[AAACE-NLA] Evidence-Based Adult Education & Literacy System

[Thomas Sticht]

  January 25, 2004

  Did You Know That An Effective, Evidence-Based, Adult Education and
  Literacy System Exists in the United States? Do Your Neighbors, Employers,
  and Community Leaders Know It, Too?

  Tom Sticht
  International Consultant in Adult Education

  Recently I presented speeches at various meetings of adult educators in
  the U. S. and other countries in which I reflected on some of the lessons
  I have learned in 35 years of work in adult literacy education. One of the
  lessons I have learned is that the vast majority of adults whom society
  marginalizes and casts off as a failure in society can succeed when given a
  chance.

  As one case study on which I based this lesson, and there are others, I
  cited the Human Investment Impact of the Adult Education and Literacy
  System (AELS) of the United States for the five years from 1996 through
  2000.  The AELS is the education system for adults that is funded in part
  by the State Grants provided in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
  Title 2, The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.

  In my presentations I pointed out that each year millions of adults pursue
  adult education in the AELS and that this education system has helped
  millions of adults take steps away from the margins and toward the
  mainstream of society. During 1996-2000, FOR AN AVERAGE COST OF LESS THAN
  $360 PER STUDENT, data from the U. S. Department of Education show that:

  18,588,280 adults enrolled in the AELS

  1,408,046 obtained a High School Diploma or GED

  907,387 were retained or advanced in a job

  897,936 gained employment

  823,400 entered other training

  263,539 registered to vote

  252,091 received U. S. citizenship

  157,406 left public assistance

  Not indicated in the Department of Education’s Human Investment Impact
  data are the millions of children’s lives that were improved when their
  parents emerged better educated and more confident in helping their
  children prepare for and succeed in school, securing better health care
  for themselves and their families, and contributing more to the social and
  political lives of their communities. But data from a wide variety of
  other studies over the last 75 years and around the world provide a base
  of evidence that confirms these multiple returns to investments in adult
  education and literacy development.

  Despite this evidence base for the many returns in social and economic
  benefits of investments  in adult literacy education, most federal and
  state  governments are still largely unaware of what the AELS really does,
  and many think of it as simply a remedial reading or educational "second
  chance"  education system that is needed temporarily until the K-12 system
  is "fixed."  And perhaps largely because of this misperception of the
  educational function of the AELS, policymakers and funders follow what
  they think is a wise strategy of putting "pounds of prevention" in early
  childhood and school based compensatory education programs for children
  while providing merely an "ounce of cure" for  these same children once
  they grow up to be adults.

  But as indicated above, the evidence is that the "ounce of cure" given in
  the AELS provides multiple returns that far exceed the expectations that
  such small investments would suggest. This is a lesson that I have learned
  over 35 years of working in adult literacy education. The vast majority of
  adults whom society marginalizes and casts off can learn, thrive, and
  contribute when  given a fair chance to succeed.

  I believe this is a lesson that needs to be learned by millions of others
  in our society so that they can call for better recognition of and support
  for the Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States.

  Thomas G. Sticht
  International Consultant in Adult Education
  2062 Valley View Blvd.
  El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
  Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
  Email: tsticht at aznet.net