3/20/2013
Institute of Education Sciences on the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
Tom Sticht International Consultant in Adult Education
Following is an announcement from the U. S. Institute of Educational Sciences describing the recently funded Center for the Study of Adult Literacy. It describes personnel and projects to be undertaken by the CSAL. I was interested to note that the CSAL will develop a "reading intervention" for use with struggling adult literacy learners.
In the past, the U. S. government education offices have spent tens of millions
of dollars on "reading interventions" for children (e.g., "direct
instruction")in the public schools with very little lasting effects on
reading achievement as measured by the National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Adult literacy education witnessed the development of an
"intervention" called "competency-based instruction" based on research in
the Adult Performance Level project. Where is it today?
At one time I had oversight responsibility for all U. S. Dept. of Education
research in basic skills research for the National Institute of Education,
the forerunner to the Institute for Educational Sciences. We funded very
expensive curriculum interventions in reading instruction with the result
that, although everything worked, very little of any of that work exists
today and there was very little long term improvements in reading
instruction across the nation which could be attributed to any of the interventions.
To me, this raises questions about the wisdom of investing hundreds of
thousands of government funds on developing a particular intervention which
may or may not be any better than what interventions currently available
are capable of providng. But we shall see.
Here is the announcement from IES:
TITLE: Center for the Study of Adult Literacy (CSAL): Developing
Instructional Approaches Suited to the Cognitive and Motivational Needs for
Struggling Adults
CENTER: NCER
YEAR: 2012
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Greenberg, Daphne
GRANTEE: Georgia State University
PROGRAM: National Research and Development Centers [Program Details]
AWARD PERIOD: 5 years (9/1/2012-8/31/2017) AWARD AMOUNT: $9,999,985
GOAL: R&D Center AWARD NUMBER: R305C120001
DESCRIPTION: Topic: Adult Literacy
Purpose: The Center for the Study of Adult Literacy (CSAL) seeks to improve
our understanding of ways to advance the reading skills of struggling adult
learners reading at the 3rd to 8th grade levels. The Center will both
conduct exploratory work on underlying cognitive and motivational processes
that contribute to or impede reading development and develop and evaluate a
multi-component reading intervention for this population. In addition, CSAL
will examine the adequacy of measurement instruments and assessments for
this population.
CSAL is a collaborative effort across four research sites: Atlanta, Georgia;
Memphis, Tennessee; and Toronto and St. Catharines, Canada. Struggling adult
readers in both the United States and Canada will participate.
CSAL is staffed by researchers with expertise in adult and child literacy,
education technology, statistics, and psychometrics.
Projects
Exploration of Underlying Cognitive and Motivational Factors
During the first phase of its research, the Center will gather information
on the quality of measurement tools used with struggling adult readers and
about the cognitive and motivational functioning of this population.
Many of the tests commonly used to assess struggling adult learners’ reading
performance were developed for use with students at different grade levels
or ages. Some studies raise doubts about whether these assessments measure
the same constructs with struggling adult readers as they do with
skill-matched children. At the same time, much work needs to be done to
clarify the co-occurrence and interdependence of difficulties struggling
adult readers face in terms of the cognitive and motivational underpinnings
of literacy. Through a series of exploratory studies using a wide array of
reading, motivation, and cognition assessments, CSAL will collect data to
clarify the appropriateness of commonly used assessments and the underlying
cognitive and motivational profiles of the target population.
Development and Pilot of Web-based Reading Instruction for Struggling Adult
Readers
Throughout the lifespan of the grant, CSAL will design and pilot a reading
intervention for use with adult struggling readers. This new intervention
will build off of an instructional framework first developed and evaluated
with adolescents reading at the same level as the adults in the current
sample and will incorporate the insights gleaned from CSAL’s exploratory
work. Using a modular framework, this intervention will be flexible and
able to be tailored to the differing needs of students (e.g., to allow for
greater focus on decoding skills, word identification, reading fluency, or
vocabulary). Included with this intervention will be a web-based component
that includes an animated tutor designed to promote engagement and allow
for greater individualization for students.
After developing a fully designed intervention, CSAL will conduct a pilot
study with close to 300 adults in authentic adult education settings in
both Georgia and Toronto. The students will receive approximately 100 hours
of instruction along with a series of assessments. These pilot studies will
test the intervention’s promise and feasibility of use in these settings
with the intended population. In addition, these pilot tests will help CSAL
determine which measures effectively identify students appropriate for the
intervention and which measures effectively assess student learning.
Leadership and Dissemination Activities
The Center will host a website with information and resources for
researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested
in adult education and adult literacy. The Center will also conduct national
webinars on its activities and provide training opportunities for current
and future education researchers through venues such as workshops at
national conferences and doctoral and postdoctoral training opportunities.
Key Personnel: Maureen Lovett (University of Toronto and The Hospital For
Sick Children), Art Graesser (University of Memphis), Jan Frijters (Brock
University), Lee Branum-Martin (Georgia State University), Chris Oshima
(Georgia State University), Robin Morris (Georgia State University),
Xiangen Hu (University of Memphis), Mark Conley (University of Memphis),
Andrew Olney (University of Memphis)
IES Program Contact: Meredith Larson
Email: Meredith.Larson@ed.gov
Telephone: (202) 219-2025