Colleagues: On September 14, 1998 I was asked to present information on
basic skills education in the United States at a meeting of the United
Kingdom’s Working Group to Advise on Effective Post-School Basic Skills
Provision.  This was one of the sessions chaired by then Sir Claus Moser,
now Lord Moser, to provide a strategy for basic skills education for adults
in the England and Wales. With the Basic Skills Agency as the support agency
for the work of the Working Group, a report was provided to the government
in 1999 entitled A Fresh Start-Improving Literacy and Numeracy.
Unofficially, the report is referred to as the Moser report.

Now, ten years later, the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education
(NIACE) in the UK has prepared a report card on the progress the UK has
made on adult basic skills development since the Moser report was issued.
Following is a brief summary of the report card prepared by NIACE. I wonder
what a report card on the U.S. work on adult basic skills over the last
decade would look like? One thing I have noticed, is that from 1998 to the
present, we have lost more than 1.7 million enrollments from the programs
operating under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) of the
Workforce Investment Act. I am unaware of any data on adult basic skills
education summed across all programs in the US, those operated within the
AEFLA funding and all others that offer this education. I wonder how our
efforts look compared to the UK effort? Is adult basic skills education in
the U.S. a “Cinderella service”?

Tom Sticht



>From NIACE: Report card evaluates basic skills' progress

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - 16:53

Moser 10 Years On highlights the progress made to help adults with low
literacy and numeracy skills through the Government's Skills for Life
strategy, but insists that more help is needed for numeracy, English for
Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and those with the poorest skills.

The publication of the Moser Report - A Fresh Start - Improving Literacy and
Numeracy, (DfEE 1999), reported that 7 million adults in England, roughly
one in five of the population, had low levels of literacy skills. The
situation for numeracy was worse, with estimates of the number of adults
having some numeracy difficulties ranging from 30% - 50%. The report also
found that 60% of people in prison had low literacy and numeracy skills.

As a result of recommendations made in the Moser Report, the Government
launched its Skills for Life strategy in 2001 - a radical and successful
strategy transforming the teaching of adult literacy, language and numeracy
skills in England.

Since 2001:

there has been £5 billion invested in Skills for Life between 2001 and 2008

Whilst much has been achieved in the last ten years, we have to recognise
that there are still many adults who have poor literacy and numeracy
skills.

5.7 million adult learners have taken up 12 million Skills for Life learning
opportunities (including ESOL)

over 2.8 million adults have gained a first qualification counting towards
the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target

the PSA target to improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 2.25
million adults by 2010 was met in June 2008, over two years early

the expected Learning and Skills Council (LSC) spend on Skills for Life will
exceed £1 billion in 2009-10, with three-quarters of that targeted at adults
over 19, with a large emphasis on numeracy

541,500 adults gained literacy, language or numeracy qualifications in
2007/8

there are 18,800 Skills for Life teachers (full time equivalent) with
approximately 6,000 teaching numeracy, 8,000 teaching literacy and 9,000
teaching ESOL

there is a target of 597,000 literacy qualifications to be achieved between
2008 and 2011  390,000 numeracy qualifications to be achieved over the same
period

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE, said:

"Ten years on from the Moser Report, the teaching of literacy and numeracy
is no longer seen as the ‘Cinderella service' it once was. Over the last
decade the quality in teaching has improved considerably - helped through
the professionalisation of the workforce and an interactive adult
curriculum, resulting in a huge increase in the number of adults with
improved skills."

"Literacy, numeracy and language remain an essential part of the lifelong
learning system. The Moser Report and the Skills for Life survey clearly
identified the scale of need for adult literacy and numeracy. Whilst much
has been achieved in the last ten years, we have to recognise that there
are still many adults who have poor literacy and numeracy skills. There are
significant challenges around those adults, particularly with the poorest
skills who are inevitably the hardest to reach and their difficulties are
exacerbated during the recession."

"We believe that literacy, language and numeracy are fundamental human
rights and help people to take control of their lives, become active
community members, to participate in the digital revolution and to shape
their own futures."