[NLA] Discussion: Learning for the Future --Innovation or Was teful Duplication?

Thu May 2 12:45:34 EDT 2002

David and colleagues:  

Not only the new LFF project is "wasteful duplication", I think it is
immoral.  It is immoral to spend much needed resources creating yet another
effort that is surely politically motivated; it is immoral to ignore the
years of work done by NIFL and LINCS and hire a consulting firm to help
design a new "parallel universe" when NIFL needs additional support.  I am
glad you copied Ms. Chernus; but she is obviously an employee of MPR
Associates.  We need to let Assistant Secretary D'Amico know this effort
does not have the support of the field, is wasteful, and ignores a lot of
work her own agency supports (at least nominally.)  We also need to let the
board of advisors of NIFL know that OVAE is for all practical purposes
undermining the efforts of the institute (do you know if the names of the 10
advisors whose emails are listed in the NIFL page are up to date?)

I think if D'Amico had taken the time to 'surf' through the home page of her
own agency, she would surely have come upon the link to NIFL and LINCS.  Or
do we have to wonder who has a particular intere$$$t in hiring another
consultant and start another duplicative effort?

We are used to seeing federal (and state) agencies duplicate efforts; and we
are not so naive that we can't understand political appointees and
administrators love to leave their own inprint on their agencies, projects,
etc.  But I think it is about time we force the issue and let certain people
know  that we don't mind helping as long as we don't see our efforts wasted
immorally.

federico

Federico Salas-Isnardi
Director of Adult Education
Corporate and Continuing Education Division
North Harris College
16416 Northchase Dr. #200
Houston, TX 77060
(281) 618-1170 -voice (281) 618-1179 -fax
federico.salas at nhmccd.edu

"Educating Our Global Community"

-----Original Message-----
From: David J. Rosen [mailto:DJRosen at theworld.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 8:36 PM
To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: [NLA] Discussion: Learning for the Future --Innovation or Wasteful
Duplication?

NLA Colleagues,

I received an e-mail (see below) about a new project  of the U.S. Department
of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), a Web-based
adult learning and literacy "resource kit."  I wonder if others on the NLA
electronic list received this e-mail, and if anyone had the reaction I did.

This appears to me to be a duplication of services which are already
provided by the National Institute For Literacy's LINCS project and its
partners, such as the American Library Association, Canada's National Adult
Literacy Database, and others.  

I wonder if the new OVAE leadership is not aware that: 

*  the USDE is one of the the three U.S. Government agencies that sponsor
the NIFL;
*  NIFL's Literacy, Information and Communications (LINCS) project has
already catalogued and made available the kinds of full-text documents this
Learning for the Future (LFF) project is seeking and that LINCS has powerful
search engines and reviewed special collections which make it easy to find
the best and most relevant documents;  and 
*  many of the documents that the LFF  project would like to find and
catalogue, unfortunately, don't exist in our critically underfunded field.
(You can't catalogue a lot of solid adult education research and proven
curricula models if they don't exist.) 

Have I missed something here, or is OVAE out of touch with the needs and
realities of the field? Let me hear what you think.

I have copied this message to Kathy Chernus at MPR, Inc, the person who sent
me the letter on behalf of OVAE. Perhaps she would like to see your
reactions, or to join the discussion. 

David J. Rosen
NLA List Moderator

[The National Literacy Advocacy (NLA) is an independent electronic list; it
is not sponsored by any organization. Its nearly 700 subscribers include
adult literacy/basic education/ESOL practitioners (teachers, tutors,
administrators, librarians, curriculum developers, researchers and others,)
adult learners and others who are interested in the field of adult literacy
education.]

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Invitation from the Office of
Vocational and Adult Education
Date: 09 Apr 02 10:06:39 -0400
From: Kathy Chernus <kchernus at mprinc.com> 
Reply-To: Kathy Chernus <kchernus at mprinc.com> 
To: David Rosen <djrosen at world.std.com> 

April 9, 2002

Dear Mr. Rosen:

On behalf of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), U.S.
Department of Education, we are writing to share some information with you
about a new adult learning and literacy initiative, Learning For the Future
(LFF), and to invite you to participate in this effort.

The USDOE's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), under the
leadership of Assistant Secretary Carol D'Amico, is committed to finding new
ways to expand and strengthen adult education programs to ensure that the
millions of American adults who function at the lowest levels of literacy
have the opportunity to improve their reading, mathematics and problem
solving skills.  Learning For the Future is designed to draw on the
collective wisdom and work of researchers and practitioners in the areas of
building community partnerships, adult learning theory, adult basic
education
(ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), adult secondary education (AS
E)
,
GED and workforce development.  MPR Associates, Inc. is partnering with
the Department on this initiative.

Learning For the Future

	LFF's goal is to make quality adult education programs accessible to
far
more adults than currently receive services, especially those who perform
at the lowest levels of literacy. The following objectives will guide LFF
in the first year of the initiative:

S Strengthen the capacity of communities to deliver high quality adult
basic education, GED preparation, and English as a Second Language (ESL)
training;
S Ensure that the current federal/state-based adult education system is
connected to faith-based organizations, empowerment and enterprise zones,
local literacy councils and other volunteer organizations, library
organizations, and workplaces; and
S Encourage providers to collect and analyze learner performance data so
they can accurately assess the impact they are having on raising literacy
levels, earning a GED,
 or 
other goals adults may have, and improve
curriculum and instruction as a result. 
Several products will be developed and activities undertaken to
accomplish these objectives.  The initial step will be to create a set of
tools
that will provide support to communities that are eager to meet the learning
goals of adults, especially those with low literacy skills.  These will be
available in a web-based resource kit housed on OVAE's website.  

Web-Based Resource Kit

	There are a number of different ways that you may wish to
participate in
Learning for the Future.  Our immediate need is to locate materials, such
as research, toolkits, "how-to's," and websites that would be useful to
communities interested in developing or strengthening their adult
education/workforce development programs.  The kit will include complete
articles
or tools if appropriate, the URLs for resources that are available directly
on-line, and links to other websites for those that are eith
er avai
lable
for purchase or in print only. 

Some of the topics for the resource kit that are under consideration
include:

S Effective community partnerships, including how to form, fund and
sustain them;
S Recruitment and quality assurance for ABE, ASE, GED and ESL teachers;
S Learner recruitment, motivation and retention;
S Adult learning theory and its application to adult basic education;
S Models of effective teaching methodologies;
S Strategies for assessment and instruction for low literacy adults,
adults with limited English speaking skills, and those with learning
disabilities;
S Definitions and examples of quality curricula;
S Technology-based instruction;
S Professional development for adult education teachers that enhances
learner achievement;
S Workforce development; and
S Program evaluation using learner outcome data.

Plans for the website also include site profiles that highlight both
proven practices a
nd commo
n challenges for a group of community-based adult
education programs.
If you are familiar with any research, user-friendly toolkits, "how-to's"
or websites that you think should be considered for inclusion in the
resource kit, please complete the attached from and return it to: 

MPR Center for Curriculum and Professional Development
Attn: Adult Education Resources
2401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 410
Washington DC, 20037
Telephone: 202/973-0244
Fax: 202/466-6996

If you prefer, you can e-mail your suggestions to me at
kchernus at mprinc.com.

The resource kit will be a living document that continues to grow and
change with new information and materials. The first edition of the resource
kit will be launched in the next few months.  We will let you know when it
will be available on-line and will send you periodic updates on the
progress of the initiative.

We think this is an opportunity to 
help adult
 education and workforce
development practitioners meet the special needs of adult learners by making
relevant research and usable tools more accessible.  We hope you agree. 
Thank you for considering this request.  

Sincerely,

Kathy  Chernus

Kathy Chernus
Senior Associate
MPR Center for Curriculum and Professional Development
2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Suite 410
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-973-0244 
_______________________________________________
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