The study examined changes in the lives of 450 Tennessee adults one year after they enrolled in literacy programs. Among the findings were:  increase in rate of employment, in participants’ self-esteem, in their involvement in community organizations, and in some literacy practices

Bingman, Mary Beth

Ebert, Olga

English

Kansas State University

Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press Adult Education Research Conference 2000 Conference Proceedings (Vancouver, BC, Canada) One Year After Enrollment in Literacy Programs: A Study of Changes in Learners' Lives Olga Ebert The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Mary Beth Bingman The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/aerc  Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License Recommended Citation Ebert, Olga and Bingman, Mary Beth (2000). "One Year After Enrollment in Literacy Programs: A Study of Changes in Learners' Lives," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2000/papers/19 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Adult Education Research Conference by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. One Year After Enrollment in Literacy Programs:A Study of Changes in Learners’ LivesOlga Ebert and Mary Beth BingmanThe University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USAAbstract: The study examined changes in the lives of 450 Tennessee adults one year after they en-rolled in literacy programs. Among the findings were: increase in rate of employment, in participants’self-esteem, in their involvement in community organizations, and in some literacy practices.IntroductionThe purpose of the study was to identify if and howparticipation in literacy programs impacted the livesof adults. The study focused on changes in lives of450 participants after they enrolled in literacy pro-grams. It aimed at expanding understanding of howprogram participation changes adults’ quality of lifein the domains of work, family, and community.Typically, the outcomes of participation in liter-acy programs for adults have been measured interms of gains on standardized tests and/or passingthe General Educational Development (GED) exam.Some studies have found that participation in adultbasic education can lead to increased employment,self-esteem, and social participation (Beder, 1991).Fingeret and her colleagues (1994) found that liter-acy programs produced outcomes on students’ con-fidence and cultural awareness as well as on literacypractices. The changes that occur in students’ lives,especially changes outside the classroom, may bethe most significant outcomes, although they aregenerally not assessed. Such real life outcomes arethe main focus of this study.The StudyResearch DesignAdult learners from nine adult basic education(ABE) Level-1 programs from across the state ofTennessee were interviewed for this study. Partic i-pants in three cohorts (1992, 1993, 1994) weregiven a baseline interview as they enrolled in ABEprograms. All had scored below the sixth gradelevel on the ABLE (Adult Basic Learning Exam)reading test. Those who had indicated they werewilling, participated in follow-up interviews at ap-proximately one-year intervals. The study was de-signed to continue for five years and includequalitative (individual, program, and communitycase studies), as well as quantitative data. However,funding was interrupted, and the study was notcompleted. A total of 450 baseline interviews werecompleted in the nine sites participating in the studyin Years One, Two, and Three.Although data collection and analysis was sus-pended in 1995, researchers from the Center forLiteracy Studies returned to it later (Bingman,Ebert, & Smith, 2000). The analysis for this reportincludes data from Follow-up One interviews fromthe combined three cohorts (N=199). The table be-low presents the number of interviews for each yearof the study (the numbers analyzed for this paperare italicized).The questionnaire used in this study included116 questions. To examine socio-economic well-being, respondents were asked about their employ-ment and sources of income, as well as about otheractivities used to make ends meet. Social well-beingwas examined through questions relating to familyand community involvement. The personal well-being of respondents was examined with questionspertaining to self-esteem and lifestyle. The Rosen-berg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), towhich an “Undecided” mid-point was added, wasselected because it has been widely used with dif-ferent populations and because it is one of theshorter self-esteem instruments. To examine phys i-cal well-being, students were asked about theirhealth and access to health care. In addition to thesemajor areas, respondents were asked general demo-graphic questions. The follow-up questionnaires in-cluded many of the same questions as the baselinequestionnaire, as well as some new ones that askedpeople to reflect on changes in their lives. For thepresent study, the 56 questions common to baselineand follow-up questionnaires were analyzed. Read-ers should be aware of the limitations of this re-search. The sample size was small, and learnerattrition over time resulted in further decrease insample sizes. All the data in the study were self re-ported.There was no comparison group in this study. Itwas beyond the means of the research team to ob-tain a representative sample of adults who would beeligible for the study but did not enroll in ABE.Within these limitations, the study provides learn-ers’ responses to a wide variety of potential out-comes and contributes to our understanding of theimpacts of ABE participation in learners’ lives.Table 1Tennessee Longitudinal Study InterviewsCohort 1 Cohort 2 Cohort 3 TotalBaseline 133 149 168 450Follow-up 1 70 64 65 199Follow-up 2 45 39 84Follow-up 3 35 35Research QuestionsThe two main research questions of the study were:1. What aspects of life change one year after en-rollment in an ABE program?Two different statistical tests were used to an-swer this research question. A chi-square analysiswas used in situations where variables at both base-line and follow-up were measured at the nominallevel. And for interval level variables, a t-test analy-sis was performed.2. Will substantial participation in an ABE programproduce more change in various aspects of life thanlimited participation?To help answer this question, the participantswere divided into two groups: those with substantialparticipation (80 or more instructional hours), andthose with limited participation (less than 80 hours).A repeated measures mixed design analysis of vari-ance was conducted to determine whether therewere interaction effects where the change of meansfrom baseline to follow-up was dependent on theparticipation group (substantial or limited).All statistical tests utilized an error rate of 5%(p<.05) for testing research questions.FindingsIn the analysis of the follow-up interviews of thecombined cohorts, a number of important changeswere found. Approximately one year after enroll-ment in adult literacy classes these adults reportedchanges in various aspects of their lives. These in-clude:• An increase in rate of employment from 32% ofparticipants to 48%• An overall increase in self-esteem as measuredby the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale from 3.52to 3.66• Increased involvement in community organiza-tions (religious, PTA/PTO, and social sports);changes in the number of registered voters alsoapproached signif icance (p<.06).• Positive changes in three of eight literacy prac-tices examined (paying bills, working withnumbers on the job, and needing to memorizebecause of limited reading ability)• Increase in number of people who thought abook was a good gift for a child• An increased overall satisfaction with their fi-nancial situation in Cohorts 2 and 3.In summary, there was positive change on atleast one item in each category examined by thisstudy – employment, self-esteem, community, andchildren’s education. It should be noted that therewas not a control group in this study, and so onecannot say that these changes were a result of theenrollment of the participants in an adult literacyclass. But the changes were greater than would beexpected by chance, and the common variableamong the participants (in addition to being Ten-nessee adults) was enrolling approximately one yearearlier in an adult literacy program.However, there were no significant changes insome areas. No significant changes were found incommunity awareness or in how people felt abouttheir community. People were not more likely toattend community meetings or talk politics. Therewas not a significant increase in reading reported,nor a significant increase in involvement in chil-dren’s education. There were few significantchanges in life satisfaction.The analysis for this report also compared the32% of the group (N=60) with substantial partic i-pation (at least 80 hours of class since enrollment)with the 68% (N=129) with limited participation(fewer than 80 hours.) There were few significantdifferences between those with limited hours ofclassroom time and those who had substantial par-ticipation:• Those with substantial participation reportedsignificantly more satisfaction with their familylife than those with fewer than 80 hours• Those with substantial participation were morelikely to say that a book is a good gift for achild• Those with limited participation were morelikely to report a decrease in need to memorizebecause they could not read well enough thanthose with substantial partic ipation• For those with limited participation, 18.5%people more were employed one year after en-rollment than at the baseline, while for thosewith substantial participation the differencebetween employment rate at baseline and atfollow-up was 12%.ImplicationsThe findings reported here support the conclusionthat participation in adult basic education is a posi-tive factor in regard to employment and learners’self-esteem. There are multiple factors impactingboth these variables, but enrolling in an adult edu-cation program, even one without a specificworkforce focus, may have led to increased self-esteem and employment. This suggests that whilefocus on work-force preparedness might strengthenemployment outcomes, programs that focus moreon basic skills development also support employ-ment outcomes. This study also suggests that in-formation about the curricula and instructionalapproaches of the programs in which adult literacystudents participate are needed to really understandwhat factors contribute to outcomes in learners’lives. This study also indicates the need for in-creased support for the outcomes beyond basic skillacquisition, if stakeholders in the adult basic educa-tion system have expectations for outcomes beyondbasic skill acquisition. An increased focus on com-munity issues, family literacy, and everyday literacyuses in ABE classes are indicated if goals for ABEinclude changes in these areas of students’ lives.To understand what these findings mean foradult basic education beyond the reassurance thateven limited participation seems to lead to somepositive changes in participants’ lives, detailed pro-gram information is needed. What were the curric-ula, the instructional processes, the goals of theABE programs that participants attended? Qualita-tive interviews with ten of the participants of theLongitudinal Study who were in seven of the pro-grams (Bingman and Ebert, 2000) provide a pictureof what these programs offered. Those ten partic i-pants and a case study of one of the nine programs(Crosse, 1994) described programs where theteachers were very supportive and the curriculumwas primarily structured around basic skills acqui-sition and practice. These were not family literacyprograms. Nor were they community-based pro-grams with a focus on civic involvement. So it isnot surprising that this study found little change incommunity awareness and involvement. Likewise,the small changes in involvement of participantswith their children’s education are not surprising.But there was a significant increase in employ-ment even though the programs did not emphasizeworkforce development. Perhaps taking the step toenroll in an adult education program and improvingreading and math skills, at least to some extent, ledpeople to take the additional step of seeking em-ployment. Another possibility is that people en-rolled in the programs with a goal of getting a job.The analysis reported here supports the conclu-sion that participation in adult basic education is apositive factor in regard to employment. And itsupports the often-reported (Beder, 1991; Beder,1999) conclusion that participation in adult basiceducation leads to increased self-esteem. Althoughpositive changes found in self-esteem, literacypractices, and community involvement were notlarge, it should be noted that small changes after ashort period of association with an ABE programcould lead over time to much greater impacts. Forexample, increased frequency of paying bills re-ported by some participants provides them with ad-ditional practice of basic skills that, combined withother new activities, can eventually lead to moreconfidence in one’s ability to read and write.Other questions that could be addressed fromadditional analysis of the data from the TennesseeLongitudinal Study of Adult Literacy Participants(see Merrifield, Smith, Rea, & Shriver, 1993; Mer-rifield, Smith, Rea, & Crosse, 1994; Bingman,Ebert, & Smith, 2000). Analysis of the follow-upinterviews conducted two and three years after en-rollment, while of many fewer subjects, might yieldnew understandings of longer-term changes. Amore detailed analysis of the descriptive baselinedata could be compared to data on current adulteducation populations, populations affected by wel-fare reform. Questions that were discarded for thisreport (mainly because of the inconsistencies inquestionnaires from year to year), for instance onhealth status, might yield interesting findings. Wehope that other researchers will use the data setsgenerated by this study.ReferencesBeder, H. (1991). Adult literacy: Implications forpolicy and practice. Malabar, FL: Krieger Pub-lishing Co.Beder (1999). The outcomes and impacts of adultliteracy education in the United States. Cam-bridge, MA: National Center for the Study ofAdult Learning and Literacy.Bingman, M.B. & Ebert. O. (2000). ‘I’ve come along way’: Learner-identified outcomes of par-ticipation in adult literacy programs. Cam-bridge, MA: National Center for the Study ofAdult Learning and Literacy.Bingman, M. B., Ebert, O., & Smith, M. (2000).Changes in learners’ lives one year after en-rollment in literacy programs: An analysis fromthe longitudinal study of adult literacy partici-pants in Tennessee. Cambridge, MA: NationalCenter for the Study of Adult Learning and Lit-eracy.Crosse, D. (1994). A Tennessee adult literacy casestudy. Unpublished manuscript, Center for Liter-acy Studies, The University of Tennessee,Knoxville.Fingeret, H., Tom, A., Dyer, P., Morley, A., Daw-son, J., Harper, L., Lee, D., McCue, M., Niks,M. (1994). Lives of change: An ethnographicevaluation of two learner-centered literacy pro-grams. Raleigh, NC: Literacy SouthMerrifield, J., Smith, M., Rea, K., & Crosse, D.(1994). Making a difference: Report to practi-tioners on the Tennessee ABE LongitudinalStudy. Knoxville, TN: Center for Literacy Stud-ies.Merrifield, J., Smith, M., Rea, K., & Shriver, T.(1993). Longitudinal study of adult literacy par-ticipants in Tennessee: Year one report. Knox-ville, TN: Center for Literacy Studies.Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescentself-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress.

One Year After Enrollment in Literacy Programs: A Study of Changes in Learners\u27 Lives

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One Year After Enrollment in Literacy Programs: A Study of Changes in Learners\u27 Lives

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