Claire Aldenhuysen - History of Adult Education, 1990s

    The demand for adult learning increased in the 1990s due to a market shift from a manufacturing economy to a service- and information-based economy (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). The 1990s also saw a growth in globalization due to the liberalization of trade laws, resulting in individuals not only having to compete for jobs with other candidates locally, but worldwide (Bills, 2000). Additionally, the 1990s was a time of technological advancement. Though the internet had its origins in the early 1970s (Dennis & Kahn, 2020), it wasn’t until the early 1990s that widespread use of the World Wide Web became commonplace.

    The internet introduced the world to a completely new way of communicating, working, and learning. All of these factors combined resulted in a shift in importance from “natural resources and physical capital to human resources and human capital - that is, to the skills and abilities of the population” (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Furthermore, the 1990s saw the Baby Boomer generation reach middle age, resulting in a large workforce composed of individuals who were better educated than the generation before them and more open to lifelong learning opportunities (Valentine, 1997).

    Lastly, the 1990s saw an increase in opportunity for and benefits from continued adult education. Not only was there a marked economic return on obtaining higher education degrees (U.S. Department of Education, 2000), but the number of businesses providing on-the-job training opportunities increased (National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce, 1995). 

The decade of the 1990’s also saw an increased effort to improve adult literacy. The US Congress, US Department of Education, and adult education leaders saw a need to combine adult literacy programs with other forms of adult education (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). In September 1989, President George H. W. Bush and the 50 state governors convened at an Education Summit with the intention of setting educational goals for the nation (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The National Goals were announced five months later in February 1990, including, for the first time, adult education: “By the year 2000, every adult in America will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship” (National Education Goals Panel, 1999). The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey was developed to satisfy the requirements set by the Adult Education Amendments of 1988. This survey was designed to assess the literacy skills of adults 16 years and older. The survey revealed a shocking 47% of the 13,600 adults surveyed scored at or below levels needed to function at a minimum standard of proficiency (Jenkins, L., & Baldi, S., 1999).   

The U.S. government continued to pursue a greater level of adult literacy for the American people. The National Literacy Act (P.L. 102-73) was signed by President George H.W. Bush on July 25, 1991. Its purpose was to “enhance the literacy and basic skills of adults, to ensure that all adults in the United States acquire the basic skills necessary to function effectively and achieve the greatest possible opportunity in their work and in their lives, and to strengthen and coordinate adult literacy programs” (National Literacy Act of 1991). The National Literacy Act called for the development of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), which would be charged with “maintaining a national clearinghouse for literacy, providing technical assistance and training to adult education providers, fostering research-based activities that would identify and validate effective instructional practices, and disseminating information regarding those practices” (National Literacy Act, §102, §384, 1991).

Furthermore, the National Literacy Act provided grants to states to improve their capacity of literacy and service providers through either the improvement or establishment of State Literacy Resource Centers (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). These literacy and service providers would have the responsibility to serve adults with less than a high school education in their communities. In addition to literacy programs, the National Literacy Act provided funding for National Workforce Demonstration Programs for the first time (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The funding for this program were designated to support “effective partnerships between education organization, business and industry, labor organizations, and private industry councils” and were intended to serve adults who sought improvement not only in literacy, but also adult basic skills, ESL programs, ABE preparation, and general support services, such as childcare and transportation (National Literacy Act, §202, §371, 1991). The Act also required states to allot 10% of their state funding specifically for corrections education, which would be utilized in programming designed to assist incarcerated individuals in basic literacy skills, ABE preparation, and transition into the community upon release (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).

All of the initiatives in the National Literacy Act were designed to improve adult educational opportunities throughout the United States. These programs were intended to not only resolve the issue of widespread illiteracy among adults, but to educate a workforce that sorely needed the professional development that was otherwise inaccessible or unavailable to them.  

In order to better understand the motivation behind adult education activities in the 1990s, the National Center for Education Statistics conducted three Adult Education surveys through the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). These surveys, conducted in 1991, 1995, and 1999, asked participants about six types of formal learning activities. The activities included: English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (GED classes), credential programs, apprenticeship programs, job- or career-related courses, and personal development courses. Respondents were asked to provide one main reason for their participation in the aforementioned activities, which were then coded into two categories: work-related (to improve, advance, or keep up to date on current job or train for a new job or career) and nonwork related (to improve basic literacy, math, or writing skills, or for a personal reason). 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that the percentage of surveyed adults participating in adult education increased from 33% to 46% from 1991 to 1999 (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). The NCES also collected data on participation based on sex, ethnicity, education level, labor force status, and occupation group of the participants, finding that both men and women participated in adult educational activities at a rate of 33% in 1991, but the end of the decade saw participation by women increase to 48% (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). 

For the purposes of these surveys, the NCES defined race in the following manner: non-Hispanic Blacks, non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and All Other Race/Ethnic Groups. It was found that in 1991, 26% of non-Hispanic Blacks participated in adult educational activities, compared to 34% of non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and All Other Race/Ethnic Groups. From  1991 to 1999, participation in adult education increased among non-Hispanic Whites (34 to 46 percent), non-Hispanic Blacks (26% to 48%), Hispanics (32% to 43%), and for the category comprising all other race/ethnic groups (34% to 51%).

The three NHES studies found a positive relationship between education level and participation in adult education, supporting evidence found in previous, similar studies (Kim et al., 1995; Valentine, 1997, as cited in Creighton & Hudson, 2002). For those with less than a high school diploma, participation rates increased from 13% to 22% over the course of the decade; from 24% to 36% for those with a high school diploma, from 42% to 54% for those with some college education, and from 54% to 64% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher (Creighton & Hudson, 2002).  

The researchers also discovered a significantly higher participation rate in adult educational programs by those employed full time (45%) at the beginning of the decade. By comparison, part time workers (34%), the unemployed (27%), retirees (9%), and those otherwise not in the labor force (22%) were all participating at a much lower rate. However, by 1999, the rates increased for each category anywhere from 9% to 22% (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). 

Lastly, the researchers found an initially higher percentage of those in professional and managerial jobs (65%) participating in adult education, followed by those in sales, service, and support positions (36%), and finally those in trade occupations (29%). From 1991 to 1999, those in professional and managerial jobs saw only a small increase of 1%, but the other two categories saw a much more significant increase in participation (50% for sales, service, and support and 38% for those in trade occupations). 

This data shows that during the 1990s, there was significant growth and an overall increase in participation in adult education for every almost category surveyed. This was most likely due to the proliferation of options available to adult learners, including formal educational programs, ESL courses, ABE preparation, apprentice programs, and more.

Unfortunately, the trio of surveys conducted by the NCES were not identical throughout the decade, with the 1991 survey instrument neglecting to allow comparisons for the patterns of participation in specific types of adult education activities (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). However, the NCES was able to collect and compare data for 1995 and 1999 regarding participation patterns and trends amongst those surveyed.

   The NCES surveys for 1995 and 1999 found that the most popular adult education activities were work-related courses and nonwork-related courses (20%), followed by credential programs (10%), and lastly by the three remaining categories of ESL, ABE, and apprenticeship programs (1-2%) (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). According to Creighton and Hudson (2002), the low participation rate for the latter three categories was due to the fact that these types of educational opportunities are targeted to a more restricted group of adults than other forms of adult education.  

Over the course of the latter half of the decade, participation in all adult education activities increased from 42% to 46%, reflecting growth in most types of adult education, except for ESL programs and work-related courses (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Creighton and Hudson (2002) posit that there are at least two reasons ESL programs did not see an increase in participation rates. First is due to the limited time period surveyed; four years may not be enough time to see the formation of a trend. Secondly, the NHES Adult Education Surveys were only conducted in Spanish and English, thereby excluding any adults who did not speak either language from participating.    

    The data collected in regard to participation in work-related and nonwork-related courses found that participation rates for work-related courses were the highest among middle-aged adults, while nonwork-related courses were generally constant except for the oldest group of adults (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Participation rates were found in increase with both education level and occupational status for both categories, supporting evidence found by other studies that “employers are more likely to provide training to better educated and professional workers than to other workers” (Creighton & Hudson, 2002; Lynch and Black, 1996; Training Magazine, 1997; Frazis et al, 1998). 

The 1990s was a decade of change. Not only was globalization the rise, but the advent of new technologies, like the Internet, necessitated the development of new adult educational opportunities. Not only that, but demand for adult education increased among workers across the board, from individuals in professional roles to those holding trade occupations. People saw the need for improving their on-the-job skills, whether it was to compete in a global market, to make themselves more marketable for internal promotions, or to fulfill personal aspirations. Fortunately, the U.S. government saw this desire for self improvement and acted upon it, passing legislation to enable workers to access adult education resources more easily than ever before. Research conducted over the following decade showed that individuals maintained their interest in professional development as more and more opportunities presented themselves. 

Area	Summary
Social Background	globalization, World Wide Web, Baby Boomers, emphasis on human capital vs. natural resources, widespread illiteracy among adults, desire for self improvement (professional, academic, and personal)
Highlights	new opportunities for adult education, distance learning, upward mobility, establishment of State Literacy Resource Centers
Influential Factors	Education Summit (1989), National Goals (1990), 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey, National Household Education Surveys Program, The National Literacy Act (P.L. 102-73), National Workforce Demonstration Programs, funding for corrections education
Implications	Preparation for globalization, self-improvement, upward mobility, mastery of new skills (particularly in technology), government support of nonformal and formal adult education

Table 1: Summary of Adult Education in America (1990 – 1999)

References: 

Bills, D. (2000). Social, Demographic, Economic, and Technological Trends Affecting Lifelong Learning. Lifelong Learning NCES Task Force: Final Report, Volume II (NCES 2000–16b).

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C. 

Creighton, Sean & Hudson, Lisa (2002). Participation Trends and Patterns in Adult Education: 1991 to 1999. NCES 2002-119. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002119.pdf

Dennis, Michael Aaron and Kahn, Robert. Internet. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet. 

Frazis, H., Gittleman, M., Horrigan, M., and Joyce, M. 1998. Results from the 1995 Survey of Employer Provided Training. Monthly Labor Review, June, 121(6): 3–13.

Jenkins, L., & Baldi, S. (1999). The National Adult Literacy Survey: An overview. Washington,

DC: National Center for Health Statistics. p. 10. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001457_1.pdf   

Lynch, L.M. and Black, S.E. 1996. Beyond the Incidence of Training: Evidence from a National Employer Survey (EQW WP35). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.

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Valentine, T. (1997). United States of America: The Current Predominance of Learning for the Job. In P. Belanger and S. Valdivielso (Eds.), The Emergence of Learning Societies: Who Participates in Adult Learning. New York: Elsevier.