Current discussions about literacy often focus on how economic changes are raising expectations for literacy achievement. The emergence of a so-called knowledge economy or learning economy requires more people to do more things with print. Less attention has been given, however, to how the pressure to produce more literacy affects the contexts in…

A study was conducted to describe factors influencing the acquisition of facilitating and inhibiting reading strategies by adult beginning readers (ABRs) in order to generate potential guidelines for instruction. Using an adapted form of the Goodman and Burke taxonomy of oral reading miscues as initial framework, the investigators described ABRs'…

A response to United States Senator George McGovern's call for congressional legislation to establish an independent national commission on literacy is necessary. Two considerations that must be taken into account by any individual, group, or commission addressing issues of criteria for competency in literacy are: (1) literacy competence is a…

In recognition of the trend toward functional illiteracy, this study developed and evaluated a criterion-referenced functional literacy test for use in diagnosis and evaluation of Miami-Dade Community College English students. The instrument was pilot-tested on 135 composition students in the fall of 1976, then revised after item analysis and…

Four speeches delivered at the Research in Adult Basic Education Conference are presented. The first paper, by Larry Martin, describes his preliminary investigation into psychosocial characteristics of adult basic education and adult secondary education participants. The second paper, An Alternative Program for Attaining Adult Literacy, by Gordon…

A nation-wide program in adult basic education requires an organizational structure which will provide a practical and theoretical, centralized and decentralized outlook. This system should include a national commission, state-wide committees, and community councils which would facilitate communication. Leaders must be selected and prepared and…

One in a series of training monographs, this text suggests a core curriculum of scientific ideas that should become part of the common human heritage. The eight chapters present discussions of scientific literacy within its social context, scientific methodology, the environment, human health, agriculture, energy, ideas for teaching science in…

"The Reading Project" in adult basic education (ABE), designed by the Province of Saskatchewan, consists of 14 sections containing 512 exercises in listening, reading, and spelling skills. This study compares the effectiveness of the project with conventional teaching of reading in ABE classes. A total of 257 adults participated in the…

The book contains articles and excerpts from works of leading educators and scholars associated with problems of adult education in India. The readings are presented in five sections. The first section, Historical Perspective, deals with the progress of adult education (from the beginning of British rule to the present day) and extension services.…

The instructional concept guide is part of a system developed for tutor training and support. It is primarily designed for volunteers, but it can also be adapted to the training of paraprofessional tutors for any type of adult literacy program. A key component in the system is the Tutor Support Library, consisting of Instructional Concept Guides…

The study was designed to determine whether cloze procedure could be used in adult literacy programs for students reading at or above the fourth grade level by investigating the procedure's: acceptability for the students, utility in matching students to reading material, and substitutability for standardized tests. Eighty-five Rhode Island…

There is a prevalent public outcry against the putative decline in the quality of world, and especially American, linguistic expression. This paper examines the accuracy of this claim, and weighs the significant supporting and opposing evidence, which includes informed opinion, expert witness, and results of standardized reading and writing…

A developmental model of literacy based on language and cognitive skills is presented in this paper. Two independent learning strands suggested as major factors in achieving literacy are learning to understand language by eye (reading) as skillfully as one can understand language by ear (auding) and learning to use the printed medium for literacy…

The paper reviews the growth of Canadian Adult Basic Education (ABE) with emphasis on the role played by the Federal government. It considers major events leading to an awareness of the disadvantaged and their inability to function adequately, without necessary opportunities and skills, in the mainstream of an industrialized society. The author…

Adults, whatever their competence, are not obsolete. Education for adults is the font we must draw on to make possible the new environment in education that we call lifetime learning and recurrent education. Following the lead of Europe in planning broad-based adult education programs, the United States has begun to fund and operate diversified…