This article reviews recent ground-breaking research studies that can provide guidance for policymakers and practitioners interested in improving literacy in the United States. Each section provides a brief analysis of major research findings, followed by a series of recommendations. These issues are identified: the close relationship between literacy and education and a nation's economic development; identification of effective instructional practices for different subject areas and different types of learners; role of learners in setting of learning goals; degree of specificity of instruction; workforce literacy and competitiveness; need for services in English as a Second Language; family literacy; professionalization and standards; and inadequate use of new electronic technologies in adult literacy programs. The article concludes with a synthesis of the recent past and a prognosis for what is believed to be the next generation of literacy work in the United States. It suggests that more funding would help, but that resources need to be targeted better to improving the quality of education offered--in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, professionalization, and innovation. The article proposes that the adult literacy field along with policymakers and legislators must pull together for the next generation of adult literacy work to be an improvement over the previous one. (YLB)