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Testimony on FY 2004 Request for Vocational and Adult Education
High School, Postsecondary, and Career Education
Adult Education and Literacy
Trend Watch
Testimony on FY 2004 Request for Vocational and Adult Education
On March 19, 2003, Assistant Secretary Carol D'Amico testified before the House Subcommittee on Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations on the FY 2004 OVAE budget. An excerpt on vocational and adult education appears below. The written testimony can be viewed in full at http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/03-2003/03192003.html.
The 2004 budget outlines the fundamental changes we believe are necessary to ensure that Federal resources are used effectively to provide young people and adults the educational foundation they need to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce. The President's fiscal year 2004 budget request supports the Administration's reauthorization strategy to reshape the Federal investment in secondary, technical and adult education to build on the key principles of No Child Left Behind and to meet the demands of the 21st century economy.
Vocational Education
In past decades, Americans with lower-level academic skills could fare relatively well in the economy if they possessed a solid work ethic and some training. Jobs requiring low- and medium-level skills were plentiful and many paid sufficient wages to support a family. That is no longer the case. Growth in the number of these positions is declining, and the wages they offer are in a free-fall. Instead, many of the fastest-growing jobs in our economy require some form of postsecondary education. Workforce success now means equipping high school graduates with higher-level academic skills and preparing them for postsecondary education. Not every student will need or want to earn a baccalaureate degree, not every student will want to enter an associate degree or certificate program immediately after high school, but, ultimately, most will need some education or training beyond high school to land a good job that pays family-supporting wages.
Adult Education
Proposed amendments to the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act would expand opportunities for adults to learn, diversify the array of local providers, and build the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations to provide adult education. Amendments would promote greater participation of employers and create incentives to strengthen coordination among education and employment programs that serve low-literate adults to ensure that these resources are spent effectively and generate the greatest returns. To improve the performance of the adult education enterprise, we will insist on greater accountability for results. The proposal would continue to offer incentives for success, but also create more explicit consequences for failure to perform, including technical assistance and sanctions. Research-based practice is another tool we will use to improve the quality and productivity of adult education.
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High School, Postsecondary, and Career Education
April is Financial Literacy for Youth Month
April is Financial Literacy for Youth Month, sponsored by the Jump$tart Coalition
for Personal Financial Literacy. The Coalition's direct objective is to encourage curriculum enrichment to ensure that basic personal financial management skills are attained during the K-12 educational experience. Personal finance basics include money management, saving and investing, and the use of credit. Based in Washington, DC, Jump$tart is a non-profit organization whose 140 partners include federal agencies, education groups, financial corporations and nonprofit providers of personal finance education programs.Dual Enrollments Help Ease Transitions
With high rates of failed transitions from high school to postsecondary, the Community College Research Center reviewed approaches that attempt to link high schools and colleges. Dual enrollment programs are one way to prepare students for the expectations of college and can help avoid expensive false starts. Dual enrollment programs are present in all but three states, but eligibility criteria differ by state, says Dual Enrollment Programs: Easing Transitions from High School to College.
The brief also reviews the coordination of high school exit and college entry standards and Tech Prep.Top
Adult Education and Literacy
WIA Legislative Update
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved legislation reauthorizing the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act on March 27, 2003. The Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act of 2003 (H.R. 1261) was introduced by Representative Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), the Chair of the House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair John Boehner (R-OH). The legislation also includes amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which supports vocational rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities, and reauthorizes employment and training programs administered by the Department of Labor. The bill has not yet been scheduled for floor action. The text of the Committee-approved legislation
and related information can be found on the House Committee website.Assessment Key in Adult Reading
Assessment is a key first step when teaching an adult to read, says an analysis of adult reading research. It is important to assess adult students' abilities in alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension in order to identify what is already known and what needs to be worked on during instruction, says Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic Education Reading Instruction.
The Reading Research Working Group (RRWG) was created to identify and evaluate existing research related to adult literacy reading instruction to provide research-based products for practitioners. The RRWG published their analysis in the fall of 2002. One emerging principle in the ABE research suggests that assessing each component of reading in order to generate profiles of learner reading ability provides teachers with much more instructionally relevant information than any test of a single component can.Top
Trend Watch
U.S. Postsecondary Expenditures
Postsecondary expenditures for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries:
- The United States spends the most for postsecondary education at $19,802 per pupil.
- Switzerland spends the next highest amount with $16,563 per pupil.
- The mean for OECD postsecondary expenditures is $9,210.
- When calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. is second to Korea at 2.3 percent versus 2.5 percent respectively. The OECD mean is 1.3 percent.
To ask questions, provide comments, or receive email notification of the next issue, please email the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.
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Last Modified: 01/05/2007
