The Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA) is a national television andvideo based adult literacy service that is being developed with core supportfrom the Ford Foundation and expansion support from the Lila Wallace-ReaderísDigest Fund. The project is designing and producing a series of literacyvideos and accompanying print materials, as well as a web site for adultsat the pre-GED level who are in need of reading, writing, speaking, mathematics,and technology skills.

The videos will be distributed through broadcast, cable, and satellitemedia. They will also be distributed as video cassettes. The video andancillary materials are being designed for use by individuals in theirhomes, in literacy classes, as well as in community settings such as libraries,health clinics, employment centers, churches, and banks in urban and ruralregions throughout the country.

This programming will be participatory, learner centered, practical,and engaging. It will show viewers how to integrate active learning activitiessuch as keeping a journal, filling out an application, creating a budget,doing research, writing a poem, and using a dictionary into daily life.In addition, the project will assist local communities to create supportfor viewers provided by peers, family members, and community networks aswell as by existing literacy programs, social service programs, libraries,and employers.

ALMA is implementing a three-phase work plan from its New York office.Having completed the research and development phases, the project is nowpreparing for series production and distribution. The service will be launchedin four pilot communities -- El Paso, New York, Pittsburgh, and Seattle-- and in selected states in 1998. National distribution of the servicewill begin in 1999.

ALMA is directed by Marian L. Schwarz, Ph.D., who created the New YorkCity Adult Literacy Initiative, the largest urban literacy program in thecountry. ALMA is a project of the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC),one of the worldís leading nonprofit education research and developmentorganizations.

The ALMA national advisory board is comprised of a diverse group ofexperts in adult literacy, television, education, law, technology, andcommunity development. The board is chaired by Dr. Augusta Kappner, formerlythe Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education and currentlyPresident of the Bank Street College of Education in New York City.

Adult Literacy Media Alliance

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