I, too, think national curriculum frameworks for subgroups of students 
(based on their goals and their learning needs) would be helpful to 
persistence. It would make it much easier to build learning plans that 
included guides self-study, classes, tutoring, one-day intensive workshops 
and other modes of learning into a coherent learning activity.

--On Tuesday, July 18, 2006 10:49 AM -0400 john strucker 
<john_strucker at harvard.edu> wrote:


> Hi David and colleagues,

> 	One part of a total approach to improved persistence that we should

> explore is the one they are trying in the UK.  Their adult students take

> a  series of nationally developed curriculum-based benchmark tests that

> give  them feedback on their mastery of various specific competencies and

> also  give them a sense of how much closer they are getting to reaching

> their  long-term goals.

> Best,

> John Strucker

>

> --On Sunday, July 16, 2006 4:25 PM -0400 David Rosen

> <djrosen at comcast.net>  wrote:

>

>> John, and other colleagues,

>>

>> Part of the persistence challenge is that some adult learners make

>> progress very slowly and have so very far to go before they see the

>> prize they may have their eyes on.  The prize might be a high school

>> diploma, a better job, a living wage, a good job with a decent salary

>> and good benefits, or going to college, but these may be basic

>> literacy or beginning English language students who need years of

>> study to achieve one of these goals.  One answer might be to increase

>> intensity, more time on task, more hours of study.  But this is not

>> always possible for programs, because they lack the funding to

>> increase intensity of classroom instruction, or for learners, who

>> usually have other commitments like working and parenting.  Funders

>> -- especially companies when they fund "workplace literacy" -- often

>> want results in  a few weeks or months, and even major federal and

>> state funders want results at the end of the fiscal year, either one

>> of these prizes or evidence of progress toward its attainment.

>>

>> Are there some ways we could sustain the student's original motive or

>> goal (the GED diploma, a good job, or an admission to college prize)

>> over several years, if needed.  What do we know about  strategies

>> like awarding certificates for small achievements, holding annual

>> recognition ceremonies, and providing good formative assessment so

>> students can see they have reached some milestones? How about

>> strategies like building community, providing food, helping students

>> to learn skills that they can use in daily living?  Can we articulate

>> from research and/or professional wisdom what strategies work (if

>> any) in sustaining long-term students' motivation and convince

>> funders that we need their support for these strategies?

>>

>> David J. Rosen

>> djrosen at comcast.net

>>

>>

>>

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>

>

> John Strucker, EdD

> Nichols House 303

> Harvard Graduate School of Education

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John Comings, Director
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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