Welcome to: Literacy Ohio

March 31, 2008 - The University System of Ohio:

Chancellor Eric Fingerhut presents the Ohio Board of Regents strategic plan for The University System of Ohio. click here to download the 138 page plan .

February 15th- ADVOCACY ALERT!! LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN-

Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair of the National Consortium of State Directors of Adult Education is asking for YOUR help to convience congress to increase funding for ABLE. Click here for a PDF about the campaign and your involvement as instructors and directors. The PDF sets Ohio goals, ABLE program goals, and provides you with mailing addresses for our state Senators and Representatives.

We hope you registered as many of your students as possible. Thanks to Super Tuesday Ohio's primary will have natiional implications. Encourage your staff and students to engage in the elections process and vote in the primary on March 4th, 2008. The registration process offers a wonderful opportunity for instructors to engage students in a civics related activity and serves as a way to introduce adult education students to the election process.

President announces an Executive Order to strengthen Adult Education:

Read the President's executive order under Recent activities and legislation or click here to visit the White House site: White House News

Policy Briefs:

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Labor Market Information (LMI) unit has recently released a report entitled, “Workforce Analysis.” This report is organized by Ohio’s twelve Economic Develop Regions and provides detailed analysis of regional labor markets, economic indicators and employment projections. You are encouraged to access this report and think strategically about how your ABLE program, and others in your region, contributes to supporting the training needs identified in this report.

WORKPLACE EDUCATION: TWENTY STATE PERSPECTIVES
Prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy
by James T. Parker Education Consultant - reviews workplace education initiatives in 20 states. Sponsored by the National Commission on Adult Literacy.

ADULT EDUCATION AND POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS
Prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy
by Stephen Reder. National Commission on Adult Literacy.

Evidence from Florida on the Labor Market Attachment of Male Dropouts Who Attempt the GED by John H. Tyler. Sponsored by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.

Literacy Ohio is sponsored by the Ohio Coalition for Adult Literacy, a coalition comprised of the Ohio Association for Adult and Continuing Education and the Ohio Literacy Network.

Literacy Ohio is dedicated to:

1. Providing advocacy and awareness to the field of Adult Education
2. Federal and state legislative analysis, and budget information that effects Adult Education
3. Federal and state legislative alerts and 'calls to action" on important legislation
4. An on line fourm for advocacy training and mentoring
5. Developing an effective and efficient mechanism for informing the legislative process

additionally......

The coalition has developed a new organizational structure to improve advocacy for Adult Literacy at the local, state, and federal level. The new structure includes a new website with access to state government, state school board, ohio legislators, and recent legislative activities; an on-line forum for posting information, training materials, and serving as a central calendar for events around the year; a new e-mail alert "tree" for legislative "call to action" activities; and other services as we grow the site.

An organizational chart in pdf format is available by clicking here: :

ON-LINE ADVOCACY MATERIALS:

As an additional service to the field, OCAL has developed a new series of On-Line advocacy materials. "Beginning Advocacy" is a 10 week activities based on-line course designed to help those interested in building a local advocacy plan. The activities help new advocates work through the advocacy planning process. Anyone may participate in the course by using a "guest log-in or use the "create your own account" option.

OCAL has added a 5 week course on "State Advocacy" to our site as well as a three week course on "Federal Advocacy"

To access these new resources, click on the "On-Line Advocacy Forum" menu item at the top of the page.

Recent activities and legislation:

Recent legislation:

Click here for Governor Ted Strickland's State of the State Address:

Please take this opportunity to read his comments on the University System and his thoughts on Higher Education.

The following is an excerpt from his speech in which he outlines a vision for public education for Ohio's K-12 system.

"Now, some think of primary and secondary education in Ohio as a problem to be solved. But our schools are not problems, they are solutions.In fact, there is much good news about our schools.
Just last month Education Week’s report card on the nation’s schools placed Ohio 7th among the 50 states.

In September, results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that Ohio ranked in the top 10 in all four of its measures.

We’re grateful for the efforts of our students and our teachers who have made us all proud. And we are thankful for the countless leaders in this state, including many in this chamber, whose efforts have strengthened education in Ohio.
But while we are holding our own with most states, we have not kept pace with much of the world. And we still must work to ensure that all our schools can meet the needs of all our students in this globally competitive environment.

Since I was sworn in as governor, I have met with dozens of groups to discuss education.

I have listened to educators, business leaders, researchers, parents, and many others. I have considered their experiences and the evidence they have marshaled, and taken heed of a lifetime of observations the First Lady and I have made.

All these discussions have led me to embrace the following vision for our schools: we must create learning environments that foster and nurture creativity, innovation, and global competency.
And I have developed six core principles that will guide our efforts to achieve that vision.

First, we cannot address our education challenges without strengthening our commitment to public education. As a practical matter, the vast majority of Ohio children are and always will be educated in the public school system.

Second, a modern education must be directly linked to economic prosperity. Ohio cannot thrive without understanding that world class schools will produce a talented workforce, and a talented workforce will attract and create jobs.

Third, we need to identify the great strengths of our schools. There are features in our education system that the rest of the world seeks to emulate, and we must build on these triumphs.

We excel internationally in our ability to foster creativity and innovation. These skills fuel a lifetime of success, especially in an evolving global economy.

Ohio schools produced the minds that created Superman, with his fictional X-Ray vision, and the mind that invented the MRI, giving doctors the very real ability to painlessly view inside the human body. Ohioans are visionaries, but practical as well. It wasn’t long after a pair of Ohioans invented the airplane that another Ohioan invented the parachute.
Our schools must teach students to think past the limits of what’s been done, and imagine what could be done.

Fourth, our best teachers can show us what works best in the classroom. We need to consult them and follow their lead.
Great teachers can be a resource not only for their students but for their fellow educators. We should support these teachers by giving them the freedom to stay in the classroom and still be rewarded for sharing their expertise with their peers. We lose a lot of new teachers – as many as half of all new teachers leave the profession in the first 5 years – but we can help keep these talented people by giving them better access to senior colleagues.

Fifth, we must strive to develop a specific, personalized education program that identifies how each individual student learns and use the teaching methods appropriate to that student’s needs and abilities.
The great educator and philosopher John Dewey described this idea many years ago. He wrote that we must shift “the center of gravity” in schools. It’s a “revolution, not unlike that introduced by Copernicus when the astronomical center shifted from the Earth to the sun. In this case, the child becomes the sun around which the appliances of education revolve.”

And sixth, testing and assessment will continue to answer accountability questions. But their most important role will be to guide personalized and individualized education through a comprehensive and ongoing understanding of a student’s capabilities and weaknesses and growth in the educational process.

I will be guided by these principles as I draft my plan not only for funding, but also for reforming our schools.

I will follow these principles in pursuit of a clear standard: schools that rank among the best in the world and meet the needs of every Ohio child.

Last year this legislature – led by Speaker Husted – advanced legislation that gave the governor the authority to appoint the Chancellor of Higher Education. By doing so, you provided a clear line of accountability. You enabled me and future governors and legislatures to pursue a vision of higher education on behalf of all Ohioans.

I believe the time has come to do the same for primary and secondary education.

The governor and the legislature are responsible for the success of our schools. The voters will rightly hold us accountable for the education results we produce.
Therefore, we should have authority over the management of the Department of Education.
Today I am calling for the creation of a new position: the director of the Department of Education. This office would be appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the Senate.
The director would have oversight over all Department of Education efforts.

The existing structure, including the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Schools, would remain in place in advisory and additional roles as determined by the director.

The most important duty of the state should not be overseen by an unwieldy department with splintered accountability. This change in organizational structure will ensure, like higher education, that there is a direct line of responsibility and accountability in K through 12 education. It will ensure that our elected and appointed leaders are working together to strengthen education in Ohio.

Education is the central issue I face as governor. I am determined to bring real change and real results. But I am also determined to find the best answers. We are creating a blueprint for the future of our schools and our state. And we will take the time to get it right.