National Coalition for Literacy

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The National Coalition for Literacy has been undergoing changes since 2009 as a result of strategic planning. The Coalition wishes to keep you abreast of these changes as we progress. Here are some questions and answers you might find helpful, including more about who we are and how we operate.

FAQs

Who is the National Coalition for Literacy?

The National Coalition for Literacy is a national adult education leadership organization comprised of over 20 organizations committed to fostering collaboration and advocacy among leading national organizations to advance adult education, family literacy, and English language development.

NCL recently updated its public policy procedures. Why?

This process has been underway for over a year, sparked by our strategic planning retreat in 2009. We realized that we needed to make our organization as nimble and responsive as possible to serve the diverse interests of the field. To that end, we have worked to streamline procedures so that we could develop positions more quickly and make voting rules transparent in order to be more efficient and effective in our work.

What are the results of the change to procedures?

The results allow for more flexibility for Members when there isn’t consensus on a given issue. In addition, Coalition leadership has been empowered to quickly respond to strategic opportunities that support our agreed-upon positions developed through consensus. This process is much more straightforward and easier to manage for a virtual organization such as the National Coalition for Literacy.

What happened to all the committees? Do you still care about research, technology, etc.?

The committee structure has been streamlined into two main committees: Internal Affairs and External Affairs. Other key areas of interest—such as research and technology—are handled as task forces on an as-needed basis to accomplish a specific goal. For example, the response to the National Educational Technology Plan was written by a task force. Similarly, a 2011 Return on Investment fact sheet will be released soon and it was compiled by a task force.

What about the Public Policy Committee? Did that go away too?

The Public Policy Committee was removed in name only since it was a “committee of the whole” and thus a redundant aspect of our infrastructure. All NCL Members still have the opportunity to participate in the Coalition’s advocacy and public policy work; we will just conduct it in a more streamlined fashion. See the new Advocacy and Public Policy Procedures for details.

Is it true that certain groups have left the Coalition? What impact will that have?

As anyone who has ever worked with a coalition knows, rotating members is a simple fact of a coalition’s life. Coalition member groups come and go all the time due to changes in priorities, goals, leadership, and other factors. NCL itself has seen a number of member groups come and go over the past few years due to a variety of reasons, a fact that is unlikely to change in the future. However, despite the changes in membership, NCL has continued be a leading voice for advocacy by fostering collaboration and advocacy among national organizations to advance the field of adult education, family literacy, and English language development.

NCL is also simplifying its membership structure to make it easier for more groups at the national, state, and local level to get involved. Check back on our website for updates.

What other changes are coming from the National Coalition for Literacy?

The Coalition is reaching out to more practitioners, adult learners, and activists than ever before in order to increase the field’s grassroots advocacy base. We must bring more advocates for adult education into the fold, educate them about our issues, and empower them to act quickly on behalf of this important cause. To that end, the Coalition is redesigning its site to make information more accessible. We now have Capwiz on our website and on Facebook. This enables advocates to act quickly on alerts that advance positions developed through Coalition consensus. We also plan to conduct a pilot campaign using text messaging. Check back on our website for updates.

If or as you have questions, please let us know. You could post your questions below or email NCL direct at ncl@ncladvocacy.org .

Thank you.