BETHESDA, MD – As President Obama pushed for educational excellence in his State of the Union address Tuesday, Judith A. Alamprese, a leading authority on adult education, prepared to respond to a request by the National Research Council (NRC) to help define adult education and training measures that will contribute to gauging the nation’s progress in education. 

Alamprese, a principal associate at Abt Associates, will collaborate with a select group of educational experts, invited by NRC, to provide recommendations on U.S. education indicators at a workshop on January 27-28 in Washington, DC.  The workshop is being conducted by the Board of Testing and Assessment (BOTA) which is part of the National Research Council.

“The BOTA workshop will contribute to the nation’s understanding of its status and advancement in education for our children, adolescents and adults,” Alamprese said. “Our work will inform the Administration about where we need to make investments to achieve the educational excellence necessary to be strong competitors in the world economy.”

Alamprese added that Obama’s emphasis on “revitalizing our community colleges” is in alignment with her work to support career pathway programs.  “These programs,” she said, “are an effective way for low-skilled adults to develop a specific proficiency that can sustain them and their families for the long term.  Community colleges provide an important step along the pathway to self-sufficiency.”

The BOTA workshop discussions will be organized around five temporal life stages – pre-school, K-8, high school, post-secondary education/training, and lifelong learning. For each stage, the workshop participants who have expertise in the particular area will explore indicators related to:

• institutions and resources;
• individual levels of educational engagement, behaviors, and outcomes; and
• contextual issues related to education.
 

The workshop activity supports the goals of the State of the USA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution commissioned by the Obama Administration in 2010 to determine the key measures on important issues facing the country.

Alamprese has previously served on two of BOTA’s  committees, including one on performance levels for adult literacy.  Often sought for her expertise in adult education, Alamprese recently presented cutting-edge research on adult reading development at UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning for its “High-Level Research Seminar on Adult Literacy” in Hamburg, Germany. In 2011, she presented on career pathways at a symposium featuring Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan. The preceding year, she gave a plenary presentation at the UNESCO Shanghai International Forum on Lifelong Learning, and in 2009, Alamprese served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education in Brazil.  

About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, and international development. Known for its rigorous approach to solving complex challenges, Abt Associates was ranked as one of the top 20 global research firms in 2011 and also named one of the top 40 international development innovators.  The company has multiple offices in the U.S. and program offices in nearly 40 countries. www.abtassociates.com
 

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Sandy Cogan