This document begins with an overview of trends and issues in the area of adult literacy. This overview briefly addresses: the number of adult illiterates, the costs of adult illiteracy, adult illiteracy as a barrier to increasing U.S. competitiveness, efforts that have focused on adult illiteracy, the issues that have surfaced, and…

During the first half of the 1980s, the focus of the literacy movement was on strengthening literacy programs through the recruitment of volunteers. Although these early efforts are continuing, the focus in adult literacy has changed. Job-related or workplace literacy has become a national priority, and the impact of adult illiteracy on private…

This guide takes an eclectic approach to literacy training, that is, it allows the instructor to select those materials and methods that best fit the needs of individual learners. It includes a definition of the target population which will include adults who are nonliterate, preliterate, semiliterate, and those who are literate in a non-Roman…

Reviews research on the average reading level in the United States, on how well the average American needs to read, and on what the average American can and does read. (MKM)

Reports on research probing job-related literacy demands and on programs promoting job literacy. (JT)

This digest about issues currently being debated in the adult literacy field examines the appropriate goals and objectives for adult literacy education, professionalization of the field, and literacy program evaluation. The first section reflects the disagreement between those who believe the purpose of literacy education should be to support…

Recently, the definition of functional literacy has been broadened to include the completion of a secondary education or its equivalent. This definition focuses on obtaining the functional competencies required to perform adequately in adult life. Three major sets of functional competencies are represented in models developed by the Adult…

The need for a better educated work force has created a corresponding need for workplace literacy programs. A number of issues have emerged as the focus of literacy education has shifted from improving social mobility to providing employment-related literacy programs. Some of these issues are related to the need for more resources for workplace…

Compiled to assist those who are interested in building better workplace literacy programs, the first ERIC/RCS FAST (Focused Access to Selected Topics) Bibliography is a selection of representative documents from searches of the ERIC database. The bibliography is divided into the following groups: eight sources that provide an overview of concerns…

This ERIC digest examines states' goals of rural literacy programs and the types of programs that have proven effective in the past. It includes several definitions of literacy applied by effective rural literacy programs. It also examines the conditions that support or limit widespread influence of effective programs in rural areas. The level of…

The National Education Goals Panel has not met its goal of having every adult American literate by the year 2000. There are many adults who "slipped through the cracks," and have only rudimentary reading and writing skills. The large number of foreign born residents who do not have the necessary reading and writing skills to communicate…

This book deals with several aspects of teaching everyday survival skills to adult English as a second language (ESL) students. The basic orientation of the book is based on a determination of skills students need to cope in a community. This determination involves consideration of the skills the community requires, the skills the students lack,…

"The ERIC Review" announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This second issue contains three principal articles: "Issues in Adult Literacy Education," by JoAnn Crandall and Susan Imel; "Emergent Literacy: An Early Reading and Writing Concept," by Carl B. Smith;…

This book describes FIRST (Focussed Instruction in Reading for Successful Teaching) Reading, a computer program that takes answers to 20 questions about a learner and matches this profile against profiles in the database. FIRST Reading, formerly called "Consult Reading," can recommend the most-likely-to-succeed teaching focus(es) for…

This monograph describes the job-related basic skills requirements of the work force and explores ways of developing and improving the reading, writing, and computational abilities of workers. The paper first examines trends that are influencing the demand for basic skills, such as the decline in youth population and the increase in service and…