National Coalition for Literacy

News from the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education

The National Council of State Directors staff has been working intensively with Senate HELP Committee staff over the past two weeks on specific issues related to a new WIA reauthorization bill. Similar discussions are beginning to take place with House Education and Labor Committee staff. This is the most promising news that the state directors have had on WIA reauthorization in the past four years. For further information contact Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State Directors of Adult Education at aellison@ed.state.nh.us.

AALPD and COABE Join Forces to Advocate for Funding Increases in State Leadership

AALPD and COABE ask state and national organizations to sign on in support of changing state leadership funds from a maximum of 12.5% to a 15% minimum in WIA reauthorization. This underscores the NCL Professional Quality Policy Principles that were approved unanimously by NCL Members and adopted by NCL in December 2009. This position, among others NCL articulated to improve the quality of the adult education profession, can be found in the NCL Professional Quality Policy Principles document .

Once signatures are collected, the letter will be sent to key Hill staff working on WIA reauthorization.

ProLiteracy Asks Grassroots to Add Their Voice to Support Changes to WIA

ProLiteracy is sponsoring an organizational sign on letter urging Congress to do four things in WIA reauthorization:

1. revise the National Reporting System (NRS);
2. reinforce Title II provisions that benefit the lowest level learners;  
3. recognize the need for flexibility in the intensity and duration of instruction; and
4. ensure the Workforce Innovation Fund includes Title II programs.

The ProLiteracy sign-on letter will be first sent to both the House Education Committee and the Senate Health Education, Labor & Pensions Committee—the committees of jurisdiction on WIA, with later follow up to all Members of Congress. See the sign on letter for details.

New CLASP Publication on Funding career Pathways and Career Pathways Bridges

As part of CLASP’s new Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success, CLASP has released Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States to help interagency state teams identify and use federal resources to support career pathway and career pathway bridge models. Using the Funding Options Worksheet and the ten Federal Program Summaries, state teams can identify and facilitate “braiding” of federal resources to design and develop career pathways and bridges into them for adults and out-of-school youth. The toolkit also will help state teams identify state policy barriers to using federal resources for career pathways and bridges and, ideally, address them.

Tips on Using the Toolkit:

Use the Funding Options Worksheet (xls version or  PDF version) to identify a specific target population and list the key tasks for building career pathways under the appropriate headings. Sample tasks are provided in the Funding Options Worksheet, but state teams may want to customize their tasks based on specific opportunities or limitations in their state.

Use the Federal Program Summaries to identify resources that might support the key tasks in your state’s career pathways initiative. Each summary includes basic information, such as type of program, eligibility requirements, type of services/support provided and an analysis of how the program can support career pathways, including a list of specific opportunities and limitations for state use of federal funds.

Crossing the Bridge: GED Credentials and Postsecondary Educational Outcomes

For most high school non-completers, the GED® credential provides a bridge to postsecondary education, but little is known about how successfully GED Test candidates make that transition and whether enrollment rates change with time. The American Council on Education (ACE) has begun a three-year longitudinal study to understand the effect of the GED credential on postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion.

This year one study reports the latest data available from a 2003 cohort of GED candidates who tested shortly after the introduction of the current 2002 Series GED Tests.

Findings include that 43% of GED credential recipients do go on to further their education; most enroll in the first three years after testing, primarily in two-year institutions. See the abstract or full report for details.

TESOL & AZ-TESOL Issues Joint Statement on the Arizona Teacher English Fluency Initiative

TESOL released a joint statement with its Arizona affiliate, AZ-TESOL, expressing great concern over the initiative by the AZ Department of Education mandating teachers with accents be removed from classes with English language learners. According to recent media reports, the Arizona Department of Education has mandated that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

New: Practitioner Working Conditions Blog

The Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers calls our attention to the new Working Conditions Blog hosted by the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education. The blog is focused on MA practitioners but addresses issues that are universal to adult educators. Browse and comment on the blog and share your experiences with adult education working conditions in your program or state.