This report abstracts and summarizes eighty-two Indiana vocational education research and development projects funded in 1978 and 1979 with moneys allocated by Subpart 3 of the Education Amendments of 1976, Title 2, Vocational Education. The projects are grouped into seven subject categories: (1) needs assessment, (2) performance based vocational…

A pilot course was begun to provide English language training for non-native speakers of English who needed to develop language skills for their work in the garment industry. One advantage to this kind of language learning situation is that the environment provides ready materials, situations, subjects, and practical learning activities. The…

Two separate research reports are presented in this paper. In the first report, we have identified through literacy research three sets of job-related reading tasks for adults: (1) those involved in getting a job, (2) those concerned with learning a job, and (3) those concerned with doing a job. National surveys have indicated that the black,…

In much research, learners' perspectives tend to be considered in light of a program's expectations or U.S. society's definitions of learner needs, rather than considering how learners would define and make sense of their own experiences, hopes, and needs. In contrast, this study considers learners' meanings as the fundamental starting point for…

The different perceptions of literacy that inform the work of various groups working with disadvantaged groups within society were explored in a case study in which individuals providing services to low-skilled, disadvantaged clients in an outer urban area of Brisbane, Australia, were interviewed regarding their perceptions of their clients'…

A working group of professionals and practitioners from across England was formed to identify the basic skills needs of and adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and to determine how to better meet those needs. The working group sent out a "call for evidence" and used its own networks to gather evidence. The evidence was…

This monograph deals with some issues of how adults learn and ways to enhance teaching, thereby increasing adults' learning gains. The issues are the gaps between theory and practice, participation and retention, and methods and strategies, and the perennial debate about literacy's multiple meanings and their implications. "Participation and…

This document, which is described by its author as a "critical autobiography", traces one adult educator's 15-year journey from graduate school and into the field of adult literacy and the process of his development into what he calls "an American scholar." The autobiographical narrative is developed against the backdrop of the…

The National Reading Panel (NRP) reviewed quantitative reading research focusing on grades K-3 to identify methods leading to reading success. The following areas were identified as key areas in the process of beginning to read: (1) phonemic awareness; (2) phonics; (3) fluency; (4) vocabulary; and (5) comprehension. The research findings were…

This final performance report provides project outcome information and data to the U.S. Department of Education for the federally-funded Library Literacy Program. The Jackson District Library (Michigan) conducted a project that involved recruitment, retention, public awareness, training, basic literacy, collection development, tutoring, employment…

This resource guide contains learning activities designed to complement existing ABE curricula or become the cornerstone of an ABE curriculum integrating reading, writing, and math skills with practical life knowledge. The guide begins with an introduction, acknowledgments, and an overview of Colorado's Certificate of Accomplishment program, which…

This handbook is intended to help administrators and instructors of adult basic education and English-as-a-Second-Language programs use the 30 Tierra de Oportunidad (Land of Opportunity) instructional modules, which address four strands or clusters relating to the different major domains in which adults function: work life, family life, community,…

This report records tasks completed during the last 3 years by the Commonwealth of Learning, which has promoted, supported, advanced, and enriched the practice of distance and open learning Commonwealth-wide since 1989. It begins with two messages: "There Will Have To Be Another Way" (H. Ian Macdonald) and "Achieving Goals, Working…

In 1998, Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, established a transition program to help students in General Educational Development (GED) test preparation and English-for-Speakers-of-Other-Languages (ESOL) classes make a successful transition to community college. As of the end of the transition program's second year, it had developed into an…

A four-phase longitudinal study was undertaken to examine the relationship between literacy education and employment. Phase 1 focused on trends in Canadian legislation and the labor market and student and teacher attitudes toward the legislative changes. In phase 2, an ethnographic approach was used to identify the educational and employment…