Reports on the first New York Literacy Vision Screening, which investigated whether illiterate adults enrolled in illiteracy programs might have undetected visual problems that were interfering with their quest for literacy. Finds a startling 66 percent with vision problems. (SR)

Describes teaching a class called "Children and Books" to a group of pregnant and parenting high school students. Shows how using children's books taught these teen mothers about the value of reading to their own children and provided an opportunity for intense discussion addressing a wide range of personal issues. (SR)

Describes the use of alternative types of poetry and affirmations to encourage self-esteem and break down barriers to learning in an adult basic skills reading class. (SR)

Describes an adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program using the Language Experience Approach and designed to serve immigrants and refugees. Discusses the use of educationally naive bilingual tutors and a combinatory instructional format. Argues that the program is pedagogically sound, cost effective, and encourages the students to take…

Presents a rationale for utilizing picture books in adult literacy programs along with book selection criteria and suggested titles for use with emerging literate adults. (NH)

Argues that metaphor, as it thrives in fiction and poetry, is relevant and even essential, to adult-literacy theory and practice. Argues that the concrete poetic images, metaphors, and stories literacy educators learn from students should help shape their theoretical discussions of adult literacy; and likewise, once learned, these should be the…

Discusses the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s: the context of the time, its educational programs, instruction, teachers, and how it handled the problem of illiteracy. Examines whether this kind of program would work in the 1990s, concluding that many of the programs components would transfer well to the present. (SR)

States that previous research shows links between children's reading comprehension and various writing skills but little is known about reading-writing relationships in adult students. Investigates such relationships in health-care workers attending an adult literacy program. Finds that writing of poorer readers showed significantly lower level of…

Neuropsychological models postulate that the memory representation acquired for use in reading words is separate from the one acquired for use in spelling, while developmental models assume that the same representation is developed for access in both reading and spelling. The dual-representation model contends that there is often more precise…

This compilation presents material related to a Library Literacy program, which was designed to collect, publish, and distribute the writing of new adult readers and whose target audience was students, teachers, tutors and librarians involved in library-based literacy programs in Massachusetts. The first part of the compilation presents the final…

This publication presents the results of the Iowa State Adult Literacy Survey as referenced in the publication "Adult Literacy in Iowa: Results of the State Adult Literacy Survey" in graphic form. The State Adult Literacy Survey was a research project in which 12 states assessed the literacy skills of their adult populations. As a…

A project developed a plan to improve oral reading in 12 mentally handicapped adults by stressing observation of punctuation marks, reading in phrases, using proper volume, and increasing confidence levels. Identifying the parts of a book and identifying new words were also included. The 12 students were reading below their potential, as shown by…

This procedures manual reports on the Young Adult Reading Project, which provides a combination of job preparation, literacy skills, and self-esteem to improve reading, math, and job readiness skills for Lexington, Kentucky residents aged 16-21 who read below the eighth-grade level. Tutors are trained to design lessons based on students' goals.…

Reading skills and supporting behavior are topics treated, emphasizing the following concepts: the abandonment of regression, importance of clear objectives, a conscious effort to read faster, reading for meaning, having key words and phrases in mind, and previewing. (MW)

Reporting recent and significant studies across the spectrum of the literacy movement to help plan the United States' literacy future, this book discusses the history of the adult literacy movement, especially in the United States, and the emergent definitions of adult literacy. The book also reports on the scholarship about, practice of, and…