[AAACE-NLA] research project

Thu Dec 20 14:21:46 EST 2007

There are numerous complex factors that enter into this critical issue.
Clearly, there are many many individuals whose parents had limited education
who have accomplished a great deal. Sonia Nieto and Howard Zinn are two of
the many notable examples that come to mind.

For those who may be interested, Annette Lareau¹s (2003) book Unequal
Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life sheds light on some of the inherent
complexities.

Susan Finn Miller
Lancaster, PA

On 12/19/07 10:09 AM, "Susan Meier" <smeier at waynemetro.org> wrote:

> From reading these conversations, it looks like there might not be a single
> factor fostering educational achievement.  While you may be able to rank them,
> a number of key factors may play a multi-faceted and intertwining role.  A
> program like Even Start addresses both the parental desire to return to school
> and the focus on helping the children learn at the very same time.  So,
> parents who had emotional traumas, left school and had children, are returning
> to overcome both their own past and are bringing along their children¹s
> education at the very same time.  Thanks for providing a forum and some
> insights into our adult learner¹s motivation.
> Susan Meier, Even Start Adult Ed. Teacher
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org
> [mailto:aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org] On Behalf Of Debbie Yoho
> Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 11:41 AM
> To: aaace-nla
> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] research project
>  
> 
> Art, thanks so much.  I think your "small research" or observation about
> emotional trauma within a year or two of the assessed reading GE is dead on.
> Interestingly, I do much the same thing when interviewing learners initially.
> Yesterday, a new learner who had just told me he spent 10 years in prison
> because of his anger and attitude lead to a deep discussion of his early
> schooling.  He took complete responsibility and said he was really "a bad boy"
> in school behavior-wise.  Then in passing he mentions his mother died when he
> was 9.  His assessed level was about 3.0. Bingo.  It was obvious to me he felt
> a huge load of guilt about his past, typical of children who see themselves as
> the cause, often, when a family is severely stressed.  I'd like to see some
> more research along these lines with adult learners.
> 
>  
> 
> The question I am interested in is what accounts for the instances where
> adults like this gentlemen overcome a load like this, and bring up whole
> families where all the children are academically successful, against the odds.
> Certainly a high value for education is a link.  But so many I have met had
> children who, sure enough, repeated a cycle of illiteracy, despite their
> parent(s) efforts to not "repeat the mistakes my parents made with me".
> 
>  
> 
> In free-wheeling discussions we have been brainstorming this around the
> office. Some people feel the answer will lie in the idea that "it takes a
> village to raise a child" and that we might find the link to be families who
> may have suffered extreme stress, but were knitted into a community that
> sheltered the next generation from a lot of the fall out.
> 
>  
> 
> Debbie Yoho
> 
> Division Director, TURNING PAGES/VOAC
> 
> (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
> 
> Secretary, SC Association for Adult Literacy Education
> 
> 803-765-2555 fax 803-799-8417
> 
> PO Box 1447, Columbia, SC 29202
> 
> yohogclc at earthlink.net
> 
>  
> 
> "True progress preserves order amid change and preserves change amid order."
> (John Morgan, You Can't Manage Alone)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> 
>> From: Art LaChance <mailto:ruhtra.glc at ellijay.com>
>> 
>> To: yohogclc at earthlink.net;National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
>> <mailto:aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>> 
>> Sent: 12/12/2007 6:06:42 PM
>> 
>> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] research project
>> 
>>  
>> Debbie,
>> I've been directly involved in adult literacy since 1986 and I do not believe
>> the 'research' that indicates the most influential factor to be the parents
>> educational attainment.  Nor do I believe it to be a primary factor, maybe
>> tertiary or less.
>> I do believe education to be very individualistic and primarily dependent on
>> the childs' emotional stability during the early education years.
>> To support that premise I've made a habit over the years of playing "20
>> questions" with adult students when they enter our program.  My initial
>> questions refer to the public school grade levels the student was in a year
>> or two prior to what their score on the initial  TABE assessment shows when
>> they enter our program.  So if a student pulls a 5.5 grade level in math I
>> would start asking that student what was going on in their lives when they
>> were 8 or 9 yrs old in the third or fourth grade. What I discovered circa
>> 1994 during a small research project where I was looking for evidence of
>> brain injury that could have affected learning processes, was that about 90%
>> of the students I interviewed reported situations that resulted in
>> significant emotional instability.  Therefore a break in the sequencing of
>> skill building in reading, math, and/or language.  The evidence for brain
>> injury approached zero cases. While emotional scored in the 99th percentile
>> range.  Get my drift here.?
>> The situations the child was involved in ranged from parental death, divorce,
>> or separation and ran the gamut out to a teacher who made fun of a young
>> ladies last name on a daily basis.  To list all the various influential
>> factors I thought might have some serious affect on that students learning
>> progress would take all day here.   We all know that the adult student comes
>> to class sporting a lower than average self esteem / confidence factor and
>> most of us address that issue as critical, as it should be, and when we help
>> that student overcome the lack of confidence we can see the 'problem'
>> diminish and learning takes place.  My thoughts are that the internal
>> negative influence that derails 'learning' has been in place since the
>> student underwent exposure to an unmanageable situation that was not
>> rectified in the childs mind.
>> So at best I would say the question is still an open one OR do we even know
>> what the real question is ?  And maybe that's why they call it "re-search" ??
>> 
>> Art
>> 
>> 
>> Art LaChance
>> Director
>> Gilmer Learning Center
>> Ellijay, GA
>> 
>> Debbie Yoho wrote:
>> 
>> Dear Friends:  I am going to take a small risk here by asking for your
>> advice. If I am on to something, I hope no one will steal my idea!
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Turning Pages is thinking of applying for a federal research grant.  If we go
>> forward with this, we will need your help and involvement.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> We all agree, apparently, that low literacy tends to "run in families". But
>> lately I am not so sure.  In my small group of only five learners, two have
>> grown children who finished school and went on to college.  One even
>> graduated from West Point.  Another is a teacher.  And these weren't "special
>> kids".  ALL their siblings did well too.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> So, given that these individuals had parent(s) who do not read well, and
>> given that past research shows that the most influential factor on a child's
>> success in school is the parent(s)' educational attainment,what accounts for
>> their achievement?
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> That is the question I'd like to research.  If funded, this will be a
>> qualitative case study conducted mostly by interviewing adult learners. This
>> list is full of creative, hard thinkers.  What is your immediate reaction to
>> the idea of such a study?  Many thanks.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Debbie Yoho
>> 
>> Division Director, TURNING PAGES/VOAC
>> 
>> (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
>> 
>> Secretary, SC Association for Adult Literacy Education
>> 
>> 803-765-2555 fax 803-799-8417
>> 
>> PO Box 1447, Columbia, SC 29202
>> 
>> yohogclc at earthlink.net
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> "True progress preserves order amid change and preserves change amid order."
>> (John Morgan, You Can't Manage Alone)
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>  
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> 
> 
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