NLA Discussion: WIA/AEFLA

[Thomas Sticht]

David: The following information may be of interest to NLA members
regarding your concerns about policy and WIA/AEFLA. 

Tom Sticht

Research Note 8/25/99

U. S. Government Officials Comment on Listening & Reading in the
Workforce Investment Act  (WIA)    
             
Thomas G. Sticht
Applied Behavioral & Cognitive Sciences, Inc.
telephone/fax (619) 444-9595 email: tsticht at aznet.net

Through its emphasis on "phonemic awareness," "systematic phonics" and
"fluency" the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II
of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998  draws a direct connection
between adult's oral language skills of speaking and listening, and
their literacy skills of reading and writing. 

Because of this new emphasis upon listening and reading relationships in
the AEFLA I have developed a workshop on listening and reading processes
of adults. One of these workshops was given to members of the U. S.
Department of Education in Washington, DC. A total of 16 officials
provided responses to a brief survey about listening and reading
research and its importance to their work.  Nine (56%) of the
respondents were from the Office of Vocational and Adult
Education/Division of Adult Education and Literacy (OVAE/DAEL), six
(37%) were from other offices in the U. S. Department of Education,
including one from the Office of Research and Improvement (OERI), and
one was from the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). 

When asked, "How relevant is the new focus upon phonemic awareness,
phonics, and fluency in the AEFLA of 1998 to your professional
activity?", 31% said "A Little" and 62% said "Very." One said it was too
early to decide.

Knowledge of Research on Listening and Reading. Most (88%) of the
government officials were familiar with research showing relationships
of parent's oral and written language skills to their children's oral
and written language skills. However, over half (56%) were unfamiliar
with research showing relationships of listening and reading to job
performance. Almost all thought that such research-based information
would be useful in carrying out their professional activities. 

How Government Officials Expected to Use Information About Listening and
Reading Processes of Adults.  Participants were asked, "Please write
about one or two ways in which you think you might be able to use
information about the listening and reading processes of adults." Ten
responses included:

1. Reviewing local programs and State plans.
2. Determining if proposed instructional strategies & program designs
are likely to be effective. 
3. Reviewing State plans. Providing technical assistance (TA) to the
State.
4. [Providing] technical support to State Education Agencies (SEA's).
Answering questions from the field. 
5. Providing technical assistance to State Staff Specialists and project
directors in my program areas. 
6. Policy planning leading to allocation of resources and program
development, including TA.
7. Identifying resources [for] adult education community.
8. Providing better, more informed assistance to DAEL as it develops
spending plans for National Leadership Activities. 
9. Helping to formulate plans for research activities of DAEL.
10. Use [information] in my strategic research plan [at OERI].