As I reflect on Women’s History Month, I think about Ruth Colvin and all the history she’s lived and change she’s contributed to. I think about how, in her 106 years, it wasn’t always easy to carve out a path, but she never let being a woman stop her from doing anything. And I think about how in 1962, at age 46, she was inspired to change her city, and, in the years that followed, change the world.  

Over the past year I’ve seen many positive signs that the adult literacy field is on the cusp of something great. Something that will shift the trajectory for low-literate adults, communities, and the country as a whole. That something is equity through improved literacy. And we’re going to do it collectively as a field as part of The Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network (ALL IN). 

The House of Representatives passed two immigration bills last month, the Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. While these bills are a step in the right direction, broader immigration reform is needed to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. The President’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 begins to address these needs.  

ProLiteracy CEO and President Kevin Morgan and Paul Jurmo, Ed.D., met recently over Zoom to discuss Jurmo’s research article “Ten Actions to Build an Adult Basic Skills Development System That Is More Inclusive, Relevant, Efficient, and Sustained,” which is featured in Volume 2, Issue 2 of ProLiteracy’s research journal Adult Literacy Education: The International Journal of Literacy, Language, and Numeracy. 

Kevin Morgan, ProLiteracy’s president and CEO, talks over Zoom with Margaret Becker Patterson, PhD, author of “PIAAC Numeracy Skills and Home Use Among Adult English Learners” featured in the ProLiteracy research journal Adult Literacy Education: The International Journal of Literacy, Language, and Numeracy.