[NLA] Access for ABLE students to Postsecondary Education

Thu Sep 19 12:47:38 EDT 2002

Hi,
The state of Maine has a privately funded scholarship fund for first
time college goers. The Osher Foundation funds scholarship programs
through both the UM System and Technical College System colleges. The
one time
scholarship is aimed at 1st time, prospective adult college students.
Each system uses the funds as a recruitment tool: the Technical
Colleges
use it to cover the 1st two classes for students starting their AA in
Liberal Studies; UMS uses it to cover one class and the books, (or as
a
straight $500. scholarship) to about 20 students at each College
Center
prior to starting the admissions process.  UMS uses the Osher
Scholarship to build college awareness and aspirations. 

I'm curious if in your research, Dr. Royce, you found other variables,
besides access to immediate financial assistance, as a predictor of
persistence and attainment of a high ed degree? 

There is at least one study I can point to on this subject: Getting
Through
College: Voices of Low-Income and Minority Students in New England-a
report prepared by The Institute for Higher Education Policy for the
Nellie Mae Foundation-focuses specifically on low-income and minority
students enrolled at four-year institutions in New England. "The results
of the study reinforce some of the findings of the national research.
Low-income
and minority students face many obstacles to success in postsecondary
education, including financial, academic, and social barriers. Most
often it is the combined effect of these barriers that poses the
greatest challenge for students. . .In analyzing the survey and
interview results, four areas were of particular interest in determining
the issues that most affect New England low-income and minority
students' ability to succeed: pre-college preparation; financial aid;
involvement at and/or feeling connected to their institutions; and
attendance patterns, specifically behaviors that may inhibit
persistence. . .For those who participated, pre-college programs-such as
the Federal TRIO programs or institution-sponsored programs-are having
an impact. Two-thirds of the participants felt
the programs were very helpful."
http://www.nelliemaefoundation.org/research/index.asp?c=8

In our New England ABE-toCollege transition project we have found that
with proactive counseling it is possible to get financial aid to at
least two-year colleges for adult learners who are legal citizens or
residents.  We have 21 sites (soon 24) and provide 12-16 weeks of
academic prep and counseling and mentoring to adult learners. We are
gearing up for an evaluation to understand better how the adult learners
fare once in post-secondary education. 

Silja Kallenbach

*********************************************
Silja Kallenbach, Coordinator
New England Literacy Resource Center
World Education
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02201
tel. 617-482-9485
fax. 617-482-0617
email. skallenbach at worlded.org

>>> RoyceSJ at netscape.net 09/13/02 12:58PM >>>
When we consider the problem of "access", we must consider not only
access to ABLE programs but access of our graduates to post-secondary
education. In my recent study of 70 successful ABLE graduates, I
discovered that the 20 that attained higher education degrees had
immediate financial assistance (loans, scholarship, disability checks)
or two working family members.  Another 10 are still enrolled in higher
education taking course after course, year after year as time and money
allow. Access to ABLE programs must not be a dead end. 

My question is:  Has any state formed an alliance between their ABLE
programs and postsecondary institutions to provide financial assistance
or even referral to funding sources for "qualifying" GED/Adult High
School graduates?   

Our concern for access must be both coming and going.  If you have an
answer to my question (and David does not consider it a policy issue)
please contact me at the address below.

Sherry Royce

Dr. Sherry Royce
Royce & Royce, Inc.
1938 Crooked Oak Drive
Lancaster, PA 17601
email: sjroyce at comcast.net 
tel: 717-569-1663

Thomas Sticht <tsticht at znet.com> wrote:

>Research Note
>12 September 2002
>
>Year 2 of The National Literacy Summit of 2000 Has Passed:
>Has There Been Any Action on the Action Agenda?
>
>Thomas G. Sticht
>International Consultant in Adult Education
>
>In September of 2000 the National Literacy Summit 2000 steering
committee
>launched An Action Agenda for Literacy entitled "From the Margins to
the
>Mainstream". The Action Agenda called for an education system of
QUALITY
>services for adult students with ease of ACCESS to these services and
>sufficient RESOURCES to support quality and access. This adult
education
>and literacy system was set as the national goal to be achieved by
the
>year 2010. Unfortunately, after the first two years into the Action
>Agenda, results in these aspects of the system are not encouraging.
>
>QUALITY: I have found no information to form a basis for a judgment as
to
>whether or not in the last two years there has been an increase or
>improvement in the quality of services for adult students in the
programs
>of the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United
States,
>i.e., those programs funded in part by State Grants from the WIA/AEFLA
act
>of 1998, or any other programs such as those of ProLiteracy
Worldwide,
>libraries, corrections, workplace, etc.
>
>ACCESS: From the peak of 4.1 million in 1997 enrollments in the AELS
>dropped to around 2.9 million in program year 1999-2000, the last year
for
>which I have data. This is a drop of almost 30 percent, some 1.2
million
>enrollments.  At 2.9 million, we are nearly back to the 1985 figure
of
>around 2.879 million enrollments. This is a loss of over a decade of
>progress in getting adults to access the Adult Education and Literacy
>System of the United States of America. Presumably the programs that
>served the 1.2 million adults who are no longer in the AELS are sill
>operating, but outside the framework and funding of he AELS. Indeed,
there
>have been news stories about long waiting lists for adult literacy
and
>language programs. At the present time, though, it looks like the
Action
>Agenda item of ACCESS is failing with respect to increasing access to
and
>enrollments in the AELS, and there are no data of which I am aware to
>suggest it is succeeding outside the AELS. I do not know if the DAEL,
>NIFL, NCSALL, NCL or any other organization is looking into the issue
of
>ACCESS.
>
>RESOURCES:  In September 2000 the National Literacy Summit 2000
Action
>Agenda included  Action Agenda Priority 1: Resources, Outcome B:
Action 2:
>"Persuade Congress to appropriate $1 billion annually to the adult
>education, language, and literacy system." In 2002 both the President
and
>Senate have requested $575 million for FY 2003 for the AELS. This is
the
>same as for FY 2002.
>
>The Action Agenda Commitments: Is the Field Uncommitted?
>
>In a year 1 report of progress in the Action Agenda,  some 163
commitments
>were made by 69 organizations for action they were going to take in
future
>years to further the National Literacy Summit 2000 Action Agenda. In
year
>2, however, I have checked the National Literacy Coalition*s web
pages for
>the Action Agenda and found only three commitments by the NCL for year
2,
>and these are the same as in year 1. There is no year 2 report of
>commitments like that of year 1. Further, the NIFL has dropped a link
to
>the Action Agenda from its web site and no loner refers to it on its
home
>page, suggesting a drop in the NIFL*s commitment to the Action
Agenda. 
>Likewise, there is no link to or discussion of the Action Agenda at
the
>NCSALL web page to the Action Agenda.
>
>At the present time, then, it seems to me that during 2002, the
National
>Literacy Summit 2000 has not had much action from the field or from
any
>national leadership that would help achieve the Action Agenda*s goal
of
>moving the adult education, language, and literacy system, however
>defined, from the margins to the mainstream of education in the
United
>States. Instead, it appears that since the Action Agenda was released
at
>the Literacy Summit of 2000, there has been a downhill decline in
action.
>
>This leads me to wonder if there is actually much interest anymore in
the
>Action Agenda among either the original sponsors and formulators of
the
>Agenda, or the rest of the adult literacy education field, either?
>
>Well, we are at the start of year 3, and there are still several years
to
>go before we reach 2010. Perhaps things will pick-up in these out
years.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>

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