The other day, I remembered something a former colleague told me, shortly after I began working in the field of adult education and literacy: "One of the best ways for any program manager to promote/facilitate the process of education reform and improvement on the local level is to have your program participate in special state and national projects." That's why her region's program was always (and still is) applying to be in special projects. Although I didn't know it then, now I think her appraisal is accurate. Does this match your experience?

Are any NIFL-PLI subscribers working with a special project designed to advance some reform or improvement (teacher, program, curriculum, instruction, etc.) that you could share here? Or have you applied to be part of one? Could you share some information about it here? Thanks. And what do you expect/hope to happen as a result of your program/region/state's participation? 

Are any PLI subscribers participating in Project STAR or the Adult Education State Content Standards Consortia, both of which are being supported by the Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, through its National Leadership Activities program. Project STAR is a reading improvement initiative that's supporting six pilot states committed to improving reading instruction for intermediate-level adults (CA, IL, OH, CN, SD and ME). The Adult Education State Content Standards Consortia Project is supporting 15 states' participation in two consortia for the development and alignment of ABE/ASE and ESL standards (GA, ID, IN, KY, LA, MI, WY, FLA, IL, MA, MO, PA, TX, VA, and WA). Both of these projects are just getting underway.

I am looking forward to our sharing information, excitement, questions, and concerns on this discussion list as everyone's program improvement efforts progress. 

Ronna

Ronna Spacone
Education Program Specialist
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education
Division of Adult Education and Literacy
(202) 245-7755

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/index.html