A study compared the performances of adults who were learning to read with those of two groups of preliterate and second-grade children on selected cognitive tasks and on the display of certain metacognitive understandings. It was hypothesized that if the adults (who could not successfully read a passage from a fourth-grade reader) did as well as…

This document describes a workplace literacy program designed to improve the literacy skills of entry-level workers in the housekeeping, food service, and laundry departments of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. An introduction describes the goals of the program and the employees served (low-literate adults who relied on word of mouth for most…

West Virginia Northern Community College provided workplace literacy education and training for employees of Weirton Steel Corporation and Union Carbide Corporation. For Weirton Steel the training included 4,040 hours of instruction in fundamental literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, and math), oral and written communications (including…

Conference papers are presented from a meeting that was convened in order to provide an opportunity for practitioners and experts in the fields of literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL), and parental involvement to discuss issues of importance in the implementation of educational programs for adults and out-of-school youth. The conference…

Modeling and data collection efforts needed to develop a test of the effectiveness of adult literacy and language training programs in increasing the earnings of trainees are reviewed. After reviewing the framework developed for the Manpower Development and Training Act and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) evaluations and the…

The importance of research in literacy is that it provides some routes to greater efficiency in literacy provision. Research from the past shows how important reading and writing have been over the centuries. Literacy was often invested with social and moral power as well, and religious literacy was the predominant form of reading and writing from…

The New Jersey Workplace Literacy Partnerships Program was conducted from February 1989 to May 1990. The project was funded by the New Jersey Department of Education, with a 30-percent cash match from District 65 of the United Auto Workers, the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, and the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Benevolent…

A project was developed to teach literacy to adult students over 40 years old, using job-related materials in a computer-assisted approach with volunteer tutors. The project used the Penn State Adult Literacy Courseware, consisting of six computer-based modules and an Apple IIGS microcomputer. Volunteer teachers already working with adult students…

Thirty leaders from six Canadian social movements were invited to participate in an invitational seminar that was designed to explore strategies for building stronger collaboration among social movements in the Canadian community. This collection contains the following papers from that seminar: "Building the Social Movement: An…

This book surveys currently available software for English language learners and identifies future directions in the development of such software that are likely to prove fruitful. Discussed first are ways in which computers add to the learning experience. Stand-alone programs are compared with authoring systems, and "purpose-made" and…

This guide was developed by the Chicago Urban Skills Institute to provide improved instruction in English as a second language (ESL) to adults in the adult learning skills program. The guide provides standardized guidelines for the content of ESL courses and ideas for lesson and course planning. Course content is described for 21 ESL courses which…

Interviews were conducted with 4 members of the Task Force of the Adult Beginning Reader Project, 6 program officials, and 13 heads of adult basic education (ABE) programs; site visits were made to two ongoing ABE programs; and the literature pertaining to adult literacy programs in this country was reviewed in order to identify factors associated…

Fifteen lessons contain low-vocabulary, high interest reading materials on health issues to enhance the learning of the new older reader. Each lesson is preceded by tutor guidelines with specific goals and objectives and review exercises. The materials are useful in either one-to-one or small-group tutoring. Reading selections in the lessons,…

Created by the Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS) organization to combat adult illiteracy, this guide offers suggestions for enhancing local adult literacy programs or establishing new ones. Following an introduction to the problem of illiteracy and a call for a national effort to alleviate it, the guide focuses on how to begin a literacy program,…

The proceedings of the eleventh annual meeting of the College Reading Association with a theme of "Professional Focus on Reading," consisted of the following papers: (1) "President's Address" (W. H. Cooper); (2) "What Lies Ahead in Primary Reading?" (M. C. Austin); (3) "The Causes and Correction of Verbalism in…