[GLC] (no subject)

[Ira Yankwitt]

Dear Colleagues:

The following "Praise from PART" was included in a recent email from the
Federal Department of Education's (ED) Office of Vocational and Adult
Education (OVAE) to the State Directors of Adult Education.  It is quite
striking, given that President Bush used the findings of the 2002 PART
report to justify his proposed 2/3 cuts in federal funding two years
ago. 

(Keep in mind that this report is for all 50 states' WIA Title 2
programs, not just NYS'.)

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Praise from PART:  OMB Rates Adult Ed "Effective"	

Assistant Secretary Troy R. Justesen announced today that the adult
education State grant program OVAE administers has been rated
"effective"-the highest rating a federal program can achieve-by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  Only two ED programs have earned
this rating.  OMB uses a Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to look
at factors reflecting program performance.  OMB recently used PART to
re-evaluate the adult education State grant program.  The program moved
from its 2002 rating of  "results not demonstrated" to "effective" in
2007 because it significantly improved performance measurement and
outcomes.  Programs rated "effective" must set ambitious goals, achieve
results, be managed well, and improve efficiency.  OMB uses the ratings
to help develop funding levels for the President's budget, and Congress
uses them in analyzing programs' return on investment for funding levels
each year.

Praise from OMB includes these kudos from PART.  Adult education: 

*	Recruits, retains, and assists eight times as many people from
its target population-at a lower cost-than all other related federal
programs combined.
*	Is achieving performance goals for high school completion,
postsecondary education or training, and job retention.
*	Is managed well through new quality standards, common assessment
tools, and improved comparability of grantee performance data.
*	Requires participants to advance the equivalent of two or more
grade levels for a measurable learning gain, yet increased the percent
of participants achieving learning gains consistently since FY 2000.
*	Is investing in randomized controlled trails to find
instructional strategies to enable learning gains in less than 12
months.

To see more praise for adult education, click on
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary/10000180.2006.html  

Ira Yankwitt, Director
NYC Regional Adult Education Network
Literacy Assistance Center
32 Broadway, 10th Floor
NY, NY 10004
212-803-3356