National Coalition for Literacy

By Heidi Silver-Pacuilla

Dear All,

I want to start by saying how disheartened I am about the tragedy in Tucson, my former home base. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Congresswoman Giffords, her family and staff, and all those touched by the tragedy. Congresswoman Giffords is a dedicated supporter of adult and family literacy, visiting southern Arizona programs often and speaking out about the power of literacy for informed citizenship.

I had the honor of participating in the digital stories project at Pima College Adult Ed to which Giffords contributed, (hear her at minute 8:47 and again at 11:39). She is also a member of the House Adult Literacy Caucus, invited by my former colleagues and dear friends in Tucson. They worked through Gabe Zimmerman, her aide, as they often did on adult education issues. Gabe Zimmerman was the son of a faculty member at Pima Community College.

And so, a real wake-up call in the beginning of 2011 to rededicate ourselves to our priorities and responsibilities in our communities. I look forward to working with all of you to improve our communities and our country this year.

Updates

The Coalition has been anything but quiet in the past month. There is a whole lot going on and more to come. Some highlights to put on your radar:

• See the Action Alert: Update Congress on Adult Education and 11 Ways to Re-Commit to Advocacy in 2011 from Jackie Taylor, Advocacy Chair.
• Hill Day, Photo Op with the House Adult Literacy Caucus, and Member Meeting, Feb. 9-10.
• Washington Partners Hired as NCL Policy Firm.
• FAQ page explains the new procedures.
• By popular demand! State-level symposia are scheduled for TN in March and FL in May. These are sponsored by the Dollar General grant and bring together business, policy, and adult education and workforce communities for a day of strategic planning and advocacy training. Advocacy Webinars are also scheduled for February.

Thank You and Best of Luck to Tony Peyton, Moving to Local Politics

Tony is moving on to be the policy director for the new mayor of Louisville, KY. Congratulations, Tony! That is going to be huge new effort and opportunity for you, we know that you will excel in your new post.  We have benefited from your input, knowledge, and leadership on family literacy issues on the Coalition for many years and we will miss you. We wish you the very best!.

Women in the Economy Still in the News

An adult literacy response was crafted to the Joint Economic Committee’s report, released in December: Invest in Women, Invest in America: A Comprehensive Review of Women in the U.S. Economy.  This JEC report shared many fine data points and the findings of a years’ worth of testimony on women’s experiences, yet did not examine the realities of women with low educational attainment. Thank you to panelists from the December 1 Policy Forum for contributing to the response: Elizabeth Lower-Basch of Center for Law and Social Policy, Kevin Miller of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Mev Miller of WE LEARN, Gloria Mwase of Jobs for the Future, Margaret Patterson of GED Testing Service, and Heide Spruck Wrigley of Literacyworks, International..

How Can You Get Involved?

The more involved you become in the Coalition, the more you will learn. There’s a task force for every make and model of us. We need everyone and if you can’t participate in a task force, perhaps a colleague from your organization can – this is especially true for the social media work that is ongoing. See below.

Join Us

• Feb 2, 3:30 Public Policy Call to prepare for Hill Day – Get a game plan!
• Feb 9, Hill Day and Photo Op at 3:00pm with House Adult Literacy Caucus
• Feb 10, Member Meeting, 9:00-2:00pm, Hall of the States (Please RSVP)

Task Forces

Thank you to all who have been donating time to advance NCL work. Current task forces are listed below with those who are participating in each. To join a task force, contact Jackie Taylor at jackie@jataylor.net .

• Appropriations Task Force: Creating the 2011 Return on Investment Fact Sheet. Members: Jeff Carter, Proliteracy; Brad Long, UT Center for Literacy Studies; Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, American Institutes for Research; and Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy.
• Website Redesign Task Force: Redesigning main NCL website and folding in Toolkit and blog with all “one look and feel”. Members: Dahlia Shaewitz, American Institutes for Research; Kristin K. Murphy, American Library Association; Marsha L. Tait and Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy
• Blog Task Force: Making articles more accessible; strategic planning for content and outreach to target audiences identified via Fission research. Members: Dahlia Shaewitz, American Institutes for Research; Jenna Miller, National Center for Family Literacy; Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy
• Facebook Task Force: Create Facebook page, add Capwiz, strategic planning for content and outreach to target audiences identified via Fission research.  Members: Jenna Miller, National Center for Family Literacy; Kristin K. Murphy, American Library Association; Marsha L. Tait and Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy
• Twitter Task Force: strategic plan for content and outreach to target audiences identified via Fission research.  Members: Cassandra Brown, GED Testing Service; Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy.
• Mobile Task Force: Investigate the feasibility of text messaging and possible pilot design.  Members: Cassandra Brown, GED Testing Service; Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy
• Wikipedia Task Force: Strategic plan for entry development and population and cross-linking to relevant articles.  Members: Marcie Foster, Center for Law and Social Policy; Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, American Institutes for Research; and Jackie Taylor, National Coalition for Literacy

See you soon!