Response to selected passages from Adult Learners in Focus (2008)

Selected passages from Adult Learners in Focus 2008

"Over 26 million adults in the U.S. currently have no high school diploma, more than 3 million have not attended college and are earning less than a living wage, and over 8 million have not attended college and speak little or no English." (7)

This statistic makes clear the growing need for educational services and support in a variety of incarnations both formal and informal. Clearly, intervention is needed in primary and secondary schools.  The increased reliance on standardized testing to measure a students "success" at all levels has put even greater stress on the student population that are already most likely to "fail" to benefit from formal education options offered. However, the percentage of people who need to have postsecondary education in order that our economy and work force be competitive in a global market (according to the article 55 percent,) cannot be reached only by shoring up deficiencies in primary and secondary schools. Programs designed to reach adult students are desperately needed and, judging from personal experience, in great demand. Unfortunately, lack of funding and short-sighted policy decisions seem to be making adult education programs harder rather than easier to access.  The state and federal funding that the English Language Institute (SUNY) needs to provide free ESL programs for adults has been cut three times over the past two years.  The cuts occur in areas where teachers cannot successfully prove that their students are on a straight track to enter college and get a degree.  It's very difficult to "prove" that your students will enter college in a finite amount of time when you're dealing with significant language and literacy deficiencies.


"The good news is that adults are making up an ever larger share of the total enrollment in postsecondary institutions. By 2004, adults made up approximately 43 percent of total enrollment at community colleges (includes full-time and part-time)." (7)

"Nontraditional students-- for example, those who have delayed enrollment in postsecondary education, work full-time while enrolled, or have dependents other than a spouse-- were more likely than traditional students both to participate in distance education and to be in programs available entirely through distance education" (8)

"States vary significantly in their success in moving students through this traditional educational pipeline...But reliance on and attention to the traditional educational pipeline will not be enough." (22)

"The issue of declining numbers of high school graduates, projected in a recent study by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (208), is yet another reason why a focus on the education of younger populations will not be sufficient." (23)
AND
"...13.3 percent of the adult population (26,455,554 individuals)...never completed high school. Many of these adults may face basic literacy challenges as well. One way to help this population is to address skills shortfalls through Adult Basic Education (ABE), gain a high school credential by completing a GED, then enter postsecondary study." (24)