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Don’t forget the families!

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Every year, a week is set aside for special focus on adult education. We celebrate the excellent work that continues around the nation – even in the second year of a global pandemic – and the successes that are possible due to all that work. And those successes are many! 

In many states, including Texas, adult education is linked firmly to employment: The Texas Workforce Commission funds Adult Education & Literacy programs across the state, with the goal of helping adults get the skills they need to be successful in the workplace, earn a high school equivalency, or enter college or career training.

Because of that link between education and the workforce, many of the success we’ll be celebrating during this week focus on the workplace. And why not? After all, adults who increase their literacy earn higher pay, get promoted more often, and have better job security. Furthermore, they report raised confidence and self-esteem, and are more likely to develop leadership skills. All of this results in more teamwork, quicker adoption of new technologies, and an overall higher degree of productivity.

All these things are excellent. They’re worth celebrating, right? Yes, absolutely.

But there’s another half to this week we’re celebrating. It’s not just Adult Education Week, it’s also Family Literacy Week. And in our eagerness to celebrate education success, sometimes families can be overlooked. Let’s not forget the families!

All the education and workplace success in the world loses momentum quickly if the next generation is lagging in school or not developing a love of reading and of learning. Teachers do an amazing job, but they can only do so much – the single biggest indicator of a child’s literacy level is the literacy level of their primary caregiver, usually their mom, sometimes dad, and sometimes a grandparent or other adult carer. 

For those caregivers to invest quality time in their kids and their families, they need not only skills, they also need resources; they need books; they need ideas – and they need time (time when they’re not exhausted). Time to be creative, to be curious, and to simply have fun with reading and with learning.

So this Adult Education and Family Literacy Week (September 19 – September 25, 2021), let’s make sure not to forget the families. And in our advocacy and messaging this week, let’s highlight the value to our society in helping caregivers prioritize reading and learning with their kids.

Happy AEFL Week!

father and son reading

Can we stay in touch? There’s so much to do. And our efforts will be richer and more effective if you’re part of them.

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Sources for information in blog post:

Literacy, Employment and Youth with Learning Disabilities: Aligning Workforce Development Policies and Programs, National Institute for Literacy, 2010

Adult Literacy Facts, ProLiteracy

National Literacy Month 2021

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Literacy Month 2021

Literacy transforms Texas.

How often have you seen “the literacy problem” framed in terms of doom and gloom? Lost wages, lost opportunities, lost tax dollars, lost hope. It’s true that low literacy damages lives and potential in countless ways. But why not look at it through a different lens?

Helping an adult increase their literacy, even modestly, can have a positive ripple effect through their life, the lives of their children and family members, and on out into society. An adult who can read fluently and well is more confident. They’re more likely to understand forms, paperwork, and medication labels. They’re able to get a job more easily, move up in that job, and need less financial aid. 

An adult in a parenting role – whether a parent, a grandparent, or another adult important in a child’s life – who can speak English fluently and read well is more likely to be involved in that child’s education. They can read the notes sent home from school and participate confidently at parent-teacher nights. They make reading aloud a regular practice and children grow up with a love for books, curious minds, and valuing education.

And raising literacy scores is a dynamic cash injection for the economy. By some counts, the impact could be as much as $2 trillion every single year.

So, during September – National Literacy Month – let’s celebrate the power of literacy. It can transform lives, whole communities, and this nation. And then let’s continue our work.

Opportunities for you to make a difference this month:

And of course literacy work never stops – even after September ends, there are ways to stay involved:

Literacy transforms Texas. And you’re part of that transformation. Thank you for your efforts!

Can we stay in touch? There’s so much to do. And our efforts will be richer and more effective if you’re part of them.

Sign up for our newsletter here.

Add your voice to our socials on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Sources for information in blog post:

Low Literacy Levels Among U.S. Adults Could Be Costing The Economy $2.2 Trillion A Year, Forbes, September 9, 2020

Fast Facts on Adult Literacy, National Center for Education Statistics

Student Goals

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4 Things You Must Consider When Developing Adult Literacy Curriculum

No matter what age we’re working with, our students learn best when motivated. Whether internal or external, practical or aspirational, the stronger the “why”, the better they perform. As educators, we must never lose sight of this, even as we coordinate our students’ educational goals with various state and federal standards. 

As we set our instructional intentions, we need to keep (among many other things!) these four things in mind:

1) Blended Learning: Don’t just wheel in a television.

Of course, nowadays it’s more likely to be a projector or a Youtube link, but multimedia should no longer be thought of as a supplement. The pandemic provided an opportunity to explore technology as the foundation, as a flexible way to cater a lesson to each student’s needs, learning style, and living situation. The Online Learning Consortium defines blended/hybrid learning as “integrating online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner.” 

Technology isn’t a novelty anymore. Inside the classroom and out, it’s essential to understand and use it skillfully. 

2) Upskilling: Preparing for the test that matters. 

“Upskilling is the process of acquiring new and relevant competencies needed today and in the near future.” (Digitalhrtech.com) It’s an understatement to say that the world is evolving. People hoping to find meaningful employment need an increasingly diverse set of skills and experience to keep up with this change. Dallas is #3 in the nation for job creation in the tech industry. We need to be aware of these broader changes happening around us and consider how they will affect our student’s goals. That means not only knowing but keeping tabs on our student’s goals, and supporting their needs through how we curate our instruction.

Upskilling can include digital skills (social media, UX/UI), analytics skills (critical thinking, research), soft skills (creativity, persuasion, communication), and many other skills that we’d do well to integrate into our classrooms.

3) Family Literacy: Who’s teaching who?

Teaching an adult means teaching the citizen, the parent, the employee, the friend, and all the other roles that person has taken on in their life. Family literacy means recognizing and fostering the parent’s role as a primary teacher in their children’s lives. Read talk more about the ties of family to literacy in this article. 

4) Health Literacy: The gap between the textbook and real life. 

Specialized language can be difficult even in our mother tongue. One particular area where this is true is with medical jargon, pharmaceuticals, and simply navigating our health system. Simply being able to read complicated instructions doesn’t equal meaningful comprehension. Is there a way to meet your student’s goals, comply with state and federal standards, and address challenges like health literacy that students might not even be aware they must face? 

But how?

You see the importance of these considerations, but creating an effective instructional strategy can be daunting. Thankfully, the 2021 Literacy Texas Annual Conference offers solutions to this challenge. Join us August 2-4 as speaker Ann Beeson presents “Student Goals & Instructional Standards: Coordinating your Curriculum and Instruction for Success”. She offers the resources and strategies you’ll need to keep your student’s goals front and center while also staying on target to achieve external standards.
Visit https://www.literacytexas.org/calendar/2021-literacy-texas-annual-conference/ to register and learn about the other speakers and sessions offered at this extraordinary event.