Examines the claims of the developers of the Adult Performance Level (APL) program to improve the teaching and testing of adults enrolled in federally supported adult basic education programs, identifies APL's theoretical problems, scrutinizes the technical aspects of its development, and evaluates the role of the U.S. Office of Education in these…

This plan seeks generally to improve literacy skills and specifically to aid adults in progressing through three adult performance levels to obtain the general educational development (GED) diploma. The introduction discusses the general growth of adult basic education; a chart depicts that growth in Kansas. The document is then divided into five…

This curriculum guide is aimed at Adult Basic Education (ABE) directors, teachers, paraprofessionals, and volunteers who are working in the local programs. Developed around adult performance level (APL) objectives, it provides teaching/learning activities and resources for helping adult learners develop basic skills and knowledge necessary to…

This handbook for Kansas adult educators presents a process for providing competency-based adult education (CBAE) and supporting materials. The narrative describes and then charts these seven steps in development and implementation of a CBAE program: develop and adapt philosophy, evaluate current program, collect set of goals and objectives from…

Project CLASS (Competency-Based Live-Ability Skills) uses a series of 60 modules to teach life survival skills to adults with low-level reading ability--especially Adult Basic Education/English as a Second Language students. Two versions of the modules have been developed: one for use with teacher-directed instruction and another for independent…

A project was conducted in Pennsylvania to determine what changes might improve the effectiveness of the State's adult basic education (ABE) program. Northcutt's construct of functional competency adult performance level (APL) and Mezirow's program evaluation model provided the basis for the project's two components: APL assessment and program…

This curriculum guide contains instructional materials in English as a Second Language to aid instructors in using life managing skills as the basis for building English language skills on both beginning and intermediate levels. The following six units are included in the guide: jobs, community resources, consumer education, health and safety,…

This report discusses a nationwide study of Adult Performance Level (APL) which involved sixteen projects in seven states and was conducted to (1) examine the University of Texas at Austin's APL study and describe the results and recommendations in terms of the adult needs in New York State; (2) examine several New York State Adult Basic Education…

This handbook is offered as a guide and resource for Adult Basic Education (ABE) curriculum development in the area of adult competencies and coping skills. It addresses sixty-five Adult Performance Level (APL) objectives identified in a previous study. Following a brief introduction, steps for organizing the curriculum begin in section 2 with…

Beginning with a brief project report, this curriculum guide is intended to enable teachers to work effectively with Adult Performance Level (APL) programs. The manual (1) clarifies the concept of APL, (2) describes the APL-ABE (Adult Basic Education) curriculum at Florida Junior College (FJC), (3) provides examples of effective lesson plans for…

Intended to help ABE (Adult Basic Education) teachers learn to design effective learning activities, this handbook provides activity suggestions, informative materials, and sample forms and materials. Section 1, Adults as Learners, discusses the adult learner's unique characteristics and includes an article on teaching strategies and learning…