NLA: Question for Ron Pugsley

[millard@netins.net]

Hello Ron,

As you know, VALUE is a national organization of adult learners and
learner leaders. On behalf of the VALUE Board, I would like to present the
following for your comment.  This message will also be placed on the
VALUE Web page at http://literacynet.org/value/

Archie Willard, President
Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education (VALUE)


THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT AND THE NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM:
ARE THESE FEDERAL POLICIES HELPING OR HURTING ADULT LEARNERS?


BACKGROUND

 The federal government has recently introduced two policies which
affect the adult basic education field:

--- The Workforce Investment Act is requiring adult education programs
to cooperate more closely with job-training programs.  For an adult
education program to be funded, it must show that its learners achieve
the following types of goals:  (a) get a job, (b) earn a GED, or (c)
help their children succeed in school.

--- The National Reporting System will require adult education programs
to use a new way to report the skills that adult learners possess.  This
reporting system will have several levels of skill achievement.  For a
program to get funding, it must show that its learners are moving up
through those levels.


WHY VALUE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THESE NEW POLICIES

 We agree with the Workforce Investment Act that it is important for
adult learners to improve their job status, get a GED or high school
diploma, and help their children succeed in school.

 We also agree that adult education programs should be able to show to
funders that learners are actually making progress.   (We are taxpayers,
too, and want to fund [a] programs that actually help learners and [b]
learners who are ready to work at improving their literacy skills.)

 However, we are concerned about these policies because:

1. About 40 to 45 million U.S. adults have very low levels of basic
skills.  Many of these adults are learning disabled.  Many of them are
immigrants with limited English skills.  These adults need special adult
education services if they are to (a) get a good job, (b) earn a GED,
(c) help their children succeed in school, or (d) move up through the
levels to be measured by the National Reporting System.

2.  Many adult education programs will likely avoid serving those 40-45
million lowest-skilled adults.  These programs will be afraid that they
won't be able to demonstrate the outcomes required by the Workforce
Investment Act and National Reporting System.   They will instead select
the _cream_ of the population of adult learners (those with higher skill
levels, those without learning disabilities, those immigrants who
already speak English).  Programs will do this so they can meet the
goals set by Congress and therefore qualify for federal and state
money.    This means that the lowest-skilled learners won't get the
services they need.

3. Some states are now focusing their resources on testing and reporting
rather than improving the quality of adult education programs (through
teacher training, etc.) and serving more learners. These states are making
this shift from teaching to reporting because they think that this is
what Congress and the Workforce Investment Act want.

4. Many states are relying heavily on standardized tests to measure the
literacy levels of adult learners.  These tests produce scores which can
be added up and reported to the federal government and other funders.
 Unfortunately, those standardized tests often don't measure the kinds
of skills and knowledge that adult learners are looking for.   (For
example, an adult learner might need to be able to read the computer
screen she uses at work, or deal with insurance forms, or use English to
speak to his boss or his child's teacher.)  Standardized tests aren't
designed to measure the specific skills and knowledge which adult
learners work on in their basic skills programs.  Therefore,  many
learners get the skills they seek to improve their lives without
necessarily scoring high or advancing a level on standardized tests.
 And, worse yet, many adult learners find standardized tests to be
either meaningless or threatening -- or both!  This can lead some
learners to be discouraged or even drop out.
 Adult educators have been developing new forms of assessment which can
be used to measure how well learners are meeting their individual
goals.  Policy makers should encourage adult educators to develop and
use these new kinds of measures.  This will allow everyone to get
accurate information about what is really being achieved in basic skills
programs.

5. Some of the dropouts from adult education programs have learning
disabilities which are never diagnosed.  They drop out because the work
expected of them is too difficult.  With the proper assessment tools,
learning disabilities could be identified early and dropout rates
reduced.


WHAT POLICY MAKERS SHOULD DO

 VALUE is pleased that policy makers are trying to make adult education
programs more relevant and accountable.

 But we are concerned that, when trying to respond to the Workforce
Investment Act and National Reporting System, policy makers are
actually:

a. forgetting about the 40-45 million lowest-skilled adults.  These
include learning disabled people and non-English-speakers who require
special kinds of assessment and teaching;

b. using tests which produce meaningless numbers rather than show
whether learners are really learning skills and knowledge they need in
the real world;  and

c. focusing so much on testing and reporting that they forget about
teaching.

 If these things happen, policy makers will fail to conform to the
spirit and the letter of the new federal policies.   That is, there
is a real danger that:

---  Policy makers will fail to serve the most educationally
disadvantaged.

--- Policy makers will fail to provide high-quality, relevant adult
education services which really help adults for their roles as workers,
family members, and citizens.

 To avoid these problems, we recommend that policy makers:

1. Set reasonable goals for all types and levels of adult learners and
the adult education programs which serve them.

2. Fund programs adequately (and provide them with staff development
resources) so they can provide high-quality services relevant to the
particular learners they serve.

3.  Fund research and development projects which encourage adult
educators to develop and use a range of assessment tools (not just
existing standardized tests) that really measure what adults want and
need to learn.

Archie Willard
December 1999