SCC to Commemorate Adult Education and Family Literacy Week
Southeast Community College and the National Coalition for Literacy will commemorate National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, Oct. 18-24.
SCC's Adult Education, General Education Development and English as a Second Language programs are following the Congressional declaration made Oct. 13 that culminates literacy advocacy and outreach.
Lorraine Jensby, assistant director of Adult Education at SCC's Beatrice Campus, said the College planned to ask AE instructors to have students write letters to Congressmen thanking them for bringing the topics of adult education and family literacy to the forefront.
"It helps sometimes for Congressmen to receive letters from adults who are benefitting from these services," Jensby said.
Adult education and family literacy programs serve adult students who need to improve their basic literacy and math skills, improve their oral and written English, practice for the GED test to attain a high school equivalence degree, and prepare for community college or vocational training. According to the latest national survey of adults, more than 93 million American adults have Basic or Below Basic literacy skills that limit their ability to advance at work and in education, help their children with school work, interact with their health care professionals, and participate in their communities.
Family literacy programs serve parents and their young children, teaching basic skills, ESL, and parenting skills to the adults while the children are provided high-quality preschool programming. These programs are focused on breaking the cycles of low literacy, low education and poverty.
NCL (www.national-coalition-literacy.org) is a national adult education leadership organization comprised of member organizations and adult education professionals, committed to promoting adult education and literacy, family literacy, and English language development in the United States. NCL seeks to advance adult education, language and literacy by fostering collaboration and advocacy at the national level among public and private organizations.
Some facts about adult literacy:
• Adult literacy is defined as: Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.
• The U.S. Department of Education issued an estimate of the literacy skills of adults in the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Performance is rated on the following scale: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate and Proficient. Overall, it is estimated that 93 million U.S. adults have Basic and Below Basic literacy skills. This study and others found that adults living in poverty were more likely to have lower average literacy scores than adults with higher incomes; half of the adults who did not have a high school diploma performed in the Below Basic levels; seniors and the elderly over age 65 had the lowest average literacy scores of any age range, with 64 percent performing in the Basic and Below Basic levels; and the more than one million incarcerated adults in the nation had lower average literacy scores than adults in households on nearly every comparable scale (age, gender, educational attainment level, ethnicity).
Adult literacy is important for a variety of reasons. Adults who are more literate are more likely to read to their children and discuss school topics; be employed full time and receive a higher income; use the Internet and e-mail; and vote, volunteer, and access information about current local and national events.
For more information at the national level, go to www.ncladvocacy.org/aefl.html. For more information about SCC's AE/GED/ESL programs, contact Babette Dickinson at (402) 437-2717 or bdickins@southeast.edu.
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
SCC's Adult Education, General Education Development and English as a Second Language programs are following the Congressional declaration made Oct. 13 that culminates literacy advocacy and outreach.
Lorraine Jensby, assistant director of Adult Education at SCC's Beatrice Campus, said the College planned to ask AE instructors to have students write letters to Congressmen thanking them for bringing the topics of adult education and family literacy to the forefront.
"It helps sometimes for Congressmen to receive letters from adults who are benefitting from these services," Jensby said.
Adult education and family literacy programs serve adult students who need to improve their basic literacy and math skills, improve their oral and written English, practice for the GED test to attain a high school equivalence degree, and prepare for community college or vocational training. According to the latest national survey of adults, more than 93 million American adults have Basic or Below Basic literacy skills that limit their ability to advance at work and in education, help their children with school work, interact with their health care professionals, and participate in their communities.
Family literacy programs serve parents and their young children, teaching basic skills, ESL, and parenting skills to the adults while the children are provided high-quality preschool programming. These programs are focused on breaking the cycles of low literacy, low education and poverty.
NCL (www.national-coalition-literacy.org) is a national adult education leadership organization comprised of member organizations and adult education professionals, committed to promoting adult education and literacy, family literacy, and English language development in the United States. NCL seeks to advance adult education, language and literacy by fostering collaboration and advocacy at the national level among public and private organizations.
Some facts about adult literacy:
• Adult literacy is defined as: Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.
• The U.S. Department of Education issued an estimate of the literacy skills of adults in the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Performance is rated on the following scale: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate and Proficient. Overall, it is estimated that 93 million U.S. adults have Basic and Below Basic literacy skills. This study and others found that adults living in poverty were more likely to have lower average literacy scores than adults with higher incomes; half of the adults who did not have a high school diploma performed in the Below Basic levels; seniors and the elderly over age 65 had the lowest average literacy scores of any age range, with 64 percent performing in the Basic and Below Basic levels; and the more than one million incarcerated adults in the nation had lower average literacy scores than adults in households on nearly every comparable scale (age, gender, educational attainment level, ethnicity).
Adult literacy is important for a variety of reasons. Adults who are more literate are more likely to read to their children and discuss school topics; be employed full time and receive a higher income; use the Internet and e-mail; and vote, volunteer, and access information about current local and national events.
For more information at the national level, go to www.ncladvocacy.org/aefl.html. For more information about SCC's AE/GED/ESL programs, contact Babette Dickinson at (402) 437-2717 or bdickins@southeast.edu.
For more information, contact:
Stu Osterthun
Administrative Director of Public Information and Marketing
(402) 323-3401
sosterthun@southeast.edu
