NEW CAAL REPORT URGES NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY SYSTEM FOR ADULTS

NEWS RELEASE - Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005, New York, NY. There are not 
enough young people in the educational "pipeline" to fill the 
nation's workforce needs in the decades to come. Thus, it is 
essential to focus more attention and resources on the three million 
adult education students in the system and the 30 to 50 million other 
adults with low basic skills. A National Opportunity System for 
Adults, built on stronger links between adult education and community 
colleges, is needed urgently, and will benefit the nation and all 
parties involved.

With this as its core challenge, the Council for Advancement of Adult 
Literacy (CAAL) today released its pioneering new report, TO ENSURE 
AMERICA'S FUTURE: BUILDING A NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY SYSTEM FOR ADULTS.

The 102-page report is an in-depth study of adult education and 
community colleges and the critical need to strengthen links between 
the two. It urges education leaders and government policymakers to 
accept the challenge "as a chance for strategic, forward-looking 
statecraft." The report is the result of two years of work by CAAL, 
which was guided throughout by a distinguished national task force. 
It presents the rationale and specific recommendations for creating 
the National Opportunity System for Adults that America needs.

  "The gap between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in American society 
is growing, and the main pathway for the education and training 
needed to hold decent jobs and function well as parents and citizens 
is through the community college door," the report states. Although 
this has long been the case, it warns that we are now at a critical 
juncture. "We ignore present realities at our own peril. We can't 
afford to keep doing business as usual. A growing number of adults 
lack a high school credential. Too few adults are enrolled in ABE, 
ESL, and GED or other diploma programs, and two few are making the 
transition to community colleges." We are reaching only about three 
million adults with current programs, out of 30 to 50 million adults 
with low basic skills, and service and planning efforts are 
fragmented and underfunded.

  "The adult education and literacy system and community colleges 
[which already collaborate more than is realized] will have to find 
new ways to work together toward a common goal - by developing 
transitions and in the many other ways discussed in the report - if 
the National Opportunity System for Adults is to become a reality." 
Creation of this System is essential to the effective functioning of 
our democracy, the report says, and the United States needs it to 
remain globally competitive.

TO ENSURE AMERICA'S FUTURE contains a seven-page Executive Summary 
and detailed recommendations for state and federal government, 
community colleges, and the adult education system. To help implement 
the report's findings, CAAL will make presentations to various 
national and state stakeholder groups over the next several months. 
Its task force members will remain on as a standing advisory 
committee to CAAL and will do follow-up work with their own 
constituencies.

Gail Spangenberg (CAAL founder and president), Byron McClenney 
(community college leader and task force chair), and Forrest Chisman 
(CAAL vice president and project study director) were the project's 
three principals. Other task force members were Bob Bickerton, Hunter 
Boylan, JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall, Sarah Hawker, Lennox McLendon, 
Patricia Rickard, Gerardo de los Santos, and Sharlene Walker. Dozens 
of other organizations and people also contributed to the study. CAAL 
is deeply indebted to them. We are especially grateful to the project 
funders: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., the Ford Foundation, Verizon, 
Inc., the Lumina Foundation for Education, the Nellie-Mae Foundation, 
Household International, and Harold W. McGraw, Jr.

A PDF copy of TO ENSURE AMERICA'S FUTURE is available free at the 
CAAL Web site, www.caalusa.org. A separate Executive Summary is also 
available at the CAAL Web site. Bound, printed copies of the full 
report may be purchased directly from CAAL for $25 each (discount 
available for orders of five or more). During the course of the 
two-year project, CAAL commissioned and published eight other 
research papers, as listed below. These are all available at the CAAL 
Web site.

For more information, contact Bess Heitner, bheitner at caalusa.org, or 
212-512-2363.






>NOTE: Other Titles Available in CAAL's Community College Series

>

>1. Adult Basic Education & Community Colleges in Five States: A 

>Report from the

>          Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS).

>2.  Adult Education & Literacy in Community Colleges in Massachusetts.

>3.  The Role of Community Colleges in State Adult Education Systems: 

>A National Analysis.

>4.  Adult Education & Literacy and Community Colleges in Kentucky.

>5.  The Illinois Community College System & Adult Education.

>6.  Oregon Shines! Adult Education and Literacy in Oregon Community Colleges.

>7.  Adult ESL and the Community College.

>8.  Forging New Partnerships: Adult and Developmental Education in 

>Community Colleges











As a small nonprofit organization, CAAL needs help from groups and
individuals that find merit in its work. Please consider a 
tax-deductible donation
to CAAL as it works to advance adult literacy in America.
-- 

Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy
1221 Avenue of the Americas - 46th Floor
New York, NY 10020
212-512-2363, fax 212-512-2610
www.caalusa.org