WHAT’S NEW at Literacy New York
December, 2010
New York State Board of Regents appoints Kevin G. Smith as Deputy Commissioner for Adult Education and Workforce Development. (October, 2010)
The Board of Regents has approved the appointment of Kevin G. Smith as Deputy Commissioner for Adult Education and Workforce Development. For the past 28 years, Smith has served as Executive Director and Chief Operating Office for Literacy New York, Inc. During that time, Smith has developed strong leadership and public relations skills and extensive experience working with local, state and federal agencies. Smith, who is the parent of and advocate for an adult child with disabilities knows first-hand the importance, challenges and rewards of being able to successfully navigate access to services for individuals with disabilities.
State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner said, "Kevin’s in-depth understanding of the public, non-public and private sectors involved in providing services to adults with literacy, language and other barriers will ensure that the needs of adults are met through efficient and effective access to relevant services, programs and opportunities offered by the Department. In the continuing economic downturn, such support will be crucial to ensuring that the needs of the Department’s adult constituents are met effectively and efficiently.”
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education News
OVAE Goals for 2010–11
Secretary of Education Duncan has said, "Education is the only sure path out of poverty and the only way to achieve a more equal and just society." With a focus on this relationship between education and economic opportunity, we at OVAE are committed to:
- supporting rigorous programs of study, funded by the Carl D. Perkins Act, that prepare young people for college and careers through postsecondary credentials completion;
- serving 93 million adults in the U.S. whose basic or below-basic literacy levels limit their career opportunities, through funding from WIA Title II and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act; and
- improving the capacity of our community colleges to meet today's education and labor market demands.
To achieve these ends, we have developed three goals for 2011–12:
GOAL 1: All youths and adults are ready for, have access to, and complete college and career pathways.
GOAL 2: All youths and adult students have effective teachers and leaders.
GOAL 3: All youths and adult students have equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities on demand.
Read the complete article in OVAE Connection
NTIA Invests $3.3M in Digital Literacy
for Adult Learners
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently invested $3.3 million available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in a Learner Web Partnership project supporting digital literacy and other training tailored to adult learners. The new project will provide tutor-facilitated training in English and Spanish to about 23,000 adults from economically vulnerable populations to help them participate in an increasingly digital society and economy.
The grant was awarded to Portland State University in Oregon, which will partner with adult literacy and basic education organizations in California, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, and Texas. The project uses an approach that combines self-paced learning via Learner Web with live, on-site tutorial support in about 75 computer labs. The program will teach digital literacy, provide consumer education about local broadband access and offer information on local career pathway programs. Instructional activities include use of broadband for conducting job searches, finding educational and health information, and using smart consumer practices.
The partnership plans a targeted outreach campaign to increase awareness of its training programs among under-served populations. Funds flow through the existing Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which supports deployment of broadband infrastructure, public computer centers, and sustainable adoption of broadband service. More information is available from Steve Reder at reders@pdx.edu
National Institutes of Health
NIH NEWS
Improving mothers' literacy skills
may be best way to boost children's achievement
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health concluded that programs to boost the academic achievement of children from low income neighborhoods might be more successful if they also provided adult literacy education to parents. The researchers based this conclusion on their finding that a mother's reading skill is the greatest determinant of her children’s future academic success, outweighing other factors, such as neighborhood and family income.
The analysis, performed by Narayan Sastry, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and Anne R. Pebley, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, examined data on more than 3,000 families.
The study, appearing in Demography, was supported by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
"The findings indicate that programs to improve maternal literacy skills may provide an effective means to overcome the disparity in academic achievement between children in poor and affluent neighborhoods," said Rebecca Clark, Ph.D., chief of the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH institute that funded the study. After mother's reading level, neighborhood income level was the largest determinant of children's academic achievement.
The researchers undertook the study to isolate factors contributing to the disparity in academic achievement that other studies have found between children in low income and affluent neighborhoods.
Sastry and Pebley's analysis was based on data collected between April 2000 and December 2001 as part of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, an ongoing examination of families in 65 LA county communities. The information included the results of reading and math assessments of 2,350 children ages 3 to 17, their mothers' education level, census records of neighborhood income, and family income and assets. The participants in the study were representative of the larger Los Angeles community.
Sastry and Pebley noted that neighborhood income had the largest impact on achievement for children ages 8 to 17, who are at the middle and higher end of the age range. This is consistent with the idea that the environment outside the home becomes more important as children grow older, they said.
"This analysis gives us a chance to isolate the different factors that affect children’s achievement," Dr. Sastry said. "Policy measures to encourage mixed-income neighborhoods, improve early childhood education, and build mothers’ reading skills each could have positive effects on children’s achievement scores."
The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute’s Web site at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.
Adult Literacy Statistics
Adult Literacy in New York (Educational Testing Service) states the “literacy can be thought of as a currency in this society. Just as adults with little money have difficulty meeting their basic needs, those with limited literacy skills are likely to find it more challenging to pursue their goals—whether these involve job advancement, consumer decision making, citizenship, or other aspects of their lives.
Even if adults who performed in the lowest literacy levels are not experiencing difficulties at present, they may be at risk as the nation’s economy and social fabric continue to change. Beyond these personal consequences, what implications are there for society when so many individuals display limited skills? ...... it seems apparent that a nation in which large numbers of citizens display limited literacy skills has fewer resources with which to meet its goals and objectives, whether these are social, political, civic, or economic.
If large percentages of adults with limited reading skills had to do little more than be able to sign their name on a form or locate a single fact in a newspaper or table, then the (low) levels of literacy ... might not warrant concern. We live in a nation, however, where both the volume and variety of written information are growing and where increasing numbers of citizens are expected to be able to read, understand, and use these materials.”
Basic facts about Adult Literacy in the United States (from ProLiteracy 2010):
- Literacy is the ability to read, write, compute, and use technology at a level that enables an individual to reach his or her full potential as a parent, employee, and community member.
- In the U.S., 30 million people over age 16 — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level or fill out a job application.
- The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.
- Adult low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the United States:
- More than 60 percent of all state and federal corrections inmates can barely read and write.
- Low health literacy costs between $106 billion and $238 billion each year in the U.S. — 7 to 17 percent of all annual personal health care spending.
- Low literacy’s effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
Emerging Technologies in Adult Literacy and Language Education
a new publication by Mark Warschauer and Meei-Ling Liaw, June 2010, is available from the National Institute for Literacy
From the Executive Summary
“Although information and communication technologies have become an integral part of life in the United States, they have not yet been adequately integrated into adult language and literacy programs. This raises concerns because of the potential value of technology for enhancing learning and because of the vital role of technological proficiency as a gatekeeper for occupational success and full civic participation...This paper describes the potential contribution of emerging technologies to adult literacy and language education and the opportunities and challenges involved in incorporating these technologies into programs...We believe that these emerging technologies can help diverse adult learners to develop both the language and literacy skills and the proficiency with new media required to fully participate in a rapidly evolving information society.”
Health Literacy
According to the recently released National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports that “nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the everyday health information that is routinely available in our health care facilities, retail outlets, media, and communities. Without clear information and an understanding of prevention and self-management of conditions, people are more likely to skip necessary medical tests. They also end up in the emergency room more often, and they have a hard time managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Limited health literacy affects people of all ages, races, incomes, and education levels, but the impact of limited health literacy disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic and minority groups.”
Included in the report’s seven goals and strategies to improve health literacy is the “support and expansion of local efforts to provide adult education, English language instruction, and culturally and linguistically appropriate health information services in the community.
“Many of the strategies highlight actions that particular organizations or professions can take to further these goals. By focusing on health literacy issues and working together, we can improve the accessibility, quality, and safety of health care; reduce costs; and improve the health and quality of life for millions of people in the United States.” (see the full report at: www.health.gov/communication/HLActionPlan/)
