This second article in a two-part series reviews the literature in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on the Adult Performance Level (APL) project and other programs for adult education. (See CS 710 176) (KS)

This article explains the research phase of the Adult Performance Level (APL) project, providing a brief history of how the APL life coping skills curriculum and Competency-Based High School Diploma Program evolved from the project's research and national survey of adult functional competency. Focuses on APL programs implemented within a…

This paper discusses the instruction of adult performance outcomes and life skills in classes for students with mental disabilities. Basic considerations in teaching life skills include teaching for lifelong learning, teaching for relevancy, and teaching beyond textbooks and classrooms. Several strategies have contributed to the success of…

Adult performance level (APL) methodology, results, and conclusions are summarized. Taking exception to functional literacy accounting for an individuals level of income, education, and job status, the author questions the utilitarian value of an APL curriculum. (Author)

Written to provide the adult basic education teacher with practical low level reading materials based on the Adult Performance Level (APL) goals and objectives, these modules on consumer economics and community resources have the following goals for students: (1) To manage a family economy and to demonstrate an awareness of sound purchasing…

This curriculum guide was developed in Phase II of a two-phase project designed (1) to develop a model curriculum guide for all adult basic education programs in Rhode Island that reflects the goals and objectives of the Adult Performance Level Study (a study which stressed the need for adult educators to become involved with the concepts of…

Defines competency-based adult education as activities providing coping and life skills, functional literacy, mastery learning, external or alternative high school diplomas, and educational credits for life experiences. Discusses activities in relation to federally authorized Adult Basic Education, minimal testing, Adult Performance Level…

The paper discusses the education of mildly handicapped students who will be able to live and work independently, but who will be unable to profit from a traditional high school program, postsecondary vocational training, or college. Three types of mildly handicapped adolescents are considered--students who lack adequate basic academic skills in…

A project is described that attempted to formulate a meaningful concept of adult performance levels, to devise instruments to measure performance at those levels, and to use those instruments to assess the functional competence of a representative sample of the population of the United States. Three levels of competence are defined in terms of…

The Adult Performance Level (APL) project summary specifies the competencies which are functional to economic and educational success in society and describes devices developed for assessing those competencies. The APL theory of functional competency identifies adult needs in general knowledge areas (consumer economics, occupational knowledge,…

Adults enrolled in local adult basic education programs at six sites in Louisiana were used to compare the credibility of Adult Performance Level (APL) competency-based instructional programs (experimental group) with traditional adult education instructional activities (control group). Focus was on determining the correlation between grade level…

The functional competencies of 131 women offenders incarcerated in Texas were assessed and than compared to the functional competencies of 868 free-world women in Texas surveyed during the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project. The findings support the following conclusions: (1) women in the free-world are more functionally competent than women…

The Adult Performance Level (APL) Competency-Based High School Diploma (CBHSD) Program in Texas is briefly described. The program was developed as a flexible and effective alternative to a conventional high school diploma program and to the General Educational Development (GED) test. Program goals are expressed as competency outcomes which are…

This report on the state level use and application of the 1971-1977 Adult Performance Level (APL) study contains two reports: "Competencies for Adult Basic Education and Diploma Programs: A Summary of Studies and Cross-Reference of Results." by Joan Keller Fischer and "The APL Study: Science, Dissemination, and the Nature of Adult…

This report reviews major components of a workshop to develop consensus on a variety of issues and to increase participant awareness of innovative approaches to competency-based adult education (CBAE). The 200 workshop participants included state directors of adult education, other state staff, university personnel, local project directors, and…