Colleagues:
 
I'm writing to encourage you to register for the National Adult Education Practitioner-Researcher Symposium, A Meeting of the Minds,  scheduled for December 9-11, 2004, in Sacramento, CA. The theme of the Symposium is "Supporting Student Success: What Does Research Tell Us?" This is an opportunity to meet with adult literacy and basic education researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers and contribute to a national research agenda for adult literacy education.  
 
November 15 is the deadline for reserving a hotel room at the trendy Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Sacramento at the incredible rate of $84/night. After November 15, registrations will still be accepted on a space-available basis, but the special conference rate is not guaranteed. Room rates at this hotel generally run $179 and up, so this is a real bargain that we have been able to negotiate especially for Symposium attendees.
 
The Symposium program is rich and exciting. Featuring more than 30 well-known adult literacy education researchers, the program promises a genuine dialogue among practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers. The opening session on Thursday, December 9, is an interactive session on "How to be a Wise Consumer of Research." Concurrent sessions will consist of presentations on research, followed by a panel of practitioners who will discuss the presentations from their perspectives as teachers, administrators, and professional development specialists. Each session will then invite audience participation in identifying implications of the research for practice, policy, and further research. Special sessions include a panel of practitioners who have conducted their own field-based research as well as a session in which current adult learners discuss attributes of adult literacy programs that support student success.  
 
Come help us contribute to a research agenda for adult literacy education. Let your voice be heard. Participate in Symposium sessions as well as informal meetings with practitioners and researchers. To view the full program and to register, visit the Symposium Web site, www.researchtopractice.org.
 
We hope you will join us! 
See you in beautiful Sacramento in December!
 
-Mary Ann Corley, Ph.D.
CALPRO Director and Principal Research Analyst
American Institutes for Research