This study examined the factors affecting student dropouts in an online certificate program. In this research, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. Online Course Dropout Survey was developed and used to determine which factors affect student attrition from the program. The dropout survey was sent by e-mail to 98 students…

A two-year ethnographic study of dialogic literary circles in Spain explored the learning experience of adults who participated in them. In a dialogic society, educational projects providing real opportunities for transformation and overcoming inequalities usually had a dialogic orientation and promoted instrumental learning as well as critical…

This guide is designed to help mentor teachers develop effective mentoring strategies, discussing how to provide direct assistance, demonstration teaching, observation, and feedback, informal contact, and role modeling. It offers monthly listings of activities designed to promote interaction between mentors and proteges that correspond to…

This issue of "Exchanges" highlights a number of issues in the challenge to align appropriations, tuition and financial aid (AFTA) policy. Two distinct trends in the nature of the American student population are identified: significant demographic shifts and the emerging necessity of serving adult learners. These shifts are prompting…

This paper describes the theories and social factors that contributed to the development of competency-based training (CBT). These include behaviorism (Edward L. Thorndike), scientific management (Frederick Taylor), progressive education (John Dewey), and derivative theories including operant conditioning (B.F. Skinner), objectives-based…

Three case studies in adult literacy learning were conducted, with focus on instructional and policy issues. They came out of programs that, by state mandate, focus instruction around component skills through diagnostic tests, worksheets, and mastery tests. In Case 1, a learner managed to attend an adult basic education program regularly and…

A study examined whether written language in general and dialog journal writing in particular is the preferred vehicle for syntactic acquisition of some adult learners. Subjects were five adult English-as-second-language (ESL) students, all literate in their first language, which was Spanish. Subjects were observed over a period of 16 weeks.…

This issue of "Linkages" addresses skills that literacy programs can include in their curriculum to teach self-advocacy to adult learners with learning disabilities. Articles include: "Consumers Empowering Consumers" (Noel Gregg and Cheri Hoy); "Self-Advocacy: Practical Advice to the Adult with LD" (Pat Boyd); "Disclosure: It's a Matter of Choice"…

The implications of the spirituality of South Asian women for adult learning were examined through semistructured interviews of five South Asian women who resided in Canada. The women, who included students, working professionals, mothers, and single women, originated from Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and were from Hindu, Moslem, and…

The Adult Literacy Program at the Alameda County Library provided employment oriented programs. The project served a community of over 200,000 people, and targeted workforce/workplace learners. The project served 578 adult learners and provided 35,904 hours of direct tutoring service. The report provides a comparison of actual accomplishments to…

This booklet profiles the 10 recipients of the 1994 Secretary of Education's Award for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs. The following programs are profiled: Portland Adult Education (Portland, Maine); The Center for Literacy, Inc. (Philadelphia); James H. Groves Adult High School (Dover, Delaware); Adult Basic Skills Education…

A project was conducted to initiate a regional system of documenting and recognizing the learning that takes place in literacy programs. Phase 1 focused on gathering articulation models and materials. In phase 2 the following were developed: a skills list for communications, numeracy, personal growth, and computers; skills inventories; and a…

This guide is designed to link New York's learning standards with curriculum goals and objectives developed by adult education (AE) practitioners. It includes learning standards for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, two areas identified by AE practitioners as the most important for beginning adult learners. Also provided are curriculum…

A study examined how one group of marginalized women, the incarcerated, construct their sense of self. Using the notion of nonunitary subjectivity to analyze life history narratives, the study demonstrated how they create and sustain thematic coherence in their sense of self and how they manage contradiction, primarily through constructing a split…

This paper highlights the importance of phonology in second language learning, comparing phonetic mistakes made by adult native speakers of English learning Georgian and adult native speakers of Georgian learning English. It emphasizes the importance of a holistic, systemic approach to teaching second languages that involves making the first…