The following announcement is from Diane Gardner.
___________________________________

New Destinations to Literacy, Learning and Life: A National Conference on 
Adult Education

December 14-15, 2005
Trump Plaza
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Hosted by
Equipped for the Future
And
The New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission

As we complete the final preparations for the conference, our excitement
increases in anticipation of hearing from so many folks in the field who
are integrating Equipped for the Future (EFF) standards- based
instructional practices into their programs.

As we began planning for this conference with our partners, we sent out
a request for proposals, reaching out to the various programs and states
that are implementing EFF, and we received proposals from across the
country. In addition to the 24 EFF sessions that are scheduled, there
are a number of sessions that have been coordinated through the New
Jersey SETC, totaling 36 sessions over the course of the conference. We
are pleased to have a colleague from India joining us as a conference
presenter.

I would also invite you to learn more about the new adult literacy
assessments that Educational Testing Service (ETS) and several Charter
states are working together to develop. Designed to measure adult
learners' skills in reading and math, these standards-based assessments
are linked to current research and theory. These web-delivered
assessments will include open-ended tasks that measure and report
learners' progress across a broad range of knowledge and skills. Because
the assessments are computer-based, many of the administrative burdens
associated with scoring, test administration, and record keeping will be
eliminated or minimized.

Irwin Kirsch from Educational Testing Service (ETS) will be at the
conference to discuss this important new assessment. If you can not
attend the conference, I urge you to contact him to learn more about the
assessments and to consider your state's becoming a Charter member.
It's not too late to register and join us in Atlantic City! For more
information on the conference and to register go to
http://www.njsetc.net

Diane P. Gardner
EFF Center
The University of Tennessee
Center for Literacy Studies
600 Henley Street, Suite 312
Knoxville, TN 37996-4135
865-974-9949
dgardner at utk.edu