Many countries have recently launched massive programs to promote nation-wide adult literacy, but while these efforts have been commendable, it has been observed that neo-literates who acquire literacy through such programs have great difficulty in retaining it; hence an urgent need to develop suitable programs of post-literacy and continuing…

This examination of the criteria used in the evaluation of library literacy programs reviews the relevant literature, discusses several evaluation models that have already been used in literacy projects, and outlines a proposed evaluation model. (EM)

"Focus on Basics" is a publication of the U.S. Division of World Education, Inc. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is dedicated to connecting research…

Between-group designs constitute the experimental methods traditionally applied in the field of education. Another level of analysis, however, is commonly used in clinical psychology but seldom applied in educational settings: single-subject designs (actually applied to small groups). This design allows a researcher to evaluate the influence of an…

Many countries have recently launched massive programs to promote nation-wide adult literacy, but while these efforts have been commendable, it has been observed that neo-literates who acquire literacy through such programs have great difficulty in retaining it; hence an urgent need to develop suitable programs of post-literacy and continuing…

"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is…

This article presents my views and reflections on working with adult ESL learners at a community-based adult literacy program in the Southwest. In this article, I share my experience working with adult learners learning English as a second language and critically address and discuss issues significant to the learners in their language and…

"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is dedicated to…

This paper describes adult literacy pedagogy and philosophy in Australia and reports on two studies of adult reading disabilities. The first study, with 102 asthma patients, showed important differences among different tests of reading comprehension. The second study, using 11 case studies, indicated the need to integrate adult literacy…

This book contains 16 papers on the theory, research, and practice of adult numeracy development. The following papers are included: "The Numeracy Challenge" (Iddo Gal); "Numeracy, Mathematics, and Adult Learning" (Diane Coben); "Building a Problem-Solving Environment for Teaching Mathematics" (Peter Kloosterman, Bin Hassan Mohamad-Ali, Lynda R.…

This report discusses evaluation as required under the Department of Education rules and regulations for the National Workplace Literacy Program (NWLP). It is intended to help workplace literacy programs meet the requirements of the rules and regulations governing the NWLP so that the Department of Education can determine the value of programs.…

Directed at persons who are not experts in program evaluation or workplace literacy, this handbook provides various options and processes that can be used for formal evaluation of workplace literacy programs. The handbook is organized in six sections. An introductory section acknowledges the weaknesses of any evaluation attempt. In the second…

The study of curriculum-based measurement (CBM), involving 57 adults in a basic literacy program, found that narrative rather than expository passages exhibited higher reliability. Level of difficulty did not affect reliability. Validity data showed inconsistency between CBM and standardized test scores. The measures were sensitive to student…

This guide, which is intended for adult basic education (ABE) practitioners in Victoria, Australia, details policies and procedures regarding the conduct of placement assessments of students entering or enrolled in ABE programs. The guide's aims are summarized in the introduction. Discussed in part 1 are the following topics: the content/purposes…

Two issues relevant to the effectiveness of media used in second language literacy instruction were addressed in this study: learner-selected versus teacher-assigned media, and media that appeal to learners' preferred perceptual modes compared with media that do not match preferred modes. A group of 47 preliterate Hmong refugees between the ages…