[AAACE-NLA] Have we all failed? If so, what should we do to succeed?

[tsticht at znet.com]

[AAACE-NLA] Have we all failed? If so, what should we do to succeed?


David Rosen reported that I have " asked for a major review of the field of
adult education and literacy to address the inadequacy of the Adult
Education and Literacy System in the United States."

But I didn’t actually refer to the "inadequacy" of the AELS but rather I
said my critiques of the three major federal programs/activities that are
supposed to be doing something to improve some aspects of the AELS suggests
the need for a major, substantial review of the field of adult education and
literacy to understand what efforts are needed to better serve the needs of
the millions of adults who each year seek to improve their education and
literacy abilities through the services of the Adult Education and 
Literacy
System of the United States.

To me, this does not necessarily imply that the present AELS is "inadequate"
or that we need to understand its "inadequacies." Rather, it seems likely to
me that the present AELS is quite adequate to its tasks, but that (1) the
nation is not aware of the AELS and what it does; (2) the AELS is grossly
under-funded and therefore cannot serve the numbers of adults that need to
be served [perhaps this is an "inadequacy" of the AELS, but I consider it
an inadequacy of those responsible for the funding of the AELS, not of the
AELS itself]; (3) with additional funding their should be an orchestrated
effort to bring back the 1 or 2 million adults who left the AELS due to the
oppressive NRS requirements imposed by the DAEL; (4) the millions of adults
who have received education in the AELS should be mobilized as an alumnus
force to provide a political power base for arguing for increased funding
for the AELS; (5) a special commission should be formed and a special
report that includes inputs from cognitive scientists (including
psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, neuroscientists),
philosophers, and educators representing education across the lifespan,
includng preschool and adult educators, labor market economists, and
perhaps some business, religious, and media representatives.

This commission’s report should be released at a White House conference on
adult literacy education. It should provide the basis for understanding a
life cycles policy for education as I have written about in other posts. It
should dispel ideas that are conducive to negative thinking about adult
literacy education (e.g., IQ; bad brains, etc), it should emphasize the
importance of adult literacy education for multiple outcomes, it should
provide some indication of the cost-benefits of adult literacy education,
and it should recommend what is needed by way of R & D to help the AELS
grow and better serve the full range of adults. The commission should be
independent of the government, possibly funded by a foundation like the
Gates Foundation. It should be as convincing about adult literacy education
as other boards, panels, etc have been about preschool education.

I cannot make this sort of thing come about, but perhaps others can. I hope
so.

Tom Sticht