Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

This research monograph prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy is primarily designed to describe and analyze the net annual fiscal contributions (tax payments minus cash and in-kind transfers and institutionalization costs) of U.S. adults (ages 16-64) by their educational attainment in recent years. The report begins with an…

The vast majority of American-born adults are exposed to written language from a very early age. Most Americans live in a print-based society where letters and words are everywhere! Drive, walk, or bike down any American street and you will see numerous eye-catching billboards, signs, and storefronts. Our towns, cities, neighborhoods, and homes…

Adult literacy programs offer individuals, particularly women, opportunities to improve their educational levels and economic circumstances; however, persistence in these programs is an issue for many. Two hundred forty five participants in a statewide adult literacy program took the Adult Education Persistence Scale, a measure of self-efficacy,…

In 2002-03, a qualitative study examined the experiences of 70 stakeholders connected to two community-based adult literacy programs in Manitoba, Canada. Self-directed learning was one of several elements that these research participants considered essential to the learning process. These literacy stakeholders defined self-directed learning as a…

Economic and demographic changes are dramatically increasing the need for adult education, basic literacy, and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs. Millions of Illinois residents lack the level of literacy skills needed to obtain good jobs, perform well on the job, and function well in an increasingly complex society. Addressing the scope…

Assessing the social and economic costs of poor adult literacy and numeracy skills, and the benefits of investing in such skills, is largely unchartered territory in Australia. This feasibility study explores the frameworks and methodologies available for determining and measuring such benefits and costs across a number of life domains, including…

Despite multiple and persuasive arguments against the validity of doing so, many basic writers continue to be identified by what Brian V. Street calls the "autonomous model of literacy," a model that research tells us is as artificial and inappropriate as it is ubiquitous. This article describes a curricular response to the political,…

The last five years have seen a radical transformation in adult education in England with a concentrated emphasis on national basic skills provision. This was prompted initially by a government response to low levels of literacy in the British adult population, identified by an influential international survey, showing unfavourable comparisons…

Research messages 2006 is a collection of key messages from research projects published or completed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2006. It covers work undertaken by both NCVER and external researchers through the following programs: (1) National Vocational Education and Training Research Evaluation Program;…

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) assessed the English literacy of incarcerated adults for the first time since 1992. The assessment was administered to approximately 1,200 inmates (ages 16 and older) in state and federal prisons, as well as to approximately 18,000 adults (ages 16 and older) living in households. Three types of…

The purpose of this book is to introduce the research on readability, defined here as reading ease. The first part of the book covers how people read. A series of national literacy surveys show that the average person in the U.S. and most other countries are adults of limited reading skills. For example, the average adult in the U.S. reads at the…

This report summarizes many of Austin Independent School District's parent and community involvement activities for the 2006-2007 school year.

The research presented in this article concerns la Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation--AECI) and its growing presence in Latin America since the late 1990s. The aim is to evaluate the transformative potential that bilateral funding can have on educational reform in the region. The article…

Health literacy is important for all adults. Because lower health literacy is associated with lower educational attainment, many adult basic and literacy education programs increasingly provide health education to low-literate adults to improve their health literacy. Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), this study…