[NLA] Research in adult literacy education

[Nashansen@aol.com]

Andrea,
You shouldn't feel as though you were "butting into" this "discussion".  It 
should be of interest to more people than it has.  Below are a few comments 
in the body of your reply written on 11/11/02.

<< Please excuse me for butting in on this very interesting discussion, but I 
am 
puzzled.  It sounds from your description as though policy, derived from 
research, is being dumped on you, your voice was not heard in the original 
research, and now there is a mismatch between student needs that you observe 
and policy requirements.  Am I right? Maybe not. I think the only policy 
demand that has been thrashed out on the NLA regards reporting requirements, 
and I don't know how they are linked, if they are, to research findings.  
Could you be specific on this point?  Or is it that no one is listening to 
what you want to say? >>

Yes, you guessed right.  I feel the appalling NRS reporting system was 
"dumped on us".  If extensive research was NOT part of choosing the system 
and setting federal requirements, then how WAS the decision made?  Were 
"research findings" sought from the people at the grassroots about this 
recordkeeping fiasco?  Someone tell me?  

You asked if no one listened to what I wanted to say? You were right again.  
Everybody I tried to speak to about the plans to institute reporting of 
literacy statistics via the NRS system turned away from the input and 
"blamed" it on "the feds".   The result was a huge drop in "numbers served" 
in my state (the numbers raised in my community-based program, not dropped) 
and many other states, I'd assume.

That policy change stripped our local literacy program of federal funding and 
inclusion in the AELS as a legitimate member of that society (the views of 
some researchers).  The use of the NRS is related to the inaccuracy in 
literacy statistics as reported by researchers to policy-makers saying, 
"There are NOT as many adult learners as reported in 1993.  They no longer 
exist."  

This reporting requirement has had a long-range impact on our literacy 
systems nationwide.  I am not alone in my views about the NRS in the literacy 
network.  I have been told my views are shared by representatives at a 
national level where the knowledge exists of much larger adult learner 
programs than the Sioux Falls Council.

<< As regards methodology, the research reports I've read and the research I 
participated in were very specific about how the sample (programs, teachers, 
etc.) were drawn, and to what population they could therefore be generalized 
to.  >> 

I am encouraged that you have seen such documentation in the reports you've 
read, Andrea.  But like I said previously, the documents quoted on the NLA 
have not included that data as a whole and it makes me question whether or 
not policy-makers are reading specifics in the individual research project 
samplings or not.
.
<< I think It's the gap between policy and research that makes you mad.

Researchers do document the populations they study and to whom the findings 
apply, it's part of the methodology. >>

Actually, Andrea, it's not a matter of my being mad about anything.  I was 
merely expressing my views about those who feel they can make determinations 
without inclusion of a broader-brush stroke of information.

For me (rather than a gap between policy and research) it's more seeing fine 
literacy programs being torn down or unappreciated.  I feel too much credence 
is given statistics collected through research that is not all-inclusive 
rather than validating the good work being done by dedicated administrators 
and volunteers nationwide for adults with social needs.  I have far more 
administrative concerns to "get mad" about than a gap between policy and 
research.  It isn't a high priority about which I will lose sleep.

We need to be vigilant.  Everyone involved in the literacy network should be 
fighting for true representation of the majority of folks we teach and what 
method is effective teaching them.  Let us toot loudly the horn of what we 
grassroots folks know works educationally with our adult students or the next 
decision will be made FOR us.  I suspect it will be a change in policy 
regarding the use of educational methods and materials.  We will be directed 
by federal policy and we won't even be asked an opinion.  

Nor will our national organization be given a chance to share the research 
they did when they began years ago (and continue today) and which now allows 
programs like mine to carry out an instructional program that effectively 
produces individual outcomes on a one-to-one basis.  Our people with literacy 
needs will find changes in delivery systems, in mass production to "serve 
more numbers" and individuality will be gone forever.

Thanks for your comments, Andrea.

Nancy Hansen
Sioux Falls Area Literacy Council
<sfallsliteracy at yahoo.com> or
<Nashansen at aol.com>


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