Outcomes of Participation in Adult Basic Education: The Importance of Learners' Perspectives. NCSALL Occasional Paper.

This paper addresses how to measure the performance of programs by measuring the outcomes of program participation for learners. Based on studies conducted in Tennessee in which adult learners reported a broader and more complex set of outcomes than the three "core indicators" mandated by Title II of the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the paper suggests that learners have a different perspective on performance than the authors of WIA and their perspectives should be considered at the policy level and by local programs. Section 1 examines performance accountability in adult basic education and how it is being applied in the WIA, the National Reporting System, and 17 state plans. Section 2 reports on findings of the Tennessee Longitudinal Study of Adult Literacy and a subsequent qualitative study. The following findings of the Tennessee study of adult literacy learners are reported: (1) there is an increase in rate of employment; (2) increase in overall satisfaction with their financial situation; (3) overall increase in self esteem; (4) increase in involvement in community organizations; (5) positive change in three of eight literacy practices; and (6) increase in the number of people who thought a book was a good gift for a child. Findings from the Learner Identified Outcomes Study show that participants identified changes in their lives that can be grouped as literacy uses and changes in sense of self. Section 3 discusses implications of findings and alternative ways to assess the performance of adult basic education. (Contains 17 references.) (YLB)