New Mexico Coalition for Literacy
31st Annual Meeting & Conference

with Keynote Speaker, Dr. Stephen Reder
Professor Emeritus
Portland State University
Department of Applied Linguistics

9:00 AM

Transforming Adult Education with Data and Stories

Across the United States, public funding for adult education has been steadily decreasing in real dollars and narrowing in purpose over recent decades.  Community-based and volunteer-based programs often struggle for funding and recognition amidst these ongoing changes, despite serving adults, families, and communities often forgotten by the larger publicly funded delivery systems.  Data about the long-term beneficial impact that programs have on students’ lives and our society as a whole can help transform public understanding and support of a rich and diverse delivery system for adult education, help adult educators transform the design of adult education programs, and help students to become lifelong learners.  As important as the collection, sharing and appropriate use of data is for these transformations, we must also collect, curate and share the stories of individual adult learners, tutors and teachers.  These stories have a unique capacity to power a data-driven transformation of adult education in New Mexico and throughout the United States.

Biography

Dr. Stephen Reder is Professor Emeritus at Portland State University and has been an active researcher, teacher, and advocate for adult learners and their instructors.  Dr. Reder holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and has specialized in adult learning and mastery of literacies, technologies, and second languages. He has directed and collaborated on many major projects in adult education and has recently focused on assessing and demonstrating the impact of adult basic education on the long-term life outcomes and well-being of economically vulnerable adults through The Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning at Portland State University.  Dr. Reder has been an advisor to numerous local, state, national and international agencies in the areas of adult education and literacy.

& Luncheon Speaker, Diana Molina, New Mexico Humanities Council
Speakers Bureau

1:00 PM

Icons and Symbols of the Borderland

Diana Molina will provide interpretive background to the traveling exhibit, Icons and Symbols of the Borderland and the integration of art and literature as a force behind community voice and engagement.

Biography

Diana Molina was born a half mile from the border of El Paso and was raised along the Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua border Her work reflects diverse, international perspectives and experiences while maintaining a strong focus on the US/Mexico border landscape and culture. During a decade of residence in Amsterdam as a photographer and writer, she provided features for international magazines including Elle, Esquire, GEO, Marie Claire, National Geographic Traveler, and Vogue, and a book titled, Amsterdam, Small Town Big City.  Molina's exhibits have been shown in art and science museums in the US and Europe and she is part of the New Mexico Humanities Council's Speaker's Buereau.  She serves as creative director of the JUNTOS Art Association to curate exhibits and initiate public events and outreach programming in support of the organization's mission of collaboration through art, literature, and the creation of art-based products.