Good afternoon and greetings to the subscribers of the Program Leadership 
and Improvement Discussion List.   I am pleased to be serving as the new 
Moderator of the list.  Thank you to Sandy Strunk for the earlier 
introduction and for all of the work she has put into getting this list off 
the ground.

In my new role as Moderator, I will continuously strive to meet the four 
stated goals of the list:

1.  To foster and support innovative leadership in adult education by 
creating a forum for participants to discuss issues related 
to            continuous program improvement.
2.  To create an online mechanism for the diffusion of the resources 
contained in the LINCS Program Leadership and Improvement          Special 
Collection.
3.  To inform the development of the Program Leadership and Improvement 
Special Collection through information sharing and in-          depth 
discussion of "what works" from the perspective of list participants.
         4.  To encourage open discussion and sharing among practitioners 
about program improvement issues.

Here's some of my background so that you'll know a bit about where I am 
coming from.  For the past 5 years I have been on the staff of the Center 
for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee where I currently serve 
as the Coordinator/Content Development Partner for the LINCS Program 
Leadership and Improvement Special Collection [http://pli.cls.coe.utk]; I 
previously worked on professional development projects for the 
state.  Prior to that, I worked in a public library setting, and was a 
volunteer tutor with my local ABE program.

In developing the Program Leadership and Improvement Special Collection, my 
understanding and awareness of program leadership and improvement have 
grown immensely.  My hope for the list is that it will provide a genuine 
opportunity to expand our thinking about this topic, as we work to serve 
the needs of adult learners and practitioners alike.  I hope we can tackle 
issues, such as "What is the definition of a leader?"  "What are the 
program improvement needs of community-based providers in comparison to the 
needs of state-funded ABE programs?"  "How are professional development and 
program improvement related?"  "How can learners be more involved in 
program leadership and improvement?"  "What does sound research look like 
in regards to program improvement?"

I also hope that the list will continue to inform the Program Leadership 
and Improvement Special Collection in a meaningful way.  One idea is to 
regularly examine resources from that collection and ask, "Has anyone tried 
this model/framework/tool?  If so, what has worked?  What has not?"

My earliest experience in the field was teaching young adult learners, many 
of whom were homeless. I strongly desired to improve my practice and better 
meet the needs of the students, but could not find the tools or resources 
to help me in my efforts.  Later, I was introduced to the concept of 
Quality Improvement and I decided to focus on program improvement in my 
graduate work.  I often thought about how helpful it would have been to 
have had just a few program improvement tools/resources when I was working 
with adult learners in the classroom.

Please consider sharing your own experiences with Program Leadership and 
Improvement within Adult Basic Literacy and Education.  And please let me 
know how this list and the special collection can best meet your needs.

Thank you,
Kim Chaney-Bay
Coordinator,
LINCS Program Leadership and Improvement Special Collection
[http://pli.cls.utk.edu]