By Claire Miller
Long before Georgia State University’s Adult Literacy Research Center (ALRC) was established, Distinguished University Professor Daphne Greenberg worked alongside nonprofit Literacy Action Inc. to study adult literacy and better support adults with low literacy skills.
Starting in the mid-1990s, Greenberg evaluated Literacy Action’s programming, connected with them on advocacy efforts and helped them consider adult literacy from multiple perspectives.
“I provided technical support on a myriad of issues, such as technology, English as a second language, family literacy, health literacy, workplace literacy, reading components and curricular materials,” she said.
In the last decade, Literacy Action Inc. has awarded several grants to the research team at the ALRC, including Greenberg, who currently serves as the ALRC’s director, and Iris Feinberg, the center’s associate director and a research assistant professor.
Literacy Action’s funding has supported research on adult literacy and Certified Literacy Communities in the state of Georgia. Their generosity provided foundational support to pursue a larger federal grant collaborating with the Georgia Office of Adult Education and the Technical College System of Georgia on a larger project.
“We did an analysis of the supply and demand of adult basic education/high school equivalency services,” Feinberg explained. “We looked at issues at the learner, program and organization levels, including aspects like unemployment, having a high school diploma/equivalency, idle youth (ages 16-18 not in school and not working), the number of adult basic education/high school equivalency providers, their locations and their services.”
This year, the ALRC received an $88,000 gift from Literacy Action Inc. to continue the nonprofit’s legacy of research and community-based projects in adult literacy.
Feinberg said this gift will have a major impact on the kinds of research and advocacy projects the center can take on.
“Specific project areas could be providing qualified medical interpreters to patients who speak lesser-used languages; studying adult learners’ postsecondary enrollment and academic outcomes in Georgia; understanding the relations among component reading skills and how these skills relate to reading comprehension with adult learners; or misinformation on the internet and its effect on lower skilled readers when measuring civic, health or educational equity,” Feinberg explained.
Literacy Action’s gift also means that Greenberg and her team can continue making a meaningful difference for adults with low literacy skills in Georgia.
“I was deeply honored by this gift. It shows the importance and value that they always placed on research and evidence-based practices,” Greenberg said. “Their gift makes it possible to expand our reach and fund more research initiatives that will ultimately help the adult learner.”