We must elevate and prioritize the adult literacy challenge in our city.
The time to act is now.
Houston’s Adult Literacy Blueprint — A Strategic Plan for Action
Houston’s systemic adult literacy crisis will not be solved overnight or with simple solutions. Due to the complexity and nature of this issue, it will take careful coordination and a collective effort of the entire city to make substantial progress.
The Blueprint defines 7 key goals for city-wide action, and provides strategies, recommended actions, and key metrics to measure progress and inform future decisions.
The Blueprint Vision:
All adults in Houston will have ready, equitable access to high-quality education to gain the literacy skills and knowledge they need for their roles in work, life, and the community by 2036.
This is how we make change.
The Blueprint outlines 7 key goals for city-wide action:
Awareness & Action
Raise awareness of and galvanize communities to address and solve the systemic crisis of low literacy.
1
A Comprehensive System
Create a data-informed, comprehensive, cross-sector system of adult literacy programming, services, and resources.
2
Multi-Generational Learning
Expand access to and improve positive outcomes for participation in basic education, family literacy, health literacy, and financial literacy learning opportunities across generations.
3
Workforce Skills & Opportunities
Improve employability skills and increase access to career and entrepreneurship opportunities for adult learners.
4
Digital Resources & Skills
Reduce the gap in access to technology and digital resources and increase the number of adults completing digital skills training.
5
Common Data Systems & Practices
Design, develop, and implement a common data and learning management system for adult literacy.
6
Sustainable Resources for Progress
Establish sustainable resources to support and build capacity for Blueprint initiatives and progress.
7
Here’s what you can do to help.
advocate
Spread the word about Houston’s adult literacy challenge and the Adult Literacy Blueprint with your network.
support
Help us implement the Blueprint by contributing financial, human, technology or other in-kind resources.
collaborate
Work with us to drive progress through the implementation of the Blueprint and prepare Houston for a brighter tomorrow.
Stories of Impact :
The Blueprint in action.
Businesses Supporting Employee Learning
To help employees overcome barriers related to English language proficiency, two local companies - Professional Janitorial Services of Houston, Inc. (PJS) and the Hyatt Regency Downtown Houston - have been providing English as a Second Language (ESL) classes free of charge to their employees. These classes have produced some of PJS’ strongest supervisors, with increased employee loyalty and retention. For the Hyatt Regency, classes have improved communication with hotel guests and management and employees report higher self-confidence and more productive teamwork.
Transformative Workforce Skills Training
Goodwill Houston offers a number of industry specific workforce development opportunities, including the Opportunity Accelerator and the Apartment Maintenance Professionals (AMP).
The Opportunity Accelerator program connects young adults to transformative job readiness, digital skills, and typing trainings and also offers career planning support through Career Navigators, who help learners explore their interests, find additional trainings, and set career goals.
The AMP program provides training for the skills needed to become a maintenance professional and run an effective maintenance program. The program has been highly successful and boasts a 90% industry placement rate.
Innovative Digital Solutions
As a result of a pilot of the Learning UpGrade and Cell-ED apps, the Adult Literacy Partners of Houston won a national award through the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE initiative in 2019. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced in-person learning opportunities to pause, those apps and other digital technologies supported adult literacy providers to serve 9,000+ learners between April and May 2020— the height of the pandemic. In fact, at the same time schools and colleges were estimating their time to provide remote learning options, 14 Greater Houston Area adult literacy providers were already conducting classes and learners were improving their digital literacy skills.