The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has launched a new publication, "Integrated Approaches to Literacy and Skills Development: Examples of Best Practice in Adult Learning Programmes." This new compilation showcases 21 adult education programmes that demonstrate promising approaches to integrating literacy, life skills and…

Very often, we understand differences in literacy performance exclusively in terms of the skills that individuals bring to the literacy tasks they face. Drawing on a new, highly integrative theory of functional literacy--the text-task-respondent (TTR) theory--this article presents a set of seven literacy skills that are required for everyday…

This compilation offers global examples of innovative and promising literacy and numeracy programmes that link the teaching and learning of literacy to sustainable development challenges such as health, social equality, economic empowerment and environmental sustainability. This publication is a timely contribution to the 2030 Agenda for…

Within Ethiopia's overall development strategy, the Integrated Women's Empowerment Programme (IWEP) aims to develop, test and implement a comprehensive nationwide approach to empower women and their households in selected areas of all regions/national states of Ethiopia. The programme provides functional literacy education and livelihood skills…

Describes the Principle of the Alphabet Literary System (PALS), an interactive video system developed to bring adults who cannot read, write, or comprehend above a fifth-grade level to the point of functional literacy. (JOW)

Describes efforts and difficulties encountered by health care professionals who attempted to develop a Spanish-language word recognition test as a quick screening for patients' literacy levels, an effort which was ultimately unsuccessful. Notes that the close phoneme-grapheme correspondence of the spelling system means oral reading may not reflect…

Describes the rationale, development, and administration of the test used for measuring levels of achievement in functional literacy in Guyana. Draws attention to the difficulty of attracting funding for literacy programmes from international aid agencies, given the inflated adult literacy rate that is reported for Guyana in international…

Ten-week tutorials focused on improving the reading competency of employees of a city housing authority. Materials and techniques for adult learners were used. Vocabulary and comprehension scores and high levels of attendance (17 of 19 students attended 80 percent of the time) indicated the success of the program. (SK)

Describes the Greensboro (North Carolina) Public Library's "Community of Readers," a network of community representatives who provide strategic planning for literacy services and act as advocates for literacy students. Also highlights the "Literacy in Libraries Across America" project as well as 13 public libraries in four…

Describes the "Walking Teachers" program in Thailand, developed to bring functional literacy to all adults in the community where they live. The walking teachers have three functions: (1) teaching adult functional literacy, (2) overseeing nonformal educational activities, and (3) coordinating rural development activities in general. (CH)

Describes the lack of education of Black prison inmates. Discusses relative benefits and costs of educational programs to inmates and citizens. Provides seven examples of successful state-run programs and comments on the future possibilities for laws requiring educational programs for all inmates. (JS)

This study estimates the incidence, characteristics, and patterns of change over time of illiteracy in Morocco. The study compares the results from direct literacy assessment to the conventional methods of self-reported literacy. This effort has provided more detailed, objective information with which patterns of literacy skills in the country may…

Literacy education volunteers during 1988 numbered 77,000, two-thirds of whom served as tutors in basic literacy and English-as-a-second-language classes. The other third served in supportive roles as administrators, recruiters, teacher aides, counselors, and providers of child care and transportation. The number of volunteers rose from 34,500 in…

The Farmers' Functional Literacy Program has been conducted in conjunction with an intensive agricultural development program in the villages of India since 1968. A recent innovation of significance to developing countries, the program incorporates the concept of linking education to development. This joint venture of three governmental ministries…

The Pakistani Adult Functional Literacy Project (AFL) produced educational television programs which were shown at community viewing centers. Evaluation results are encouraging. (AM)