About the History of Adult Education in the US

The Adult Education Act (AEA) of 1966 was a major turning point in the history of adult basic education in the US.  It marked the beginning of federal government funding for adult basic education (defined as pre-high school) and for English as a second language education. The National Literacy Act (NLA) of 1991 was incorporated into the Adult Education Act.

Until the Department of Labor's 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA), adult education programs were in education legislation. WIA repealed the AEA and the NLA. The WIA Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of 1998 (AEFLA), provides funding for adult basic education to:

1. "assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency;
2. "assist adults who are parents to obtain the educational skills necessary to become full partners in the educational development of their children; and
3. "assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education."

See a 16-page side-by-side comparison table of the AEA as amended by the NLA with the WIA.

In 2014, WIA was replaced by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). States, including Rhode Island, are currently sorting out how to comply with the terms of the new law, which took effect on July 1, 2015.

Key references include:

• The Uneducated, by Ginzberg and Bray, 1953 - a summary
• Literacy and Basic Elementary Education for Adults: A Selected Annotated Bibliography. 1961.
• A History of the Adult Education Act, 1980.
• Ensuring Effective Adult Literacy Policies and Procedures at the Federal and State Levels, Decker, 1984.
• Adult Literacy Initiative 1983-1985. Final Report, Robinson, 1985.
• History of the Adult Education Act: an Overview, 1991.
• Ends or Means: An Overview of the History of the Adult Education Act, 1991.
• National Literacy Act of 1991: Major Provisions of P.L. 102-73, CRS, 1991.
• ERIC and the Adult Education Act: 25 Years of Collaboration, 1991. (Fulltext)
• Federal Adult Education: A Legislative History 1964-2013, US DOE, Nov. 2013.
• Reflections on the Fortieth Birthday of the Adult Education Act of 1966, Halperin, Dec. 22, 2006.

Additional references:

• The Saturation Project and NAPSAE's Changing Strategies for Adult Education, 1952-1962, 1991.
• Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy - Reach Higher, America, June 2008.
• Adult Education Professional Societies, Henschke, n.d.

Interesting figures in the history of adult education:

• Ambrose Caliver

1. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/caliver-ambrose-1894-1962
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Caliver

• Samuel Halperin, "largely responsible for both the actual writing of the adult education section and its placement in the [Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.]" Ends or Means, p. 14.

1. Washington Post obituary
2. Guide for the Powerless and Those Who Don't Know Their Own Power: A Primer on the American Political Process, 2001.

• Paul Delker, Director of the US Department of Education Division of Adult Education, 1967-1986.

1. State of the Art in Adult Education, 1984.

• Johan E. Uvin, current Acting Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical and Adult Education and former RI adult education director.

1. Biography
2. Reinventing Adult Education Presentation at ASCA (Association of California School Administrators), YouTube, 2011.