[AAACE-NLA] Who to Serve in the AELS?

[tsticht at znet.com]

September 4, 2007

Who Should be Served in the  Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of
the United States?

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

In a report from the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and
Literacy, Comings, Reder, & Sum (2001) argued for expanding the missions of
the national and state adult education and literacy systems. They argued
that these systems should focus on three "challenges" for adult education:
the language challenge, posed by immigrant groups who have limited English
language skills; the educational credential challenge, consisting of native
born and immigrant groups who do not have a high school diploma or GED, and
the new literacy challenge, comprised of adults who speak English
proficiently and have a high school diploma/GED but whose basic skills are
generally considered insufficient for the  modern workplace. Altogether,
these three groups of adults would total some 64 million in the age range
from 18-64.

Today, the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States
formed by the federal government, the 50 states, and the U.S. territories,
acting under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Title 2: Adult Education
and Family Literacy Act, serves the first two "challenge" groups identified
above, but not the third.  In a new report for the National Commission on
Adult Literacy, Reder (2007) argues for a broadened and restructured adult
education system, which segments a target population for adult education
into three groups that are different from those defined earlier:

1. Adults without secondary credentials needing improved basic skills to
pass the
GED, essentially the current target population for adult education.

2. Adults with or without secondary credentials needing improved basic
skills to
complete a 2-year college degree.

3. Adults who already have the necessary basic skills to complete a 2-year
college
degree but may need other skills or persistence supports to succeed in
college.

Reder (2007) expresses his belief that our nation has a "need to increase
substantially the number of youth and adults succeeding in postsecondary
education. Although the approximately 15 million GEDs produced through the
adult education system over the past 60 years or so is a good start, the
system needs to be expanded and broadened to have the necessary educational
and economic impact."

Here I am not sure what "necessary educational and economic impact" is being
addressed,  nor am I certain as to what "adult education system" is being
referenced. The Adult Education Act of 1966 created the present Adult
Education and Literacy System (AELS) for adults without a high school
diploma or equivalency, but it has operated only for the last 41 years, not
60 years. This is the only formally organized national AELS in the nation of
which I am aware.

In discussing the three component populations to be served in the newly
formed adult education system that he proposes, the first component is
identified as: "High school equivalent: This target population is the one
currently being served by the adult education system, with the mission of
developing and certifying individuals’ skills and knowledge to be
equivalent to those of high school graduates. The GED is the certification
process. " He goes on to say, " We have good evidence that this component
is effectively fulfilling its mission."

This high school equivalent component seems to be the present AELS supported
at the federal level by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Title 2: Adult
Education and Family Literacy Act. This law organizes the AELS across the 50
states and the U.S. territories. However, if it is this AELS that is being
discussed, then it is not clear to me that it "is effectively fulfilling
its mission." For instance, since 1998 enrollments in the AELS have fallen
by over 1.4 million adults from about 4 million to 2.6 million. Enrollments
in adult secondary education, ASE, have dropped precipitously, too. From
Program Year 2000-2001 to PY 03-04, the percentage of adults enrolled in
adult secondary education fell from 20.8 percent to 16.3 percent.

The Program Year 2003-2004 report to Congress indicates that of adults who
stated the
goal of wanting to complete their high school diploma or GED the national
averages for High School Completion/GED for the four PYs  of 00-01, 01-02,
02-03, and 03-04 were 33%, 42%, 44% and 45%, respectively. Why the larger
change from 00-01 to 01-02 occurred is not known, but for the last three
years of the report there was very little improvement in the rate of
increase in high school completion, and fewer than half of those with this
as a goal actually achieved the goal.

All this suggests to me that the statement that "We have good evidence that
this component [i.e., the present AELS] is effectively fulfilling its
mission" is perhaps overly optimistic. In fact, the data suggest to me that
instead of looking at how the mission of the AELS can be expanded to 
include the higher ability groups identified, many of whom already possess
the basic skills and high school diplomas required for postsecondary
education, our priority should be on policies, funding, and teaching
efforts that are directed at improving the capacity of the present AELS for
reaching and teaching the millions of least skilled adults in our nation.
There is the threat that by extending our reach upwards to those with the
credentials and basic skills for postsecondary education, we lose our grip
on those we are trying to help climb the first few rungs of the educational
ladder.

Reference:

Comings, J., Reder, S., & Sum, A. (2001, December). Building a Level Playing
Field. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and
Literacy. Online at www.ncsall.net

Reder, S. (2007, September). Policy Brief: Adult Education and Postsecondary
Success. Paper prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy.
Online at www.nationalcommissiononadultliteracy.org

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