D.C. LEARNS: Washington D.C.'s Literacy Education, Advocacy, and Resource Network

Adult Literacy Policy Recommendation Summary

Posted by Jeff Carter on February 13, 2007 | Read Comments | Post a Comment

Recommendations from various sources regarding the way in which local government support for adult education is structured and prioritized are currently being prepared and/or are already circulating. (And additional recommendations are on the way later this year.) These recommendations may result in changes to these structures and priorities.

D.C. LEARNs is committed to help communicate your ideas to policy makers in order to ensure that these proposed changes are constructive and well-informed. To accomplish this, we are requesting your input on these external recommendations regarding adult education being discussed in the District.

The following is a concise summary of the various recommendations and welcome any comments or criticism. We also invite you to put forward ideas and issue that are not addressed in the current recommendations. Please post your comments here (using the “Post a Comment” link above) or send your comments to our public policy intern Maggie Jablonski at mjablonski@dclearns.org.

D.C. LEARNs will also be hosting a day of drop-in meetings on February 23rd at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library located near Metro Center. Meetings will be held in the Adult Literacy Resource Center, room 300, every hour on the hour from 10am until 5pm, and snacks will be provided. We encourage you to stop by, grab something to eat and talk with us about the policy recommendations as well as other issues, ideas and challenges in adult education.

The source of each recommendation is indicated directly after in brackets:

I. Current Challenges in Adult Education and Workforce Development

A. Disjointed Programs (Multiple Funding Streams, No Interagency Collaboration)
B. Lack of Post-Secondary Vocational Opportunities
C. No Program Accountability

II. Recommendations

A. Empower Workforce Investment Council (WIC)

i. Make WIC separate from the Department of Employment Services and give it authority to provide policies, metrics and alignment of workforce opportunities. WIC should be empowered to be a leader among the different workforce training agencies, coordinating efforts and providing common measurements of success. Government agencies need to be held accountable for meeting the deadlines established by the WIC. [FTT]
ii. Charge WIC with developing overall workforce strategy for the city. The WIC should take a leadership role in setting workforce development policy, monitoring services, and monitoring the use/allocation of funds [BI]
iii. Appoint high-level workforce development policy advisor in Office of Mayor or City Administrator to work with WIC and city agencies [BI]

B. Interagency Collaboration

i. Invite Workforce Investment Council, government agencies and non-profits (including adult ed/literacy programs) to Workforce Development Summit hosted by Fenty administration to highlight current workforce training efforts and develop recommendations for improving coordination and oversight. [FTT] %0

Comments

I think that the Fenty transition team should also consider a DC-based evaluation of the SEA (rather than just rely on federal evaluations), including a thorough analysis of the qualifications of individuals currently in staff positions. I also think that the GED testing office needs to be evaluated for customer service and for effective performance.

Posted by: Pilar at February 15, 2007 06:45 PM

On recommendations on A through F and H and I, I don’t have any comment at this time.

Category G (Target Community Outreach), however, seems to me the most important of all of the nine sections. Unless people can be gotten into literacy programs, it doesn’t matter if any or all of the other recommendations are implemented.

Aggressive, comprehensive recruiting and outreach are sorely lacking. One should be thinking about door-to-door campaigns and ways to talk one-on-one in neighborhoods and other public spaces to seek out program participants.

I would think it a useful effort to identify successful programs that have involved large scale efforts at recruiting and enlisting large numbers of participants. Then explore their approaches and see what can be tried here.

As regards literacy, the one example that comes to mind was the effort in the first years of the Cuban Revolution when very large numbers of literate Cubans were recruited to teach the large numbers of illiterate Cubans. Mass recruiting, mass instruction and the near elimination of illiteracy on the island.

Maybe also the experience of disseminating the story of the green revolution to farmers in 3rd world countries.

All the other recommendations, however laudable and many are, amount largely to bureaucratic tinkering. A goal of reaching 34,000 low-skill city residents each year is fine, but a goal is not an accomplishment, and to touch let alone significantly enhance the skills of these people is going to take the efforts of nearly as many people working to realize the goal.

Maybe the Mayor and his successful door-knocking efforts should be enlisted to reach out to the thousands who could benefit from improved literacy and other skills.

A city-wide summit on launching a truly mass/all the people (or a lot at least) effort to end illiteracy: EVERYONE TEACH ONE. Isn’t that a slogan than has a history?

Posted by: Gerald Schwinn at February 23, 2007 05:18 PM

D.C. LEARNs Logo