National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week raises public awareness about the need for and value of adult education and family literacy. Its goal is to increase financial and societal support for access to foundational education programs for U.S. adults with low literacy, numeracy, and digital skills. Advocates across the country use this opportunity to elevate adult education and family literacy nationwide with policymakers, the media, and the community.

AEFL Week Dates and Activities

In 2024, Adult Education and Family Literacy Week will be observed from September 15 to September 21. NCL’s AEFL Week activities will focus on raising awareness of the pivotal role of adult education in enabling equitable access to societal resources, employment opportunity, and full participation in community life.

• NCL and World Education will sponsor a two-part webinar series, Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting, two-part non-partisan webinar series, Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting, that highlights the voices and perspectives of adult learners and provides resources and strategies for developing media literacy and critical thinking skills towards being an informed and active participant in the upcoming election. 
  • Part 1: Building Media Literacy in an Election Year (September 20): Join Cynthia Peters and Jen Vanek as they share effective teaching strategies and practical classroom resources to build critical thinking and media literacy, especially important during national election cycles. The need for this has intensified with the rise of AI and the omnipresence of smartphones and social media. Participants will gain concrete strategies to enhance learners’ digital resilience and media literacy, equipping them to navigate and benefit from the digital world while improving their critical thinking and media consumption skills. 
  • Part 2: Get Out the Vote! (September 27): Join Cynthia Peters, Nancy Flores, and an adult learner leader as they share valuable classroom and program resources designed to teach basic skills while encouraging adult learners to engage in the democratic process. Participants will learn how to motivate learners to register to vote, understand key issues, advocate, and continue raising their voices beyond the election. The webinar will provide access to free PDFs of learner-written articles, audio versions, and Google Slides useful for both classroom and remote teaching. These materials include standards-aligned activities that teach basic skills, digital and media literacy, and civics, while supporting learners in concrete tasks such as registering to vote, helping others to register, and critically analyzing election issues. The webinar will also illuminate potential roles for non-citizens; while they may not be able to vote, they can assist their communities in the registration and voting process. 
  • Webinars are presented in collaboration with ProLiteracy, TESOL International, the New England Literacy Resource Center, and the National Partnership for New Americans. Register here.
• NCL has worked with Senate and House of Representatives staff to have resolutions recognizing Adult Education and Family Literacy Week passed in Congress during AEFL Week 2024.
  • Text and cosponsors for Senate resolution recognizing National AEFL Week 2024, S.Res.821
  • Text and cosponsors for House of Representatives resolution recognizing National AEFL Week 2024, H.Res.1466

Future AEFL Week Dates

• 2025: September 14-20
• 2026: September 13-19
• 2027: September 19-25

Ways to Participate During aEFL Week

This AEFL Week, take the opportunity to become a more informed, more creative, and more persistent advocate.

• Commit to becoming an advocate. Find a four-step process for developing your advocacy skills here. 
• Follow NCL on LinkedIn and Facebook for AEFL Week news and updates.
• Use the #AEFLWeek hashtag in your social media, on your website, and in your print communications.
• Download and share NCL’s latest Adult Education Fact Sheet.
• Check out adult learners’ stories and share them with your learners. Invite your learners to create and share stories of their own successes using digital storytelling.
• Explore toolkits and other resources from NCL member organizations for planning advocacy around National AEFL Week.

Options for Community Events and Activities During AEFL Week

• Partner with your local library or community center to host a family read-aloud, where each family chooses a favorite story and family members share the task of reading it aloud to others.
• Invite representatives from local employers to visit your program to hear from your adult learners about their ideas for work-related skills development. Follow that up with a visit to the employer’s facility, where your learners can evaluate how their ideas could be implemented.
• Invite your local, state, and federal policymakers to visit your program and meet your adult learners. Senators and Representatives will be in their home states/districts from August 5 through September 6 and from September 30 through November 8. Find contact information for your Representative here, and contact information for your Senators here.

What About Next Week, Next Month, Next Spring?

AEFL Week is also a great opportunity to plan out your advocacy strategy for the next 6 months or more. This AEFL Week, take the opportunity to become a more informed, more creative, and more persistent advocate.

• Who are your federal and state legislators? What are their positions on adult education, family literacy, digital equity? Plan out a schedule for when you will contact them over the next few months and what you will say. Use the four points of NCL’s asset-focused advocacy framework as the basis for your communications.
• Find state information sheets for your state on the NASDAE website, and data on literacy and numeracy skills of residents of your county on the PIAAC Skills Map. Share that information as part of your advocacy messaging.
• Read about exemplary programs and use them to support your ideas for developing your own programs and services. What are some of the strengths and successes of your program and your adult learners? How can you use those to illustrate the value (and return on investment) of adult education?

Background

National AEFL Week originated in 2009 when the National Coalition for Literacy worked with then-Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), then-Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) to create a Congressionally-recognized designation that would draw attention to the importance of adult education and family literacy. Since then, NCL has sponsored National AEFL Week in September each year on behalf of its members and the field as a whole, and has worked with Members of Congress to have the week recognized through resolutions in the Senate and the House of Representatives.