[NIFL-POVRACELIT:1042] Comments about adult literacy/education

From: Margarita Oliver (pegtoliver@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Feb 17 2003 - 04:26:27 EST


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From: "Margarita Oliver" <pegtoliver@earthlink.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1042] Comments about adult literacy/education
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Andres

It's very informative that you are in Texas.  I believe that disinterest
that seems to come from the community begins with the loudest voices on the
State Board of Education, increasingly aided and abetted by Business.
(Together they're raising "accountability" standards, without having ANY
accountability for the fallout -- causing the huge, neverending need for
Adult Ed in the poor communities.)

Texas has always given the literal minimum to Adult Literacy, and that
disinterest is reflected in the communities' attitude toward undereducated,
underliterate adults/older youth and their education, allowing serious
neglect, except for the hard work of a few, as you mentioned.  (My nonprofit
aims to "fill in the holes" left by these giants, with open, self-paced
classes and by compiling and distributing  information about all possible
adult ed opportunities in Hidalgo County.)

It's a different setup in each community, evidently.  In San Antonio, a city
councilwoman suggested the need for a Literacy Council some years ago,, and
the number of adults served was doubled.   Now, that person is off of the
council, evidently, because they seem to be back to minimal service.  The
Council is still in place, but the interest is back to the usual.  The ABE
program had been very loosely run, I gather.  .

Always good to hear from you.

Peg Oliver
I looked up El Paso Adult Ed and found the San Jacinto Adult Learning
Center, and you are with the the Community College.   That's where the state
and federal Adult Ed funding goes, obviously.  Here in the Rio Grande
Valley, it has always gone to the Region One Education Service Center Adult
Ed Co-op, consisting of almost all of the school districts in the 4-county
border area.

It's only recently that we have had the South Texas Community College.  The
ESC Adult Ed Administrator wouldn't let the CC have any of the adult ed
funding, so all they have is occasional  ESL classes, with fees.   Region
One and a few vocational schools have all of the classes offered with
funding from the Texas Workforce Solutions program.

I believe that, if the CC were open to the adult ed, their "large
population" would not consist almost entirely of those in Remediation.  This
is never acknowledged but is obvious.

-----Original Message-----
From: Andres Muro <AndresM@epcc.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov>
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 12:00 PM
Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1035] Re: Task Force Named for CAAL Community


>Hi Gail, I am an manager of an adult literacy and GED program El Paso
Community College. When I communicate with colleagues in the adult literacy
field, I have found that many of them do not work in community colleges, but
rather in other entities and often they have had difficulty partnering with
CCs.
>
>I agree with you that Community colleges are an essential component of
adult basic education, and potentially, an outstanding resource for
providing effective adult education access and services. However, this role
in  community colleges is greatly misunderstood and often challenged.
>
>At El Paso Community College, where I work, this is a greatly debated
issue, with no clear answers. You would think that in a community such as El
Paso, w/ an overwhelming number of limited English proficient, educationally
disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged adults, there would be a clear
understanding and philosophy from the community college towards addressing
this issue. However, the fact is that there is not.
>
>EPCC has a very large and very successful literacy, GED, ABE program, but
it is often misunderstood within the college, and not perceived as an
integral part of the college by many. Had it not been for the tremendous
efforts from the staff in the program, the program might not exist today.
>
>Being in the middle of the debate regarding the role of community colleges
in ABE, I am very interested in this issue and I would like to hear further
about this.
>
>andres
>
>
>>>> gspangenberg@caalusa.org 02/11/03 06:40AM >>>
>
>TASK FORCE NAMED FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROJECT
>
>
>NEWS RELEASE - February 11, 2003 - The Council for Advancement of
>Adult Literacy (CAAL) today announced the task force membership for
>its recently-launched community college project.  That project is
>part of CAAL's program to help develop state-level resources and
>foster effective state policy development and planning in adult
>education and literacy.  "Community colleges provide ABE services for
>millions of adults now," noted CAAL president Gail Spangenberg, "but
>the links between their services and between community colleges and
>other service-providing institutions in the adult literacy system are
>weak or poorly understood.  CAAL hopes to increase awareness of what
>the colleges are already doing and to provide guidance, as
>appropriate, on ways to strengthen their role."  The task force will
>meet 4-5 times during the 1.5-year life of the project. Several
>papers will be commissioned and published by CAAL including a final
>task force report with analysis and recommendations. Start-up funding
>has been provided by the Nellie Mae Foundation, Verizon, and
>McGraw-Hill.  Dr. Forrest P. Chisman, CAAL Vice President for Special
>Projects, will direct the project.
>
>In addition to Dr. Chisman, the task force is comprised of:
>
>Byron McClenney (Chair)
>(American Association of Community Colleges representative)
>President
>Kingsborough Community College
>City University of New York
>Brooklyn, New York
>
>Robert Bickerton
>Director, Adult Basic Education
>State Department of Education
>Malden, Massachusetts
>
>Hunter Boylan
>Director
>National Center for Developmental Education
>Reich College of Education
>Appalachian State University
>Boone, North Carolina
>
>JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
>Professor of Education &
>Director, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Language, Literacy, and
Culture
>University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
>Baltimore, Maryland
>
>Gerardo de los Santos
>Vice President for Advancement
>League for Innovation in Community Colleges
>Phoenix, Arizona
>
>Sarah Hawker
>Vice President
>Workforce Development and Adult Education
>Illinois Community College Board
>Springfield, Illinois
>
>Lennox McClendon
>Executive Director
>National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium
>Washington, D.C.
>
>Patricia Rickard
>Director,
>Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS)
>San Diego, California
>
>Sharlene Walker
>Director
>Adult Basic Skills and Family Literacy Unit
>Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development
>Salem, Oregon
>
>Ex officio:
>Sandra Baxter
>Interim Director
>National Institute for Literacy
>Washington, D.C.
>
>
>
>Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy
>1221 Avenue of the Americas - 50th Floor
>New York, NY 10020
>Phone 212-512-2363
>e-mail: bheitner@caalusa.org
>http://www.caalusa.org
>
>Washington Office:
>(Forrest Chisman)
>Phone 410-643-0135
>Fax: 410-643-0137
>e-mail: forrest@crosslink.net
>
>
>
>--



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