[NLA] Discussion: Where should the state-level Adult Education and Literacy System "hang its hat"?

[David J. Rosen]

  NLA Colleagues,

I would like to raise a state-level adult education and literacy policy 
question:  In what state agency should the adult education and literacy 
system reside, and what are the advantages and disadvantages to the 
field -- and to adult learners -- of that choice?  

In my state, adult education and literacy is located in the State 
Department of Education. Practitioners and researchers generally agree 
that's where it should be because only the State Department of Education 
includes the breadth of adult education purposes (e.g. family literacy, 
workplace literacy, basic literacy, ESOL, adult secondary education, and 
others) and because we have had good leadership there in the past decade 
or so that respects a diverse provider system, strongly supports staff 
and program development, and jointly with the field has set good program 
standards and has attempted to be realistic in allocating resources to 
meet these standards.  There have sometimes been attempts by others in 
our state to move all of adult education and literacy in my state into 
the community college system, or to the employment and training system, 
but the field (led by our state adult education coalition) has 
successfully prevailed against these efforts.

However, in another Eastern state, because of poor leadership in the 
state education department, advocates have pushed for adult education to 
move to the state employment agency, where there is a strong commitment 
to adult education.  In a Midwestern state, I understand adult education 
has recently been moved to the community college system, and at least 
one person I have talked with sees some opportunities for 
community-based organizations in this new home.

To have a frank discussion about this, some people may need to post 
anonymously, and/or to leave out the name of their state.  That's fine. 
 I am interested in getting a variety of points of view on this 
question, and am interested in the pros and cons for any state, not the 
best choice for a particular state. To have a message posted without 
your name, send it to me directly at DJRosen at theworld.com 

If someone who knows what is happening in several states would like to 
list pros and cons on this question, that would be great, too.  Perhaps 
one of our NAEPDC, NIFL or research colleagues could do that.

My purpose in asking this question is to provide an opportunity for 
those who have been thinking about this to share their thoughts, and for 
others -- especially state level literacy advocates -- to learn from 
their thinking and experience.

If someone thinks there is merit in creating a new state agency (the 
State Department of Adult Education and Literacy ?) I would like to hear 
the pros and cons of that possibility, too.  (I don't know of an example 
of this in the United States -- perhaps there are examples from other 
countries we could look at.)

David J. Rosen
NLA List Moderator


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