Newswise — Newswise — Newsweek Editor Fareed Zakaria, the National Center for Family Literacy and other experts in education will convene at 1 p.m. Oct. 15 at Georgetown University for the National Literacy Summit.
Funded by the Verizon Foundation, the summit will address how global issues like immigration, population decline and workforce development impact American communities and create the need to improve literacy and education. In addition, NCFL will unveil a comprehensive self-assessment tool for literacy programs, which will improve their effectiveness and institute standards that will result in greater achievements for students. ."Education begins with literacy," said Sharon Darling, president & founder of NCFL. "To improve, refine and transform education, we must first begin with literacy " and the challenges posed by low literacy.
"There are 34 million adults in the United States who have difficulty with reading and comprehension. They aren't prepared for a 20th century economy, much less ready to keep pace with the global competition of the 21st century or provide important guidance for their children's education."
Darling cited these changing demographics in the American family and global competition as key motivators for the conference:"¢ Over the past decade, nearly 6.8 million new immigrants joined the U.S. work force, which accounted for nearly 50 percent of the growth in the labor force; "¢ The dropout rate for the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority, Hispanics, is 59 percent for students who don't speak English well and only 16 percent for those who do; "¢ The number of American 18- to 24-year-olds who receive science degrees has fallen from third in the 1970s to 17th in the world today; and"¢ For every 120 babies born in the U.S., almost 500 will be born in China and more than 700 will be born in India.
The third annual National Literacy Summit is open to the media and can be viewed via live Webcast at no charge to the public. For a full agenda or to register for the Webcast, visit http://client.uvault.com/verizon/101507/. (Registration is required.)
"Literacy is an essential educational building block needed for success in the classroom, in the work place and in the competitive global market," said Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston. "Through this literacy summit, Verizon's philanthropic efforts, and our work with valuable partners such as the National Center for Family Literacy, Verizon hopes to bring about substantial change on this issue."
The National Center for Family Literacy, the worldwide leader in family literacy, has raised more than $120 million for literacy efforts since its founding in 1989. More than 1 million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL's work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. For more information, contact 1-877-FAMLIT-1 or visit http://www.famlit.org.
For a full agenda or to register for the Webcast, visit http://client.uvault.com/verizon/101507/.
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