[NLA] Return on Investment

[Debbie Yoho]

Ira, the question put to you stems exactly from a point of view that I
actively work against, in an effort to "educate" those who insist on
applying this business terminology to a human endeavor. If there is any
such research I'd be flabbergasted.  I always answer such questions without
apology with this reply, "No, there is no such research, and there
shouldn't be, and I hope there won't be.  Here's why...." You know all the
arguments:  Our mission is not remedial, but equitable access to lifelong
learning for all; there are no measurement tools adequate to construct such
a research project; there are legitimate reasons to pursue learning besides
"return on investment"; and there is no such thing as an "average" learner
or a silver bullet.  When I take this tack, the reaction is usually one of
three things:  The person turns away, which tells me even if I had such
research and agreed with this point of view, it wouldn't make a difference
because the question was not a genuine question to begin with, but an
attempted put-down.  The second reaction is "You have a lot of passion for
your work", (which I take as a compliment), and the third reaction is "I
hadn't thought of that.  Tell me more..."

If the stakes are high (such as if funding is involved), I might be pressed
to go on to say "If there must be a rule of thumb, we know that it takes
about 60 hours of instruction for most learners to advance one assessed
skill level."  I don't remember where I read that--it was a long time ago
and nobody has ever chalenged me for the reference.  It never fails to
satisfy the inquirer, however.  I often put this "fact" into grant
proposals.

So okay, call me a hypocrite, but like politics, this work is "the art of
the possible".  Debbie Yoho

Deborah W. Yoho
Co-moderator, NIFL-Health Listserv
President, SC Adult Literacy Educators
Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
2728 Devine Street,  Columbia, SC  29205
803-765-2555   Fax  803-779-8417   dwyoho at earthlink.net


> [Original Message]
> From: Ira Yankwitt <iray at lacnyc.org>
> To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 3/26/2003 8:08:13 PM
> Subject: [NLA] Return on Investment
>
> (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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