[NLA] Return on Investment

[Ira Yankwitt]

(I feel like I've seen this question posted on the list before, so please
forgive me if I'm bringing up a topic that's already been discussed.)  

I've recently been asked if there are any quantitative studies that I can
cite that demonstrate a clear economic return on investment from publically
funded literacy programs.  In particular, I've been asked if there are any
(longitudinal?) studies that have been done on student outcomes that show
that for "x" amount of time spent in an adult literacy program, or x amount
of dollars invested in a student, there is "y" amount of earnings gain.  I
know that through the NRS the Dept. of Ed. is collecting aggregate data on
student outcomes, but what I've been asked for is more of a figure that
could be cited for an "average" student.  It seems to me that such a figure
would be very hard to come by (or dubious at best) given the nature of
student participation in adult literacy programs, but I'm not a researcher,
so I'm not sure.  Any thoughts or suggestions?  


Ira Yankwitt
Director of Adult Literacy Services
Literacy Assistance Center
32 Broadway, 10th Floor
NY, NY 10004
(212) 803-3356
iray at lacnyc.org
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