Organizations & Programs

Dawn Fewell commented on:  Group 4

Kimberly Neal commented on:  Group 1

Oscar Guajardo commented on: Group 4

Kathryn Brady commented on: Group 1

Adult Education Organizations and Programs

The Carnegie Corporation of New York and The United States Armed Forces

Group 3:  Dawn Fewell, Kimberly Neal, Oscar Guajardo, Kathryn Brady

EDAC 631 Adult and Community Education

Ball State University

  

Abstract

            This paper discusses two organizations that have contributed to the field of adult education: the United States military and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  It will provide a description of each organization’s history, mission, and goals, in addition to an explanation of the main programs offered through each.  A comparison of the two entities will highlight their similarities and differences and demonstrate how the mission and goals impact their management and operation.  The implications related to adult learning, and what knowledge we can gain through the study of these two organizations will provide a means by which to increase our understanding of adult education as a whole.

 Introduction

The Carnegie Corporation of New York

There are many influential organizations and programs in the history of adult education worth mentioning and studying. The movement for adult education in the third historical period of adult education (1870s to 1930s) in the United States included educational institutions and government agencies, but also labor unions, women’s suffrage groups, socialists, health and welfare agencies, political parties and religious organizations; some which collaborated in the “development of new institutional forms for the provisions of adult education” which were “largely intended to provide educational solutions to the social question of the emergent working class”. Moreover, these educational activities served as an organizing tool for some groups or, for others, as a response to rising radical and communist sentiments (Hake, 2010, p.16). The Carnegie Corporation, along with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is among these institutions. Both historians and researchers repeatedly mention both organizations – one entity cannot be separated from the other, as they come from the same funding source and are aimed at the same goals.

The Carnegie Foundation was funded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered by an act of the United States congress in 1906; the Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropy foundation established in 1911 in a trust mainly to extend “conventional ways” to distribute Carnegie’s extensive wealth; but, fundamentally “to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding” among the population (“Our History”, n.d.,para 1).  The Carnegie Foundation describes itself as an “independent policy and research center, whose primary activities of research and writing have resulted in published reports on every level of education” (“Foundation History”, n.d., para1), which has greatly helped the Carnegie Corporation distribute it funds for educational endeavors; moreover, its objective has also been to achieve meaningful, extensive, and lasting improvements to education.

The United States Armed Forces

            The history of our nation’s military stretches as far back as 1636 when the first militia in the New World officially met in Salem, Massachusetts.  These individual groups would eventually become what is now the Army National Guard in 1916 (“Army National Guard History”,n.d.,para.1).  As the Revolutionary War unfolded it sparked the creation of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps in 1775.  In an effort to spearhead our national defense the War Department formed in 1789.  Although it would later become the Department of the Army it was the precursor to what we now refer to as the Department of Defense (DOD), which provides oversight of all military personnel and operations around the world.  The Coast Guard was added in 1790 and the Air Force was officially named in 1947 (“About the Department of Defense”, 2017).  Three main themes have remained dominate throughout the history of the United States military.  The first is pluralism, or the idea of multiple groups with authority can and will exist in order to accomplish a common goal.  Second is expansionism, in both a geographical and territorial sense, and third, a dedication to maintaining civilian control over the armed forces.  The president remains the commander in chief of all five branches of the military.  In addition he has the authority to activate the National Guard units in any or all of our fifty states .

            According to the official DOD website, “The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country.” (“About the Department of Defense”, 2017)  At first glance it may not appear that adult education would play a vital role in such a broad and multifaceted mission; however, education has been identified not only as a priority, but a necessity evolving from the need for basic literacy during Revolutionary war times to maintaining the highly sophisticated weapon systems of our modern military, as well as providing soldiers and sailors with the means for critical decision making and adaption to the ever-changing and more complex combat theatre they find themselves in during deployment (Persyn and Polson, 2012).  Additionally, as our nation’s largest employer the DOD is also the largest provider of adult education with a multi-billion dollar budget.  The military comprises approximately 1.4 million of its 3.2 million members (Persyn and Polson, 2012). 

            The United States military has focused on several main goals in terms of education and training of adults.  The first is providing literacy education to those service members who are in need of additional basic adult education skills (Anderson, 1996).  The second is helping to shoulder the financial burden on those who wish to pursue education and training beyond their required military training either during their active duty time, or after their separation from service (Anderson, 1996).  The third goal is to assist veterans with the transition into civilian life through articulation of college credit for their military training and job experience (Anderson, 2006). 

Main Programs

The Carnegie Corporation of New York

After World War I, the Carnegie Corporation (and Foundation) developed an interest in lifelong learning but also of adult education as a logical continuation of Andre Carnegie’s long time work – due to his involvement and funding of public libraries. Therefore, the Corporation was one of the first organizations to focus on and devote time, money, and energy towards a thorough and systematic public policy on adult education and introduced many large funding grants for the education of this population. The beginning of this involvement started in the Americanization Movement which focused on immigrant education programs with the purpose of integration and assimilation. A comprehensive 1918 study in literacy (and education in general) gave strong confirmation of the countries’ failures to give enough and serious attention to the Americanization of thousands of immigrants. Plus, it exposed many issues and flaws with the public and higher education agencies. According to Rose (1990), the study was evidence and served as the “prototype for future Carnegie interest in the education of adults”: In 1923, a new corporation President, Frederick P. Keppel, established new mandates and priorities in the establishment of future grants for adult education. Keppel had experience in this new educational endeavor. “He knew about the wartime programs of education for soldiers and other activities in adult education” (Sticht, 2002) as he worked as the assistant secretary of war during the Word War. According to Rose (1990), “in 1924 the foundation began to explore the possibility of funding projects in adult education”.

According to Sticht (2002), the Carnegie Foundation, along with National Education Association, supported the advancement of adult education through the development of the “adult education occupation” by assisting in the formation of an association for the teaching and training of adult education professionals and by recommending policies and supporting adult education at levels of the federal and states governments. In 1926, a group of adult educators and American education leaders, with the support and sponsorship of the Carnegie Corporation, formed the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) which is considered by some as a defining feature in adult education history mainly because its existence organized adult education and gave it national visibility as needing to be on its own on a separate branch of education.

In the beginning, the AAAE was supposed to be an independent organization with the purpose of holding annual national conferences, producing publications and programs, conducting research, and creating other activities that would advance adult education. However, according to Rose (1990), the Carnegie Corporation invested in its development (from 1926 until 1940) and it had other agendas. Keppel committed Carnegie Corporation foundation to the administrative support of the association, it was headed by Morse Cartwright (Keppel's former assistant), and the association purposely made “funding recommendations to the Corporation about adult education projects”.  Rose (1990) states that this was a deliberate move not only to deal with the “internal organizational and fiscal pressures” of the AAAE, but more importantly to concentrate Carnegie's “dissatisfaction with the current system of education within the United States”.

As stated above, the 1918 Americanization study was the “prototype for future Carnegie interest in the education of adults”. The study gave testimony to the criticism surrounding the expansion of educational systems after the war. One of the strongest critics came from Henry Pritchett, and educator and President of the Carnegie Foundation (and acting President of the Carnegie Corporation). Pritchett’s main concern was the rapid expansion of the school system after the war, the expenses associated with programs and services, and the massive bureaucratic structure related to the system. According to Rose (1990), his worries “were closely allied to worries about who was attending the nation's schools and colleges as well as what they were learning and whether society would ultimately benefit from the emphasis on mass education”. In Pritchett’s view, the swift growth was not solving the problem of education; in fact he believed that simultaneously “the entire educational system was being destroyed in the process”.

In it beginning, the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) produced different types of publications including The Journal of Adult Education in order to “disseminate information about adult education and to promote the use of the term” (Sticht, 2002). Moreover, Keppel’s established mandates and priorities limiting membership to educators and organizations who had "a direct and usually professional interest in adult education" (Rose, 1990). The AAAE, operated and supported by the Carnegie Corporation until 1941, defined the term “adult education” and aimed to separate it as its own branch of education. But, adult education did not occur for reasons associated with the expansion of the field; instead, adult education was the result of the criticism of public and university education at the time.

The United States Armed Forces

Due to the sheer size and unique nature of each branch of the military, the educational programs are structured in one of two ways:  Some programs are available to all members, while others are unique to an individual branch such as only the Navy.  All programs, regardless of availability, are managed by the individual member’s respective branch.

The military continues to recognize the importance of literacy education and maintains its goal of providing programs to enhance adult basic education skills through its Army Continuing Education System.  It was the first organization to establish a test to determine the equivalency of a high school education, which helped increase education and employment opportunities for members after World War II, and its influence continues today in the form of the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) test (Anderson, 2006). 

The armed forces continues its efforts to make educational opportunities accessible to military member in order to raise employability and increase upward mobility of its members by offering several Voluntary Education Programs that help offset the financial cost associated with a college education.  The first major step towards that goal began with the democratization of higher education through arguably one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed in the history of our Congress, the G.I. Bill (Anderson, 1996)  Members of the military make a small investment during the first year of enlistment, and then that investment is paired with funds from the government to be used for post-secondary training or college education upon separation from service.  It has been updated and revised since its creation in 1944, and is still available to all incoming enlistees today.               Several other programs serve to accomplish this goal as well such as the Tuition Assistance program that encourages active duty personnel to pursue a college education during their enlistment, rather than waiting until they separated from service. This was a model that eventually found its way into the civilian world as employers began offering college tuition assistance to their employees (Anderson, 1996).  The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support (DANTES) is a program that connects military members with academic counselors, college preparation exams such as the SAT and ACT, GED, and college credit tests (CLEP).  Included in the DANTES systems is the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges program that offers college courses on military installations around the globe.  Classes are taught in foreign countries, on naval ships, or via distance education.  Each branch of the military has numerous programs that support this goal (see Table 2) such as the College Fund, eArmyU, Student Loan Repayment Program, Community College of the Air Force, or the Coast Guard Foundation Grant (“Military Education Benefits User’s Guide”, n.d.).

A vital program that helps veterans transition to the civilian workplace is the articulation of college credit for military training and job experience through the Military Evaluations Program (MEP).  In partnership with the American Council on Education, MEP has worked tirelessly towards this effort and service members have been awarded countless hours of college credit going back even to the time of World War II.  The accomplishments of this program have filtered into the civilian world as well and act as a model for translating government, business, and industry training into college credit (Anderson, 1996).

Comparison

Looking at the United States Armed Forces and The Carnegie Corporation, we see that both organizations have placed a priority on the development of adult education. It is an integral part of their mission and objectives and as a result, they both allocate significant resources in achieving the same.  Both entities seek to advance knowledge and understanding, albeit initially for different purposes; however, in the end it benefits the individual, the adult education sector, and our nation.  Education in the military remains a priority and plays a vital role as a means of equipping the members of the military with the tools required for them to learn their jobs and achieve their objectives, but once they separate from service they are ready to contribute to the civilian workplace, and their upward mobility is increased as well so in earning higher wages they in turn contribute more to the nation’s economy.   The Carnegie Corporation operates in the form of a philanthropic organization with the emphasis laid upon the advancement of learning and education among the people.  It disburses a number of grants to support civic education and awareness programs to further ideals such as democracy and government.  These ideals are supported and defended by our military, and contribute to the well-being of our educational system and our country.

            The programs and initiatives funded by the Carnegie Corporation relating to libraries and educational endeavors go hand-in-hand with the military’s dedication to literacy and basic adult education.  These two organizations also support higher education and training through the various programs provided for their members that help shoulder the individual financial burden of adult education.  The Armed Forces and the Carnegie foundation while sharing some similar objectives, employ different approaches to achieving these objectives.  The military’s educational benefits are more individualized and focus on helping each soldier reach their potential, while Carnegie’s goals are broader and the distribution of funds is often to a group or organization who can then, in turn, help individuals.  The money used by these two organizations comes from different sources, but the end result is ultimately the same – helping adults increase their knowledge and education.

            Both organizations have made historically significant contributions to the field of adult education, but in very different ways.  The formation of the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) gave adult educators a voice and helped to establish adult education as a unique and important sector of education.  The publication of The Journal of Adult Education has served as a means to share information among adult educators and the research conducted by the Carnegie Corporation has contributed to education policies, and continues to make substantial contributions to the field.  The United States military made college education a reality for lower income individuals for the first time in our country by creating the G.I. Bill.  The use of standardized testing by the armed forces resulted in the first method to evaluate a high school education and spurred the creation of the GED test still used today to help individuals take the first step towards educational attainment, better jobs, and a better life.  The military was also the first organization to truly recognize the value of job experience and created the Military Evaluation Program to help individuals earn college credit for their knowledge and experience gained during their enlistment.

Implications

            There are many different organizations and programs in the United States; however, the two organizations focused in this paper began many years ago concentrating on education and still have a major impact on adult education today.  The United States Armed Forces created the awareness for the necessity of adult literacy and what started as a simple screening process for the military is now the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) test today.  This is a great example of how adult education organization can share information about their programs with others in order to expand the benefits of a particular program to a larger population of adults.  The GED has now been used to help countless adults earn a certificate which improves their chances to get a better job or continue their higher education.  The military has also provided a way for articulation of workplace skills, on-the-job-training, and military training into college credit through the Military Evaluation Program and the American Council on Education.  By partnering with the ACE and pooling knowledge and resources from both organizations more adults are able to receive credit and the program has expanded into the business, industry, and government sectors.

            The nature of adult education is complex and varied.  Both organizations have recognized this and made substantial contributions to the field in a variety of ways.  Carnegie Corporation has contributed millions of dollars to the building of libraries across America.  Libraries provide a means for people of all ages to continue to learn through formal and non-formal education.  The military realized that to keep pace with the advances in technology and continue to defend our nation in a global world enlisted soldiers needed more than a high school education and so they created the G.I. Bill.  This changed the face of college campuses and adult education forever, and demonstrates the importance of alignment of workforce needs to adult education programming.  These two organizations understood that there is no “one size fits all” program design in adult education, and this important factor still holds true for adult and community educators today.

            Andrew Carnegie realized that change needed to happen at the government level in order to improve education, and in turn improve our country.  The Carnegie Corporation has impacted many teachers through federal and state policies which have supported continuing education for educators.  With the help of the Carnegie Corporation, the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) was formed, and for the first time adult education began to be viewed as a distinct and separate area of education.  The AAAE is the heart of what adult education is about which is providing adult fulfillment and positive social change through life-long learning.  AAAE publishes leading adult education journals such as The Journal of Adult Education which provides educators with the resources to continue their education.           

Both the Carnegie Corporation and the United States Armed Forces have benefited mutually with adult education and will continue to do so through past and current contributions to the continued education of adults.  The study of these two organizations has shown us how people working together can identify needs and help to come up with a variety of programs and solutions to meet those needs that acknowledge and encompass the many factors that affect educational attainment for adults such as legislative and policy changes, research and continuing education for adult educators, literacy and adult basic education, financial help for individuals, and improved community resources. 

  

References

Anderson, C.A. (2006, July). Remembering those who have made a difference in United States

military voluntary education. Presented at Department of Defense Worldwide Education Symposium, Orlando, FL.

Anderson, C.A. (1996, October). Some major contributions of the military to the field of adult

and continuing education in the United States (A work in progress). Presented at Annual Meeting of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, Charlotte, NC.

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (n.d.).  Foundation History. Retrieved

March 18, 2017, https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/who-we-are/foundation-history/

Hake, B. (2010). Rewriting the History of Adult Education: The Search for Narrative Structures.

International Encyclopedia of Education, 96-101. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-044894-7.00017-8

Military.com. (n.d.). Military education benefits user’s guide. Retrieved March 17, 2017,

http://www.military.com/education/money-for-school/active-duty-education-benefits-users-guide.html

Persyn, J. M., & Polson, C. J. (2012). Evolution and influence of military adult education. New

Directions For Adult & Continuing Education, 2012(136), 5-16. doi:10.1002/ace.20031

Rose, Amy D. (1990). Challenging the System: The Adult Education Movement and the

Educational Bureaucracy of the 1920s. In R.W. Rohfeld (ed.), Breaking New Ground: The Development of Adult and Workers' Education in North America. Preceedings  from the Syracuse University Kellogg Project's First Visiting Scholar Conference in the History of Adult Education. Syracuse, New York. Retrieved March 12, 2017, http://roghiemstra.com/breaking.html

Sticht, T. G. (2002) The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States:

1600-2000. Vol. 3,  ed. Comings, J. E., Smith, C. E., & Garner, B. E. (n.d.). San Francisco, CA:

U.S. Department of Defense. (2017, January 27). About the Department of Defense (DOD).

            Retrieved March 13, 2017, https://www.defense.gov/About

Carnegie Corporation of New York. (n.d.).Our History. Retrieved March 14, 2017,

 https://www.carnegie.org/about/our-history/

Table 1
Topics:	The Carnegie Corporation of New York	The United States military
Location	Carnegie Corporation of New York 437 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 51 Vista Lane Stanford, CA 94305	The US Armed forces are located all over the globe.  Educational activities and opportunities are worldwide as well.
Year it was founded	The Carnegie Foundation was funded by Andre Carnegie in 1905, and chartered by an act of the United States congress in 1906. The Carnegie Corporation of New York was established in 1911.	Each agency of the Armed Forces had its own beginnings: ·         In 1636 - National Guard.  ·         The American Revolution - Army, Navy, and Marines in 1775.  ·         1790 the Coast Guard was added ·         The Air Force was formed in 1947. ·         The War Department was formed in 1789, which later turned into the Department of the Army.  It was replaced by the Department of Defense, officially named in 1949 3 main themes our Armed Forces: 1.      Pluralism 2.      Expansionism 3.      Civilian Control
Mission/Overall Goals	Carnegie established his philanthropic trust with a broad mission to “promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” The work of the Carnegie Corporation focuses on issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of outmost importance: the advancement of education and knowledge.	·         The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. ·         The overall goal of creating educational benefits and opportunities for Servicemembers began with basic literacy needs.  This morphed into the need for more highly educated enlisted members to keep pace with new technologies and complex combat theatres.  ·         Helping veterans transition into civilian life. ·         Articulating college credit for military training and experience
How were the programs organized?	The Carnegie Corporation funds  grants based on its broad mission in the following areas: §  Education §  Higher Education and Research §	·         Some programs are available to all Servicemembers. ·         Each arm has shared and unique programs. Table 2 ·         Each branch manages programs for respective servicemembers
Goals these organizations wish to achieve through these programs.	§  Education – to better opportunities for American students to learn the skills they need to compete in a global economy §  Special Projects – in accordance to the Corporation’s broad mission	1.      Democratization of higher education.  Get enlisted soldiers to enroll in college – G.I. Bill 2.      Make educational opportunities accessible to military members to raise employability and upward mobility – Voluntary Education Programs & DANTES: -Tuition Assistance, Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges, eArmyU, College Fund, Student Loan Repayment, Community College of the Air Force, etc. (Table 2) 3.      Articulation of workplace skills, on-the-job-training, and military training into college credit – American Council on Education 4.      Standardized testing for GED/Literacy Education – Army Continuing Education System, – U.S. Armed Forces Institute, DANTES
Why were they organized differently/similarly?	Carnegie Corporation has broad goals, so their organization is more focused on areas such as research, building of libraries and other community resources, support of AAAE and The Journal of Adult Education to share information and influence policy change.	·         The military’s primary goal is to properly train and educate personnel in order to do their job and accomplish the mission.  However, it has become apparent that it is a benefit to the soldier, the military, and the country to increase educational attainment.  ·         It creates upward mobility, greater employability, and in turn military member contribute more to the country both from an economic and social aspect.  It is a win-win-win situation from a long term prospective.
Implications	Since the founder left a very broad mandate, the Carnegie Corporation has funded and vast and diverse projects, programs and causes: Public Libraries, literacy education, adult education, studies and research, and policy. In the case of adult education, the Carnegie Corporation was influential in creating, defining and disseminating the term “adult education” and succeeded in separating it as its own branch of education.	·         Military and Adult Education have benefited mutually from each other, and will continue to do so.  ·         Standardized testing for screening purposes originated with the military – GED in particular. ·         Articulation of military training and job experience into college credit has a huge impact. ·         Military is one of the biggest advocates of continuing education – this aligns with adult and community education goals as well.

Table 2
Army Volunteer Education Programs	·         GoArmyEd ·         Tuition Assistance ·         Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges ·         eArmyU ·         The Army College Fund ·         Student Loan Repayment Program
Navy Volunteer Education Programs	·         Navy Advanced Education Voucher ·         Navy Graduate Education Voucher ·         Tuition Assistance ·         Servicemembers Opportunity College ·         College-At-Sea (NCPACE) ·         Seaman to Admiral (STA-21) ·         Navy Marine Corps Relief Society Grants
Air Force Volunteer Education Programs	·         Tuition Assistance ·         Community College of the Air Force ·         Servicemembers Opportunity College ·         Student Loan Repayment Program ·         Air Force Aid Society ·         Spouse Tuition Assistance Program
Marines Volunteer Education Programs	·         Marine Deployed Education Programs ·         Library Programs ·         Military Academic Skills Program (MASP) ·         Tuition Assistance ·         United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) ·         Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript (SMART) ·         Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges ·         Spouse Tuition Assistance (TA)
Coast Guard Volunteer Education Programs	·         Tuition Assistance ·         Servicemembers Opportunity College ·         Servicemembers Opportunity College Afloat ·         Coast Guard Foundation Grant ·         Coast Guard Mutual Assistance ·         Advanced Education Programs ·         Education credit testing for spouses

Source:  www.military.com