Adult Literacy Efforts Make a Real Difference in Impoverished Areas of USA via WOUB

@OhioHigherEd

Adult Literacy Efforts Make a Real Difference in Impoverished Areas of USA

WOUB: 12.12.2018

Although much of this country’s educational focus is on P-12 grades, adult education cannot be ignored and adult literacy education is proven to be valuable in breaking links to poverty and improving job possibilities for those who participate.

Adult literacy education improves a student’s abilities and possibilities across a lifespan. Recently, the Patton College of Education at Ohio University became the first four year institution in Ohio to receive a special Aspire Grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to address adult literacy needs.

It has been called the first “GED to Ph.D. program” by John Carey, Chancellor of the Department of Higher Education.

The new program provides research opportunities for faculty and student engagement opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students as well as educational opportunities for a large part of the region’s citizenry.

The new program “will show the power of adult instruction in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving and have a positive impact on people’s lives in our region,” says Julie Barnhart Frances, the director of the Stevens Literacy Center within the Patton College of Education.  LISTEN 39:46