[AAACE-NLA] 2007:What Was Hot, What Was Not

[tsticht@znet.com]

December 27, 2007

Adult Literacy: What Was Hot and What Was Not in 2007?
Tom Sticht

As we approach the end of 2007 I took a tally of the number of messages to
the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) discussion lists to find out
what topics in adult literacy education seemed to be in and which ones
seemed to be out, I considered each list to represent a special interest in
the topic indicated by the list name. I tallied the number of messages
posted to the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) lists as of noon
December 27, 2007.

The following 4 lists posted over 3 messages per day.

Poverty, Race, Women, & Literacy		1336 posted messages
English Language				1146
Health Literacy				1119
Professional Development			1108

The following list posted over 2 but fewer than 3 messages per day.

Learning Disabilities				 784

The following 5 lists posted fewer than 2 messages per day.

Technology					665
Workplace 					586
Assessment					532
Focus on Basics				475
Family Literacy				419

The relatively low number of postings, 586, less than 2 a day,  on the
Workplace literacy list seems out of place given the federal  government's
interest in the use of the federal adult basic education and literacy
program for workforce development. Does this indicate a low level of
interest in workplace literacy education?

The Family Literacy list is at the bottom of the ranking with just a little
over 1 message per day. Again, given that the Adult Education and Family
Literacy Act is the federal law that funds the Adult Education and Literacy
System (AELS), and includes Family Literacy as an explicit component of the
law, it seems a bit strange that the list engendered such a relatively low
amount of discussion. Does this signal a drop of interest in family
literacy programs?

One of the perennial issues that is thought to be of interest to the adult
literacy field is assessment, but if postings to the NIFL lists is any
indicator of interest in assessment, it ranks 8th  out of 10,  hardly
indicative of major interest in assessment.

Coming out top in 2007 is the povertyracewomen & literacy list, with 1336
messages, or 3.7 per day. A major topic on the povracewomen & literacy list
was what was going on in New Orleans adult literacy following the Katrina
disaster. This stimulated over 70 messages alone, and perhaps more with
different subject labels not including New Orleans or Katrina as part of
the name.

English language, health literacy, and professional development all averaged
more than 3 messages a day, suggesting that these are topics that were of
particular interest to adult literacy educators in 2007.

Another discussion list, the American Association for Adult & Continuing
Education (AAACE) National Literacy Advocates (NLA) (aaace-nla) list is not
one of the NIFL lists but is widely used to discuss politics, policies, and
advocacy that cannot be discussed on the federally funded NIFL lists. In
2005, the aaace-nla list posted 1544 messages. This fell to 1074 in 2006,
and to 657 in 2007. This is a more than 60 percent drop since 2005 in
postings to the list that promotes advocacy for adult literacy education.
This may indicate less interest in policy and advocacy in the adult
literacy education field, or a greater focus on fewer but more
action-oriented messages rather than debatable issues messages, or perhaps
it suggests something else not readily understood by me.

Of course, all this raises the question of just what do the NIFL or
aaace-nla lists indicate about what the adult literacy field thinks is hot
and what it thinks is not. Any ideas about what were the hot topics of
2007, what were not, and what the hot topics/issues will be in 2008?

Tsticht at aznet.net