Background/Context: Educational researchers have long sought to understand the factors that enable or constrain persistence in non-formal family literacy and adult education programs. Scholars typically posit three sets of factors influencing persistence: situational (learners' life circumstances), institutional (programmatic factors), and…

This study examined how poverty and residential mobility influence low-income adults' persistence in family literacy programs in Pennsylvania. Twelve out of 20 program directors reported that learners typically moved at least once a year. In five of these high-mobility programs moving was reported to significantly hinder persistence. Geographic…

A proven, successful adult basic literacy improvisation theater project was expanded through development of videotapes. Because rural Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, consists solely of a number of small towns, traveling great distances to do presentations made outreach difficult. Project staff conducted the following activities: purchased a…

According to U.S. Census data, in rural Pennsylvania, 37% of adults did not complete higher school, and 21% did not go beyond 8th grade. As a consequence of present demographic and literacy trends, the proportion of the workforce with low levels of basic skills is growing. At the same time, a changing labor market is creating new jobs that demand…

A descriptive study identified and assessed programmatic characteristics of rural literacy services in northern Pennsylvania and factors affecting participation of adult literacy students in those services. The study focused on service delivery aspects of programming and incentives/motivations as well as on barriers affecting participation.…

The rural work force has lower basic skills to supply labor for new jobs with higher literacy demands. At all levels of education the rural population is at a disadvantage compared with the urban population. One out of five rural adults in Pennsylvania has not continued education past the eighth grade. Among the costs to businesses from employee…

The Pennsylvania Adult Literacy Practitioner Inquiry Network (PALPIN) project was conducted to establish statewide and regional inquiry groups to help adult literacy practitioners improve their performance by raising and investigating issues meaningful to their day-to-day practice. The conceptual framework underlying Philadelphia's Adult Literacy…

In 1996, individuals associated with the Lifelong Learning Center in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, proposed the formation of a three-district literacy consortium in a tricounty rural area that would cooperatively offer adults residing in the districts the option of earning a standard high school diploma in lieu of a General Educational…

This document contains project abstracts for 29 adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) demonstration programs that were conducted in Pennsylvania in 1997-1998 through grants funded under Section 353 of the Adult Education Act. Each abstract includes the following: project name, number, purpose, impact, outcomes, conclusions/recommendations,…