percent yourself, if you want to avoid being taxed and penalized on that portion of it.

Next year, when you file your taxes, you'll be eligible for a refund of the 20 percent that was withheld against the possibility of your cashing out. And in 30 or 40 years, you will be glad you did the right thing.

(Linda Stern is a freelance writer who covers personal finance issues for Reuters. Any opinions in the column are solely those of Ms. Stern. You can e-mail her at lindastern(at)aol.com).