This document is intended to assist individuals responsible for completing the annual development plan required of all community-based adult literacy programs seeking funding from Manitoba's (Canada) Literacy and Continuing Education Branch. A sample development plan is presented to illustrate the initiative, reflection, and planning needed to…

The adult basic education (ABE) program offered by the Saginaw City School System in Michigan during the 1994-1995 school year was evaluated in a study that focused on 10 aspects of the instructional process (various aspects of the content, delivery, and management of instruction) and the products (outcomes) of instruction (student enrollment,…

This document compiles an "honest list" of what is needed for adult numeracy. The first section consolidates the four posited Massachusetts Adult Basic Education (ABE) Math Standards into three adult numeracy themes: relevance/connections, problem solving/reasoning/decision making, and communication. A discussion of each theme is followed by some…

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) classroom is often viewed as a "safe haven" for participants. The teacher's actions, interest or lack of interest in participants and the degree of concern or caring expressed for the learners all make a difference in program retention. As a result of this bond between teacher and learners, ABE instructors…

This document explains the curriculum development process used by the Workforce 2000 Partnership, a network of industries and educational institutions that provide training in communication, computation, and creative thinking to employees in the textile, apparel, and carpet industries in 15 plants in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. First, a…

This book, which is written and designed for intermediate adult literacy students, relates selected outcomes of 12 "woman-positive" literacy and adult basic education programs that were sponsored/studied in different parts of Canada by the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW). Part 1 discusses the mission of the…

Through a participatory approach to adult basic education, a project was conducted to break the debilitating cycle of illiteracy that passes from low-income parents to their children. The approach included a family literacy book club designed to encourage parents and children to read together and to improve parents' literacy skills, interests, and…

This issue contains five articles about assessment in adult literacy programs. The first article, "Living Literacy: Rethinking Adult Learner Assessment" (Susan L. Lytle), focuses on developing alternative forms of assessment such as literacy portfolios to identify changes in four dimensions of adult literacy over the course of literacy…

This booklet presents a collection of seven practitioner research reports conducted by individuals employed through adult basic education (ABE), Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED), and English as a second language (ESL) programs and funded by the Iowa State Staff Development Committee. The practitioner research presented in the collection gives…

A study analyzed how a group of single welfare mothers, heads of households mandated to participate in a preemployment program with an educational component, viewed learning. Welfare policy makers assumed a highly illiterate population whose "deficiencies" would be remediated through participation in existing, voluntary basic education. Studies…

This publication proposes a three-part program that combines English as a second language (ESL) and vocational considerations to move non-English speaking inmates from the ESL classroom through a sheltered vocational education classroom into the hands-on aspect of the carpentry trade. The first two sections present two requirements for the…

This document reports on a project to conduct four to six in-service workshops for adult basic education (ABE) educators to develop their public speaking skills and create a speakers' bureau of ABE alumni. The goal of the speakers' bureau was to increase recruitment and retention of ABE students and improve public awareness of ABE. The packet of…

A study examined the influence of an intergenerational approach on the literacy development of parents and on the practice of family literacy at home. During a 3-year period, 367 families enrolled in multilingual, multiability literacy classes for at least one instructional cycle. The adult basic education classes were held in a community center…

The experience of eight prominent Canadian business organizations was examined in terms of how basic skills deficits are identified in their work force, the impact of those deficiencies on organizational competitiveness, and why corporate programs are developed in response to the issue. Some of the key findings were as follows: (1) employee…

A workplace literacy project was conducted cooperatively through the Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau and Northeast Metro Technical College. Project objectives, which were met, included the following: (1) establishing a project steering committee; (2) developing workplace literacy curriculum materials and resources specific to commercial vehicle…