Colleagues,
We have two longitudinal studies in the adult basic skills field, and both show important positive results concerning the longer-term impacts on learners of adult basic skills programs and schools. I want to call your attention to summaries of them and encourage you, if you are interested, to read the original research.
1) The Adult Transitions Longitudinal Study (ATLAS) , a four-year study in New England of adults who had transitions to higher education programs, by Dr. Cristine Smith and Ms. Laura Gluck, University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2016 http://collegetransition.org/promisingpractices.research.ATLAS.html
2) The Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning (LSAL) , a ten-year study in Portland Oregon of adults who had not completed high school, some of whom had attended adult basic skills programs and some of whom hadn't, conducted by Dr. Stephen Reder and Dr. Clare Strawn from Portland State University.
The following research briefs, based on the LSAL, and commissioned by the Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTAE) in the U.S. Department of Education, were written in 2015 by Stephen Reder, and are available on LINCS:
The Impact of ABS Program Participation on Long-Term Economic Outcomes
The Impact of ABS Program Participation on Long-Term GED Attainment
The Impact of ABS Program Participation on Long-Term Literacy Growth
The Impact of ABS Program Participation on Long-Term Postsecondary Engagement
The Impact of ABS Program Participation on Long-Term on Voting
A short, very readable, white paper summarizing the LSAL research briefs findings, titled The Case for Investment in Adult Basic Education, was published by ProLiteracy in 2016 and written by ProLiteracy staff members Kevin Morgan, Dr. Peter Waite, and Michele Diecuch.
Is adult basic skills research important to you? if so, how do you use it as a program manager?
- Is it helpful in improving the quality of your program or adult school?
- Is it persuasive when you approach funders or policy makers for support?
- Do you, or others in your program or school, share the research results with adult learners?
David J. Rosen, Moderator
Program Management CoP
djrosen123@gmail.com