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Volume 7, Issue A ::: June 2004
Youth in ABE: The Numbers
by Jennifer Roloff Welch & Kathrynn Di Tommaso
Is
the number of youth enrolled in the adult basic education system (ABE)
on the rise? It's hard to say. A July, 2003, article in The New York Times
reported growing numbers of students being pushed out of high school,
as an unintended consequence of policies designed to hold high schools
accountable for educational outcomes. In October, 2003, Focus on Basics editor Barbara Garner posted this question to the Focus on Basics electronic
discussion list: "Has the number of youth (16-24) as a percentage of your
enrollment increased in the past two years? By how much?" A handful of
people responded, mentioning large but not necessarily increasing numbers of youth in their programs.
This article summarizes our attempt to answer the question: Is the number of youth in adult basic education on the rise? And if so, why? According to Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) statistics, the percentage of youth ages 17 to 24 remained steady for a few years (1991, 1995, 1999) and then, in 2000, increased by about six percent. The increasing number of youth in ABE is a difficult trend to document for two reasons. One is that the organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental, that compile relevant statistical data use different age ranges to define youth. For example, the US Census uses the broad age range 16 to 24 years old. In 2000, OVAE changed its categorization, dividing the category 16- to 24-year-olds into two more specific groupings of 16- to 18- year-olds and 19- to 24-year-olds. Another challenge is that adult basic education is not always identified as an independent category differentiated from other forms of continuing education.
Despite these challenges, in this article we examine the data that document the number of people enrolled in ABE by age group. We then look at related data that provide possible explanations for the slight rise in percentages of youth in ABE programs.
Definitions
Scholar Elisabeth Hayes investigated the phenomenon of youth in ABE for NCSALL's Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy in 2000. For the purposes of this article, we have used the same definitions for components of adult literacy education as Hayes did in her article. ABE includes basic skills training at the pre-high school level. Adult secondary programs (ASE) typically assist students in earning an alternative high school diploma such as a certificate
of General Educational Development (GED). Hayes did not address youth in classes in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses; we touch on ESOL briefly.
We started exploring this issue using a definition of youth as 16 to 17 years of age, as Hayes did. She chose that range because "they seemed to present the most distinctive issues and challenges while also representing the group with the most significant increase in number. These young people are likely to be enrolling in adult literacy education with little or no break after leaving high school. There are societal and familial expectations that they should be in school." We found this age range to be unwieldy, however. Recent statistics by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) use 16 to 24 years of age as their youngest age group. Thus, although in some cases (OVAE data since 2000, for example) we can provide information by ages as specific as 16 to 18 years, we broadened our definition of youth to encompass ages 16 to 24 years because this seems to be the age range most statistical reports commonly use for younger people.
OVAE
OVAE compiles statistics for state-administered, federally funded adult basic education programs. These numbers do not include state or locally funded programs, but they do represent the bulk of ABE funding. According to OVAE, the percentage of enrollment in state-administered adult education programs that consisted of participants ages 16 to 24 years dipped between 1996 and 1998, and then rose from 1998 through 2000 (see chart below). At the same time, however, that the percentage of overall enrollment was increasing, the numbers of young people enrolled dropped. In 2000, when OVAE changed its categorizations to 16 to 18 years old and 19 to 24 years old rather than 16 to 24 years old, the number of more youthful youth, 16 to 18 year olds, was 465,967, or 16 percent of the total.
Enrollment of 16- to 24-Year-Old Participants In State-Administered Adult Basic Education |
||
| Year | Number | % of Total Enrollment |
| 1996 | 1,485,917 | 36.7 |
| 1997 | 1,428,385 | 35 |
| 1998 | 1,385,165 | 34 |
| 1999 | 1,271,126 | 35 |
| 2000 | 1,193,599 | 41 |
| Data for this chart taken from http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/ retrieved on March 24, 2004 |
||
Adult Education Program Data
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), participation of students ages 17 to 24 years in all forms of adult education in the United States has increased steadily since 1991. NCES defines "all forms of adult education" as adult education, including ABE, English as a second language (ESL), and apprentice programs; part-time postsecondary education; career- or job-related courses; and personal development courses. Program participation categories changed from 1991 to 1995 and again in 1999, from "in any program," which is explained in a footnote as "any participation that includes adult basic education, English as a second language, and apprentice programs not shown separately" in 1995, to the more specific categories of "basic education," "English as a Second Language," and "apprentice programs" in 1999. The level of 17- to 24-year-olds participating in these three categories within the "any program" category in 1995 was 47 percent. In 1999, this percentage increased to 49.9, with 4.9 percent participating in ABE and 1.1 percent participating in ESL. Part-time postsecondary education participants increased from 12.6 percent in 1995 to 13.6 percent in 1999. The population of 17-to 24-year-olds in all adult education programs increased from 10,539 individuals in 1995 to 23,372 individuals in 1999 (NCES, 2001).
In another NCES publication, The Condition of Education (2003), participation of individuals aged 16 to 24 years in some form of adult education (work-related courses, personal interest courses, or other activities, including basic skills training, apprenticeships, or ESL) is documented as having steadily increased. In 1991, 37 percent of individuals ages 16 to 24 years participated in some form of adult education; this number increased to 42 percent in 1995 and 51 percent in 1999. In 2001, the percentage of those ages 16 to 24 years who participated in some form of adult education was 53. This age group had a higher rate of participation in adult education activities than the rest of the population. Participation of youth ages 16 to 24 years specifically in adult literacy education has also increased. In 1999, 13.9 percent of persons ages 16 to 24 years participated in basic skills training, apprenticeships, and ESL courses, which is an increase from 8.9 percent in 1991. Since 1999, participation of youth ages 16 to 24 years has remained fairly constant at 13 percent in 2001 (NCES, 2003).
US Census
In the United States, the number of youth ages 16 to 24 years overall has continued to increase since 1988. From 1992 to 1996, their numbers grew from 3.4 million to 3.6 million. According to the Census Bureau, the number of 16- to 24-year-olds grew
in 2000 to 3.9 million. The overall increase of youth in the population may be one reason that there seems to be an increase of youth in ABE. In addition, perhaps the desire to drop
out of their traditional high schools
in conjunction with their lack of employment opportunities may cause increasing numbers of younger students to enroll in adult literacy education programs (Robinson, 2000).
Drop Out Rates
We wondered whether an increase in drop out rates had a relationship to the increase of youth in ABE. As indicated by the graph below, from 1992 to 1999 the percentage of students earning a high school diploma showed a slight decrease while the percentage of students earning an alternative
credential increased. While it can not be assumed that everyone who earns an alternative credential was enrolled in an ABE program, it seems safe to say that some proportion of those earning alternative credentials are enrolled in ABE programs in order to study for the GED.
GED Trends
We also wondered if trends in GED test-taking showed more 16- to 24-year-olds
taking the test since 1992. Although youth taking the test are not necessarily
enrolled in GED preparation programs, we hypothesized that the anecdotal
information about an increase in youth in ABE may relate to the percentages
of youth taking the GED. We found that the percentage of persons 19 years
old or younger who took the GED increased steadily from 1992 to 2000 (age
is categorized from age 19 or younger to age 20 to 24, hence the difference
in age brackets from what we have been using previously). The percentage
of GED-takers ages 20 to 24 years decreased during those years and only
slightly increased in 2001. Overall, the average age of GED test-takers
has gone down since 1992. See the table and chart on page 21 for details.
Conclusion
According to statistics compiled by OVAE, the participation of youth in ABE has increased slightly over the past few years. The US census data show an increase in the number of people ages 16 to 24 years in the overall population. At the same time the percentages of the 16- to 24-year-old population earning traditional high school diplomas decreased and the percentage earning alternative credentials has increased. While this does not mean that young people earning alternative credentials attended ABE programs, one can hypothesize that a certain percentage of them did. Also, GED testing statistics show that the average age of those taking the test is increasingly younger. These three factors combined may be contributing to the slight increase of youth in ABE.
To understand trends such as this one, standardization of the age ranges used to demarcate youth is necessary. This would allow trends to be followed more easily, and research into the causes and effects of these trends could be conducted more easily.
Perhaps the most important lesson we can take from these data is not that the numbers of youth in ABE seem to be increasing but that the percentage of youth in ABE is quite large: 41 percent in 2000. That is 41 percent in one age bracket; the other 59 percent are spread between students aged between 25 and more than 70 years. These are demographics that should not be ignored.
References
American Council on Education (2002) Trends in GED Testing
1949-2001, http://www.acenet.edu/clll/ged/pubs-TT.cfm
Creighton , S., & Hudson, C. (2002). Participation trends
and patterns in adult education: 1991-1999. National Center for Educational
Statistics Analysis Report.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002119.pdf
Digest of Education Statistics Tables and Figures 1999, National
Center for Education Statistics.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d99/
GED Testing Service, American Council on Education, Statistical Report 2001. http://www.acenet.edu/calec/ged/2002-Table3.pdf
Hayes, E. (2000). "Youth in adult literacy education programs."
Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy. Vol. 1,
J. Comings, B. Garner, & C. Smith (eds.), (pp. 74-110). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/ann_rev/vol1_3.html
Kim, K., Collins, M., & Inc, W. (1997). "Participation of adults in English as a second language classes, 1994-1995." National Center for Educational Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97319.pdf
Metropolitan Alliance for Adult Learning. "Teen Dropouts Increasingly Falter in Adult Education Programs." Metropolitan Alliance for Adult Learning News, Second Quarter, 2001. http://www.kclearningworks.org/
documents/layout_june_pages.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics (2001). Participation in Adult Education.
http://www.nces.ed.gov/programs/
digest/d02/tables/dt360.asp.
National Center for Education Statistics (2003). The Condition of Education 2003. NCES 2003-067, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Robinson, E. (2000). "Building resilienceb helping young adults in the adult education classroom." Adult Education Resource and Information Service, 11 (4), 3-6.
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, October 1999.
US Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Division of Adult Education and Literacy, http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/
list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/2000age.html
About the Authors
Kathrynn Di Tommaso is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She
has taught developmental reading and writing at community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Boston area. Her research interests include past and current risk and protective factors and their relation to educational outcomes for adult basic education students.
Jennifer Roloff Welch is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She has taught middle school ESOL and high school English in Illinois and, most recently, in Cambridge, MA. Her research interests include adolescent and adult literacy, learning, and development. She is currently working on research related to adult women immigrants' experiences of learning English.
