In this article, I compare two distinct uses of "Popular Education" that emerged in Tlaxcala in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. I examine archival and oral evidence to reconstruct the situated meanings and political rationales that led to the use of the term in each case, beyond their contrasting pedagogical content. In 1917, a…

As the second decade of the new millennium begins, the authors state that it would seem appropriate to look once again at the status of literacy education as it affects adolescents and adults. Each year since 1997, an article appears in the periodical "Reading Today" listing the topics in literacy that are receiving varying degrees of attention,…

The rate of student departure from adult literacy programs is as high as 80% within the first 12 months (Porter, Cuban, & Comings, 2005). An examination of the literature reveals two perspectives concerning learner persistence: a "control perspective" and an "acknowledgement and accommodation perspective." The control…

This paper provides Appendix D, Standard Error tables, for the full report, entitled. "Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments among U.S. Adults: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012. First Look. NCES 2014-008." The full report presents results of the Program…

With an eye toward contemporary skill building to meet community centered economic needs, organizations such as Literacy Volunteers of America are increasingly pressured to examine new avenues in promoting employment readiness skills for the newly literate. These organizations and countless others have come to the realization that being prepared…

The purpose of this study was to examine how a family literacy text linked to a large-scale, U.S.-based family literacy program either privileged or disprivileged dominant, Eurocentric literacy practices. More specifically, this study investigated the ways in which the family literacy text: (1) conceptualized literacy; and (2) constructed the role…

More than an estimated 90 million adults in the United States lack the literacy skills needed for fully productive and secure lives. The effects of this shortfall are many: Adults with low literacy have lower rates of participation in the labor force and lower earnings when they do have jobs, for example. They are less able to understand and use…

Sokolowski (2000) summarized the phenomenological attitude by saying, "We look at what we normally look through" (p. 50). Through interviews and document analysis, this study looked at the lives of six students and their decision to return to their education to earn a high school diploma. The purpose of this study was to illuminate how…

In this qualitative case study, we explore local adult educators' preparation to teach refugees, along with their professional development needs. This analysis focuses on 10 tutors and instructors in a midsize Southeastern city. Data collection involved an open-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and observations; analysis involved…

Current pedagogical approaches recognize literacy as a social practice and yet school-based conceptualizations continue to dominate understandings of literacy learning of individuals with intellectual disability. Such understandings lead to local or everyday literacy practices being devalued and overlooked. Thus, for adults with intellectual…

This paper explores the ways in which policy discourses have constructed rationales for addressing adult literacy over the last 50 years. In particular, we examine how policy positions the literacy learner as citizen within discourses of rights and equity. Taking the case of the UK, we compare two key documents produced at different historical…

Existing cross-national research on educational attainment does not fully address whether the same level of educational attainment generates the same level of literacy skills in different countries. We analyze literacy skills data for young adults from 19 countries in the 1994-1998 International Adult Literacy Survey and find that in all…

This study addresses the age-old problem of integrating personal and disciplinary purposes for learning. Two groups of educators participated in online professional development in which each participant assessed an adult literacy learner. The assignment required participants to synthesize assessment data representing social-humanist and cognitive…

This policy profile on education in Japan is part of the "Education Policy Outlook" series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the OECD's substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base, the…

Data reported in the Condition Report comes primarily from each of Iowa's 15 community colleges, transmitted each fall to the division's Management Information System (MIS). Upon receipt, division staff review the data for discrepancies and return summary reports to the colleges to confirm accuracy. After confirmation, data files are aggregated…