Colleagues and supporters of adult literacy/basic education and ESOL,

In April I conducted an on-line survey of the field (including adult learners) to choose a name for a national system of adult education.  Although consensus was not reached, six names received a solid majority and fewer than 10% of those voting said these six were unacceptable.  It is now time to vote on these six (and one other name which I have added because it was used in the recently published national adult literacy agenda, "From the Margins to the Mainstream.") It is time to see if one name is viewed by the field as superior to the others.  If not, presumably any one of the seven names would serve, and then perhaps the National Coalition for Literacy -- which represents all organizations serving our field -- should choose one.

You might be asking why we need a name for a system of adult education.  This is part of an effort to get adult education the same kind of recognition and resources as the other two education systems -- Elementary and Secondary Education (K-12) and Higher Education, to move adult education from the margins to the mainstream.

If you would like to participate in choosing this name, the Web address of the survey is
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?LDMKBNPLXJWR5DGRT01VXF67

You can go to the Web page any time in October, 2000 and vote for these names.  This will take only a minute or two.  I hope you will spread this announcement as widely as possible to as many practitioners, adult learners and graduates as possible.  Please note that the only way to have your vote counted is to go to http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?LDMKBNPLXJWR5DGRT01VXF67.
It is not possible to count e-mail votes, past votes of any kind, or any other kinds of votes.  I hope you will do everything possible to make sure as many adult learners and practitioners get access to the Web to participate in this survey.

If, before you vote,  you would like to read excerpts from a discussion about these names, continue to read the section below. Some or all of these excerpts might be appropriate for discussion among colleagues or in classes before voting.

Below is a list of seven choices, the top choices culled from two previous national surveys and one other which was developed in response to comments to the draft of the national literacy action agenda. Following this list are some pro and con arguments for these choices which were posted on the National Literacy Advocacy (NLA) Electronic List or e-mailed to <DJRosen@world.std.com>

Archives of all messages posted to NLA electronic List will be found at:

If you would like to subscribe to the NLA Electronic List, send an e-mail message to majordomo@world.std.com saying (only) subscribe nla.
 

Thanks.

David J. Rosen, Moderator
National Literacy Advocacy Electronic List

• Adult Education (AE)
• Adult Education and Literacy (AEL)
• Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE)
• Adult Education, Language, and Literacy (AELL)
• Adult Learning and Literacy (ALL)
• Adult Basic Education (ABE)
• Adult Education and Family Literacy (AEFL)

Below are excerpts taken from messages posted to the NLA list in the spring and in September, 2000, and from e-mail messages which were to be included in this discussion.  They are organized under the name choice they appear to be advocating for or against.

"So far, I'm in the corner with those who like "Adult Education".  It is what it is.  It's not readily confused with "Higher Education" (which may also include line-dancing, basket-weaving and such, but generally is taken to mean something else), and it carries none of the limitations the more specific
names carry."

David Hayes
RI Institute for Labor Studies and Research
 

"My understanding is that ABE designates pre-GED instruction. At the adult learning center where I teach, we also serve a group of students with GED's and/or HS diplomas working to pass tests which will allow them to enter community college certificate programs. We describe these folks as 'Remediation' students.

I like 'Adult Education' as a name. It's what non-academic types call the system anyway, at least in California, New Mexico and Texas."

Louise Sanders
Adult Ed Teacher
Lubbock, Texas
 

"My thoughts go directly to: who are we doing this for?  If it's for the bureaucrats then we need the most complex acronym we can come up with, something that tangles your tongue and makes you bite your cheek when you try saying it fast three times.  If it's for our target population and their local communities, I go by the KISS formula and believe it should be something short made up of words that they know the meaning of and something that doesn't appear as an insult.

Up here in this part of the country we have just changed the names of our facilities to (County) Learning Centers and have moved away from the long involved complex naming styles of early years for reasons stated above.

I think  'Adult Education' covers all angles and is self explanatory without Webster's assistance."

Art LaChance
Gilmer Learning Center
Ellijay, GA
 

"I wish it weren't true, but the term 'adult education' most definitely does not include everybody, although not by my choice.  The fact is that my colleagues in this state who identify themselves as 'adult educators' see themselves as separate and distinct from 'literacy' educators, (there are even two separate professional organizations, and all attempts to unite have failed) and they describe "literacy" in ways as though we were a poor-relation, distant relative.

Deborah W. Yoho
Co-moderator, NIFL Health Literacy Discussion Group
Chief Executive Officer
Greater Columbia Literacy Council
Columbia, SC
 

"I vote we do the survey again with the top six.  I'd like to add my comments about one of the six, 'adult education', since I voted 'can't live with  this' on that one.

The problem is in my state, South Carolina, the term tends to be used in an exclusive way, and generally refers to public adult programs run by the k-12  school districts.  As a private non profit, when 'adult education' people meet we are generally excluded. This is not a hard and fast rule and certainly the state leadership would agree with me that the term is not meant to exclude. Unfortunately, we are still embroiled in turfism in many ways. When Congress included the 'direct and equitable access' clause in the adult ed act (and it remains in the WIA) in the early 90's, thereby affording access to federal funds to non-profits, many 'adult ed' directors resented sharing the money, as though somehow we are taking funds out of their pockets.    Some still view non-profits as Mom and Pop operations run by amateurs. Of course, some programs, non-profit and otherwise, might fit that  description.  The issue here is the stereotype.

On the other hand, the 'adult ed' (read that 'public') system has had its own image problems. There is a stereotype among business leaders that "adult education" is basically a type of welfare program, serving drop outs who should have known better.  This complicates workforce literacy and job development efforts. Some non-profits, including mine, go to considerable pains to disassociate ourselves from 'adult education'  when dealing with the business community.

Finally, the term 'adult education' has been used for many years in our state.  Why not formulate a new term to underscore a new approach, one more inclusive, and free of  the baggage of stereotypes?

In short, I 'cannot live' with 'Adult Education' as THE term even though it received the most number of votes.  I'm doing all I can to avoid using it now, and I shall continue to do so."

Deborah W. Yoho,
Chief Executive Officer
Greater Columbia Literacy Council
Columbia, SC

"Ö.And it must be recognized that in this emergent process it was not just by chance that an official office in the U. S. Department of Education exists today with the unique name of the Division of Adult Education and Literacy and a categorical funding stream to address the special needs of adult educators and the students they serve (even if the funding is grossly inadequate!). Indeed, it has only been with much hard work by thousands of adult education and literacy specialists working in many different organizational contexts and in  numerous state and national professional associations, commissions, committees  and coalitions throughout the past century that this field has acquired an office with some distinct recognition within the government at the federal level.

Now the field has to build on the work of the past and continue the work of developing  an AELS that is the best in the world; a system that is recognized as a valuable, enduring contributor to our nations educational structure; a system that has moved from the margins to the mainstream of the educational  system in the United States."

Tom Sticht
 

" At least we are now on the margin! Can we move to the mainstream?

The 1999 U. S. Digest of Education Statistics was released in March 2000. As with the 1998 Digest, the figure that shows the structure of education in the United States still relegates adult education to a footnote at the lower margin of the figure. The footnote states, "Adult education programs, while not separately depicted above, may provide instruction at the elementary, secondary, or higher education level."

As we debate names for the Adult Education and Literacy system (AELS), it is important to keep in mind that there was a time when adult education was not even on the margin of the structure of education in the United States. The fact that there is today an Assistant Secretary level federal organizational unit in the U. S. Department of Education called the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) is the result of hard won arguments and much lobbying on the part of major adult
education professional organizations and many individuals in the U.S. Even more important is the fact that within the OVAE there is a major Division called the Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL). This, too, did not happen by chance but by the hard lobbying of thousands of people in the field of adult education over the last hundred years. And there should be no doubt about the importance of such federal organizational structures for the advancement of the AELS over
the years.  It is extremely important for the field to have a strong, separately identifiable federal presence in Washington DC.

It should also be recalled that it was not until the 1990ís that the Division of Adult Education became the Division of Adult Education and Literacy. This, too, was the result of the work of hundreds of professionals in the adult education field, especially those from community based organizations that serve entry level adult literacy learners. The change was meant to signal a recommitment of the federal program to the most entry level adult literacy learners and the inclusion of community based groups along with the public schools and community colleges as professional providers of educational services to out of school youth and adults. This federal, national commitment to adult entry level literacy education was reinforced by the creation in the 1990s of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and the funding of the first ever national research centers for adult literacy education (National Center for Adult Education-NCAL; National Center for Adult Literacy and Learning-NCSALL). Again, these major activities for adult literacy education did not occur by chance, they represent the work of hundreds of professional adult educators across the fifty states.

So here we are now, and at least we are on the margins of the figure of the educational system in the United States.  That in itself is a considerable achievement over the last hundred years. And we should celebrate and recognize the work of those who have gone before us, and the considerable efforts  of hundreds of adult educators who are working today to continue the advances that have been made up to now. As we search for a name for our educational system we should keep in
mind the achievements of past and present adult educators in raising the Adult Education and Literacy system to its present level of visibility and funding at the national and state levels.

Once we have an agreed to name for our educational system, we can then start a letter writing campaign to the U. S. Secretary of Education to get adult education moved from the footnote at the margin to the main body of the figure in the Digest of Educational Statistics depicting the structure of education in the United States. Though this is only a small, symbolic step, it is part of the much longer journey that the field has been on for the last hundred years. In this journey we have gotten onto the margins of the U. S. educational structure. The question now is:  Can we move to the mainstream?"

Tom Sticht

" I'm inclined to think that the Adult  Education & Literacy System (AELS)  is a pretty good name.  It has the strong  advantage of being in the name of the U.S. Department of Education's Division  of Adult Education & Literacy already, it has resonance with virtually everyone, and it embraces all venues for adult basic skills upgrading.  I'd  also like to add my voice to those who urge the wide adoption of the AELS name and who believe the Secretary of Education should include this name in the mapping of education.  Since literacy is presently a priority more in rhetoric than in deed, for AELS to show up as a stand-alone line item in budgets and organization charts would be a breakthrough achievement reflecting a REAL elevation in status.  It would signal that the 'field' has begun to 'arrive'  and is taken seriously. Ö.Whatever the name, I do think it terribly important  for a whole host of reasons that the word "literacy' be retained."

"Ö.To keep programs focussed (and to get literacy out of the shadows), and to have any hope of measuring/assessing results, it's essential to differentiate and to be as narrow as possible-- and I think it's equally vital to keep the words 'adult' and 'literacy' in the name.   (By the way, I know that this isn't the case for everyone, but I'm quite comfortable using 'literacy' and 'basic skills' interchangeably, as is commonly done in the U.K. and elsewhere).  I've long argued against putting programs for children and adults together, as they both end up diluted and in direct competition, and in political battles for funds, guess who usually loses out?  Schools of course are entrenched, have a much more powerful and organized voice, and are stronger politically. "

[Excerpts from  messages posted to the NLA list in the spring of 2000]

Gail Spangenberg
 
 

"If you want to be very inclusive, we should use Adult Education, knowing that will include everything adults want to learn from  painting, basket weaving, motorcycle riding and repair, automotive mechanics, plumbing, welding, electronic servicing, nursing, cake decorating, horticulture, computers, Masters and Doctoral Programs for professionals as well as  literacy programs like; ABE, GED, Adult High School, Family Literacy, English as a Second Language, etc.

I think Adult Basic and Literacy Education reflects more of what I do! In North Carolina we call 'Basic Skills' to Literacy Programs like ABE, GED, Adult High School, Family Literacy, Compensatory Education for adults with developmental disabilities,  and ESL.

However, when people from the general public call our community college they can call a computer class that is at a basic level, Basic Skills.!.. It is all a matter of being recognized in funding  and policy circles according  to what we specifically do or do we want to be so inclusive that we get thrown in the big Adult Education arena and we perish?"

Lourdes Shelley
Dean, Basic Skills
Wake Technical Community College
Raleigh, North Carolina
 

"I like ABLE.  We want everyone to be ABLE to

* read whatever they need to read to be informed and to have voice.
* find a job that pays a living wage and provides for insurance and
   retirement
* read to their children and help their children with homework
* participate in their communities and governments
* understand and act upon issues that impact their lives
* become lifelong learners in every way possible"

" 'Adult education' and 'adult learning' are too general. 'Family literacy' already has a specific meaning for some and would not include all literacy programming. Adding 'language' [in choice 7 above] does not explicitly include ESL/ESOL.  Only by adding ESL/ESOL to the name is it explicitly included. I feel "language" is too general, and could be misconstrued to include other languages besides English. Is that the intent? If it is, I believe that would complicate matters. I can already see the 'English Only' people rally their troops. I believe the general public is beginning to understand that 'literacy' in this context means the ability to speak, read and write English, even if one is literate in another language.  Therefore, it implicitly includes ESOL or it is our job to make sure that that is understood.

I also like that Adult Basic and Literacy Education provides for a great acronym, ABLE."

Carl Guerriere
Hartford, CT
 
 

"I think we need a name that makes it clear that ESOL constitutes half of the system.  While 'literacy' is a good term, for most lay people it still connotes an emphasis on reading and writing skills.  For most ESOL learners (the majority of whom come to us with few English skills),  adult education means learning "language skills" (communicating face to face; acquiring basic English vocabulary; learning how English works (patterns, structures).

While the current definition of "literacy" (in the national literacy act) defines 'literacy' broadly enough (it includes 'speaking'),  lay people and policy makers often have a very difficult time seeing that ABE includes both those who speak English (and need to develop additional skills) and those who are still acquiring English. While there is some overlap in needs (particularly on the pre-GED levels),  the needs of learners new to English and the nature of  a service system designed to meet those needs are sufficiently different to merit a name. "

Heide Spruck Wrigley
San Mateo, CA

"I enjoyed reading the synthesized discussion, and the ways in which we are grappling to find common ground to name ourselves.  This difficult and critical process ultimately lays the groundwork to collaborate, to create a "seamless" system, to talk about ourselves in a way that fosters pride among all stakeholders while nurturing collective power to leverage resources and share them in ways that maximize their benefit.  In an era in which participants in adult teaching and learning have competed for inadequate resources, it is not surprising that this is so challenging.

I was glad to learn of Tom Sticht's contribution to the notion of moving us from "the margin to the mainstream"- and I was sympathetic to and interested in many of the constraints and experiences that shape my colleagues' reactions to various names - e.g. Art LaChance's concern for simplicity; Lourdes Shelley's desire to be recognized in funding and policy circles; Debbie Yoho's understandable aversion to the meanings that 'Adult Ed' has come to entail; Andres Muro's sensitivity to the meanings students attach to 'literacy' versus 'community education'.

I support the comments made by Heide Wrigley and Elsa Auerbach, who both propose to name the invisible-- English language learners.  If Adult Ed has been a step-child of education, then second language literacy has been Cinderella's poorer-yet step sister. As the Summit paper points out, non-native speakers make up more than half of those who participate in the adult ed system (okay David, it's not really a system yet-  give us time, and we'll set things straight) - and by not naming them, this enormous constituency is rendered invisible, along with the specific educational needs (and resources) that language learners bring to the national agenda for adult learning.

It is not an accident that the notion of 'language' appeared in the Literacy Summit document-  this is an important victory for recognizing the needs (and resources) of learners who hold up half the adult learner sky (and thus concurrently constitute a growing proportion of those who are working, parenting and aging in America).  I will vote to make the previously invisible visible, by including 'Language' in our description of who we are and what we do.  Elsa and Heide made a stab by proposing  ALL, in which  the middle 'L' is Language. I think these proposed names move us closer.  Bob Bickerton had argued for using the middle 'L' as 'Learning' (I like that too, and so, evidently, do many learners). Adults as Lifelong Learners of language and literacy -- ALLLLL?  Ayo!!  How to get off an old, warn path, and find the elegance of brevity while being inclusive?  If I had to make one imperfect choice from our existing list, I'd choose the last  -- Adult Education, Language, and Literacy (AELL)).  And if I were really smart, I'd come up with something better!!"

Gail Weinstein
San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA

"What about 'Adult Learning and Literacy' or 'ALL' -- stressing not only the substance of our work but also the inclusiveness we still need to achieve in our field.  It's short and sweet, the focus is from the students point of view, 'learning' (although we need to include ourselves there too), and it locates us at the "foundation" level of this learning (I like the phrase "foundation" but it just doesn't inspire). "

bob bickerton,
Massachusetts director of adult ed

"I vote for 'All'. It's too fatiguing to explain acronyms that have to be explained. 'All' is inclusive of everything,  and so very simple to explain, or... not explain. The name says it all and pulls everyone, educator, student, bureaucrat, et al, ALL of us in.

Wendy Rader
San Diego, California
 

"I believe the word LITERACY should be removed from any name which is adopted.  It definitely (as some of the accompanying comments from various sections of the United States) conveys a negative image and very reduced level of functioning.  Some would not participate due to this concept. BASIC also has a parallel (and yet higher) level of functioning which does NOT adequately describe our mission and its many facets.  FAMILY LITERACY is not appropriate for all areas of the program as well.

Yet from the choices given (and my previous comments), I think Adult Learning and Literacy (ALL) would be the best choice since the acronym ALL is a word and can easily be used to enhance and attract participants."

Nancy A. Mc Fadden
Instructor
Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, Wisconsin

[Note: the following two comments speak to a name which is not one of the choices above, but  because the acronym above is the same, ALL, I have included them.]

"Here's a thought for a name for an Adult Ed system:   Education for Adult Language and Literacy - which becomes: Education for ALL  !!!

I know it doesn't quite capture everything it should conceptually, but the message hits home."

Elsa Auerbach
Boston, Massachusetts

"I appreciate the diversity of opinions in the struggle over this naming business!  And I especially like Elsa Auerbach's Education for ALL (Adult Language and Literacy).  Like some of you, when we asked our students, they chose NOT to use the term literacy because of its negative connotations.   It's not an easy task!

Ö..When we asked students about the term 'literacy' they said they didn't like it.  So we don't use it in our title or our marketing.  Maybe we shouldn't use it to name our system.  On the other hand, students have told us they like the term 'education' -- it carries weight,  respect.  (Thus did Operation Mainstream become YMCA Educational Services.)

Ultimately the decision comes down to what we expect/hope to accomplish:  Is it to make the adult learners' voice strong?  To sit at the policymakers' table as an equal partner?  I believe we get respect for the latter when we cultivate the former."

Margery Freeman
YMCA Educational Services
New Orleans, LA 70113
 
 

"I'm curious as to how you define 'system'.  GED is a system.  States have systems (some more systematic than others).  LVA and LLA have national systems.  What other national system is there?  Again, what criteria?"

Jim Parker
U.S. Department of Education
 

"This is a good question, Jim.  Here's my view.  In K-12 and higher education, throughout the country, there is >never< a question of whether someone who enters at a beginning level will be offered the opportunity to move through various courses and levels to an end point, generally described as graduation.  Granted, not all people achieve this, and in both these systems, it could be argued that not everyone has the same opportunity. (I would argue this.)  But in adult basic education, in many parts of the country, we cannot guarantee that there will be "slots" or "seats" for students at all levels.  We cannot guarantee that there will be no waiting lists. The K-12 and higher education systems offer an intensity of service (class time, access to libraries, access to science labs and equipment, etc.) that is rarely found in adult education.

Let's take workplace education as an example.  I think adult education offered in workplaces is good, is an essential adult education service. But as it is currently offered (and even as it was offered through the federal workplace education program) there are almost never sufficient resources, space or commitment from companies to guarantee all levels, and rarely have workplace education programs systematically connected with community adult education services to organize for students a seamless system of education services. It's our best effort to date, but it's still patchwork.  Adult learners deserve more.

I wouldn't call the GED an adult education system, although the test, and test preparation programs and GED curriculum materials and GED staff development are all important parts of what could be a system. I wouldn't call LVA or LLA adult education systems, either, not in the sense that K-12 and higher education are complete systems of education services.

Finally, I don't want to leave you with the impression that our challenge will be met once we have an adult education system.  We need to have a good system, one that works well, that provides high quality, high intensity services -- one that meets adult learners' goals, and also one that can stand up to objective measures of program quality and performance."

David J. Rosen
NLA List Moderator
 

"To a lot of people, adult basic education implies below GED preparation level and therefore does not include those who are ready to study for the GEDÖ..Whatever name is eventually selected, it needs to be one that is either short, or can be pronounced easily without any negative association."

Daphne Greenberg
Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
Georgia State University
 

"I have found in my experience with business that the word literacy implies to them people who can not read."

Heidi Watson

" 'Literacy,' an important component of our system, is somewhat limiting -- for most people it means reading at a very basic level, and nothing else.  Conversely, 'adult education' is so broad that it can encompass everything from university education to line dancing.  Especially in working with businesses, I've found that their definition of "basic skills" often includes blueprint reading and the elements of quality initiatives."

Donna Miller-Parker
 

"Let me share something from our students. We recently changed the name of our program from "Literacy Program" to "Community Education Program". ÖMany of our students like the new term better because they feel that literacy is too stigmatizing. I had not thought about the name change that much and we only did it because we were forced to. However, I really like the new name for our program, and I feel that it represents what we do.  I still like the term literacy, I consider literacy the field that I love and work in, think that literacy should be a field, and think that the term implies many important ideas, values and philosophies. I thought that it was important to  relate the thoughts of our studentsÖ. "

Andres Muro
El Paso Community College
El Paso, Texas
 

"I would like to see us discuss the criteria for a name.  The main criteria that comes to my mind is to keep it very simple so that it can easily be discussed and receive wide name recognition...in other words...something simple so that when it is uttered everyone will understand what it is...not a hidden meaning."

Sue C. Barton
Radford, VA 24141