President Obama has nominated Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier to be the new Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education. NCFL applauds this nomination and looks forward to great progress under Dr. Dann-Messier’s leadership.

Happy New Year! This time of year always offers a nice opportunity to restart our efforts and address infamous resolutions. I'm particularly excited about this new year, however, because it brings the release of the much-anticipated National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) report.

[flickr]photo:3042381308[/flickr]Today, NCFL is excited to announce that Springdale, Arkansas, has been awarded one of the 2008 Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP) grant awards. Springdale faced very stiff competition! NCFL received proposals from 191 cities across the country for the TFLP award; Springdale was one of only five selected. What makes this award so special is that the whole community of Springdale is involved with the implementation of the program.

Last week I represented the United States at the Frankfurt Book Fair Literacy Campaign Conference (LITCAM) in Frankfurt, Germany. Though the name of the conference is quite a mouthful, I had such a wonderful time!

Yesterday, I participated in the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy. This was a personal opportunity for me to reflect on our worldwide challenges associated with low literacy and marvel at the advancements so many countries- including the United States- have made.

The event was attended by First Ladies from numerous countries and hosted by the First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Bush. All celebrated and committed to our mutual understanding: literacy is indeed the underpinning of free society.

[flickr]photo:2676975047[/flickr]Parental involvement pays off. And in a study by Karen Smith Conway and Andrew Houtenville, that involvement adds up to about $1,000 per student. Their report, "Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement," was published last month in the Journal of Human Resources. The researchers found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results gained with parent involvement.

[flickr]photo:2612974105[/flickr]This morning, The National Commission on Adult Literacy released the Reach Higher, America report on the crisis and solutions for adult education and workforce preparation.

[flickr]photo:2431663221[/flickr]NCFL needs your ideas and suggestions on student speakers for the 2009 National Conference on Family Literacy! If you attended this year's conference, you know how fabulous the student speakers were. We're already busy looking for stories that are just as inspiring as the ones a few weeks ago. Please consider submitting student speaker suggestions. We're looking for individuals with personal stories of triumph, accomplishment and inspiration. The student speakers selected will receive a scholarship to attend next year's conference in Orlando, Florida!

[flickr]photo:2350898418[/flickr]As I think about our conference this year, there are so many exciting things. I can’t help but marvel at how different the conference is from the first one we had at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1991. For that conference, my main concern was having enough space for attendees and managing to keep most things on schedule. Today, our family literacy conference is an endeavor supported by 50+ people and each year builds upon the momentum of the last.

[flickr]photo:2350065187[/flickr]The literacy community—the teachers, students, volunteers, advocates and supporters--has evolved greatly since I first became involved some 35 years ago in a church basement. As I look back, it’s the lives that have been transformed that mean the most to me. The fathers and mothers who are now succeeding and have children who are self-sufficient because of the power of literacy…it’s what gets me up in the morning. I am excited about the progress we can achieve through technology and instant communication.