[AAACE-NLA] Activism or apathy?

[David Kring]

Hi folks,

	What a wonderful survey and effort.  Several of our (NJALL) Board members
shared that they needed to print the survey, sit with a cup of coffee, and
really think about how to respond.

	This morning, in response to David's note, we again posted a request for
responses to our general listserv.  Additionally, we began calling programs,
encouraging the participation of administrators, teachers, and students.
One program administrator shared that she had already decided to ask
students to complete the survey as part of an EFF life skills workshop on
citizens' responsibility to commitment and action.

	As adult educators, perhaps one of our strongest coping skills is
leveraging resources.  NJALL anticipates an additional use for the results
of this national survey.  Our intent is to ask our Governor questions
similar to those selected in this survey.  We expect our message to include
that NJ had a large number of respondents to a national survey -- a level of
activity that supports our claim that this is an extremely important issue
to constituents.  And, of course, we will look forward to the Governor's
responses.

	Please support responding to the survey within your organizations.  We can
make a difference.

Dave Kring
NJALL Past President
dkring at patmedia.net


-----Original Message-----
From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org
[mailto:aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org]On Behalf Of David
Rosen
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:07 AM
To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Activism or apathy?


Dear Adult Literacy Advocate,

It's 7 days into the Literacy President online survey -- the half-way
point.  How are we doing?

First the good news:  three states have had five or more participants:
Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.  The top state  is New Jersey,
with 15 participants.  I think that's because of the leadership at the
state literacy organization, NJALL, in getting the word out.  Way to go
New Jersey!  I also want to say that Montana has stepped up to the
plate, too

But... with only 73 participants -- only one of these an adult learner
-- so far this is an apathetic response. If the Literacy President
Group writes the candidates saying:  "in a national survey of what the
most important questions are to the adult literacy field, 73
respondents said...." it would surely convince the next President that
this field doesn't deserve much attention.

Is it the survey itself, or technology barriers to getting to the
survey?  I don't think so. Several years ago I put together an online
survey about what name the field should have and got hundreds of
responses.

Last week I got a message from Linda Shohet, a Canadian colleague, who
said that while this year's Summer Institute at the Centre for
Literacy, with the topic  "Impact of Policy on Practice in ABE," has
generally high registrations, and while in the past American
registrations at Summer Institutes have generally comprised a fourth to
a third of the participants, this year so far only one person from the
U.S. has signed up. Why?
And what can *you* do about this?

If you have:


Five Minutes:
Take the Literacy President Survey

      http://www.litpresident.org  (choose survey from menu at the left)

Ten Minutes:
E-mail information about the Literacy President Survey to your colleages

A couple of hours:
Use Literacy President learning activities in your classes.

      http://www.literacypresident.org  (choose lessons from menu at the
left)

Two Days:
Go to Montreal on June 28th-30th.  For more information, contact Linda
Shohet at the Centre for Literacy:  lshohet at dawsoncollege.qc.ca


Then -- after you have taken action -- post your thoughts about what's
happening -- and what can be done about it.  Is it the end-of-the year
press of activities? Is it that everyone is working hard on the
election? Is everyone working to save Even Start and Corrections
Literacy? Are we depressed about the national state of literacy? Has
our energy shifted away from the national to state and local advocacy?
Or is it something else?

Take action now -- if nothing else, at least do the survey and get five
others to do it.

Thanks.


David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net

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