Experiences with performance accountability show that this would be a mistake. Agreement on what to measure must be established first. This policy paper lays out key issues in performance accountability and presents recommendations for policy and action. It is based on the literature from education, government, management, and other fields, and draws on interviews with researchers and adult education leaders at state and national levels. Its recommendations were informed by a discussion with a group of experienced adult education practitioners and researchers.
Past policy is no longer a guide for action.
The 1966 Adult Education Act, which has governed ABE for more than 30 years, provides little guidance in developing performance accountability. Definitions of literate functioning vary and are hotly debated. Over time, views of what literacy means have shifted from academic skills, such as decoding text, to functional skills, such as being able to perform certain tasks using literacy skills. Recent research has changed radically our understanding of literacy. This change in definition shifts the focus even further from abstract skills to real-life practices.