A discussion of economic and social arguments that advance adult literacy is followed by a review of definitions of literacy, issues of literacy instruction, issues of language, and issues of assessment and evaluation. (91 references) (LB)

Advocates interorganizational communication between church, fraternal, and cultural organizations to recruit illiterate adults to rural community colleges. Discusses a recruitment strategy at Carteret Community College (North Carolina) which included research on employee participation in community organizations and informal socials with leaders of…

A study of the Wimmera (Victoria, Australia) Adult Literacy and Basic Education Group (WALBEG) surveyed 30 participants to identify reasons people undertook courses, assess the impact of WALBEG programs on the individual and on the community, and investigate possible use of new learning technologies in future delivery of adult programs. (CDS)

Examines a family literacy program based in a disadvantaged area of Scotland, to show how deficit views of children and their parents (feeling that one's own ways of speaking and writing are "wrong") might be challenged and overcome so that real learning can take place, learning that focuses on people's strengths and different types of…

Document addresses political and ethical questions generated by OECD's International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the New Zealand Foresight Project. Calls for further critical work on changing patterns of literate activity in the information age, stressing the importance of contemplating futures other than those driven by imperatives of global…

As the numbers of migrant farmworkers active in the United States increases, so does the need to provide effective literacy programs for them and their families. Homestate and upstream programs are designed to meet the needs of migrant workers. The paper provides examples of successful programs that involve whole migrant families in literacy…

In 2002-03, a qualitative case study explored the perspectives of 70 stakeholders connected to two community-based adult literacy programs in Manitoba, Canada. Four themes emerged from within-case and cross-case analyses of the data: program design, human relations, community context, and financial support. Instructor-learner and learner-learner…

Extensive reading is an approach to teaching reading that has been utilized with English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, but not widely used in the adult literacy classroom. This article investigates whether this approach can be utilized in a classroom for adults who have difficulty with reading. A description of our implementation of…

The series "Self-instructional Notes on Social Participation" is a six-volume series intended as teaching aids for adult educators. The theoretical, methodological, informative and practical elements of this series will assist professionals in their work and help them achieve greater success. The specific purpose of each notebook is…

The series "Self-instructional Notes on Social Participation" is a six volume series intended as teaching aids for adult educators. The theoretical, methodological, informative and practical elements of this series will assist professionals in their work and help them achieve greater success. The specific purpose of each notebook is…

This collection of 14 articles focuses on the Reading and Writing and Oral Communication Streams of the Certificates of General Education (CGE) for Adults in the context of literacy teaching practices. Section 1 contains 11 case studies and articles with a practical focus. Practitioners discuss aspects of their curriculum development related to…

This publication contains the stories of seven African-American students in the literacy class at the Council for Senior Citizens in Warrenton, North Carolina. The stories were inspired by photographs selected from photographic books with images of African Americans in familiar settings, particularly rural settings. Autobiographical information…

This guide was developed as a tool for group leaders to help people in their organizations participate in local discussions about literacy quality and evaluation in Ontario, Canada, as part of the Literacy Quality Standards and Evaluation Project. The guide is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: definition of literacy;…

A workplace literacy project was conducted at the Nabisco Richmond Facility for the following purposes: to determine what academic skills are necessary to perform 10 selected jobs, to develop a validated assessment to evaluate an employee's literacy skills, to develop a job-specific curriculum to improve skill deficits, and to provide an…

This document contains 10 commissioned papers presented at a research design symposium on family literacy. It also contains a summary of the symposium, which was structured around five themes: assumptions and perceptions about family literacy; what we know from research and practice and how we know it; defining the characteristics of family…