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Success Stories
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“Spreading
the Success has been useful. I had one of my reading students read
from it the day I received it. She was encouraged to know that
she was reading at a sixth grade level.”
Paul H. Smith, Coordinator
Howard County Learn to Read
Big Spring, Texas
New from NCSALL
An Evidence-based Adult Education Program
Model Appropriate for Research
John P. Comings, Lisa Soricone, and Maricel
Santos. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning
and Literacy, March 2006. Maricel (March 2006). This document reviews
the available empirical evidence and professional wisdom in order to
define a program model that meets the requirements for good practice.
This program model describes what teachers, adult students, counselors,
administrators, volunteers, and program partners should do to provide
both effective instruction and the support services adults need to persist
in their learning long enough to be successful. This paper describes
a program model as having a program quality support component and three
chronological program components, which are entrance into a program,
participation in a program, and reengagement in learning. Though this
model could also be used as a description of good programs for other
purposes, here it describes the context in which research on approaches
to instruction and support services could be productive. Clearinghouse
Library disseminates FREE copies to Texas educators; also available online:
http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_comings4.pdf
Learners’ Engagement in Adult Literacy
Education
Hal Beder, et
al. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and
Literacy, March 2006. Engagement is mental effort focused on learning
and is a precondition to learning progress. It is important to understand
how and why adult learners engage in literacy instruction because engagement
is a precondition to learning progress. This study focused on how learning
context shapes engagement. The practical reason for doing so is that
to a great extent adult educators control the educational context. Thus
if they understand how the educational context shapes engagement, they
can influence engagement in positive ways. Clearinghouse Library disseminates
FREE copies to Texas educators; also available online: http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/report28.pdf
Evidence from Florida on the Labor Market Attachment of Male Dropouts
Who Attempt the GED: A NCSALL Research Brief
John H. Tyler. Cambridge,
MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, July
2005. This brief highlights key findings from a study that examined the
labor market attachment of male dropouts who obtained the GED credential
in Florida between 1994 and 1998. Tyler compared these credentialed dropouts
to the men who attempted, but failed, the GED exam during the same period.
Credentialed dropouts had a higher probability of being employed one
year after the exam — a difference that persisted two years later.
Among individuals who were unemployed in the quarter during which they
took the tests, GED passers found jobs faster. Tyler also found that
passing the tests is linked with more stable work histories for Anglo-American
dropouts.
The Relationship of the Component Skills of Reading to Performance on
the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS): A NCSALL Research
Brief
John Strucker , Kentaro Yamamoto, and Irwin Kirsch. Cambridge,
MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, May 2005.
This brief highlights key findings from a study that is a subset
of a larger study being conducted jointly by NCSALL and Educational Testing
Service researchers. This study builds on the proposition that a reader’s
comprehension performance is largely determined by his or her abilities
in two areas — print
components and meaning components — and that learners’ skills,
and therefore instructional needs, vary depending upon their relative
strengths and weaknesses in these component areas. Print components
include decoding accuracy and fluency; meaning components include oral
vocabulary skills.
National Policy and Trends
The Adult Competitiveness Challenge. National Council of State Directors
of Adult Education
Washington, DC: National Coalition for Literacy,
February 22, 2006. In his 2006 State of the Union speech, President
Bush announced his decision to make America more competitive through an
American Competitiveness Initiative. This high school initiative emphasizes
strengthening math and science courses and improving teacher training.
In this white paper, the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education
asks the question, “How
can we compete when 93 million adults have skills below the high
school level?” The State Directors put forth The Adult Competitiveness
Challenge to support The American Competitiveness Initiative, and
to emphasize the
need to increase educational access for millions of undereducated parents
and workers as well.
Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Report to Congress on State Performance:
Program Year 2003-2004
Office of Vocational and Adult Education.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2006. Accountability
for results is a central focus of the Adult Education and Family Literacy
Act, and the law sets out performance accountability requirements for states
and local programs. States must reach agreement with OVAE on performance
targets for core indicators of performance described in the law.
They include the following: Demonstrated improvements in literacy skill
levels in reading, writing and speaking the English language, numeracy,
problem-solving, English language acquisition, and other literacy skills;
Placement in, retention in, or completion of, postsecondary education,
training, unsubsidized employment, or career advancement; and Receipt of
a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent. This annual Report
to Congress on State Performance outlines adult education performance goals
for PY 2003-2004. Data reveal national trends in adult education performance
that can help policymakers during the reauthorization of AEFLA. The report
also outlines the extent to which each state achieved its negotiated benchmarks.
Includes data that highlights the national performance picture and a statistical
profile of each state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Making Good on a Promise: What Policymakers Can Do to Support the Educational
Persistence of Dropouts
Cheryl Almeida, Cassius Johnson, and Adria
Steinberg. Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future, April 2006. This report
focuses on the question, “Are pathways available to help dropouts
pursue an education and move toward an economically productive adulthood?” By
analyzing data from the first national study to follow a representative
group of young people over time (the National Educational Longitudinal
Study), this report assesses how far our society is from “making
good” on
the promise of a second chance, and offers a starting point for
improving the record. Findings counter the prevailing views about
the dropout population. For example, one finding is that most dropouts
are remarkably persistent in their drive to complete a secondary education.
Another finding concludes that although many dropouts go on to pursue
postsecondary education, few earn degrees.
Welfare Reform: More Information Needed to Assess
Promising Strategies to Increase Parents’ Income
United States Government Accountability
Office. Washington, DC: United States Government Accountability Office,
December 2005. After looking at 26 welfare-to-work programs, the
Government Accounting Office identified job training, post-secondary
education, financial literacy training and small business assistance
as factors leading toward better paying employment. But GAO found
a lack of understanding of how agencies can provide such services
through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Clearinghouse
Library disseminates free hard copies of this 61-page
document to Texas educators only. Also available online: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06108.pdf
Family Literacy
Building Services and Systems to Support the Healthy Emotional Development
of Young Children: An Action Guide for Policymakers
Jane Knitzer.
New York: National Center for Children in Poverty, 2001. The early
life of some young children fails to provide the parenting practices,
stability of care, and healthy emotional experiences required for
them to develop emotional and cognitive abilities appropriate to
their age. These children are at risk educationally and behaviorally.
This guide is a resource for those who want to develop policies and
programs to help foster healthy emotional development in these at-risk
children.
The author discusses key findings from research that support investing
in improved social and emotional health
of young children. A framework for action and ten action steps are
provided for policymakers and programs
interested in developing interventions for parents and children.
Family Literacy and Adult English Language Learners: NCLE Fact Sheet
Center
for Applied Linguistics. Washington, DC: National Center for ESL
Literacy Education, January 2002. Family literacy programs have
been recognized as a way to help children become successful in school
while adults develop literacy skills. The Adult Education and Family
Literacy Act, Title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, reflects
this dual goal in its encouragement of adults to “become full
partners in the educational development of their children.” The
law also mentions helping adults to “become literate and obtain
the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency.” This
fact sheets discusses trends and issues and best practices relating
to that topic, and suggests resources for further information.
School Readiness: Helping Communities Get Children Ready for School
and Schools Ready for Children
Carol Emig and Amber Moore, Editors.
Washington, DC: Child Trends, October 2001. Child Trends developed
this Research Brief “to help communities invest wisely in school
readiness initiatives... this framework not only considers the factors
related to the child, but also to the child’s family, early
childhood care and education, schools, neighborhood, and the larger
society. This Research Brief updates one that Child Trends published
in August 2000. It includes some new research findings, as well as
new sections on two additional factors that affect school readiness:
emergent literacy and the media.”
 
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