New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy
  • Home
  • About
    • What We Want
    • How We Work
    • More about our Member Orgs
    • Student Stories
    • NYCADE
  • Take Action
    • Advocacy Archive
  • Resources
    • Find an Adult Ed Program
    • Teaching Resources
    • Immigrant Resources
    • Digital Equity
  • Join Us
    • Calendar
  • NYCCAL 101
  • Home
  • About
    • What We Want
    • How We Work
    • More about our Member Orgs
    • Student Stories
    • NYCADE
  • Take Action
    • Advocacy Archive
  • Resources
    • Find an Adult Ed Program
    • Teaching Resources
    • Immigrant Resources
    • Digital Equity
  • Join Us
    • Calendar
  • NYCCAL 101

Teaching Resources

Advocacy Lesson Ideas

Picture

Adult Ed Budget Advocacy

Picture

Immigrant Rights/ICE Defense

Picture

Message to Immigrants
​from NYC Mayor

Advocacy Toolkit

Other Teaching Resources

The suggestions below are from the Advocacy Toolkit created by the National Coalition for Literacy

Step 1: Educate Yourself
See Advocacy Basics and What You Can Legally Do to learn the legislative and advocacy processes and what this means for you. See Using Your Time Wisely to learn when your advocacy can be most effective. Throughout the Advocacy Clearinghouse and Toolkit you will see blue colored links. This blue color indicates a glossary term. Click on the link to learn its definition. Visit the Glossary to find the complete listing of terms.

Step 2: Build Allies
Legislators want to hear how adult education programs benefit adult learners, businesses, the community, and the economy. Involve adult learners and other stakeholders in advocating on behalf of adult education and literacy. See 
Who You Involve for ideas on building allies.
 Step 3: Learn About Your Legislators.Capture your legislators’ attention by “hooking” adult education and literacy to their issues. On what committees do they serve? What are their positions on national issues? What are their priorities? See What to Say and How to learn about messaging, creating effective hooks, making the Ask, and cinching commitments.

Step 4: Establish and Maintain Relationships
You should develop relationships with all your representatives.  In addition, see 
Contacting Legislators to learn about targeting legislators in positions of authority over adult education laws and funding: who you should contact and why. Find tips for calling, writing, and meeting with your legislator and hosting a visit.
Contact the New York City Mayor
Send a message to the New York State Governor
Find your local, state, and national elected officials and districts

Step 5: Plan for the Future
Sometimes we have a lot of educating to do both within our communities and with our legislators before our advocacy can be effective. See 
Advocacy Strategies to learn what activities other advocates do. See Creating Responsive Networks to learn how to build local advocacy networks and evaluate advocacy campaigns.
  • The Change Agent socially relevant content, powerful student writing that inspires discussion, and ready-to-use, CCR aligned lesson plans all oriented toward a multi-level audience
  • A Practical Guide for: Integrating Civic Responsibility into the Curriculum films, quotations
  • CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)
  • New York City Commission on Human Rights - ESOL curriculum on employment rights
  • ProLiteracy's Advocacy Toolkit for Adult Education and Literacy
Professional Development:
  • Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA)
  • Literacy Assistance Center
  • Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS)
  • National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL)
  • National Institute for Literacy (NIFL)
  • New York City Consortium for Adult Basic Education
  • New York City Regional Adult Education Network (NYC RAEN)
  • World Education
  • EdD Programs
Adult Education Networks:
  • College Transition Network
  • WE LEARN
Annual Conferences:
  • Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE)
  • New York City Consortium on Adult Basic Education
  • New York Association of Continuing/Community Education (NYACCE)
  • NYS TESOL
  • TESOL International
Literacy Advocacy Resources:
  • Literacy New York​
  • National Council of State Directors of Adult Education
  • New York Association for Continuing/Community Education
  • The Center for Law and Social Policy
Links updated 3/20/2026

​Other Publications:
  • Where are the Teachers? - Literacy Works (added 6/26/26)
  • Adult Education is Losing Its Backbone: Teachers - Literacy Works (added 6/26/26)
  • Now Hiring - Center for an Urban Future
  • Bad English - Center for an Urban Future
  • A Very Pricey Pineapple - NYTimes.com
  • Progress Winter/Spring 2012 - Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Testing Company Pearson Spending Millions to Influence Schools
  • NYS weighs GED alternatives
  • Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook (1999)
  • Closing the Skills Gap by Center for Urban Future (Jan. 2010)
  • Coalition Battles Gov's Cuts (Apr. 2010)
  • Important Message from Senator Patty Murray on the Workforce Investment Act (Mar. 2016)
  • Lost In Translation By Tara Colton (2006)
  • New York Libraries’ Adult English Programs Face Cuts (May 2010)
  • Our Chance for Change by Jacqueline Cook (cannot be found)
  • Poor Preparation, Confusion Lead Many to Fail GED Test (Jul. 2010)
  • Save Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Funding (cannot be found)
  • Staging the Lessons of Literacy By Susan Dominus (May 2010)
  • The Economic Benefits from Halving the Dropout Rate A Boom to Businesses in the Nation’s Largest Metropolitan Areas (Jan. 2010)
  • The Fight for Adult Literacy by Councilwoman Sara M. González (cannot be found)
  • The Human Cost of Budget Cutting by Bob Herbert (Op Ed NYT 2/19/2011)
    Links updated and annotations made on 6/26/2026

Home

About
What We Want
How We Work
More about Our Member Orgs

Resources
Teaching Resources
​
Immigrant Resources
Find a Program
Digital Equity
​

Join Us

Calendar

NYCCAL 101

Picture
Copyright © 2025