Conducted in two phases, the study assessed and compared the effectiveness of various modern mass communication media and two traditional media for communicating the idea of family planning in Ghana. The comic or concert party play and the town or village discussion were used as the traditional modes of communication; the modern media used were…

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report, "Social and Economic Benefits of Improved Adult Literacy: Towards a Better Understanding," and is an added resource for further information. The original document is a feasibility study which explores the frameworks and methodologies available for…

This publication presents the family literacy program performance standards for which all Pennsylvania family literacy programs (both Pennsylvania Adult Basic and Family Literacy Education Act 143 and Even Start) will be held accountable. It begins with an implementation plan that discusses the legislative background of the performance standards…

This tool kit suggests various International Literacy Day activities to raise awareness of the issues of adult literacy and language learning, to connect local literacy programs with national programs, and to help achieve the National Literacy Summit goal by 2010. The kit is intended for individuals, programs, and organizations that want to call…

This fact sheet explains that family literacy programs have been recognized as a way to help children succeed in school while adults develop literacy skills. The Even Start Family Literacy Program is the major family literacy initiative of the U.S. Department of Education. It uses an educational model with four components: adult education and…

Some adult learners and teachers have negative memories of their previous encounters with poetry because too much emphasis was placed on the poem's "intent" or dissecting poems to determine their rhyme schemes. However, poetry can be an effective complement to instruction in adult literacy classrooms and can serve as an effective instructional…

One of the most successful examples of lifelong learning is the "study circles" program in Sweden, which attracts an estimated 50 percent of the population during their lifetimes. In vogue for more than 100 years, the study circle concept is firmly entrenched in Sweden and serves as a means of adult education. Study circles are…

This guide is a proposed unit of instruction for a class composed of adults needing to improve their reading skills. The components include five key concepts with related content goals and adult basic education (ABE) student objectives. The key concepts are as follows: (1) there are many types of homes in the world; (2) people build different…

A group of 100 randomly selected women living in the resettlement colony of Ambedkernager in South Delhi, India, who had participated in colony's Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) were interviewed regarding their participation in the TLC. Of the 100 women, 34 had attended school earlier. Four of the 34 women were still attending school. Most…

The factors influencing development of basic skills from birth to age 37 were examined by analyzing a sample of 1,700 people who were part of the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal study in which data on more than 17,000 people who were born in Great Britain in a single week in 1958 were collected when they were 7, 11, 16, 23,…

This module, which may be used as the basis for a workshop or as a special topic unit in adult basic education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses, focuses on issues related to women's immigration status. The following items are included: module overview; list of basic, thinking, interpersonal, information utilization, and other skills…

This paper uses direct measures of literacy skill levels provided by the International Adult Literacy Survey to estimate the return to literacy skills. Using a very simple human capital earnings equation and standard ordinary least squares regression, it tested estimates of the return to literacy skills for their robustness to alternative scalings…

Private and personal literacy practices of reading and writing, which have typically been regarded as less important than the more visible and public literacies used by men, are important in the lives of women because they aid the development and empowerment of the self. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six women of diverse socioeconomic…

This booklet presents a summary of contemporary understandings of adult literacy in the context of development. It suggests that literacy is best seen as one of a number of different means of communications rather than a single essential basic skill; that learning literacy is not essential to development (many non-literate persons are already…

Even Start family literacy is a comprehensive approach that focuses on the family unit, addressing language and literacy competence for children and adults through integrated educational activities. Four core program components build upon one another to support children's school success and literacy outcomes. The components are: (1) adult basic…