3. The purpose of the council shall be to facilitate Statewide and local policy development, planning and oversight in consultation with the stakeholders in the area of adult literacy education. The responsibilities of the council shall include, but not be limited to:

a. developing a broad-based Statewide master plan, which integrates and coordinates all adult literacy programs. At a minimum, the plan shall address service delivery, consolidation and coordination, funding and accountability, staff development and training, technology and advocacy. The plan shall include a proposal to consolidate the State supported literacy programs;

b. facilitating State planning and local planning through Workforce Investment Boards and among service providers to assure concurrence with the State master plan for adult literacy education, developed by the council pursuant to subsection a. of this section;

c. reviewing federal and State legislation, and developing and modifying literacy plans accordingly;

d. developing appropriate performance standards and impact measures and Statewide benchmarks to measure the entire system and programs of adult literacy services;

e. developing a Statewide strategy to facilitate and improve professional development and information sharing for practitioners and policy makers and to promote the availability of services to learners, employers, and service providers;

f. improving communication among federal, State, and local literacy initiatives;

g. recommending strategies to broaden adult literacy efforts so that literacy levels of the entire family are improved; and

h. working with public and private sector organizations to develop strategies to publicize the problem of low-literate populations as well as the services available to address this problem.

L.1999,c.107,s.3.