This article examines the intersection of race and poverty on the lives of Black women living in urban communities. Historical systemic racism continues to leave many marginalized communities on the periphery and struggling to maneuver in a society that limits access to empowerment to move out of poverty. To transform the lives of those living in…

This chapter reflects on the educational, socioemotional, and relational impact of a critical literacy and trauma-informed reading discussion group for women of color, highlighting the collective sense of knowledge, awareness, and resistance nurtured through the group process.

This chapter describes how PIAAC's concept of competency-in-use can support literacy policy and practice focused on adult learners' real needs.

This chapter explores the journey of a former adult literacy worker into the academy. She reflects on her commitment to social justice education and implications for doctoral studies.

This chapter provides brief summaries of recent research on literacy, numeracy, and language education for adults.

This chapter provides examples of transitions that learners face connected to their participation in adult education and English literacy instruction. It describes their efforts to attain relevant language expression skills.

This chapter describes international policy contexts of adult literacy and language assessment and the shift toward standardization through measurement tools. It considers the implications the quantification of learning outcomes has for pedagogy and practice and for the social inclusion of transnational migrants.

Exploring the pedagogical approaches of four women's financial literacy education programs, this chapter provides an overview of trends and needs in financial education for women and offers pedagogical strategies for teaching women about finance.

In this chapter, four longtime adult literacy practitioners recount their pathways into the field in the late 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Their stories highlight the creativity and openness that characterized literacy work in those years and point to what has been lost as the field has become dominated by the Workforce Investment Act and the…

At its founding in 1946, UNESCO put literacy at the top of its education and human rights agenda. More than six decades later, UNESCO maintains the mission statement: "UNESCO is at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas." This chapter briefly describes how…

The Open Book, an adult literacy program in Brooklyn, from 1985-2002, remains, for many of the students and staff involved, a defining experience in their lives, a time that allowed them to see different possibilities, for themselves and society. In an attempt to preserve the field's collective historical memory, the authors in this chapter…

Over the past decade, the field of health literacy has advanced from providing limited tools for simplifying language into the basis for a viable theory of the complex relationship between knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and health outcomes, ranging from the individual to the societal level. While roughly a decade passed between what seem to be…

Building health literacy skills among adult learners has the potential to contribute to efforts to eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes. Adults with limited literacy skills are more likely to be underserved by health services and at risk for poorer health. Recognition of the need for stronger health literacy skills and a desire…

Legislation over the past two decades has shaped the dominant view of adult literacy as addressing gaps in well-defined, measurable skills. As rural communities face unprecedented challenges, this one-size-fits-all view of adult literacy does not consider the unique local context of rural communities or involve those communities in defining their…

When an adult student from China says he learned English from listening to the radio or a literacy teacher mentions that she is reading a book recommended on "Oprah", they are illustrating how popular media are used for informal adult learning. This chapter examines some of the issues and implications surrounding how a sector of adult learners,…