Opening the Door to Opportunity for Everyone
The Open Door Collective (ODC) is dedicated to reshaping U.S. society to have dramatically less poverty and economic inequality and more civic engagement and participation in all our society has to offer. As professionals working in adult education, social services and poverty reduction, ODC members believe that adult foundational (basic) skills education and lifelong learning programs can help open the doors of opportunity for everyone to healthier, more prosperous and satisfying lives. ODC members have expertise in connecting adult foundational skills to employment and training, health care, and family and social services. We believe that helping all adults to acquire and use English language, basic literacy, numeracy, high school equivalency, college readiness, and technology skills will improve everyone’s economic outcomes, broaden social participation and move us much closer to the kind of society in which we all want to live.
Adults with low foundational skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy, using technology, and English language skills) or who lack high school credentials are much more likely to live in poverty than those who have strong basic skills and educational credentials. For these adults, the door to opportunity needs to be opened through an innovative, more effective approach to addressing their need for improved foundational skills, an approach that serves many more adults. Members of the Open Door Collective are committed to building an economic and political environment that supports innovative policies, programs and investment for developing the foundational skills of all adults.
Open Door Collective members believe that:
Adults with low foundational skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy, using technology, and English language skills) or who lack high school credentials are much more likely to live in poverty than those who have strong basic skills and educational credentials. For these adults, the door to opportunity needs to be opened through an innovative, more effective approach to addressing their need for improved foundational skills, an approach that serves many more adults. Members of the Open Door Collective are committed to building an economic and political environment that supports innovative policies, programs and investment for developing the foundational skills of all adults.
Open Door Collective members believe that:
- For many adults in poverty, developing good foundational skills is a long-term process that requires incentives, opportunities, and supports
- The success of an adult foundational skills education program depends on the motivation of its students, and students are more motivated if participation leads to higher income or other tangible benefits
- Incentives, opportunities, and supports in most existing programs are not adequate to produce a significant impact on foundational skills development
- Motivation will be much higher if the U.S. economy is producing new jobs and upgrading existing jobs so work requires and rewards higher levels of foundational skills and educational attainment
- Foundational skills programs need to have a long-term rather than a shot-in-the-arm focus, with sustained support to help adults achieve their education goals
- Effective foundational skills support involves a combination of classroom activities, self-paced online and mobile learning, and tutoring that provides integrated instruction fitted to each individual’s needs and learning preferences, as well as family and work schedules
- An additional benefit of improving foundational skills is that many more adults will become better able to participate in solutions to the many problems our nation faces in the areas of healthcare, the environment, and the preparation of the next generation of our nation’s workers, parents, and citizens.