Making Skills Everyone’s Business

A Call to Transform Adult Learning in the United States

S

kills are everyone’s business. Youths’ and adults’ foundation skills1

determine local, regional, and national competitiveness. They have 

lasting impacts on individuals’ success and social mobility. Skills 

are vital components of healthy, safe families and civic engagement, and 

are the building blocks of economic development and growth. In our 

fast-changing and ever-connected 21st-century lives, learning and skill 

development must be a constant and lifelong pursuit. 

This brief guide is a preview of a longer report that the Department of 

Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) 

will publish in August 2014. The report represents a yearlong review 

of the performance and outcomes of state adult education practices; 

an assessment of states’ status on various adult education reforms; 

consultations with peers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, 

and other nations that have developed national strategies for improving U.S. Department of Education

Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
foundation skills; a review of 

the literature on instructional 

effectiveness; a deeper dive into 

the U.S. data by the OECD, which 

resulted in the report Time for the 

U.S. to Reskill?2

; and an engagement 

process that took OCTAE leadership 

across the country listening to 

students and stakeholders and 

encouraging communities to submit 

input. All of these efforts informed 

the understanding that, because skills 

matter to so many quality-of-life 

issues, raising Americans’ skill levels 

will require everyone’s commitment. 

This guide provides seven high-level 

strategies that communities, public 

and private entities, and all levels of 

government can adopt to achieve 

a collective-impact approach, with 

shared objectives to strengthen 

our nation.

1. Create joint ownership of solutions.

It is often crises in our lives that make us realize we lack the necessary 

skills for protecting and advancing our health, job opportunities, 

financial security, or safety. This call to collective action asks 

communities to invest time and resources in skill development in 

advance of such crises. Such investment will better prepare individuals 

and communities to weather the inevitable storms and changes in the 

human context with knowledge and problem-solving abilities. When 

adopting a collective-impact approach3

, key stakeholders from various 

sectors agree to a common agenda, shared accountability, mutually 

reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a coordinating 

agency. In this way, communities can tackle challenging issues while 

building the capacity of stakeholders to do even more. 

2. Expand opportunities for adults to improve foundation skills.

The current federally funded adult education system reaches fewer than 

2 million adults annually.4

 With the Survey of Adult Skills estimating that 

there are 3 million adults in the United States who want to get started 

on skill development but face a variety of barriers, and 36 million adults 

who could benefit from improved skills, U.S. residents clearly need 

greatly expanded opportunities for learning. Innovative technologies, 

online platforms, and instructional designs provide transformative 

WHO BENEFITS FROM HIGHER SKILLS?

I

ndividuals, families, employers, and communities stand to benefit 

from improving the foundation skills of U.S. adults.

• The economic payoff to individuals for higher skills is greater in 

the U.S. than in almost any other industrialized country (OECD, 

Time for the U.S. to Reskill?).

• Improving adult skills increases productivity and, among 

industrialized nations, countries with higher cognitive skills 

have substantially higher long-term economic growth. (How 

Much Do Educational Outcomes Matter in OECD Countries? Eric 

A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann, Working Paper 16515, 

National Bureau of Economic Research, November 2010). 

• States with better educated workforces have higher economic 

growth and higher wages generally (A Well-Educated Workforce 

Is Key to State Prosperity, Noah Berger and Peter Fisher, 

Economic Policy Institute, August 22, 2013).

• A growing body of evidence suggests that increasing parents’ 

skills can improve education outcomes for their children 

(“Increases in Maternal Education and Young Children’s 

Language Skills,” Katherine A. Magnuson et al, Merrill-Palmer 

Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 3, July 2009.)
ways for learners to access high-quality, engaging content, just-in-time 

support and encouragement, peer and expert mentors, and diagnostic 

assessments.5

 Realizing the potential of these innovations will require the 

collaboration of funders, service providers, businesses, and educational 

entrepreneurs to bring promising models to scale. 

3. Make career pathways available and accessible in every community.

The federal departments of Education, Labor, and Health and 

Human Services published a joint letter6

 in April 2012 promoting 

career pathways as “an efficient and customer-centered approach to 

training and education ...” This holistic practice utilizes contextualized 

instruction, a model found to be effective with low-skilled adult 

learners.7 High-quality career pathways also engage employers in helping 

ensure that they address their current and future hiring needs and result 

in the employment of pathways participants. Career pathways that are 

aligned with local and regional labor market trends should be available 

in every community.

4. Ensure all students have access to highly effective teachers, leaders, 

and programs.

Effective teachers and programs using evidence-based instruction can 

accelerate learning and boost students’ outcomes. However, the current 

OECD’S SURVEY OF 

ADULT SKILLS

The Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development 

(OECD) released the results of the 

Survey of Adult Skills, part of the 

Programme for the International 

Assessment of Adult Competencies,

in October 2013. This assessment 

was conducted with nationally 

representative samples from 23 

countries of adults ages 16 through 

65. It is an international household 

survey to assess the cognitive 

and workplace skills needed for 

success in the 21st-century global 

economy.

The rankings show that, in literacy, 

numeracy, and problem solving in 

a technology-rich environment, 

the U.S. average performance 

is significantly lower than the 

international average. The data 

also show that the skill levels 

of U.S. adults have remained 

stagnant over two decades, and 

that our youngest learners are not 

improving their skill levels either. In 

many other countries, by contrast, 

young adults score well above 

older ones and also outpace their 

American peers.

WHO ARE THE LOW-SKILLED IN AMERICA?

One-third 

are under 

age 35.

One-third are 

immigrants.

More than 

half are 

black or 

Hispanic. 

Two-thirds 

of the young 

(16-24) 

low-skilled 

population 

are men.

People with learning disabilities are 

twice as likely to have low skills.

Nearly two-thirds of the low-skilled 

are employed.

Over one-third have done 

st 12 

 literacy 

 skills, 

w as 20 

volunteer work in the pa

months.

Overall, one in six U.S. adults has low

skills, one in three has low numeracy

and low skills are just as prevalent no

years ago.

Source: OECD, Time for the U.S. to Reskill?
adult education system lacks the infrastructure to support teachers 

equitably across states and programs. Greater investments are required 

for high-quality professional development to scale up what works, 

including the necessary job supports and structures for teachers to 

deliver these programs. More research, development, and evaluation on 

promising interventions and program models are also needed to address 

the diversity within the adult learner population.8

5 Align federal policies and programs to integrate services for adults.

Education, social services, and workforce development systems that 

serve low-skilled and vulnerable populations should be able to work 

together seamlessly for their clients. Too often, however, this is not the 

case, and clients experience disconnected and conflicting services and 

enrollment requirements. Federal agencies should work to identify and 

address policy and regulatory barriers to providing integrated services, 

and pursue the means to give communities the flexibility to innovate 

when appropriate. Federal programs should use common measures of 

pertinent practices or services that clearly articulate success.

6 Increase the return on investment in skills training for business, 

industry, and labor. 

Almost two-thirds of the low-skilled population in the United States 

is employed,9

 which makes federal, state, or local partnerships with 

COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Some communities are now applying the collectiveimpact model to raise adult skills regionwide. The Silicon 

Valley ALLIES initiative unites three workforce boards, 

10 community colleges, three adult education schools, 

human services agencies, community-based organizations, 

the Service Employees International Union, and the San 

Mateo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in a collaborative 

effort to innovate and advocate around skills development. 

Their collective goal is to help adult English learners access 

education, training, and other services to successfully enter 

and advance in family-sustaining careers, and help local 

employers meet their workforce skill needs.
employers ready-made routes for reaching those individuals with skill 

development services. Federal tax and federal-share incentives, such 

as incumbent worker training, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, 

unemployment insurance, work sharing, and more closely coordinated 

training programs, can be used to increase the foundation and technical 

skills of entry-level employees and new hires. Also, businesses, industry 

associations, and labor unions across the country have found costeffective ways to invest in their workers. Documenting how these 

programs create efficiencies and economies of scale, and then sharing 

those case studies of returns on investment with other businesses and 

enterprises can help scale up these practices to reach more workers.

7. Commit to closing the equity gap for vulnerable sub-populations.

The low-skilled population in the United States is remarkably diverse, 

with specific sub-populations presenting distinct learning backgrounds, 

challenges, and needs. Historically underserved populations and those 

who still bear the unfortunate scars of earlier achievement gaps10 merit 

deliberate outreach, partnerships with community-based organizations, 

and focus, such as the Obama administration’s My Brother’s Keeper 

initiative.11 The 12.4 million adults who do not speak English well or at 

all12 represent significant linguistic diversity and include both highly 

skilled and educated immigrants, and those who have little or no 

literacy education in their native languages. Low-skilled adults with 

disabilities and chronic health issues may or may not be properly assessed 

K–12 AND PARENTS

All parents need strong foundation skills to earn a 

family-sustaining wage, support their children’s 

academic growth, and socio-emotional and physical 

health, and contribute to their communities. Especially 

where schools have concentrations of families with low 

skills and low English proficiency, parental engagement in 

English language, education, and training opportunities 

is essential to the children’s kindergarten readiness and 

academic success, and the future of the community.
and matched to effective instruction and assistive technologies. Rural 

residents often face isolation and economic challenges specific to their 

locations. Incarcerated and re-entering individuals often face unique 

education and training situations that require creative solutions. For 

all these groups and others, focused investments are required for 

research, development, and evaluation to create effective, differentiated 

interventions and program models. 

How you can make skills your business. The Department of Education 

is committed to being a champion of change for low-skilled adults 

who need further education, English language development, and skills 

training to advance into the middle class. Join us in this effort that is so 

critical to the immediate and long-term future of our nation. You can 

• educate your colleagues and peers about the importance of skills to 

your clients, business, industry, and labor unions;

• enlist your social organizations to take action on skills development 

in your community;

• hold your elected officials accountable for skills improvements in 

your community;

• identify partners and feasible, practical actions toward skills 

development that will make a difference in your community; and

• become a champion and commit to making skills your business.

Learn more: OCTAE’s full report will explain how the call to action on 

skills was developed, provide greater detail on the strategies as well as more 

examples of promising practices, and share the research in which the call 

is grounded. The full report will be published in August 2014 and made 

available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/index.

html.

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1

OCTAE defines foundation skills as a combination of literacy, numeracy and English language skills (i.e., listening, reading, writing, speaking in English, 

digital literacy and the use of mathematical ideas), and employability skills required for participation in modern workplaces and contemporary life. 

2

OECD (2013). Time for the U.S. to Reskill?: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing. Available at http://skills.oecd.org/

Survey_of_Adult_Skills_US.pdf 

3

Kania, J. & Kramer, M. (2011). “Collective Impact,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Vol. 65. Available at http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/

collective_impact

4

See Adult Basic Education Grant Program Factsheet at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/facts-figures.html 

5

Russell, M., Lippincott, J., & Getman, J. (2013). Connected Teaching and Personalized Learning: Implications of the National Education 

Technology Plan (NETP) for Adult Education. Draft for Public Comment. Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research. Available at 

http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/ImplicationsNTEP_AdultEd.pdf 

6

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/ten-attachment.pdf 

7

National Research Council. (2012). Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options for Practice and Research. Committee on Learning Sciences: Foundations 

and Applications to Adolescent and Adult Literacy, A.M. Lesgold and M. Welch-Ross, Eds. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press; Martin, V. & 

Broadus, J. (2013). Enhancing GED Instruction to Prepare Students for College and Careers. New York: MDRC.

8

National Research Council. (2012). Ibid.

9

OECD (2013). Time for the U.S. to Reskill?

10Duncan, G. & Murnane, R. (Eds.) (2011). Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances. New York: Russell Sage and 

Spencer Foundations. Available at https://www.russellsage.org/publications/whither-opportunity

11http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/27/remarks-president-my-brothers-keeper-initiative 

12See data from U.S. Census at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/factsh/us-country-profile.pdf