In the quiet of the office as everyone starts to trickle back from the holidays, I resolve to better handle the details for time to focus on the big things that will really make a difference and a dent in our community's need for increased literacy.  What's your resolve?

ABE Supervisors Meeting

I hope you resolve to network with the stellar people who are running the region's adult and family literacy and ESL programs.  Our first ABE Supervisors meeting of the year is Wednesday, January 13 from 9-10:30am at Loyola University, Lindy Boggs Literacy Center - Monroe Library, 2nd Floor.  A new feature for the monthly meetings will be "Capacity Building" - a time on the agenda for new programs or organizations wishing to start literacy services to introduce themselves, ask questions and learn from the experts on best practices in adult basic education program development and instruction.

Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization Conversations

What are the real issues impacting adult learners, practitioners, and programs in adult education today? Brenda Dann-Messier, the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, invites you to participate in a conversation (http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/10WIA) January 11-15, 2010 about reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The Obama Administration is preparing for WIA reauthorization and has asked the National Institute for Literacy’s Discussion Lists to engage in a candid and constructive discourse about what the field’s successes and needs are in providing adult education programs and services.

Choose 1 or 2 questions or topics that you feel most passionate about and submit your testimony during next week's online conversation.  I look forward to "seeing" you there!

Chicago-Bound: Community Literacy, COABE, and ProLiteracy

This is the first time all three groups are coming together for a conference, and it should be a good one.  Go to coabe.org to register.  I will be doing a presentation based on my research on public policy in adult literacy there, so please join me and the national literacy community in these important discussions!

Learning always,

Rachel