In the context of educational globalization and increasing dominance of supranational organizations in educational governance, least developed countries (LDCs) have faced a new level of tension about whether their educational policies should follow the global educational models or seek solutions of their multifarious problems by promoting local…

Young children from parents with low income and low-literacy skills are often late in being diagnosed with developmental disabilities. To try to understand this phenomenon, we conducted six focus groups with 17 parents of low income with low-literacy skills living in an urban area who had children between 6 months and 4 years of age. Parents were…

We draw on theories of policy enactment to explore the ways in which the situated, material and external contexts and professional cultures in adult literacy in the UK have influenced practitioners. Our analysis of the transnational (OECD, EU) and UK external policy contexts found that skills-related education is prioritised, with a focus on…

Studies of the teaching practices used in adult reading programs suggest that these practices often reflect the personal perspectives of teachers on factors that contribute to less-skilled reading development. In this study, 19 adult reading teachers were interviewed to explore their perspectives on how adults become less-skilled readers and the…

This paper is focused on studying the relationship between level of collaboration, cooperation, and information sharing at work and respondents' skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. Specifically, authors address the following questions: (1) What is the relationship between cooperation/collaboration and…

For adults with low literacy skills, the role of phonology in reading has been fairly well researched, but less is known about the role of morphology in reading. We investigated the contribution of morphological awareness to word reading and reading comprehension and found that for adults with low literacy skills and skilled readers, morphological…

Teachers/facilitators in adult literacy learning programmes are recognised as being vital to successful learning outcomes. But little is known about them as a group. This small-scale research project comprising ethnographic-style case studies of five adult literacy facilitators (ALFs) in Ethiopia seeks to throw some light on these teachers, their…

This article reports on a study of adult literacy and learning in a public computing center where people contend with the new literacy demands of online government and other automated technologies. The study asks, (1) What literacy and learning practices are associated with digital governance? (2) What pedagogies support people to navigate digital…

In this article, we make the case for the development of a numeracy practices measure in the light of a review of relevant research and extant measures. We argue that a numeracy practices measure would acknowledge and validate adult learners' practice gains and inform teaching geared to their circumstances, needs and interests.

In response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, Congress and the Administration have taken several actions to support the continued education of elementary, secondary, and higher education students and to protect student loan borrowers and educational institutions from related economic hardship. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic…

This study uses the PIAAC data to examine the relationships between education system characteristics (e.g. early tracking and vocational education orientation) and distributions of adult numeracy skills. It also investigates the effects of postponing the tracking age and easing university access for students on a vocational track on the average…

This paper examines the different views about the definition of "literacy" and how it is applied in the Zambian context. It argues that the absence of a contextual definition of literacy or illiteracy has raised some doubt on the magnitude of the problem and the extent to which success has been achieved through various literacy…

This paper analyses research that has impacted on Australia's most recent national policy document on adult literacy and numeracy, the National Foundation Skills Strategy (NFSS). The paper draws in part on Lingard's 2013 paper, "The impact of research on education policy in an era of evidence-based policy", in which he outlines the…

Literacy skills enhance opportunities for a meaningful life. Many adults with extensive support needs did not receive effective literacy instruction in school, which limits their future opportunities. We reviewed 17 research studies examining literacy interventions for these adults. We were interested in (a) who were the participants, (b) the…

Research supports the premise that adult language and literacy instruction should build on prior linguistic knowledge and the lived experiences of the students. Despite these widely held tenets, classroom practices often do not reflect these ideals, instead providing learning opportunities that are decontextualized and isolated from the students'…