ADULT LITERACY: A TEXAS PRIORITY

In September of 1991 the State Board of Education began its discussion regarding the need for policies in the various program areas of public education. These discussions included the need for policy development in adult education and literacy. Then, when the Board's Committee on Long Range Planning learned of the results of the Texas Adult Literacy Survey and the tremendous literacy needs of the state's adult population, the discussion intensified. In July 1994, the board approved a plan for the appointment of a Task Force on Adult Education and Literacy and the development of a policy statement and report.

The task force, a group of 33 men and women, met ten times, convened for numerous committee meetings, conducted 18 hearings in ten cities receiving testimony from more than 340 individuals, visited programs, and held discussions with adult educators across the state. During the hearings, testimony from educators, students, community members, and representatives of adult education and literacy service providers centered on the gap that exists between the extensive need for adult education and literacy in Texas and the minimal level of resources for adult education and literacy programs. A significant amount of testimony was also given requesting that adult education programs be maintained as part of the public school system and the education community. During testimony, public school administrators reported a critical relationship of the adult education program and the involvement of parents of school-age children who themselves need literacy services.

The task force developed a Policy Statement on Adult Education and Literacy which the Board adopted in May 1995. The task force also produced a report, Adult Literacy: A Texas Priority, which extends and complements the Policy Statement and is intended as a leadership initiative for the implementation of the policy. It is centered on how adults learn.

The Texas Education Agency currently administers the state's largest system of adult education and literacy through a collaborative approach that includes public schools, community colleges, community-based organizations, libraries, businesses, and many other agencies and organizations. Many community-based organizations are included in the system.

So, it is fitting and proper that the State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency issue this report to the state that establishes schools as the natural linkage with the people of a community to fulfill their educational needs and provide family support. Together, the policy statement and report present the challenge to the state of Texas of providing a high quality, collaborative system of adult education and literacy services so that all Texans have access to a basic education, regardless of age.

The policy statement and report are organized around five components - Learner Outcomes; Program Planning; Curriculum and Instruction; Recruitment, Retention and Support Services; and Professional Development. Recommendations to the Legislature, State Board of Education, Texas Education Agency, and to others, including the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness and public schools, are included with each component.

The Learner Outcomes component is based on the tenet that all Texas adults need basic literacy, personal and thinking skills to understand and use text in all media; solve quantitative problems; use English proficiently; access and succeed in increasingly more complex and rigorous educational and/or training opportunities; compete for and succeed in employment opportunities; and respond to personal demands and goals so that they can participate responsibly and productively as family and community members, consumers, workers, and learners.

To achieve these outcomes, the report recommends that effective literacy programs incorporate the background and experiences of the learner into the learning process; include the learner in the development of curriculum, selection of learning materials, and identification of learning experiences; and involve the learner in the evaluation of program effectiveness. Practices such as interactive and participatory learning opportunities and activities that value cultural and linguistic backgrounds of learners will go far to assure learner success.

In order to provide undereducated adults with the skills to compete for and succeed in employment, the Learner Outcomes component of the report encourages local programs to integrate workforce development outcomes such as interviewing skills and career exploration into adult education and literacy curricula, and incorporate technology applications such as word processing and spreadsheets as tools for literacy learning. Collaborative learning assures that learners are provided opportunities to learn and solve everyday problems in teams.

The Program Planning component holds that effective planning provides the framework for quality education and literacy programs that benefit Texans. Effective planning is the foundation for the success of adult education and literacy programs. Both planning and implementation work best if local providers create a structure which encourages collaboration. Working together, agencies such as local educational agencies, community-based organizations, public or private nonprofit agencies, postsecondary education institutions, libraries, and others collaboratively fulfill adult learners' varied needs. The most effective planning occurs when the adult education and literacy group plans collaboratively with other stakeholders who either serve the same clients or are impacted by the literacy levels. This group includes students, social service providers, government agencies, industry, school districts, and other direct and indirect stakeholders.

The entire collaborative planning group conducts learner and community needs assessments, surveys and maximizes resources; designs and implements programs; and updates and improves programs through ongoing evaluation. The planning group also develops strategies to help remove multiple barriers to learner participation, to provide support so that learners successfully complete their studies; and to provide successful transitional options for learners upon program completion.

Well-designed Curriculum and Instruction in adult education and literacy programs provide for active participation of learners and build on their prior knowledge, drawing on a lifetime of experiences as natural resources for learning. Adults construct meaning by integrating new experiences and information into what they have already learned.

In discussing curriculum and instruction, the policy and report urge adult education programs to use a participatory approach to literacy education an effective way of drawing on the prior knowledge of adult learners and accelerating their progress. In such a model, teachers and learners are involved in dynamic, on-going curriculum development. Additionally, the learner ceases to be a passive recipient of information and becomes an active participant.

The ability to process language is essential to adult learners' attainment of their educational goals. Understanding and producing spoken and written language is critical to adults' full participation in society. Integrated reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction are critical components of an effective curriculum, and incorporate adults' past experiences. Active learning also includes instructional strategies to assist adults with numeracy using manipulatives and incorporating real-life mathematical problem-solving. Acquired proficiencies in numeracy, as well as in language, are applied in a wide variety of contexts from family, to the workplace, to the community.

Curricula taught in adult education classes have a functional content so that learners are able to use the knowledge they gain to improve their personal, family, community and workplace status. To accelerate learning, curricula also reflect learner needs and interests. Curricula include metacognitive strategies (understanding how we learn), interdisciplinary and multisensory approaches, and problem-solving techniques. Integrated curricula relate to the whole person and attend to affective, cognitive, and socio-cultural domains.

The report discusses appropriate assessment in the participatory adult education and literacy context as related directly to the curriculum. Appropriate assessment involves the learners by developing goals based on their needs and is qualitative as well as quantitative. Assessment necessitates the use of multiple measures of learner growth. Rather than focusing on deficits, assessment demonstrates the learner's progress over time using a variety of strategies and real, purposeful activities that reflect the complexity of literacy in our society.

The Curriculum and Instruction section recognizes the literacy needs of children and their families. Family literacy is a perfect example of curriculum that incorporates functional content, is learner-centered, and promotes a participatory approach to adult education. Family literacy has the potential to assist adult learners with strengthening the family unit and promoting self-sufficiency and responsibility.

The State Board of Education policy and report recognize that Recruitment, Retention, and Support Services are linked with each other and are an integral part of any successful adult education and literacy program. Recruitment of adults who need literacy services is a collaborative effort involving agencies and organizations that serve the same client, as well as other community entities. Recruitment reflects the community's needs and is continuously evaluated. Recruitment is directed toward Texas' adult populations most in need of literacy services. Educationally disadvantaged adults recruited into adult education and literacy programs are supported with comprehensive adult education services on a priority basis. Parents with school-age children who are in need of literacy services are recruited through cooperative efforts with local public schools and provided family literacy programs where parents and children learn together.

Adults who could benefit from adult education and literacy services face multiple barriers to participation and have needs which go beyond the scope of a traditional educational environment. These needs may include transportation, child care, counseling, housing and many other social and financial concerns. In order to promote learner participation and success, learner needs are addressed as part of a comprehensive adult education program using input provided by all members of a collaborative planning group.

Support services needs are addressed through collaborative activities with other agencies and organizations in the community which serve the same client to reduce the barriers to educational success. If these necessary support services to overcome barriers that discourage and limit adults' participation in literacy programs are not available, many will not be able to take advantage of literacy education, and others will not be able to stay in the program for very long.

Because the responsibilities faced by adults on a daily basis are numerous, strategies to keep these adults in attendance and to accelerate their progress are critical to learner and program success. Learners must be retained long enough so that they achieve their goals and/or make a successful transition to jobs or further education. Strategies for doing so are integrated into the adult education and literacy program from intake through program completion. Retention strategies are continuously evaluated.

The Professional Development component holds that all adult education and literacy practitioners must have the professional foundation to ensure that Texas adults who need literacy services can achieve the skills necessary to function effectively in society. Professional development for adult education and literacy practitioners must be based on educational qualifications, experience levels, and program roles; adult learners' needs and desired program outcomes; and promising practices in curriculum, instruction and program development. Since professionalization is critical to the improvement of practice, the policy insists that an infrastructure to support adult educators' professional development must be created so that teachers and administrators have significant professional development resources directed to them.

The policy also states that adult educators must be supported by increased opportunities for professional growth and recognition; creation of more full-time positions to keep highly talented educators from leaving the field; opportunities for advancement; and opportunities to reduce isolation. The report recommends a flexible credentialing process that allows for the attainment of adult education proficiencies in conjunction with professional development in order to gain the recognition and respect of adult educators as professionals.

Adult education and literacy practitioners bring extensive prior knowledge to the teaching of adults, and professional development programs capitalize on this opportunity. To enhance and support literacy within the family unit and maximize the capabilities of adult educators, professional development occurs in a variety of milieu. The policy and report insist that professional development be flexible in regard to the pressures of time, job fragmentation, and even isolation in teaching assignments.

Copies Of the State Board of Education Policy Statement on Adult Education and Literacy and the accompanying report, "Adult Literacy: A Texas Priority", are available from the Clearinghouse. Call (800) 441-7323 for a copy.