A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Chapter 411

I. Program Profile

Purpose: To conduct evaluation studies and provide assistance to States in evaluating the status and progress of adult education. Projects and studies funded provide information needed for national policy-making, development of legislative proposals for reauthorization, and State and local program improvement.

Funding History

II. Program Information and Analysis

Performance Indicators

• timely completion of substantive evaluation studies that are used for policy making and development of reauthorization proposals as well as to provide guidance for program improvement;
  
• provision of technical assistance to States and local providers that is rated highly by recipients and judged appropriate by an independent panel or evaluator; and
  
• judgment by a national panel of experts that the overall program of studies and projects provided an appropriate mix of activities that responded appropriately to national, Federal, and State priorities.

Services

Collaborative implementation. Carrying out the projects and services of this program has involved collaboration between many offices and agencies and with the field. Three Department of Education offices have participated in these efforts -- the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), the Office of the Under Secretary (including the Planning and Evaluation Service and the Budget Service) and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). In addition, ED is working collaboratively with the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services on studies and projects, and cooperates with the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) in planning and supporting research, development, and information dissemination projects. Most major evaluations and technical assistance projects involve advisory committees of experts in adult education, including researchers and State and local administrators.

Percent of total appropriation. In FY 1993, Adult Education National Programs' funding of $3,928,000 represented 1.3 percent of the total Adult Education Act appropriation of $304,718,000 as shown in Figure 1.

Types of activities. The activities funded under Adult Education National Programs may be grouped into five categories:

1. outcome evaluations of Federal programs.
   
2. evaluations that identify effective practices and programs ("what works").
   
3. descriptive studies (case studies, descriptive surveys, secondary data analyses).
   
4. developmental projects to prepare issue briefs, policy analyses, guides, research agendas, and other support materials.
   
5. technical assistance and training to States and local providers to improve evaluation capability and for program improvement.

The distribution of funds among these categories is shown in Figure 2 for the FY 1993 appropriation:

No FY 1993 funds were used for identifying effective practices.

Current priorities. During 1993, the Department supported projects in the following topical areas as shown in Figure 3:

1. impact of Federal programs (including outcome and descriptive evaluations);
   
2. improving local practice (including "what works" studies and some descriptive and developmental work);
   
3. using technology to improve instruction and administration (development and technical assistance projects);
   
4. professional development for adult educators (technical assistance);
   
5. issues in welfare reform (impact evaluations and descriptive studies);
   
6. improving adult education performance and evaluation data (development and technical assistance); and
   
7. special projects (development and technical assistance).

Status of Key FY 1993 Projects and Activities (III.2)

• Review of the Adult Education for the Homeless Program. This study will provide a detailed description and analysis of the Adult Education for the Homeless Program, including examination of the range of literacy skills among Federal program participants, description of typical program services, and identification of barriers to program implementation, evaluation, and delivery of services. The final report will be available by late 1994.

• National Evaluation of Adult Education Programs. The National Evaluation of Adult Education Programs, a longitudinal survey of adult education participants and comprehensive survey of adult education programs, is providing a nationally representative description and assessment of adult education programs. The study started in August 1990 and was scheduled for completion in late 1994. Interim findings from this study are discussed in Chapter 401 of this Biennial Evaluation Report.

• JOBS Evaluation, Adult Education Study. The JOB Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program (JOBS) provides recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children with opportunities to take part in education, job training, and work activities intended to promote employment and self-sufficiency. The Department of Health and Human Services has funded a major study using experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies for implementing JOBS in nine sites, as well as provide an assessment of the overall effects of the program. This study supplements the larger study to collect and analyze additional data on the effects of adult education participation in three sites. Random assignment and baseline data collection are now complete on the three-site sample of 3,000 JOBS treatment and control group participants. A special study is now underway to conduct four case studies of particularly effective JOBS sites and to perform secondary data analyses of JOBS data.

Four reports will be produced from the JOBS adult education study.
• An interim report is now available on the program's implementation and on characteristics of participants.
  
• A special report will be available in late 1994 that will assess the impact of education and training programs on the literacy and labor market outcomes of welfare recipients.
  
• An interim report in 1995 will analyze findings from surveys of the adult education teachers who instructed the welfare recipients and interviews with the adult education administrators for the programs involved.
  
• The final report in 1997 will contain impact data on participants and further analyses of the adult education programs that serve them.
• National Evaluation of the State Set-Aside for Teacher Training and Innovation in Adult Education. This project is evaluating the State program (Section 353 of the Adult Education Act) that supports special innovative projects and teacher training in adult education. The study will provide a comprehensive picture of Federal and State systems that support the development, implementation, and dissemination of Section 353 activities, including how States implement the program, how funds are distributed between teacher training and innovation, how States set priorities and select projects for funding, how research and new technologies are incorporated into programs, and how linkages within and across States promote dissemination. The study will also assess the quality, significance, and replicability of a representative sample of innovation projects.

• Review of State Adult Education Grant Allocations. This study is using data from several sources to describe the distribution of Adult Education Act funds by States to local providers. The study is analyzing data on funding to clarify the patterns of distribution for Adult Education Act funds, the extent of concentration and targeting, and the extent to which funds are distributed to counties/school districts with the greatest numbers of educationally disadvantaged adults. The study will also describe State administration processes and policies for distributing Federal funds. The contractor has recently completed case study interviews with State directors and is collecting State allocation data. An interim report that profiles State systems will be issued in fall 1994; the final report will be available in 1996.

• Descriptive Evaluation of the State Set-Aside Programs Gateway Grants and State Literacy Resource Centers. This project will describe and assess two State programs--the Gateway Grants set-aside, in which States must provide funds to local public housing programs for adult education, and the State Literacy Resource Centers program. Both programs were authorized for the first time in the National Literacy Act of 1991. Evaluation methodology will include telephone and written surveys. The final report is due in summer 1995.

• Case Studies of Promising Family Literacy Programs. In nine case studies, this project will identify Even Start projects that have promising or effective adult education components, documenting key elements and procedures for use by policy makers, adult education administrators, and Even Start project directors. The project will attempt to locate and describe projects that have successfully integrated adult education and parenting education as well as projects which have successful projects with those components separate. Source of data for selecting projects will be the Even Start Evaluation data base, which contains information on participants' outcomes, including literacy gains and GED attainment. The final report is due in late spring 1995.

Development, technical assistance, and training:

• ABE/ESL Teacher Training Project. This project examined the literature and reviewed practice for staff development of adult basic education and English-as-a-second-language teachers and volunteer instructors. Based on this review, the project developed and field-tested 10 instructional modules for training teachers and held a national workshop and four regional workshops to train trainers. Modules were developed in the following areas:
  
  • the adult learner
    
  • communicative ESL teaching
    
  • monitoring student progress
    
  • team learning
    
  • learning disabilities: learner-centered approaches
    
  • planning for instruction
    
  • whole language approach
    
  • working with volunteers
    
  • mathematics: strategic problem-solving
    
  • improving thinking skills for adults.

• JOBS Technical Assistance Project. The Department of Health and Human Service's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) requires coordination among education, training, and social service agencies in States and localities. Starting in 1989, the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services supported a major technical assistance project to help States and localities design, implement, and operate their JOBS programs. The contractor conducted policy and planning symposia; produced materials and guides on model programs and successful practices; conducted regional workshops on special topics such as design and marketing; consulted with up to eight States a year on operational concerns; and held coordinated meetings for key State and local officials and community, business, and volunteer leaders. A final report was planned for late 1994.

• National Conference--Transitions: Building Partnerships Between Literacy Volunteers and Adult Education Programs. The contractor facilitated a conference on literacy volunteers for State teams of literacy volunteer program administrators, local practitioners, and State Directors of Adult Education. The conference focused on how providers of adult education can more effectively develop promising transition strategies in moving low-literacy-level adult learners to more advanced adult education classes. Participants received technical assistance and training on how to build partnerships between networks of volunteer organizations and service providers for adult education. The final report is available from the Division of Adult Educationand Literacy clearinghouse.

• Comparison of Adult Education Tests. A panel of national experts in testing and adult education reviewed widely used adult education tests and discussed issues of quality and usefulness to the field. The panel analyzed whether the tests can be equated, so that States may permit local programs to use several tests and still be able to develop aggregate summary data. The final report was planned for be late 1994.

• Technical assistance project for State accountability and assessment. This three-year project is designed to improve the capacity of State education agencies (SEAs) to meet the administrative and evaluation requirements of the Adult Education Act.

  The goals of the project include:

  • providing technical assistance to SEAs in program planning, evaluation, monitoring, and administrative provisions of the Adult Education Act;
    
  • building the administrative capacity of SEAs to plan and evaluate their programs more effectively; and
    
  • expanding the capacity of SEAs to meet the increased accountability and program effectiveness requirements of the Act, as amended by the National Literacy Act.

  Project activity is focused in four broad areas: (1) on-site technical assistance, (2) annual training institutes, (3) assistance to States and local providers in assessing and using administrative technology, and (4) information dissemination and materials development. In addition, the project will develop and disseminate an administrative handbook for use by State staff, and create and manage a program assessment and information center that will maintain information on standardized tests and other assessment measures.

• Mexico Border Project. This project provides technical support for special cooperative initiatives between the border States of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, and Mexico. The project involves development of a bilateral plan to expand collaborative efforts; pilot testing of an educational curriculum developed with Mexico; collaborative efforts in staff development; and sharing of information on effective adult education practices. The project will also support a conference in the spring of 1995 for the participating border States, Mexico, and the U.S. Department of Education to reinforce and expand the educational ties between the Mexican and U.S. adult education systems. Topics will include education-to-work transition, bilingual training, national service programs, family literacy, distance education, cross-border students tracking, student competencies/standards, students assessment, R&D, and uses of Mexico's National Institute for Adult Education Curriculum.

• Adult Numeracy Education: Agenda for Action. This project involves a partnership between the National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL) at the University of Pennsylvania, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Department of NCAL organized a working group to develop and submit an outline for an action plan of recommended steps for reform in adult numeracy education. The plan also summarizes key issues that will need to be addressed by policy makers and the adult education and mathematics education communities. The working group is basing its work on information generated during the conference, on examination of other pertinent materials, and on feedback from participants in a later workshop held in May 1994. A copy of the conference proceedings is available from NCAL.

• Teacher Training Using Interactive Teleconferencing. The National Center for Adult Literacy (NCAL) is designing and producing five professional development interactive teleconferences for adult education and literacy service providers. This project involves collaboration between the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, NCAL, the Public Broadcasting Service's Adult Learning Systems unit, and Station WHYY Public Television. This video series is addressing the need for high quality, accessible, innovative, cost-effective professional development while testing and demonstrating the feasibility and utility of distance education for teacher training.

  Content of the programs will focus on innovations in relation to the field of adult literacy, such as research innovations, instructional innovations, and innovations being developed in important capabilities of satellite technology. Each teleconference will include pre-produced video segments that demonstrate the application of innovations in the field. The first video teleconference, held on April 28, 1994 and viewed at more than 850 sites, focused on Technology: New Tools for Adult Literacy. Plans were underway for the next teleconference for December 1994 to discuss strategies in math education for adult learners. A final report is due in fall 1995.

• Planning for Adult Education Software Development. The National Center for Adult Literacy (NCAL) will convene a national conference of Federal and State policy makers, local adult education providers, software publishers, and R&D specialists in technology and adult education to explore new approaches to stimulated the development of quality adult education software. The two-day invitational conference was planned for late fall of 1994 for up to 60 invitees.

	FY 1992 Actual	FY 1993 Actual	FY 1994 Contins.*	Total	Lead Office	Status	Type
Evaluation of Federal Programs
Design guidance for workplace literacy evaluations (RTI)	$75,000	--	--	$75,000	OUS	Completed	Development
Conference on States' implementation of NLA (Pelavin)	115,000	--	--	475,000	OUS	Completed	Development
Workplace literacy evaluation--year one (Mathematica)**	474,458	0	0	474,458	OUS	Underway	Impact
National Evaluation of Adult Education Programs (D.A.)	242,000	88,000	--	2,728,000	OUS	Underway	Impact
Evaluation of Section 353 State set-aside program (RMC)	217,730	321,464	--	539,194	OUS	Underway	Impact
Case studies of State adult education grant allocations (RTI)	65,542	--	--	65,542	OUS	Underway	Descriptive
State setasides evaluation--Gateways and LRCs (RTI)	--	161,991	--	161,991	OUS	Underway	Descriptive
Reauthorization analyses and synthesis (RTI)	--	198,462	--	198,462	OUS	Underway	Descriptive
Longitudinal data, analyses, National Evalutation data (Pelavin)	--	387,261	--	392,000	OUS	Underway	Impact
Improving Local Practice
Case studies of family literacy programs (RTI)	--	149,994	--	149,994	OUS	Underway	Descriptive
Adult numeracy education: agenda for action (NCAL)	--	25,097	--	25,097	OERI	Underway	Development
Technical assistance on NALS to States and LEAs (NAB)	--	495,775	--	495,775	OVAE	Underway	Technical assistance
NCLE (ERIC Clearinghouse) (Center for Applied Linguistics)	--	299,998	150,000	449,998	OERI	Underway	Technical assistance
Using Technology to Improve Instruction and Administration
Teacher training using interactive teleconferencing (NCAL)	--	118,513	81,786	200,299	OERI	Underway	Development
Planning for software development project (NCAL)	--	101,390	49,938	151,328	OERI	Underway	Development
Professional Development for Adult Educators
ABE/ESL teacher training project (Pelavin)	308,203	-	--	1,221,733	OUS	Completed	Technical Assistance
Volunteer training and management conference (NAB)	380,000	11,413	--	391,413	OVAE	Completed	Technical assistance
Professional development assistance project (Pelavin)	--	276,814	256,000	779,000	OVAE	Underway	Technical assistance
Issues in Welfare Reform
JOBS technical assistance project (NAB)	100,000	--	--	100,000	HHS	Completed	Technical assistance
JOBS Evaluation (MDRC)	966,656	--	500,000	2,235,713	HHS	Underway	Technical assistance
Welfare client analyses and review (MDRC)	--	368,000	--	368,000	HHS	Underway	Impact
Improving Performance and Evaluation Data
State information network, pilot test (Pelavin)	64,107	--	--	64,107	OUS	Completed	Development
Comparison of adult education tests (Pelavin)	100,000	--	--	100,000	OUS	Underway	Development
Special national data analyses, Indians and ESL (Census)	--	54,067	--	54,067	OERI	Underway	Descriptive
State accountability and assessment project (Pelavin)	856,534	234,023	5000,000	1,590,557	OVAE	Underway	Technical assistance
Special Projects
Comissioned papers and reports	34,770	78,000	--	112,770	OVAE	Underway	Development
National conference on Indian adult education (Power)	--	114,999	--	114,999	OVAE	Underway	Development
Mexican-U.S. border states project (CAL, Inc.)	--	119,923	90,000	270,000	OVAE	Underway	Development
TOTAL	4,000,000	3,605,184	1,627,724

Notes:
* This column includes only continuations for projects started in earllier years. Information is not available on planned procurements with the remaining funds.
** The workplace literacy valuation is being continued with Workplace Literacy Program funds.

III. Sources of Information

1. Program files

2. Putting Research Results to Work: A Guide to the Adult Education National Programs, 1988-1993. (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1994)

3. Progress and final reports from various studies.

IV. Planned Studies

V. Contacts for Further Information

Program operations:

Ron Pugsley, (202) 732-2398

Program studies:

Nancy Rhett, (202) 401-3630

[Adult Education--Grants to States]

[Adult Education for the Homeless Program]