[AAACE-NLA] Literacy President Questions

[Merle Ayres]

My question to the candidates is why little money goes to preschool 
education. If the first years are so important and youngsters do not get 
help: no matter what gender or race it hurts later on in learning years. The 
drumbeat in Iowa this year is preschool. The legislature has not acted and 
will not get a governor's signiture until preschool is addressed. Most of my 
background as a former teacher was on readiness. Preschool was not discussed 
at all. Now all of sudden it is. This may affect adult literacy.  question: 
Is preschool an important priority for the new candidate?
Merle Ayres
412 8th st. North
Humboldt,Iowa 50548
Tel.1-515-332-4630
Fax 515-332-1738




>From: David Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net>
>Reply-To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by 
>AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>To: National List sponsored by AAACE Literacy 
>Advocacy<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Literacy President Questions
>Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 12:13:22 -0500
>
>AAACE-NLA Colleagues,
>
>Below are the Literacy President questions that appeared on our
>survey ballot for the last Presidential election.  These questions
>were suggested on this list and were voted on in the online survey
>for our field.  Are there any questions below that you would like to
>see as possible questions for the _2008_ Presidential candidates?  If
>so, post to this list what question(s) you would like to see on our
>survey ballot.
>
>Are there other, better or better-worded, questions you would like to
>suggest?  Now is the time to put democracy in practice.  This is your
>opportunity to suggest questions to be put to the 2008 Presidential
>candidates by the field.
>
>David J. Rosen
>Adult Literacy Advocate
>DJRosen at theworld.com
>
>-------------------------------------------
>2004 Literacy President suggested questions
>
>1. Do you support adult literacy?
>
>2. Access to Quality Programs
>
>What should be the commitment of the federal government, if any, to
>insure that all adults in the United States have guaranteed access to
>quality programs to improve their academic skills, regardless of
>income, location, age, national origin, etc.?
>
>3. Training/re-training for the New Economy
>
>What programs will you support to assist adults who need training and
>re-training to enter a computer-literate world where job
>responsibilities constantly change?
>
>4. Training/re-training for the New Economy
>
>Many U.S. workers function at low literacy levels. Some of these
>voters watch their jobs being "outsourced" to foreign countries, but
>are not being given adequate access to the training and education
>that will allow them to function in the new "global, knowledge-based
>economy." Would your administration re-focus priorities to address
>the disappearance of the American dream for the 90 million US
>citizens functioning at the two lowest literacy levels who cannot
>compete without additional education?
>
>5. Intergenerational Literacy
>
>Can you describe the relationship between a child's success in school
>and the parent's educational attainment?
>
>6. Intergenerational Literacy
>
>Children need education. The ones who do not get education now will
>become adults who need literacy skills. If you teach adults, they
>will help their kids. What are you willing to do to improve adult
>literacy programs?
>
>7. Funding
>
>What will you do to insure full funding for adult education and
>literacy programs?
>
>8. Funding
>
>More funds are needed for adult literacy services in America. How
>will you reward the many adult learners who struggle to learn and
>improve? Will extra help be provided if they need another chance at
>getting a high school or General Educational Development (GED) diploma?
>
>9. Funding
>
>Are any increases possible for Adult Education and Literacy? If not,
>then how can we continue to educate citizens who need literacy while
>providing English and education services for the increasing numbers
>of non-English speakers who have no schooling prior to entry into the
>US?
>
>10. Funding
>
>Will your administration support special grant funding to states
>which have little or no infrastructure to deal with the huge increase
>in immigrants who need to learn English?
>
>11. Funding
>
>The current average federal and state investment in adult education
>and literacy is a few hundred dollars per adult learner per year.
>Many of these adult learners were not successful in schools where
>more than ten times that much per student is the norm. What do you
>believe the federal investment per adult learner should be?
>
>12. Funding for Quality Programs
>
>How can we have high quality programs with the current lack of funding?
>
>13. Health Literacy
>
>What programs will you support to insure that everyone has access to
>understandable health information?
>
>14. Personal Experience with Adults who Cannot Read
>
>Have you ever known an adult who couldn't read?
>
>15. Adult Learner Needs
>
>Few literacy programs recognize adult needs. What will you do to
>address this?
>
>16. National Adult Literacy Initiative
>
>Since it is the goal of this nation to create "new" jobs, employ the
>"working poor" in "better" jobs as an ongoing goal of the 1996 Work
>and Responsibility Act (Welfare Reform) and to help colleges and
>universities manage their growing nontraditional student population
>seeking new skills, what steps would you propose as a national adult
>literacy initiative to help address these issues?
>
>17. Adult Learner Leadership Will your administration formally
>recognize adult learners, seek them out for solutions to adult
>literacy problems, and provide resources and leadership training to
>those of us who have succeeded so that we can go out and help others
>with literacy problems?
>
>18. Research
>
>There is a push to base our practices on evidence from scientific
>research. Although there has been some research in the field of adult
>education and literacy, many questions and experiences by teachers in
>the field remain unexamined. While current research provides some
>suggestions of "what to do" many of the most important areas are
>unexplored. What are your opinions about the need for research, and
>how might you fund new research?
>
>19. Research
>
>Will you include support for adult literacy research in your
>administration?
>
>20. Research
>
>What approaches, methods, and theoretical constructs to adult
>literacy research will your administration support?
>
>21. Research
>
>What questions/issues do you think are most worthy of sustained
>investigatory investment by the federal government? What will
>constitute sound evidence?
>
>22. Research
>
>Will your administration draw on the expertise of practicing adult
>literacy scholars or will you be looking outside the field for
>expertise?
>
>23. Definition of Adult Literacy
>
>Many in this field of practice understand adult literacy to mean that
>there are many literacies -- like heath, family, women, civic, and
>workplace literacy -- and that adult literacy should not be limited
>by a national definition that addresses reading only. Where do you
>stand regarding the definition of adult literacy? How do you define it?
>
>24. Literacy for Different Groups
>
>Explain how you see the government supporting resources that serve
>the literacy needs of disaggregate groups (blacks, Latinos, and other
>ethnic minorities.)
>
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