How Does The Census Affect Health Care For Adult Learners? via NCL

How Does The Census Affect Health Care For Adult Learners?

NCL: 4.03.2020 by Cynthia Macleay Campbell, Ed.D.

Why should adult learners complete the Census? Because their health may depend on it!

Pledge To Be Counted !

People who work with adult learners are all too aware of the health challenges that adult learners face. Typical examples include the need for

Health screenings and preventive care

Eyeglasses

Diabetes medication and education

Addiction treatment

Mental health care

Dental care

Help with quitting smoking or fighting obesity

These and other health challenges often affect adult learners’ ability to attend and persist in education programs – and research has shown that persistence for 100 hours or more is the key to achievement of educational and career goals such as high school completion and upskilling.

Adult learners are also among the people with the most difficulty in accessing health care and health information. They may encounter practitioners who are not sensitive to their culture or able to speak their language. In short, they are on the wrong side of the health disparities in the United States, where certain groups have worse health outcomes than others.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) funds multiple public health programs that bridge these disparities. They include

Grants to help people from minority groups and disadvantaged communities train to be health workers in their communities. This helps increase the numbers of practitioners who can relate to patients in culturally appropriate ways.

Medicaid and Medicare.

Block grants for Community Mental Health Services

Block Grants for the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse

Health Center Programs (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care)

Telehealth services, where people can call in for health information.

Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry

Development and Coordination of Rural Health Services

What does the Census have to do with these health equity and public health

efforts? The funding that comes to each local community to support them is determined by the Census count for that community. Without an accurate count, adult learners may have further struggles to obtain the health services and supports they need to flourish.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. Old

(college level entry)

Celebrate Adult Education and Family Literacy Week 2019 via OTAN

#AEFLweek

Celebrate Adult Education and Family Literacy Week 2019

OTAN News: 9.23.2019

First proposed by the *National Center for Literacy (NCL) in the early 2010s, the National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week this year is September 22 to 28. This week is a great opportunity for adult education programs to promote the many ways they are working to raise adult literacy levels in their local communities and across the country.

NCL and ProLiteracy, two national organizations committed to combating adult illiteracy in the US, have compiled a number of resources to better understand literacy issues and their impact on individuals and families, and resources to advocate for more funding and services that tackle illiteracy and support adult learners.

AEFL Week resource links – There are a variety of resources here: fact sheets, advocacy materials, and other information from NCL and some of its partner organizations.

Census 2020 resource links – With the census coming up next year, topics include an overview of the 2020 Census, how people are counted, census jobs, resources for teaching and learning and for programs, and advocacy.

Social media activities and messaging – How to spread the word about AEFL Week on social media, including messaging developed in a number of topic areas (also available here on the ProLiteracy website: Sample AEFL Week Social Media Messages). ProLiteracy has included a logo and social media images and videos on its Adult Education and Family Literacy Week Toolkit

ProLiteracy has its Toolkit with sections on adult literacy facts, suggested activities, sample letters and media releases, and social media.

Make the most of Adult Education and Family Literacy Week by highlighting and sharing your adult learner successes!

*National Coalition for Literacy

2018 Literacy Leadership Awards :: National Coalition for Literacy

National Coalition for Literacy 2018 Literacy Leadership Awards

NCL: 9.01.2018 by Deborah Kennedy

@NCLAdvocacy

It is our pleasure to announce the recipients of the NCL Literacy Leadership Awards for 2018. In addition to the Literacy Leadership Awards, this year the NCL Board will be making the inaugural Barbara Bush Lifetime Achievement in Adult Literacy Award. This new award is intended to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions as an advocate for adult literacy over a full professional career.

1. The inaugural Barbara Bush Lifetime Achievement in Adult Literacy Award: Gail Spangenberg

Gail Spangenberg has been a consistent and influential voice in support of educational opportunity for low-skilled adults for decades. Her focus has consistently been the expansion and improvement of policies and programs that allow these adults to develop the literacy and workplace skills necessary to support their families, promote their children’s education, and participate effectively in civic and community life.

2. Literacy Leadership Award: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

The award recognizes the Senator for her longtime support of education at all levels, and particularly for her work on the recent reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Her advocacy for the inclusion of tribes and tribal organizations opens the path to educational opportunity for youth and adults from these key populations of adult learners.

3. Literacy Leadership Award: National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (Migration Policy Institute)

The award recognizes the Center, and its director, Margie McHugh, for its ongoing advocacy for education quality and access for adults who are immigrants and refugees.

4. Literacy Leadership Award: Student Ambassador Program

The award recognizes the program, developed by the staff at Pima Community College led by Regina Suitt, for its many years of success in both conducting advocacy for adult education and enabling adult learners to develop confidence in themselves and in their skills as advocates. That success, and the quality and value of the program, have led to its growth to national scale through the COABE Student Ambassador Training in the past year.

5. Literacy Leadership Award: Jeff Carter

The award recognizes Jeff’s long and effective career as an advocate for adult literacy and adult education, culminating in the presidency of the Committee for Education Funding.

The 2018 Literacy Leadership Awards will be presented to honorees at a formal event on Capitol Hill during Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. The event will take place on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, 4:00-6:00 PM, in the Cannon House Office Building, Room 340.

This event is free and open to the public; you are welcome to attend. Those who plan to attend should RSVP to gabrielacastellanos@mckeongrp.com.

Literacy Leadership Awards

2017

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

Dr. Stephen Reder, Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University

Dr. Sharon Darling, Founder and President, the National Center for Families Learning

Minnesota ABE Teaching and Learning Advancement System (ATLAS) at Hamline University

2016

Johan Uvin, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education

Senator Jack Reed

The Division of Consumer & Business Education at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection

Margaret Becker Patterson, of Research Allies for Lifelong Learning

Marty Finsterbusch, of VALUE USA

John Y. Cole, Library of Congress Historian and founding Director of the Center for the Book

In addition, retiring Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), the Co-chair of the House Adult Literacy Caucus, received special recognition for his lifelong commitment in support of adult education, and for outstanding leadership in advocating education as a congressional and national priority.

2015

Representative Phil Roe (TN)

Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia, PA

Kavitha Cardoza, Special Correspondent for WAMU/reports on D.C. area news

Mary Jane Schmitt and the Adult Numeracy Network (ANN)

2012

Senator Jim Webb

David Baldacci, author and founder of the Wish You Well Foundation

Ruth J. Colvin, Founder of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (now ProLiteracy)

The Save Adult Ed Campaign, a Los Angeles-based adult education advocacy group

2011

Representative Jared Polis

John Corcoran, former adult literacy student and founder of the John Corcoran Foundation (2011)

The Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council, representing the National Literacy*AmeriCorps program (2011)

U.S.A. Learns (2011)

2010

Senator Thomas Harkin

Representative John Yarmuth

Kentucky Education Television (KET)

McDonald’s English Under the Arches program

Archie Willard, Adult Learner Advocate and Leader

2009

Representative Raúl Grijalva

Senator Patricia Murray

Home Safety Council President Meri-K Appy

Brenda Dann-Messier, President and CEO of Dorcas Place

Calvin Miles, Adult Learner and Advocate

Gretchen Wilson, Recording Artist and GED Graduate

2008

Representative Rubén Hinojosa

Better World Books

The National Council of La Raza

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

2007

Representative Michael Castle

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

David A. Perdue Jr., former Chairman and CEO of Dollar General

Dr. Irwin Kirsch, Director of the Center for Global Assessment, Educational Testing Service

The UPS Foundation

2006

The American Library Association (ALA)

Senator Olympia Snowe

Representative Dale Kildee

Andy Brown, former Executive Director of Public Affairs and Policy Communications at Verizon

Jackie Taylor, a Tennessee-based volunteer literacy advocate

2005

Representative William F. Goodling

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation

Art Ellison, New Hampshire State Director of Adult Education

Garrett Murphy, Former New York State Director of Adult Education

National Coalition for Literacy :: Literacy Leadership Award Nominations :: August 20

@NCLAdvocacy

Nominations Open for NCL 2018 Literacy Leadership Awards

NCL: 7.26.2018 by Deborah Kennedy

The National Coalition for Literacy is seeking nominations for its annual Literacy Leadership Awards. These awards recognize individuals and organizations whose contributions to the field of adult education and literacy are national in scope or have national significance.

Nominees may be public policy advocates or policy makers, elected officials (particularly Members of Congress), program administrators, instructors (paid or volunteer), financial supporters, business leaders, partners, or students. The NCL Board is particularly interested in receiving nominations in the category of Emerging Voice for Adult Literacy, added this year. Federal agencies and private sector programs are also eligible, as are state and local initiatives that have received notable national attention or been widely recognized as models for the field.

The NCL Board anticipates making approximately four Literacy Leadership awards for 2018. In addition, the Board has designated a special award category this year, the Barbara Bush Lifetime Achievement in Adult Literacy Award.

The NCL Board will accept nominations from individuals and organizations with an interest in the field of adult literacy. Each nominator may make no more than one nomination.

Nomination forms 

due by August 20 to

Michele Diecuch

Award winners will be notified by August 27, and the awards event will be held on Capitol Hill during the last week of September 2018 (Adult Education and Family Literacy Week). As needed and by request, assistance may be available to offset awardees’ cost of travel to Washington, DC.

Help Increase Federal Government Support for Adult Education and Family Literacy via NCL

Help increase federal government support for adult education and family literacy

National Coalition for Literacy: 2.16.2018 by Christy Rhodes Policy and Legislation

Would you like to see the federal government increase its funding support for adult education and family literacy? If so, now is the time to speak up.

WIOA – Title II AEFLA Budget Fact Sheet

The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-H) of the Senate Appropriations Committee is currently working on funding allocations for this fiscal year. The Senators on the subcommittee need to know that the funding provided through the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) is essential to the success of the adult education system, and that an increase in that funding is supported by the Senators’ constituents. Initial decisions on funding allocations will be made over the next two weeks, so your Senators need to hear from you right away. This is particularly important if you live in one of these states:

• Mississippi: Senator Cochran is the Chair of the Appropriations Committee

• Vermont: Senator Leahy is the Ranking Member on the Appropriations Committee

• Missouri: Senator Blunt is the Chair of the Labor-H Subcommittee

• Washington: Senator Murray is the Ranking Member on the Labor-H Subcommittee

• Any state whose Senator serves on the Labor-H subcommittee

Eventually, though, the full Senate will vote on appropriations, so everyone in every state has an important role to play in promoting the importance of adult education and family literacy. You can find contact information for your Senators here:  READ MORE >>

2017 Literacy Leadership Awards :: National Coalition for Literacy

2017 Literacy Leadership Awards

National Coalition for Literacy: September 2017

The Board of Directors of the National Coalition for Literacy is pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 Literacy Leadership Awards. The decision process was challenging this year, as we had eight nominations submitted. Thank you for your nominations and for your ongoing support for this long-standing public awareness initiative.

The NCL Literacy Leadership Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made extraordinary national contributions to improving adult literacy and English language learning in the United States. This year, the NCL will recognize the following outstanding individuals and organizations:

§ Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), for her long-standing dedication to our nation’s adult literacy and language programs and her efforts to safeguard education and other critical programs that ensure equal employment opportunity for adults with low literacy levels, most recently as Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

§ Dr. Stephen Reder, Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics, Portland State University, for his tireless advocacy for adult learners and the field of adult education, and for his extensive research on the impacts of adult literacy skills attainment, culminating in the 10-year Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning that has demonstrated the correlation between participation in adult education and increases in income, educational attainment, and civic participation.

§ Dr. Sharon Darling, Founder and President, the National Center for Families Learning, for her key role in recognizing the critical link between parents' education and children's learning, and for her nearly three decades of leadership in in establishing a nationwide network of programs that provide high quality, accessible family-based education and that have helped over one million vulnerable families learn and thrive together.

§ The Minnesota ABE Teaching and Learning Advancement System (ATLAS) at Hamline University, for its innovative, practitioner-centered program that provides quality in-service professional development for the ABE/ESOL workforce, promoting program and instructional quality, informing adult literacy practice nationwide, and producing national leaders in the field.

The 2017 Literacy Leadership Awards event will take place on Wednesday, October 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., in Washington, DC in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2043. The event is free and open to the public; all NCL members and others interested in promoting adult education and family literacy are welcome to attend.  READ MORE @

Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

National Coalition for Literacy: 2017

36 MILLION ADULTS in the United States struggle with basic academic skills, making it difficult to function effectively as workers, parents, citizens, and consumers in today’s society.

Adult literacy intersects with almost every socioeconomic issue—parenting, health, workforce development, and poverty.  To address these issues effectively, we must invest in educating parents and workers. Adult education helps break the cycles of intergenerational illiteracy and poverty by giving adults the skills they need to be successful as workers and parents.  The value of adult low literacy to our economy in additional wages and the reduction in costs for public support programs is estimated at more than $200 billion per year. Increasing adults’ level of education is a sound investment. Yet, public funding of adult education has declined over the last 15 years. Most adult education programs have long student waiting lists. They are able to serve only a fraction of adults who need services.

INCOME INEQUALITY

Low literacy has an adverse effect on the employability and earnings of American adults. The widening “skills gap” continues to have an increasing impact on income inequality. Adults without a high school diploma are more than twice as likely to be unemployed, working in low-wage jobs, living in poverty, and relying on government aid programs as those with higher levels of education.   READ MORE @

Ask Your Representative to Join the Adult Literacy Caucus :: NCL

Ask Your Representative to Join the Adult Literacy Caucus

National Coalition for LiteracyNational Coalition for Literacy: 2.13.2017

The Adult Literacy Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives has been re-certified for the 115th Congress. Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) will continue as caucus sponsor and Republican co-chair. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) has agreed to serve as Democratic co-chair, taking the place of Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, who retired last year. Two weeks ago, the offices of Rep. Roe and Rep. Yarmuth distributed a “Dear Colleague” letter, inviting all members of the House to join the Caucus.

The current members of the Caucus are listed here. If your representative is not on the list, we hope you’ll consider asking them to join. (Feel free to reference the Dear Colleague letter when contacting them.)  Be prepared with a concise message that includes your name, your address (to show you’re a constituent), contact information, and what you are calling/writing about (joining the Adult Literacy Caucus).

Support Adult Literacy

2016 Literacy Leadership Award Winners :: National Coalition for Literacy

2016 Literacy Leadership Award Winners

National Coalition for Literacy’s (NCL) Literacy Leadership Awards Event will be held during Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, on Tuesday, September 27 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., here in Washington, DC in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-369.

The NCL Literacy Leadership Awards recognize individuals and/or organizations that have made extraordinary national contributions to improving adult literacy and English language learning in the United States. This year, the NCL will recognize the following outstanding individuals and organizations:

Johan Uvin, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, for his long-standing commitment to advancing adult education at the local, state, and federal levels.

Senator Jack Reed, who has been a champion for Adult Education funding in the U.S. Senate, and at the forefront of legislative efforts to strengthen Adult Education research and Adult Education’s role in the workforce system and Career and Technical Education.

The Division of Consumer & Business Education at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, for its commitment to serving and guiding adults with limited reading ability, and for its outreach to those working with them, particularly teachers in adult basic education and ESL programs.

Margaret Becker Patterson, of Research Allies for Lifelong Learning, and Marty Finsterbusch, of VALUE USA, for ALLIES, a groundbreaking research study on adult learner leadership.

John Y. Cole, Library of Congress Historian and founding Director of the Center for the Book, who has been instrumental in shaping numerous literacy and reading-promotion programs during his 50-year tenure at the Library, including the Library of Congress Literacy Awards.

In addition, retiring Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), the Co-chair of the House Adult Literacy Caucus, will receive special recognition for his life-long commitment in support of adult education, and for outstanding leadership in advocating education as a congressional and national priority. Congressman Phil Roe (R-TN), Co-Chair of the House Adult Literacy Caucus, has also been invited.