[AAACE-NLA] Any movement on the seven PReP PAAP program factors?

[tsticht at znet.com]

Colleagues: Earlier I asked about pre- and post-NIFL activites going forward
after the NIFL is disbanded. In a post three years ago I asked about the
seven PReP PAAP factors in adult literacy programs. I'm wondering if anyone
has seen any advances in one or more of these seven factors which are given
in the note below. If so, can you give a quick summary of your experience.
Thanks,
Tom Sticht



October 11, 2007

The Seven Enduring PReP PAAP Activities in Adult Literacy Education

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

For decades practitioners in adult literacy education have consistently
encountered seven salient, enduring, and recurring activities.  These can
be summarized as the seven PReP PAAP (pronounced prep pap) activities.
These seven activities deal with questions concerned with adult language,
literacy, and numeracy (LLN) instruction. Here is a summary of the seven
PReP PAAP activities, the questions they repeatedly raise in adult literacy
education, and some data bearing on each activity from the United States
experience. How does your program do on this checklist of 7 PReP PAAP
activities?

1. PARTICIPATION: How many adults need LLN, how many want LLN, how many
enroll in LLN programs? [In the U.S., the government says some 47 percent
or 93 million adults need LLN, but only about 5 percent or around 10
million adults think they need LLN, and fewer than 1.5 percent or 3 million
adults enroll in LLN programs each year].

2. RETENTION:  How long do adults stay in a program once they enroll and
what can be done to increase completion rates? [In the U.S. adults stay in
English as a second language (ESL) programs about 60-120 hours, in adult
basic education programs about 35-70 hours, in secondary (high school/GED)
programs about 30-55 hours.]

3. PERSISTENCE:  How can adults be helped to persist in learning LLN in
programs and by self-study outside the classroom? [In the U.S. some
programs provide support services such as child care, transportation
assistance, etc. some make programs more relevant by using Functional
Context Education (FCE-using real life materials and contexts) to teach LLN
and to facilitate further practice of skills and self-study outside of
class.]

4. PROGRESSION:  How can progress in learning LLN be facilitated, observed,
and made noticeable to learners and others?  [In the U.S. some programs
facilitate learning using FCE; some provide repeated, formative assessments
of learner's work, and help learners maintain portfolios of their work for
learners and others to examine.]

5. ACHIEVEMENT:  How many adults achieve education
credentials/qualifications and/or other important outcomes of learning? [In
the U.S. the National Reporting System maintains records on how many adults
in the federally funded Title 2: Adult Education and Family Literacy Act
programs, which serve about 2.7 million adults, achieve high school or GED
completion. About 45 percent of those with this credential goal achieve
it.]

6. ACCOUNTABILITY:  How do programs and learners account for their uses of
publicly provided educational resources? [In the U. S. the National
Reporting System provides accountability for the federally funded Title 2:
Adult Education and Family Literacy Act programs and provides reports to
the Congress regarding selected outcomes of participation in the LLN
programs for adults.]

7. PREVENTION:  How does adult engagement in LLN provision promote the
intergenerational transfer of LLN abilities and prevent learning and
schooling  difficulties of the adult's children? [All U.S. surveys of
children's and adult's literacy skills show strong effects of parent's
education levels on children's educational achievement. Additional evidence
 suggests that adults participation in LLN programs may affect the learning
and schooling of their children.]

Methods of dealing with PReP PAAP activities and additional answers to the
PReP PAAP questions have emerged in the professional wisdom of adult
literacy educators and these activities have been studied in research in a
number of industrialized nations. Information about several of these
activities is available online in two reports I have prepared.  While these
reports are not framed in exactly the same way as the PReP PAAP activities,
they deal with each of the seven activities.

In a report entitled "Reforming Adult Literacy Education: Transforming Local
Programs Into National Systems in Canada, the United Kingdom & the United
States" (http://www.nald.ca/library/research/sticht/reformin/cover.htm) I
discuss six of the seven activities n these three nations for transforming
adult literacy education from a variety of disparate programs into
organized systems of education for adults. Activities include: 1.
Participation: Scale of Need: determining how many adults are in
need of adult basic skills education. 2. Participation: Access to Provision:
determining how many adults are aware of, have access to and enroll in adult
literacy education provision. 3. Retention, Persistence: Nature of
Provision: determining the nature of the delivery system of adult literacy
provision. 4. Retention, Persistence: Quality of Provision: determining the
need for improved quality. 5. Progression: Achievement, Accountability of
Provision: improving methods for determining student learning and other
outcomes.

The activity of Prevention of children's problems are discussed in "Toward a
Multiple Life Cycles Education Policy: Investing in the Education of Adults
to Improve the Educability of Children."
(http://www.nald.ca/library/research/sticht/06dec/06dec.pdf ) This paper
argues for education policy that recognizes that literacy is transferred
across generations from parents to their children. Therefore, we need to
have a much larger investment in the education of youth and adults who are
parents or who will be parents. Adult literacy education affects multiple
life cycles. An extensive review is presented of research on early
childhood education, relationships of parent's education to children's
literacy, parenting and preschool effectiveness, and other issues.

If obtaining and reading these reports is not convenient, but you would
still like to learn more about PReP PAAP activities, I have prepared a FREE
one day workshop called "Adult Literacy Education in Industrialized Nations:
The Seven PReP PAAP Activities of Adult Literacy Education." In one
information packed day you can learn a lot about these seven enduring
concerns of adult literacy education and what is being done about them in
Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United
States. Contact me at tsticht at aznet.net for additional information about
the locations and contacts for the presently scheduled workshops or how to
sponsor a workshop in your area.

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