National Coalition for Literacy

By Jackie Taylor

In the July 2010 Public Policy and Advocacy Update, Marsha Tait and I shared with you information about the field’s recent success in working with Congress to dedicate National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week for September 13-19, 2010. That information is also below for easy reference.

As we gear up for celebration activities, we’d like to hear from you.

What are your plans for raising awareness during National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week?

What activities will you host? What different media venues will you use? (TV, radio, online via Facebook, blogs, Twitter, etc.)
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Update and Thanks!

Dear Adult Literacy Advocates:

Thank you to all who contacted their Members of Congress in response to alerts on this issue. Your calls made a difference!

Special thanks to advocates in Colorado for their advocacy work with Congressman Polis. Congratulations to advocates in New York, Arizona, Texas, California, Maryland, Kentucky, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Maine, DC, Minnesota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Tennessee and the Northern Mariana Islands who cinched commitments from House members to co-sponsor the resolution (H. Res. 1472).

If your House Member co-sponsored the resolution, now is a good time to follow up with a note

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By Jackie Taylor

Many of you are keeping a watchful eye on the horizon for National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week 2010. Here’s some background and a status update:

Background:

Last year, the House made a one-time dedication for Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. This was a highly successful effort in raising awareness nationwide of the importance of adult education and family literacy in 2009.

This year, Congressman Jared Polis is once again taking the lead in dedicating this high honor for adult education and family literacy in 2010.

Status-to-date:

May…

Last week, in Part I of Advocating Smarter, David Rosen discussed how peoples’ values impact their understanding of what adult literacy education is, whether it should have their support, and how they choose to support it. How can an understanding of these values help advocates frame their messages about adult literacy education to the media and to policymakers?

 In Part II below, David shares his ideas on how we can reframe our message, what that reframing process might look like, and possible next steps for the field.

Part Two of a Two-Part Article…

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you to our guests David Harvey, David Rosen, John Segota, and Marsha Tait, for their articles, and also to Art Ellison and Tony Peyton, for being available to answer questions this week on Cultivating Media Relations. I also have good news! David Rosen has agreed to post Part II of his article on “Advocating Smarter” next week, Monday, October 26, 2009. This will allow us extra time to read and review this week’s articles, continue commenting, and to gear up for an advocacy campaign for reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act.

Please keep the comments coming, and we…

Marsha Tait shares strategies and tools for collaborating with other agencies to get media attention for your program. To post your comments or questions,  click on the above title, then scroll down.

At a recent event in a mid-sized community, a very frustrated  adult literacy program manager bemoaned the lack of press coverage at a recent student recognition event.  “I don’t know what more we can do to get them there!” she said.  “We did press releases, had a special graduation ceremony,  even had the Mayor cut and serve cake!  I just don’t know what more to do to make them…

John Segota, Director of Advocacy and Professional Relations for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), shares strategies for raising awareness of adult ESL programs, including the use of social media. See the two You Tube examples below from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in California (APALC). In the comment box, tell us what you have done or are doing to raise awareness of adult ESL programs in your community or in the Web 2.0 world. Is your class on You Tube, for example? Share those links with readers here.

 Making an Impact

In his blog…

David Rosen discusses how peoples’ values impact their understanding of what adult literacy education is, whether it should have their support, and how they choose to support it. How can an understanding of these values help advocates frame their messages about adult literacy education to the media and to policymakers?

 Part One of a Two-Part Blog Article

After three decades of legislation, adult literacy education in the U.S. is at best a marginal program, one that Congress could end at any time, not an established system; and adult learners are allocated only a tiny portion of…

David Harvey, President and CEO of ProLiteracy, offers some tips and examples for working with the media as a part of an overall communications strategy for policy change.

Study the Media

The first step in creating a media communications strategy for policy change is to learn how the media works – you can’t approach journalists if you don’t know what they want and how they want it. Begin by reading the papers you want to reach, watching the TV shows you want to reach. What kind of stories do they tell? How do they frame those stories…

Online Guest Discussion October 19-23, 2009

Adult Education and Family Literacy Week begins October 18, 2009. National Coalition for Literacy Members can support you in responding to questions from the media, and offer advice based on their experience in cultivating media relations.
Pose your questions and discuss timely topics, such as:

• Framing Values for Successful Advocacy
• Building Visibility in Your Community
• Cultivating the Media
• Engaging Your Nonprofit Board in Advocacy
• Organizing at the Grassroots Level
• Promoting Family Literacy

Guest Participants:

• Art Ellison, Public Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State Directors

…

The US House of Representatives passed H.Res.707, designating Adult Education and Family Literacy Week for the week of October 18, 2009, by a vote of 412-0.  The Resolution does the following:

 Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

 (1) supports the designation of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, including raising public awareness about the importance of adult education and family literacy;

 (2) encourages people across the United States to support programs to assist those in need of adult education and family literacy…