[NLA] Evidence-based practice in Adult Literacy Education]

[Catherine B. King]

Hello Sally:

In your informative note, you say:

"Without adequate support for ALL of these important 
research questions, such 'evidence' will never be 
forthcoming - and we are left only with the rich 
anecdotal record supplied by practitioner after 
practitioner, not recognized as 'evidence'.    Without 
public belief in the right to public adult basic 
education, and the resulting support, 'evidence' 
based practice is a contradiction in terms."

I believe you have isolated in your note the two major
fronts the Adult Education Community needs to work
on over the long term:  

(1) Broadening the rules of evidence for research--
       methodically;  

(2) Educating the public and (our policymakers) about
      the right of U. S. adults to basic education.  

As you imply, without these prior insights guiding our principles
of action, all teachers' wonderful anecdotes of success stories, 
all parades of grateful learners, and all U.S. adults' expressed 
needs to become educated and skilled, will fall on deaf ears.  
What teachers know as ample and recurring evidence doesn't 
even make it through the door of the present paradigm of 
research or the present punitive "proof-first" or "education-as-
welfare-dole" door of political principle that guides our policy
makers.
 
The change of the rules of evidence is a change in the single,
inadequate paradigm of research that has held sway for
years--it's based on natural science and statistical data alone.

And the ignorance of the rights issue is not only connected at 
the hip to the above misapprehension of method, but is directly 
connected to the inherent need of the public to be educated in 
a developing or mature democracy--otherwise, the demos 
(the people) really do not have the power to make decisions or 
to involve their voices intelligently in local, state, national or 
international politics.    

The present scenario, where adult education is marginalized,
is proof positive that our policy makers, and apparently our
representatives at the DOE, have lost their political footing 
and do not understand the intimate relationship between 
education and democracy that they are supposed have at 
the center of their thought--as stewards of a democracy.   

It seems they think they are stewarding our money well by
requiring endless proof and "results" before their welfare 
dollars are spent--when a real steward of a democratic-
republican political clime would welcome the desire of any 
U. S. adult to educate themselves, especially in today's
communication-rich environment where our need to know
is crucial.  If they were stewarding well, the question of 
methods and outcomes would follow a basic and critical
foundational flow of education funds rather that be the 
source of do-or-die, or even punitive, funding.   But they 
are not good stewards in a democracy.    

And most of us are so busy teaching and, like in Margo's note, 
making miracles happen; but we don't see the larger picture 
of how unrepresented (as valid evidence) good teaching is
at the one-horse research level, or how unappreciated good
teaching is.  More importantly, our policy makers do not
apparently understand how important willing-too-learn adults 
are at the political level--to the political ground that those in
power claim to stand on and represent.

Regards,

Catherine King   

--- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sally Gabb 
  To: nla at lists.literacytent.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 3:37 AM
  Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: [NLA] Evidence-based practice in Adult Literacy Edu cation]


  Dear Margo & list,

  With adequate support for innovative research, many kinds of  'evidence' can be produced.  Your prison based collection of qualitative data sounds promising, but unfortunately, the kinds of success you describe with 'even one learner' is not usually  recognized as 'evidence' of practice with generalizable outcomes.  Such 'evidence' of methods/curriculum/practice which enable outcomes for adults moving from non-literacy to literacy is not widely available.  

  In addition, in my own research, I have used other promising theoretical direction that is not often utilized.  Learners such as the ones you describe are moving from orientation to language based on oral speaking/listening conventions.  This 'schema' for how language works to communicate various kinds of meanings is quite different than the schema for text referenced use of language.  Theorist Walter Ong has written much about the difference between orality and literacy as a human communications phenomenon.  The work of  Shirley Brice Health ('Ways with Words') is a powerful record of socio-linguistic research tracing the effects of oral speaking/listening expectations of language, and resulting interference with learning higher level reading comprehension skills.

  To be able to pursue this and many other directions in research, we must first convince our legislatures that enabling adults to move from lack of or limited literacy can impact our society in a wide range of positive ways.  There was movement in this direction during the 70's to the 90's.  In this period of economic downturn, focus has become negative.  Prove that we REALLY need to publicly support adult education.  Prove that the outcomes will REALLY make a difference.  Prove that this or that classroom theory/curriculum/method REALLY works.  Without adequate support for ALL of these important research questions, such 'evidence' will never be forthcoming - and we are left only with the rich anecdotal record supplied by practitioner after practitioner, not recognized as 'evidence'.    Without public belief in the right to public adult basic education, and the resulting support, 'evidence' based practice is a contradiction in terms.

  >From: Missm1775 at aol.com 
  >Reply-To: nla at lists.literacytent.org 
  >To: nla at lists.literacytent.org 
  >Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: [NLA] Evidence-based practice in Adult Literacy Edu cation] 
  >Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 21:02:43 EDT 
  > 
  >Hi Andrea, 
  > I am thinking particularly about a paper by Purcell-Gatyes, Degener, 
  >Jacobson & Soler ( Reading Research Quarterly, v37,N1- Jan/Feb/Marh 2002). It 
  >is titled "Impact of authentic adult literacy instruction on adult literacy 
  >practices." In addition, I am presenting work at a conference for 
  >incarcerated educational programs on research that I have been conducting on 
  >the impact of explicit teaching of phonological segmentation skills on adult 
  >second language learners' reading comprehension in both the L1 & L2. Another 
  >study which has guided my current practice (I teach ESL in a correctional 
  >facility and at Stony Brook University & am engaged in second language 
  >literacy acquisition research, as well as coordinate an EL/CIVICS program and 
  >I'm writing an Even Start Grant) is a 1996 paper by Purcell-Gates "Stories, 
  >coupons, and the TV Giude: Relationships between home literacy experiences 
  >and emergent literacy knowledge" (Reading Research Quarterly, 31, 210-219). 
  > I find it very challenging to integrate authentic literacy practices in 
  >classrooms where my students have NO L1 reading ability. Many of my students 
  >have never written their name when they arrive in my classroom ( at the jail) 
  >and I am starting at the very beginning with these adult learners. I draw on 
  >their schema as much as possible, but everything is so conditioned towards 
  >students with even low literacy skills- it sometimes seems very hopeless, but 
  >when we get a man to write his name and eventually read a children's book on 
  >tape and send the book and tape home, I feel we have really changed the world 
  >for that individual and his child/ren. 
  > ( I guess this is some methodology discussion!) 
  >Best, 
  >Margo 


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