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

[Eileen Eckert]

Tom, This is great! Thanks for writing and posting it. Can you cite the 
exact source of the data from the U.S. Dept. of Education that you mention, 
and where others can find it? And how much work did you have to do to pull 
that information out and present it in such an easily readable way?

Eileen


From: Thomas Sticht <tsticht at znet.com>
Reply-To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by 
AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
To: <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Evidence-Based Adult Education & Literacy System
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:59:24 -0800 (PST)

   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






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