Materials from the Literacy Symposium that begin this document are a letter of support from Barbara Bush, a symposium agenda, and lists of panel participants, speakers, symposium staff, and members of the Academic Advisory Council to the U.S. Government Printing Office. These are followed by 21 pages of quotes from particpants. Those quoted…

In fiscal year 1987, approximately 12,000 inmates, or 29 percent of the 44,000 incarcerated adults at least 18 years old, enrolled in adult basic education (ABE) programs. Six thousand five hundred completed their programs. Another 3,500 enrolled in the General Educational Development (GED) program and 2,800 received diplomas. All inmates who…

This document, one of a series of British occasional papers on basic education, investigates adult literacy practices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The texts and their authors are "Building a National Movement: The Caribbean Experience" (Didacus Jules); "Literacy and Empowerment: A Definition for Literacy"…

Since colonial times, definitions and estimates of illiteracy in the United States have been debated. The Census Bureau's major indicator is number of years of schooling completed. However, average grade-level attainment is high, whereas estimates of levels of reading ability remain low. In addition, these measures are inadequate for adults. A…

A study examined the availability, cost, and usefulness of numeracy packages suitable for use in further education. Sixty-one of 590 further education (including tertiary) colleges in England, Wales, and Scotland (a 10.3 percent response rate) completed survey instruments. Relatively few books and packages were found to be widely used. Many staff…

In spring 1990, the Center for Literacy Studies convened two 1-day workshops on group literacy instruction, bringing together some 41 literacy coordinators, teachers, volunteers, and students from the eastern part of Tennessee. The workshops were designed to share experiences on the introduction of group methods, to exchange ideas on "what works,"…

The literature shows that state federations of labor should be, and many are, actively involved in current state literacy initiatives. The United States must develop a coherent and comprehensive system of lifetime education. This will require a greater commitment of public and private resources to education and training. Too many employers are…

Despite national demands to improve the weak literacy skills of young adults, educators and policymakers lack the diverse types of data needed to make changes. The report, "Workplace Competencies: The Need to Improve Literacy and Employment Readiness," points out that past measures of literacy have lacked comparability, resulting in no accurate…

Most major workplace literacy programs involve unions. Organized labor's current leadership in worker education and training is not a continuation of earlier activities but an expansion of union interest and activity that is unprecedented in the history of organized labor. These efforts do not rely on public funding, because many unions have…

A one-day meeting of leaders of basic skills organizations was held in order to create a consortium to promote the sharing of ideas and information, assist in the transfer of effective programs and materials, and encourage the joint development of new programs and products to train adults and youth in need. After familiarizing themselves with the…

This document describes 12 literacy programs operated in Houston under the auspices of the Houston READ commission, which is funded by corporate, foundation, and federal sources and serves disadvantaged adults with minimal literacy skills. For each program the sponsors and purpose are described, as well as program and student progress made, and…

This book presents a range of strategies for adult literacy tutors and offers a wealth of practical advice on teaching spelling within the context of writing. Chapters 1-3 offer basic information on talking with the student about spelling, finding out how the student spells and helping the student to see himself/herself as a "good" speller, and…

When Ethiopia launched its National Literacy Campaign (NLC) in July 1979, it was announced that illiteracy would be removed from the urban areas of the country by 1982 and from rural Ethiopia by 1987. By the end of the 12th round of the NLC in February 1985, 16.9 million youths and adults had been covered by the campaign, and 12 million (almost…

A randomized pretest-posttest-control group design study, replicated three times, each time with 24 subjects randomly selected and assigned to either a treatment or control group of 12 subjects each, was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a modified instructional strategy for accelerative and mastery learning of basic arithmetic by a male…

This handbook is designed to assist educators in establishing a project that uses volunteers as tutors in an adult education program. It is based on the experiences of a model project conducted by the State College Area School using Kiwanis volunteers. A section on recruitment/publicity lists the activities conducted and resulting publicity items.…