The author has a new approach in teaching adult literacy. He states adult literacy is the ability to learn through written communication." Students should be treated as adults not kindergarten children. (MR)

Near illiterates were draft exempt until the Army discovered it could teach them to read and write well enough to be fit for the service with the multimedia system described in this article. (LS)

As a result of a pilot project (in Rio de Janeiro) of functional literacy for adolescents and adults by television, 90 percent of the students in experimental tele-classes" became literate with 36 broadcasts of 20 minutes each, distributed over three months three times each week, supported by 50 minutes of discussion and other activities…

Discusses the failure of traditional schooling in the Hispanic community. Marginal communities structure education very differently from traditional schooling and learning progresses at an incredible rate. Too often administrators fail to see the need for nontraditional programs that meet the needs of a particular group. (JOW)

Suggests that the appropriateness of a methodology for the study of adult literacy programs be determined by assessing the extent to which the methodology speaks to the information needs and context complexity involved. (JOW)

Reports results of preliminary analyses of intelligence and achievement in an adult tutorial project. Incarcerated adult illiterates volunteered to participate in a peer tutoring program wherein they received 27 hours of structured tutoring. Significant achievement was demonstrated in all areas; significant correlations were noted between IQ…

Analyzes low literacy levels among Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) applicants in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Discusses how cutbacks in CETA funding will adversely affect attempts to decrease illiteracy among unemployed, low-income, urban adults. (GC)

Chronologically traces the development of literacy programs for adults in public libraries from their beginning in the nineteenth-century to the situation we find today. (Author)

Discusses the Fifth UNESCO International Conference on Adult Education held in Hamburg, Germany, July 14-18, 1997. Describes four of the workshops held there: (1) Literacy Education and Social Development; (2) Literacy and Technology; (3) Literacy and Basic Skills for Community Development in Industrialized Countries; and (4) Literacy for…

Fourteen Texas community literacy programs received Job Training Partnership Act funds to form local partnerships. The collaborations enabled them to provide comprehensive, coordinated services to educationally disadvantaged people. The enhanced visibility of the programs enabled them to obtain additional funding after the initial grants ended.…

Transformation theory states that people learn through frames of reference that may be transformed by critical reflection. If literacy involves meaning making, literacy learning is a transformative process and communicative competence is the goal of literacy education. (SK)

Interviews with staff and students of five Alberta literacy programs about their participatory practices elicited three themes: student representation, from silence into speech, and working across differences. The way social identity played a role in power relations between literacy workers and students must be addressed for true student…

Describes the National Institute for Literacy's Literacy Information and Communication System as a national electronic network for literacy providers that focuses on comprehensiveness, ease of access, consistent format, and availability of support services for the state literacy resource centers whose home pages are linked. Seven websites are…

A survey received 143 responses (35%) from adult education/English as a second language directors; 16 were interviewed. Only 12% rarely read research; 84% found it interesting and 85% believed it relevant to practice; 66% had changed practice due to research-based information. Educational level had no significant influence, but training or…

Telephone interviews with 538 adults in San Diego assessed literacy with recognition tests in the form of yes/no checklists. Nearly one in five scored on the lowest level; of these, 41% had 12 or fewer years of education. This group read less and watched television more than those at level 5, and 70% were employed in clerical, skilled, or…