Brenda Dann-Messier, U.S. assistant secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, will be the featured speaker at The Literacy Engagement Event on Friday, Feb. 28 in Cleveland. Dann-Messier will discuss the need to increase educational opportunities for low-skilled adults to improve their foundation skills and workforce readiness.
The event, hosted by The Literacy Cooperative and The Center for Community Solutions, will bring together adult education professionals, elected officials and community organizers to discuss adult literacy and results for the U.S. from the 2013 Survey of Adult Skills that were released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last year.
In an effort to develop a national plan to improve educational opportunities for low-skilled adults, the U.S. Department of Education has held five regional engagement sessions across the country. Feedback from these sessions will be used to develop the U.S. response to the OECD report, which highlighted the large number of U.S. adults with very low basic skills. The national plan is expected to be released in spring, 2014.