Good afternoon, everyone,
I thought some of you might be interested in this excerpt from the OVAE Review that talks about the April State Director's meeting in Columbus. I was particularly interested in the four national goals articulated below and would be intersted your thoughts about what these goals mean to states, local programs, teachers and learners. 	NEWSLETTERS & JOURNALS

OVAE Review: April 30, 2004
 04/30/2004

Adult Education and Literacy State Directors of Adult Education Work on Preparing America's Future

Over one hundred state directors of adult education and staff convened for the 2004 National Meeting of Adult Education State Directors in Columbus, Ohio, on April 21-24th to work on implementing the vision of adult education conveyed in the Administration's Blueprint for Preparing America's Future. National meeting goals supported the principles of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and included: 
*	Assisting states in planning for improving adult education under new legislation; *	Demonstrating the four pillars of NCLB as they relate to adult education;
*	Providing information to states about pending new requirements under reauthorization; and
*	Giving states information about resources to provide quality adult education and improve adult education systems.


In her remarks, Assistant Secretary Susan Sclafani reinforced the major priorities established by OVAE for adult education, including accountability for higher expectations for learners, continuous improvement of services and instruction, and the importance of partnerships.

The meeting offered substantial technical assistance opportunities. These helped states establish and advance the strategic direction of their adult education systems in four priority areas: planning high quality instructional services; improving program accountability; evaluating local program performance; and linking partnerships to improve adult learner outcomes.

States were given the opportunity to do hands-on exercises in groups related to the major features of their delivery systems on topics that support the principles of No Child Left Behind, such as using evaluation data for continuous improvement. Examples of groupings include states administered by community college or postsecondary agencies, rural states, large states, states administered by workforce-type agencies, and those closely aligned with the states K-12 system.

Staff from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education also laid out plans to implement the Office of Management and Budget's Common Performance Measures as well as other changes that will be made in the adult education reporting system. States showcased their new products and initiatives in the "Heartland Gateway" - a forum established for sharing and networking among states.

Sandy Strunk
Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13
Adult Basic and Family Literacy Education
1110 Enterprise Road
East Petersburg, PA 17520
(717) 519-1006