Tennessee has participated in activities authorized by the Adult Education Act since its inception in 1964 and has received a federal grant for the delivery of basic skills services every year since that time. In 1985, Governor Lamar Alexander authorized the first expenditure of state funds for the Adult Education and Literacy program (above and beyond the match required for the federal grant), demonstrating the state level commitment to Adult Education. A milestone was reached in 1986 with the introduction of full-time, year-round programs across the state.
The Office of Adult Education has a long tradition of partnering with other agencies to serve the needs of specific populations. From 1986 through 1993, the Tennessee Department of Education, Office of Adult Education was awarded additional funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission (approximately $500,000 annually) to extend the services of the Adult Education program. Between 1986 and 1997, the Tennessee Department of Education, Office of Adult Education received funding under the 8% set aside for basic skills training under Tennessee's Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) federal grant. The Tennessee Adult Education programs provide adults with the opportunity to acquire and improve functional skills necessary to enhance the quality of their lives as workers, family members and citizens. These programs play an important roles in fostering productive employment, effective citizenship, personal and family growth, self-esteem and dignity for adult learners.
With the growing demands in the workplace, more individuals are expected to be able to attend to multiple features of information, to compare and contrast information, to generate ideas based on what they read, and to apply arithmetic operations sequentially to solve a problem. Adult Education programs play a vital role in enabling men and women to significantly increase their performance capability in these areas. Workforce education is one of the many ways Adult Education significantly impacts the economic stability of Tennessee.
