Adult Learner Leadership in Education Services (ALLIES) Study
Summer 2014 – Spring 2016
When adult learners enter an adult education program, they typically do so to learn English, brush up on basic skills for a job, or get a “second chance” high school equivalency credential before starting college. Adult learners come from many marginalized groups, including immigrants, refugees, stay-at-home mothers raising young children, young adults who could not complete high school, and adults with disabilities who want to improve their basic skills. Since most lack critical language, math, or other basic skills, and many need jobs that will support themselves and their families, it is easy to suppose that adult learners lack experience and resources. The truth is, along with their learning needs, they bring with them significant life experience and untapped resources as well.
VALUEUSA sees the potential in the life experience and resources adult learners bring to their programs; in the USA it is the first organization to ever study what the effects of adult learner leadership are. A non-profit organization based in Media, Pennsylvania, VALUEUSA is the only national organization run by and for adult learners – it describes itself as the “alumni association” of adult learners. In its mission, VALUEUSA promotes the understanding that every adult who wants to improve his or her literacy skills can do so; the organization also encourages the development of leadership skills among adult learners, enabling them to assist and improve their own programs as they learn.
Furthermore, VALUEUSA believes that adult learner leadership can boost adult learner outcomes, especially in preparation for the workforce. VALUEUSA defines adult learner leadership as learner involvement in all components of the adult education program and in every phase of its organization and function. Examples of adult learner leadership include programs that hire learners to serve in staff roles, establish roles for learners on program boards and committees, and train learners to become advocates and spokespersons for the program. VALUEUSA leadership training encourages adult learners to lead in designing services, project planning and management, critical thinking, effective writing, mentoring, fundraising, and evaluation. Most of these skills are also highly prized in the workforce.
To test its belief in adult learner leadership, in 2014 VALUEUSA partnered with Research Allies for Lifelong Learning, independent evaluators based in Vienna, Virginia, to design a rigorous, two-year study named Adult Learner Leadership in Education Services (ALLIES). Thanks to a generous initial grant from Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the ALLIES study is evaluating how adult learners can benefit a program as they pursue their own learning and leadership goals. In an experimental design, programs in each of seven states were selected at random as either participating or control programs, and baseline data were collected from both types of programs (see early results below). Thirteen (13) participating programs received VALUEUSA leadership training and mentoring support as they developed a learner-led project; eight (8) control programs continued to run their programs as usual. Data collection, learner training, and mentoring occurred throughout 2015.
In each of the 13 participating programs, leadership projects reflect the unique needs of the program and the diverse goals of the learners. Adult learners are organizing meetings, planning events, making decisions, raising awareness, and solving problems. A rural Colorado project whose adult learners work for a major local employer is raising awareness of its learning program and the contributions of immigrants to the local community. In Florida, mothers of young children are seeking funds for bus passes to get to class and to family learning experiences outside the scope of the local center; within the first few weeks they raised nearly $1000. In an urban project in Texas, adult learners developed and distributed an electronic newsletter – complete with graphics, photos, and web links – to improve communications among learners and staff. While each local project is different, they all have learner leadership, learner-staff interactions, and skill development in common.
In fall 2015, ALLIES evaluators plan to return to all 21 participating and control centers to collect final data. Since adult learners will have had nearly a year to work with program staff on leadership activities through their projects, the potential for growth is promising. Evaluators will measure growth in learner critical thinking and writing approaches, interactions with peers and staff, shifts in perceptions of leadership, and gains in learner retention and skills. These data will allow evaluators to compare programs of both types and to answer questions about the true effects of adult learner leadership that have never been asked before. Supporters of ALLIES are invited to join in this study with donations toward learner and program stipends, evaluator travel to centers to collect final data, and staff time to run the study and report results.
By the Numbers*
States: 21 programs in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas
Participating (P) Programs: 13
Control (C) Programs: 8
Staff: 68
Adult Learners: 306
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212 Females (69%)
94 Males (31%)
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100 Native English Speakers (33%)
203 English Language Learners (67%)
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Median Age: 35 to 39 years
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Median Highest Grade Completed: 10th Grade
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Median Years in Adult Education: 1 Year
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131 Employed or Self-employed (48%)
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Progress in Center:
Just Started (31%)
About Halfway Through (50%)
Near the End or Already Finished (19%)
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Aspirations after Adult Education:
Get a Better Job (29%)
Take HS Equivalency Test (27%)
Go to College or University (23%)
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Currently a Leader (28%)
Formerly a Leader (31%)
Want to Be a Leader (82%)
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Median Leadership Self-rating:
7 out of 10
(* as of September 8, 2015)