[NLA] Return on Investment

[Ira Yankwitt]

Thanks, Debbie.  This is very consistent with the reaction and response
that I gave, but its always helpful to see if my responses are similar to
colleagues.  Any other thoughts/voices on this?

At 10:44 AM 3/27/03 -0500, you wrote:
>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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>
>
>
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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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