[NLA] Discussion: AELS and Higher Ed

[Deborah W. Yoho]

David, thanks for the response.   I agree that everything you say is true
now, but why can't legislation be crafted to insure a competitive process
and that a wide range of providers is eligible for the funding, even though
it flows through higher ed?  It seems to me the "direct and equitable
access clause" could be preserved.  And if we now hold organizations
accountable for infintesimal details like individual learner gains on a
standardized test, can't legislation be written to hold higher ed
accountable to a collaborative system? 

The problem may be the uneven "state of the cause" in different states.  In
a state like South Carolina, whose K-12 system is notoriously inadequate,
the priority will remain on kids, and most likely kids under the age of 10.
I have found my higher ed institutions, including regional campuses of the
large system and Tech (we have no community college system) to be far more
interested in collaborative processes and adult ed in general than the K-12
leadership at both the state and local levels.  These institutions need
enrollment.  Quality adult ed can lead to enrollment. If funding for
research were available, even if it was tied to partnerships with direct
service providers, higher ed here would step up to the plate. 

David suggests:  

"Sustained pressure from the adult 
> education and literacy field demanded, and has supported, this kind of 
> leadership from the Department of Education.  In states where the State 
> Education Department does not show this kind of leadership the field can 
> rise up and change this."

Perhaps my ideas are skewed by the fact that our state superintendent of
education is still an elected official, unusual, I know.  The top leader
must first be a politician.  The little kids will always be a higher
priority with voters than "those people who have had their chance."

Individually, I have almost always found colleagues in higher ed, even in
this state, who are far more innovative, and yes, politically more liberal
and philosophically closer to the values I believe should guide adult ed.

Couldn't national legislation require a local match, which could be
in-kind, such as facilities and overhead, encouraging the development of
service centers that are decentralized from the higher ed centers? 

Maybe what I'd like to see is a mandate that whatever state entity
administers the AELS that higher ed and research efforts are part of the
picture.

I'm only thinking out loud, not defending a position here, but it seems to
me somebody needs to do some thinking out of the box. I recognize such
thinking seems unlikely to be initiated by the current administration.   
But those of us who live and breathe adult ed and literacy can surely apply
ourselves to a little dreaming.  What about George's idea of mandating GED
prep to K-12, and the community-based small fries to do literacy work
alongside higher ed?  I'm just trying to figure out how each segment of the
fragmented AELS can be freed to do what each does best.  Perhaps some kind
of system that fosters specialization would be an improvement.

In short, from where I sit, I need some bigger guns to fight for me and
with me, the more the better.  As Tom Sticht has pointed out over and over,
the federally funded AELS represents the bulk of services.  The big gorilla
gets to make the rules.  What rules would we suggest to improve overall
quality?

To those on the NLA list at the national level, do YOU think it would make
any difference if higher ed were there beside you (assuming everyone is
pulling in the same direction)?  My impression of efforts at the national
level is one of constant vigilance to arrive at compromises just to
maintain the status quo, and, if changes are to be made, to make sure no
one gets hurt. Not that this is a bad thing, but is anybody thinking more
broadly, searching for a whole new approach?  

I know the primary issue is more funding. But maybe it would be easier to
get more funding if somehow the system were altered to make more sense. 
Maybe partnering with higher ed in new ways would be the "lemonade we could
make out of the lemons", in this climate of demands for measurable results
and "proof".  

Deborah W. Yoho
Moderator, NIFL-Health Discussion Group
Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
2728 Devine St. Columbia, SC  29205
803-765-2555    dwyoho at earthlink.net







_______________________________________________
NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org