[AAACE-NLA] From Parents to Progeny

[tsticht@znet.com]

Aaace-nla Colleagues:

The evidence continues to mount on the importance of the transfer of
language, literacy, and educational achievement across multiple life
cycles. ABC Canada recently called attention to research from the
University of Alberta's Canadian Centre for Research on Literacy which
"confirms the assumption that improving parents' literacy skills improves
those of their children" (see Literacy at Work, No. 49, January 2007 at
www.abc-canada.org).

This adds another important reference to a paper entitled "Toward a Multiple
Life Cycles Education Policy" available on the www.nald.ca web site searched
in the library pages. I will present the paper at the national Family
Literacy conference in Orlando, Florida March 4th, 2007. The online paper
does not include the extensive graphics I will use in my presentation in
Orlando but it presents in text format  reviews of nine lines of thinking
and research that establish the value of adult literacy education in
providing multiple returns to investments in adult literacy education,
including the improvement of the educational achievement of children.
Following is a brief overview of the topics addressed in each of the nine
sections into which this paper is divided. The first two sections deal with
mistaken ideas that are widely held and which hinder the development of
adequate resources for adult literacy education. The remaining sections
present evidence arguing for a greater investment in adult literacy
education as a means of improving family literacy by the transfer of
literacy from parents to their children.

1.

Brain Development, IQ, and Early Childhood Education. Arguments for early
childhood education and against adult education are often based on the
growth of the brain and the development of intelligence in the early years
following birth. As suggested above, it has been commonly argued that adult
literacy education is too late and that we need to focus our efforts on
early childhood education when the brain is undergoing major developmental
changes. Brain science (neuroscience) is often cited to support this
position. In this section I review evidence suggesting that this is not a
sound argument.

2.

Born to Lose: Low Aptitude, Genes, Low Intelligence, and Adult Illiteracy.
Claims have been made that poorly literate adults are genetically inferior
to others and are unable to succeed in life. Here I cite statements in the
popular press arguing that adults with low literacy skills are likely to be
of low IQ and hence unable to achieve much benefit from investments in their
education. I then present evidence to counter these types of claims.

3.

Statistical Data: Thirty+ Year Reading Trend Data. These data show that
there has been little or no improvement in reading scores for 9, 13, and 17
year olds since 1971. The schools continue to turn out tens of thousands of
functionally illiterate young adults each year. This suggests the need for
a new approach to improving children’s learning in K-12. The new approach
suggested here focuses upon the education of undereducated adults to
improve their  children’s school achievement.

4.

Statistical Data: Parent’s Education and Children’s Literacy Skills:
Thirty year trend data for the United States and additional data from
international adult literacy assessments show that as parent’s education
level increases their children’s literacy achievement increases and this
relationship persists into adulthood.

5.

Statistical Data: Parent’s Literacy and Children’s Literacy: Not only are
parent's education levels related to their children's literacy levels, but
additionally data from the United Kingdom's Institute of Education show
that as parent’s measured literacy, not just their years of education, goes
up so does the literacy of their children.

6.

Parent Education and the Efficacy of Preschool Education: New research
evidence indicates that adult education is a key factor in the success of
preschool education and that arguments for expanding early childhood
education are to a large extent actually arguments for increasing
investments in early adulthood education.

7.

The Intergenerational Transfer of Literacy in Adult Literacy Education: Data
from workplace literacy studies, family literacy studies, and general
literacy studies reveal the transfer of motivation, self-efficacy,
language, and literacy from parents to children and indicate that adult
literacy education can affect the literacy education of the adult's
children or grandchildren.

8.

The Intergenerational Transfer of Literacy From Parents to Their Children:
Research is  presented on the oracy-to-literacy transfer effect which
provides one explicit mechanism for how parents transfer literacy
intergenerationally.

9.

Multiple Returns to Education in Adult Literacy Education. Studies are cited
showing multiplier effects of adult literacy education on health, community
activities, and productivity at work. Such studies indicate that we can
get  "double duty dollars" for investments in adult literacy education.



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