Goals

On December 9-11, 2004, the Meeting of the Minds Symposium was held in Sacramento, California. A national adult education practitioner-researcher symposium, the Meeting of the Minds was designed to provide opportunities for adult education practitioners and researchers to dialogue and share the most current research findings and practitioner wisdom. The ultimate goals of the symposium were to enhance literacy practice and increase student learning gains.

Sponsors and Participants

The symposium had three major co-sponsors: the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), located at Harvard University; the California Department of Education, Adult Education Office; and the California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project (CALPRO) of the American Institutes for Research. It also had the support of the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN), the California Distance Learning Project (CDLP), and the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS).  
Enjoying the participation of more than 300 adult educators representing 30 states, with one attendee from the United Kingdom, the Symposium brought many of the nation’s foremost adult education researchers together with adult education practitioners and policy makers.
To view a table of participation by state, click here.

Welcome

Bringing welcoming remarks to participants at the Symposium opening session were Mary Ann Corley, CALPRO Director and Symposium Coordinator; John Comings, NCSALL Director; and Jean Scott, California State Director of Adult Education, who introduced State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell. Corley provided an overview of the Symposium agenda and objectives. To view the PowerPoint slides of the Symposium Overview, click here. To view the symposium three-day schedule, click here and the program list of concurrent sessions with session descriptions, click here. To view the document, How to Get the Most out of the Symposium, click here. Corley thanked all those who helped to make the Symposium possible. To view the list of those to whom appreciation was extended, click here.