The Employment and Training Administration's (ETA's) goal is to strengthen the literacy skills of low-income, low-skilled adults to help improve opportunities for lifelong learning, employment, and to maintain their competitiveness in the 21st-century global economy. To accomplish this goal, ETA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education as well as other federal agencies with an interest in increasing the literacy skills and engagement of nontraditional adult students in the workplace.
Executive Order 13445 – Strengthening Adult Education - In September 2007, the President signed Executive Order 13445: Strengthening Adult Education , which ordered the establishment of an Interagency Adult Education Working Group. The Workgroup was charged with identifying and reviewing federal programs focused on improving adults' basic skills and helping them advance to postsecondary education, training, or employment. The report, Bridges to Opportunity: Federal Adult Education Programs for the 21st Century , was published in July 2008. The report identifies 11 adult literacy programs across five agencies, five of which are Department of Labor programs.
National Institute for Literacy – The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) serves as a national resource on current, comprehensive literacy research, practice, and policy, with the goal of improving reading instruction for children, youth, and adults. The Secretaries of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services provide guidance and consultation to NIFL through a governance structure known as the Interagency Group.