Labor unions have provided English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in the workplace since the early 1900s, to serve a growing immigrant workforce. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, an increase in immigrant population, decline in manufacturing jobs, new technology, and work restructuring brought a new urgency to union-sponsored worker…

Frequently, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs for adults use volunteers as primary or auxiliary providers of instruction. Two primary national volunteer organizations and a number of other national organizations support volunteer ESL and basic literacy instruction, and many states have literacy councils that coordinate and provide…

This guide offers ideas for adult literacy curriculum development using a participatory approach. Its intent is not to prescribe a curriculum but to raise issues associated with the varied needs of limited-literacy students and with development of curricula to address these needs. An introductory section discusses how the guide evolved and can be…

Despite much rhetoric, foreign language teacher education lacks a substantial research base. Teacher education programs in general consist of subject-matter coursework, general education requirements, and specialized educational content, domains that have remained relatively unchanged in two decades. However, recent reform movements may have a…

Due to data released in several reports in recent years, concern has been growing regarding the status of undergraduate science in two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. Recommendations of reports on this topic are summarized. Types of programs and activities that have been developed with precollege schools and students; current…

Education in, for, and about the outdoors is an effective way to develop students' knowledge and appreciation of their environment, to stimulate their curiosity, and to motivate them to learn. Steps involved in establishing an outdoor education program for public schools include: (1) gaining support of school teachers and administrators, parents,…

An examination of foreign language syllabus design reviews current literature on six syllabus types and discusses the process of choosing and integrating syllabi for classroom use. The six syllabus types are structural, notional-functional, situational, skill-based, task-based, and content-based, characterized as differing by increasing attention…

A discussion of numeracy (the ability to cope confidently with the mathematical demands of everyday life), focuses on provision of numeracy instruction alongside English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction for learners with low literacy skills. It looks first at considerations and methods for assessing student numeracy needs, including the…