A 1-year voluntary program in technology education has been offered for 4 years at the New Hampshire State Prison. To date, the inmates who have completed the program and been retested on the Test of Adult Basic Education have improved their initial scores as much as four grade levels. An associated drop in disciplinary problems in some inmates…

A statewide needs assessment surveyed felt training needs of administrators, instructors, and advisors of adult literacy programs in Florida. Data were collected in the following ways: questionnaires sent to recipients of Adult Supplemental Grants and advisory-council chairpersons; indepth interviews; a literature review and document analysis; and…

The National Adult LIteracy Survey was a nationwide survey of a random sample of approximately 26,000 adults. The survey collected information about individuals' social, economic, and educational histories and their literacy activities. Their functional literacy was also assessed using simulated functional or real-world tasks designed to determine…

The Computer Assisted Basic Skills project was conducted during the 1991-92 academic year in the Grand Rapids Public Schools in Michigan to develop a model that would provide adult educators with a framework for developing and/or redesigning a computer-assisted instructional (CAI) program for basic skills instruction. Existing models and model…

A 353 demonstration project was conducted in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area to provide adult literacy students with information concerning voting in local, state, and national elections. The project had two components: (1) development and presentation of a series of three learner voting workshops; and (2) creation and presentation of a hands-on…

A project was conducted to instruct adult education teachers on communications and counseling issues. A series of four workshops were held to provide instructional and support personnel with practical skills that will make them work more effectively with their students. Attendance at all four workshops was excellent, with 20-30 practitioners at…

A study was conducted to describe, discuss, and evaluate a workplace curriculum process in which teachers were actively involved in both constructing and teaching curricula. This process was developed by the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), a group of 22 New York City labor unions through which 15,000 workers attend more than 300 classes at…

This guide is intended for use in conducting a three-session course that will help employees in the manufacturing and service industries acquire necessary stress management skills. The instructional materials presented are designed to help students learn to accomplish the following: recognize good and bad stress and understand the physical,…

This guide describes briefly the minimum program standards required in Colorado for adult basic skills and literacy programs. Program standards are defined for the following seven topics: educational gains, program planning, curriculum and instruction, staff development, support services, recruitment, and retention. Indicators for each of the…

A study investigated the low rates of attendance and retention that had beset Atlanta's Family Literacy Program since its inception. To establish a meaningful dialog with participants, a qualitative interview approach was used. The sample was composed of current students, dropouts from Years 1 and 2, and graduates of Year 1. One-third of the…

Based on three studies of adult literacy in Iowa, this book identifies policy issues raised by research on adult literacy and recommends solutions. It also examines adult literacy education from the perspective of the learners themselves in order to inform improved practice. The book addresses six basic questions that are the topics of the first…

This report presents a conceptual and structural framework for adult education staff development in Virginia. It recommends to Virginia adult educators and policymakers a set of structures to support staff development activities and then offers a philosophy to guide activities within those structures. The report first traces 2 years of a staff…

The experience of a number of specific local workplace programs indicates a definite connection between the provision of employee basic skills programs and increased worker productivity. One Tennessee company, for example, reports a 95 percent drop in costs resulting from worker mistakes and a doubling of worker productivity since the company…

A study examined the effectiveness and replicability of staff training programs provided by the Northern New England Social Action Theater (NNESAT), whose touring component travels around the country promoting the use of improvisational theater as a means of training all levels of literacy practitioners. Questionnaires were administered at 13…

This report presents the early findings from the analysis of a family literacy demonstration project under the direction of the National Center for Family Literacy. The data in this report are based upon the experiences of over 300 families who participated in the Toyota Families for Learning Program during the 1992-1993 school year. The first…