HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF ADULT LITERACY IN THE U.S.
In 1990, our nation's governors developed a series of six national educational goals that ideally could be achieved by the year 2000. Two additional goals were added in 1994. Goal 6 specifically focuses on issues of adult literacy, lifelong learning, and productivity in the workplace:
Goal 6: By the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
In part, establishing this goal was a response to a perceived "crisis" in adult literacy in the United States that has been decried by numerous observers (Harman, 1987; Kozol 1985). The inference is that our national social problem of illiteracy is a recent phenomenon in our society. But an overview of adult literacy education in the 20th century indicates that the current "crisis" has been echoed before and that Goal 6 could have been established just as easily in 1900 as in 1990. The following synopsis of adult literacy is adapted from Wanda Dauksza Cook (1977), Amy Rose (1991), and Allan Quigley (1997).
1900-1910
Heavy immigration to the U.S. from European countries occurred in the early part of the century. Many immigrants had low educational levels and English as Second Language barriers. This created a challenge to the stability of the social order although the issue of adult literacy was not widely identified as a crucial social problem. Business and labor leaders saw the necessity of adult literacy education to improve productivity/efficiency and to have an informed and educated workforce. Community efforts to provide evening literacy classes for foreign-born adults began in the textile town of Passaic, New Jersey.
1910-1930
Adult literacy was identified as a genuine crisis in the U.S. for the first time. Involvement in WWI created strong anti-foreign born sentiment and precipitated efforts to "Americanize" the foreign population. In addition, the federal government discovered that approximately 25% of WWI military service inductees were near-illiterate and 7% were totally illiterate. After the war, the adult literacy crisis waned as relative economic prosperity ensued and the country attempted to return to normalcy. Some businesses began 'workers classes' to provide elementary education for adult workers.
1930-1950
During the 1930's, any national concern for illiteracy was overshadowed by the socioeconomic hardships of the Depression. Some of President Roosevelt's New Deal relief legislation had an indirect impact on adult literacy education. For example, the Works Progress Administration conducted a 4-year illiteracy campaign in New York City as one of its many projects.
Adult literacy was identified as a national crisis for the second time with the entry of the U.S. into World War II. Again, thousands of illiterate registrants for military service could not perform simple reading and writing tasks. Federal officials were forced to defer illiterate men from military service and instruct them using materials related to the soldiers functional role (e.g. Your Job in the Army) in order to ready them. This literacy training was judged to be successful, and it focused attention on the relationship between literacy levels and the quality of national defense. The Advisory Commission on National Illiteracy study revealed that the problem of inmate illiteracy was extensive. 1950-1960
Nationally this period was characterized by a post-WWII settling into a cold War. The reality of Communism and threat of additional armed conflict stimulated a concern that American citizens be educated for the purpose of a strong national defense. The Korean War revealed that the problem of the illiterate soldier had not disappeared. The launching of the Sputnik satellite by the Russians in 1957 created a national educational crisis as U.S. educators scrambled to improve math and science curricula to keep pace.
States continued to pass legislation related to adult literacy education and to serve as a source of funding for programs that slowly expand nation-wide. Local tax dollars and contributions from private sources continued to be the primary sources of program funding. Industry's concern for adult literacy was minimal in an era of relative economic prosperity and social stability. The Laubach method gained prominence as a way to provide literacy instruction to adults.
1960-1980
Led by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, the federal government became a major force in social legislation related to areas such as civil rights, economic improvement, and education. The important link between education and improving economic status of those who are disadvantaged was clearly drawn. The Adult Education Act, passed in 1966, finally established a meaningful federal financial presence in addressing the problem of adult illiteracy. This landmark legislation increased literacy education appropriations, suggested establishing national leadership, a national resource center, a standard report process, and promoted a teacher training component. A nationwide attack on illiteracy was launched with the National Right to Read program. The goal of the program was to ensure that by 1980, 99% of the individuals under the age of 16 and 90% of the-individuals over 16 would be able to read and write.
1980-1990
Quigley (1997) terms this period The Decade of the Romanticized Illiterate Adult. During this time the media depicts the illiterate as a heroic victim who can be saved by those who care. Stanley and Iris and The Pride of Jesse Hallam depict this victim/savior relationship on film. Print media interest in adult literacy reaches peak during this decade. The Reagan administration increased the focus on the crisis in adult literacy during the early part of this period. However, this 'renewed' interest in combating illiteracy hinged on waging the battle with volunteers in order to decrease federal financial costs. In the 32 years since the passage of the Adult Education Act in 1966, the early 1980's represent the only time that federal appropriations for adult literacy education did not increase. Between 1980 and 1991, federal funding for all adult literacy programs dropped from 57% to 20% -- $209.35 per adult literacy student vs. $5,991.00 per K-12 student.
As might be expected, there was significant growth in volunteer literacy organizations - most notably Laubach Literacy Action and the Literacy Volunteers of America. Research efforts into adult literacy education began to blossom. The private, non-profit Coalition for Literacy was established in 1981. The purpose of this group was to provide national publicity for literacy issues, increase volunteer activities in support of adult literacy, and respond to public inquiries. The Even Start Family Literacy Program was authorized by Congress in 1989 to improve educational opportunities for adults and children by integrating early childhood education, parenting education, and adult education into a unified program.
1990 - present
The passage of the National Literacy Act (NLA) in 1991 provided American society with a new, broader definition of literacy that suggested that literacy is the key to solving a variety of social problems. Adult literacy educators pointed to the NLA as a positive step in creating a long-awaited, much-needed strong infrastructure of substance in the field of adult literacy. This definition was recently amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
Co-sponsored by Tom Sawyer and Paul Simon, the NLA established the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and State Literacy Resource Centers. It was the foundation of a new infrastructure and provided the field with a new definition of literacy. Funding for the SLRC's was rescinded during the 1993 federal budget cuts. The NLA also increased emphasis on accountability and evaluation in adult literacy as it required states to develop indicators of program quality and use them to evaluate program effectiveness.
Summary
Clearly, concern for adult literacy in American society has been prevalent for nearly a century. However, focused, widespread national response has occurred only in times of crisis such as the discovery of large numbers of illiterate soldiers as the U.S. prepared to fight World War I and World War II. Even recent emphases on eliminating illiteracy such as the federal Right to Read Program and the Adult Literacy Initiative were driven by a short-term crisis mentality.
Notably, adult literacy's link to workforce productivity, economic development, and preserving the established social order dates back to business and industry's response to waves of immigration at the beginning of the century. In this perspective, the current concept of workplace literacy is not a new phenomenon. In times of economic prosperity throughout the century, adult literacy was a crisis deferred. Historically, adult literacy has been emphasized primarily as a means to solving important social problems. Rarely has it been accorded to center stage as an end in itself - the promotion of lifelong learning and human development for a better quality of life.
Until the passage of the Adult Literacy Act in 1966, the federal government assumed no meaningful role for focusing attention on or funding adult literacy. With the passage of the 1991 National Literacy Act, newly-created structures such as the National Institute for Literacy and a network of state literacy resource centers offers hope that a longer-term commitment is being made which will allow "literacy development to take its place as part of a larger pledge to lifelong learning in society" (Fingeret,1992,).
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