Started in 1942, the GED test provides people a high school equivalency diploma to gain new career and educational goals. While many GED recipients state they wish to earn a college credential, few earn one, often dropping out before their second semester of college. To increase the number of GED recipients and their career and college…

Although high school completion rates have slowly increased over the past several decades, nearly 30 million adults today still lack a high school credential and, as a result, face a significant barrier to both higher education and employment opportunities. Policymakers and practitioners in the adult education field are searching for ways to…

Adult education's mission is a critical one. It seeks to provide the large and diverse population of adults who lack basic skills, a high school credential, or English language skills with the competencies they need to be productive workers, family members, and citizens. Federally funded adult education serves learners in three types of programs:…

Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 directs the federal government to conduct a national assessment of adult education, including activities to understand the extent to which adult education strategies positively affect learners. A systematic review of the research on the effectiveness of particular strategies in adult…

As globalization and technological change remake the labor market, it has become increasingly clear that the United States must create better educational and workforce training programs if we are to remain competitive. In order to help disadvantaged and low-skilled workers advance in the new labor market, educational opportunities are needed that…

Since the 1990s, a wealth of literature has compared the benefits of having a GED[R] test credential versus a traditional high school diploma or no high school credential, with an early emphasis on economic impact. One advantage of passing the GED test lies in its ability to open doors to the postsecondary system. Nearly two-thirds of U.S.…

Three teacher educators worked at a US community college with two adult education staff on a grant-supported project bridging high school dropouts from adult education to employment. The teacher educators' apparently simple task of facilitating grant participants' engagement with action research became confusingly challenging. The consultants…

The Federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act provides funding for states and territories to provide instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (ABE), and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) to adults in need of these literacy services. California State Budget Act language…

This newsletter, published five times a year, features articles on issues of concern to adult, family, and youth literacy practitioners, as well as recommended resources, announcements, and teaching strategies. This issue includes: (1) Career Pathways for High School Dropouts: A National Survey (Jon Steinberg); (2) Work (Elyse Barbell); (3) Peer…

This report examines the literature on practices and programs seeking to improve students' transition from adult education to postsecondary education. Ultimately, the report seeks to provide practitioners with models for effective strategies in transitioning students to postsecondary education that can be implemented at community colleges…

Designed for new program directors, adult educators who are starting a new program, or those considering changes in existing adult education programs, this manual contains materials resulting from a four-year effort to improve adult education services, especially for persons with learning disabilities and serious emotional disturbances. The major…

To provide transition opportunities for adult education students while preparing them for their General Educational Development (GED) test, Austin Community College (ACC) developed a program called GED Plus. A variety of information sources, including orientation sessions, brochures, telephone inquiries, and site visits to partner agencies, were…

"Focus on Policy" is NCSALL's (National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy's) newest publication. Its purpose is to synthesize research findings and highlight policy implications of these findings. "Focus on Policy" forgoes the usual academic conventions to provide its readers with an easy-to-understand summary…

Little is known about educational programs referred to as "career pathway programs" that attempt to integrate adult literacy, adult basic education (ABE), General Equivalency Diploma (GED) instruction, English language literacy (ELL), and pre-collegiate developmental education with postsecondary career and technical education (CTE)…