A growing body of evidence indicates that the test scores of low-income children drop significantly relative to their higher-income counterparts during the summer months. This study finds that a well-implemented summer learning program can improve reading skills and increase the extent to which parents encourage their children to read during the…

As stated in this guide, the overall goal of the General Educational Development (GED) Program is to provide a practical program of diagnosis, prescription instruction and test readiness for adults so that they may obtain their High School Equivalency Diplomas. Guidelines are herein provided by the New York State Education Department for the…

Using a newspaper article about a ceremony marking the retirement of baseball player Tom Seaver's uniform number, a study examined: (1) the effects of knowledge of baseball in general and of the career of Tom Seaver in particular; and (2) the effects of knowledge of word meanings in general and of words used in the passage specifically on 10th…

The Lifelong Learning Center (LLC) of the Buffalo and Erie County, New York, Public Library is described with emphasis on objectives and programming developed for a grant project. The objectives included the following: conduct monthly support services for literacy tutors; sponsor training and information sessions for tutors; provide assistance to…

This revised edition of the "Learning Standards for English Language Arts" for New York State incorporates changes to the content standards and performance indicators based on extensive review by the public. The four standards described in the booklet are that students will read, write, listen, and speak (1) for information and…

In the shadow of a Manhattan housing project, Public School 33 is coming back to life. A new principal has brought a wave of optimism, test scores are way up, and middle-class families who used to avoid the school are enrolling their children. In Brooklyn, teenagers who might have dropped out of school are getting diplomas through a special…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Education Programs Receive Little Funding: Striving Readers One of Only a Handful of Programs to Receive Small…

In 1978 the New York State Board of Regents initiated action to establish statewide high school graduation standards for reading comprehension. The process began by measuring the readability levels of materials used in core courses and materials that adults normally read (newspapers, news magazines, and feature magazines). To do this,…

A three-year study evaluated the cognitive and affective effect of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on adult basic education (ABE) students at the Great Neck Adult Learning Centers. The system was used by learning laboratory students in 1977 and by both learning laboratory and classroom students from 1977-1979. The 100 students enrolled from…

This handbook is a guide for an adult education program for the student who desires a New York State High School Equivalency Diploma. It covers areas ranging from the scope of the programs in grammar and usage, literature, social studies, mathematics, and sciences, to the background and purpose of the General Educational Development Tests. Special…

This study examined the nature of the partnership between clinicians and parents of two struggling readers at a university reading clinic. Research questions sought to examine the roles of the clinicians and parents in the reading clinic and the ways, if any, their partnership facilitated reading improvement of the children involved. Data were…

This document, which is the first in a series of best practice documents incorporating the wisdom and experiences of New York's adult educators, presents eight learning experiences that are specifically tailored for adult learners and instructors. The following information is provided for each learning experience: (1) a brief description of the…

The Youth Work Skills (YWS) program was developed to help economically disadvantaged, out-of-school, high school-aged youth with reading abilities at or below the fifth-grade level become job ready. In 1992-93, YWS served 236 participants at 7 sites throughout New York (two sites each in Brooklyn and Buffalo and sites in the Bronx, Rochester, and…

Six reporters in diverse areas looked at how their communities were responding to adult literacy, basic skills, and workplace literacy programs. This guide contains six reports, three in each of its two parts: (1) Reporting on Welfare Reform--Is the Story Literacy or Decent Jobs? and (2) Reporting on Literacy Programs--Is There a…

This guide introduces a program of foreign language instruction intended for a wide variety of students with various interests and competencies. The program provides for a basic course, two strands (The State Diploma and the Local School Credit) and several options. During the basic course, a diagnosis is made of individual students' aptitudes and…