Yetta is completing her master’s thesis in Communications while working for Children and Youth Services. While working on her thesis, she has had time to reflect on the changes she would like to see in adult education program management.

What it comes down to is I think the teachers in adult education need to be very nearly as specialized as the teachers in any public school would be. I believe they need the subject specializations. What is happening now is that students who would be low learners or learning disability students in a public school are placed in a general class, in an adult education class, and they are judged on a level at which they can’t attain.

Every student should have the right to attain what their level allows and we have to recognize that some students will never ever attain a degree of any kind—not even a high school diploma. But that does not mean they cannot attain what they need to be a functioning member of society which is a form of learning. It’s learning life skills and a needed process of life for them. Putting our value on education and having the diploma and degree and all of that onto a student who is not capable is an injustice to that student. The students are important and need to be treated as such.

Her concerns address the need for specialization in order to provide more equitable education to all adult learners. Inherent in this line of reasoning is the concept that adult education should not be merely about diplomas and credentialing. It should be learning for life.

Learner Outcomes

Participants’ reports of satisfaction with their accomplishments at every level appear to be validated by the QOLI. This inventory places 70 percent of the sample population in the “high” category, corresponding to an 81st to 99th percentile. Is this satisfaction index due in part to the participants’ involvement in adult education programs? Participants’ satisfaction with their adult education experience appears to be closely tied to the difference it made in their lives. While Chapter V will detail participant life style changes and investigate substantive behavioral changes, this Learner Outcomes Section will present adult learners’ voices as they describe what program participation has meant to them.

There appears to be three categories into which learner outcomes can be classified. At the simplest level, there are new readers who entered at a basic literacy level and achieved their goal of learning to read. Next, there are participants whose success at reading or passing the GED propelled them into new roles in their lives and careers. Finally, there are participants who gained confidence in their abilities, experienced the delight of learning and became lifelong learners.

Pride in Accomplishments

When asked, “which of your achievements to date are you most pleased with?” Danny, like several other new readers, replied: “My education, this reading and writing. I don’t know how I got through life without knowing how to read or write. I think that this education that I got is tremendous. I can read it all.” Ronald, who dropped out of special education classes as the age of 17, works in a furniture factory he calls “sweat shop,” He did not advance in his job nor did he get his GED. He still considers his life has improved: “I can figure things out better. I can do a better job. They stopped picking on me. They actually just work with me.” Oliver, who has been tutored for 10 years, explains his enthusiasm about continuing his learning. “Psychiatrists and doctors tell you with a head injury, you’ll learn. You’ll keep going uphill for about two years and then all of a sudden you’ll level off and there’s no more. What you learned is what you learned. You learn little things. On this uphill grade, I beat them. I’m still learning. It’s been 10 years.”