This bulletin for businesses is a step-by-step guide to planning and implementing an effective job-related employee basic skills program. Part 1 provides general principles to guide the effort. It addresses literacy and basic skills, the importance of context, and changing requirements for literacy. A preview of key program principles concludes…

Immigration and the role of English are issues very much on the minds of Americans. "English-only" laws in California and elsewhere have ironically not included provision for funding English-language instruction. Nationwide, the demand for classes far exceeds the supply. A survey shows that 37 percent of illiterate adults do not speak English at…

This publication is an annotated guide to software for teaching adult literacy recommended by the Adult Basic Skills Technology (ABST) Project. The ABST Project was initiated in 1982 as the Region X Adult Education Software Project, an effort by the State Adult Basic Education Departments of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska to provide adult basic…

Designed for Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors at Olympic College, this handbook provides information on the college's efforts to train volunteers as classroom assistants in ABE/ESL education, as well as guidelines for working with volunteers. The first section of the handbook provides background on the…

The experiences of a teacher of English as a second language in teaching reading in English to an enthusiastic and illiterate Ethiopian woman married to an American and living in the United States are described. The Ethiopian woman was eager to talk on the telephone, take messages for her husband, go to the store by herself, read to her…

This book is a personal history of adult literacy as seen through the eyes of a student. The document assesses and evaluates styles of teaching and the student's role through the years 1969-1986 in England. The focus is on developing a new approach to literacy work, based on the principle of student-centered learning. In this method, the adult…

This combined proceedings document presents the highlights of two historic national events: the First National Congress and the 1988 National Conference on Adults with Special Learning Needs. A summary of the Congress discusses the theme of empowerment and the declaration adopted calling for the adult and continuing education community to address…

This issue, the second in a three-part series leading up to International Literacy Year in 1990, examines innovative mass efforts that reach out to the large numbers of people who have been bypassed by traditional approaches. The eight articles are the following: (1) "Towards an Agenda for Literacy" (H. S. Bhola) reports on developing an…

This digest about issues currently being debated in the adult literacy field examines the appropriate goals and objectives for adult literacy education, professionalization of the field, and literacy program evaluation. The first section reflects the disagreement between those who believe the purpose of literacy education should be to support…

A study investigated the distribution of education levels in Tennessee's counties and examined factors affecting that distribution. It considered first the impacts of the changing global economy on Tennessee and the implications for education. The study found that Tennessee was likely to be harder hit than most states because of its dependence on…

Designed to provide a comprehensive literacy reference for public libraries, this handbook presents a glossary of terms, background information on functional literacy, and brief reviews of 14 additional topics: (1) literacy statistics; (2) adult performance levels; (3) the problem of adult education; (4) illiteracy generates itself; (5) about…

This manual contains guidelines for implementing and maintaining Workplace Skills Enhancement programs. These guidelines are intended to be a resource to adult education directors and their staffs as they work with local businesses, industries, and organizations in combating adult illiteracy. The manual is divided into the key steps in…

For a number of reasons, U.S. educational policy has failed to integrate the Hmong into the mainstream of American life. First, lacking transferrable job skills, the Hmong were further disadvantaged by the inability of public schools and contracted English-as-a-Second-Language schools to assimilate traditional Hmong culture with new settlement…

In response to the problem of adult literacy, the Michigan State Board of Education initiated a program to reduce the functional illiteracy rate among adults in the state significantly. This is to be accomplished by: (1) raising the level of awareness of the scope of illiteracy problems in the state; (2) developing comprehensive literacy programs…

As the literacy requirements for functioning in today's society continue to increase, so do the qualifications and level of professional development that is expected of those who provide literacy education to adults. Historically, it has been assumed that, with a modest amount of preparation, anyone can teach any other adult to read. Recently,…